....My Cat
Another day, another dollar. Or so they said; it'd been a while since Caroline got paid cash in hand for anything. No, everything came into her bank account once a month, even the supposedly tax-free bonuses she earned for doing her grandfather various favours.
She drew up outside the gates of Maple Grove, Humphrey Granger's wallowing estate outside Rhy'Din city, leaning out through the window of her vintage Mini to announce herself. As the tinny voice of the elderly gatekeeper answered and she watched the gates slowly grind open, Caroline sighed to herself.
"You'd think that I'd be given a pass key by now," she muttered, rolling up her window and setting her foot on the gas to drive down the winding driveway that led through an artificial wilderness to the sprawling edifice of Maple Grove itself. "It's not like I've never not lived here."
She passed various members of staff - gardeners, cleaners, the serving staff - going about their business, never failing to greet each of them as she drew into the huge garage that lurked to one side of the house itself. They, in turn, greeted her just as pleasantly - she wasn't just a member of the family they worked for, she was one of them. It was a confusing state of affairs. In front of Humphrey Granger, she was Miss Caroline; anywhere else, she was just Caroline, or Caro, the part-time chauffeur for the big house.
Killing the engine, she clambered out, locking the door, and let her eyes scan over the garage floor. All the vehicles were here, and the mechanics had shut up shop for the day, so it seemed that Grandpa Granger wasn't intending on going anywhere this evening. She hoped.
As she turned to walk up the stairs that lay along one wall of the garage, she hit the keypad for the huge doors, listening to them squeak and clang into place as she jogged upward. The stairs opened onto a small terrace, bordered by the walls of the apartment that sat on top of it, and it was here that she finally started to relax. This, after all, was home.
Unlocking the door, she let herself in, and smiled as her cat, Zaphod, came padding up to her, rubbing his face over her knees.
"Hey, Zaph, missed me?" she asked the ginger fluffball, bending to lift him up into her arms as he purred his volcanic greeting to her. "I know, really long day, but I bet Blue came up and did your dinner, right?"
Yellow-brown eyes blinked at her, turning to look pointedly down at said half-finished dinner, sitting in bowls on the kitchen floor. Caroline laughed, putting her cat down beside the food, and stroked him as he made a show of eating what was left.
Moving to the refridgerator, she opened it, and grimaced at the sight of yet more leftovers from the big house. "Gods, don't they finish anything over there?" she asked no one in particular, chuckling when she got a plaintive 'meow' from near her feet. "Oh, no, fella, you're not getting this. You'll get fat and have a heart attack, and then who'd I have to talk to?"
A plastic dish of something that was probably beef strognanoff was pushed into the microwave, and she set to taking off her coat as it began to heat her meal, hanging it on a hook by the door. As usual, Zaphod followed her around as she then headed into her bedroom, removing her boots, and changing into her pajamas.
"So what did I do today, you ask me?" Caroline bent, scritching the ginger tom's head affectionately as he butted at her knee. "Well, I delivered wool and hemp to the spinning mills, thread to the weaving mills, and a new foreman to the farms. I know, thrilling stuff, huh?"
She laughed as the cat lost interest, padding back into the main room. Following, she gave him a gentle push with her bare foot to get him out of the way, and was back in the kitchen by the time the microwave dinged. Pulling the steaming dish out, she tipped the contents onto a plate, and dropped the plastic container into the sink to soak until she could be bothered to wash it. Plate in one hand and glass of water in the other, she returned to the living room and curled up on her couch, Zaphod tucking himself in beside her.
"I dropped in on Auntie Jay, too," she told him as she ate. "She's kinda gotten over that heart attack Correy gave her, but she says he's hanging out with some girl that she doesn't like the sound of." She chuckled to herself, one hand resting on the cat's back as he washed his paws. "She really needs to let up a little. I mean, I'm not his mom, but I'm doing all the parenting here. He hates me, too."
Sighing, she put her half-eaten meal aside, and gathered her cat into her arms, burying her face in his fur. "You don't hate me, though, do you? I feed you, and I let you sleep all over me, and you purr and let me hug you when I want. That's love, isn't it?"
There was nothing but a purr for an answer, and she smiled tiredly, hugging Zaphod tighter to her. Sometimes it seemed as though all she ever did was look after everyone else; it was times like those she was glad she had a cat to come home to. Yes, she might look after him, but he never made demands or shouted at her that she was ruining his life when she was trying to help him.
"Life would be so much easier if all I had to worry about was you, Mister Zaphod."
