"...and you can take your goddamn
thing with you," Kevin hissed, eyeing me as I hid under a nearby chair.
"He's yours too," Jasmine sniffed, picking up the duffle
bag that lay at her feet.
"You can keep him. I don't need those memories," Kevin
spit back without thinking.
That was all it took. A simple fight ended their years
of happiness. Well, it wasn't only the fight, but it was the breaking point.
"C'mon, Raj," she sighed. I didn't move. I felt safe
under the chair. "Raja." Her voice was stern. But I didn't move. Kevin gave
a huff and dove at me. I shrunk back farther towards the wall. I wasn't going
to let this happen.
Almost three years. It had been almost three years since
they had become a couple. Well, that's what I calculated at least, with
their celebrations of anniversaries and such. I had been the "first year"
gift. Kevin found me in an animal shelter. I'd like to think I found him;
I spotted him as soon as he came in and I shoved my brothers and sisters
out of the way (well, more like used them to stand on) and strained my neck
as he passed behind a corner. He came back a few minutes later with the
lady who took care of us. I heard them talking about all of us in the cages,
and I saw her pointing. But not at our cage. So I started screaming, well,
what you humans would call meowing. I saw his eyes twinkle as he laughed
and looked at me.
"Feisty little one, huh?" he smiled at me. A little
brother of mine moved and I fell back into the