Another day, another dollar. Or so they said; it'd been a while since Caroline got paid cash in hand for anything. No, everything came into her bank account once a month, even the supposedly tax-free bonuses she earned for doing her grandfather various favours.
She drew up outside the gates of Maple Grove, Humphrey Granger's wallowing estate outside Rhy'Din city, leaning out through the window of her vintage Mini to announce herself. As the tinny voice of the elderly gatekeeper answered and she watched the gates slowly grind open, Caroline sighed to herself.
"You'd think that I'd be given a pass key by now," she muttered, rolling up her window and setting her foot on the gas to drive down the winding driveway that led through an artificial wilderness to the sprawling edifice of Maple Grove itself. "It's not like I've never not lived here."
She passed various members of staff - gardeners, cleaners, the serving staff - going about their business, never failing to greet each of them as she drew into the huge garage that lurked to one side of the house itself. They, in turn, greeted her just as pleasantly - she wasn't just a member of the family they worked for, she was one of them. It was a confusing state of affairs. In front of Humphrey Granger, she was Miss Caroline; anywhere else, she was just Caroline, or Caro, the part-time chauffeur for the big house.
Killing the engine, she clambered out, locking the door, and let her eyes scan over the garage floor. All the vehicles were here, and the mechanics had shut up shop for the day, so it seemed that Grandpa Granger wasn't intending on going anywhere this evening. She hoped.
As she turned to walk up the stairs that lay along one wall of the garage, she hit the keypad for the huge doors, listening to them squeak and clang into place as she jogged upward. The stairs opened onto a small terrace, bordered by the walls of the apartment that sat on top of it, and it was here that she finally started to relax. This, after all, was home.
Unlocking the door, she let herself in, and smiled as her cat, Zaphod, came padding up to her, rubbing his face over her knees.
"Hey, Zaph, missed me?" she asked the ginger fluffball, bending to lift him up into her arms as he purred his volcanic greeting to her. "I know, really long day, but I bet Blue came up and did your dinner, right?"
Yellow-brown eyes blinked at her, turning to look pointedly down at said half-finished dinner, sitting in bowls on the kitchen floor. Caroline laughed, putting her cat down beside the food, and stroked him as he made a show of eating what was left.
Moving to the refridgerator, she opened it, and grimaced at the sight of yet more leftovers from the big house. "Gods, don't they finish anything over there?" she asked no one in particular, chuckling when she got a plaintive 'meow' from near her feet. "Oh, no, fella, you're not getting this. You'll get fat and have a heart attack, and then who'd I have to talk to?"
A plastic dish of something that was probably beef strognanoff was pushed into the microwave, and she set to taking off her coat as it began to heat her meal, hanging it on a hook by the door. As usual, Zaphod followed her around as she then headed into her bedroom, removing her boots, and changing into her pajamas.
"So what did I do today, you ask me?" Caroline bent, scritching the ginger tom's head affectionately as he butted at her knee. "Well, I delivered wool and hemp to the spinning mills, thread to the weaving mills, and a new foreman to the farms. I know, thrilling stuff, huh?"
She laughed as the cat lost interest, padding back into the main room. Following, she gave him a gentle push with her bare foot to get him out of the way, and was back in the kitchen by the time the microwave dinged. Pulling the steaming dish out, she tipped the contents onto a plate, and dropped the plastic container into the sink to soak until she could be bothered to wash it. Plate in one hand and glass of water in the other, she returned to the living room and curled up on her couch, Zaphod tucking himself in beside her.
"I dropped in on Auntie Jay, too," she told him as she ate. "She's kinda gotten over that heart attack Correy gave her, but she says he's hanging out with some girl that she doesn't like the sound of." She chuckled to herself, one hand resting on the cat's back as he washed his paws. "She really needs to let up a little. I mean, I'm not his mom, but I'm doing all the parenting here. He hates me, too."
Sighing, she put her half-eaten meal aside, and gathered her cat into her arms, burying her face in his fur. "You don't hate me, though, do you? I feed you, and I let you sleep all over me, and you purr and let me hug you when I want. That's love, isn't it?"
There was nothing but a purr for an answer, and she smiled tiredly, hugging Zaphod tighter to her. Sometimes it seemed as though all she ever did was look after everyone else; it was times like those she was glad she had a cat to come home to. Yes, she might look after him, but he never made demands or shouted at her that she was ruining his life when she was trying to help him.
"Life would be so much easier if all I had to worry about was you, Mister Zaphod."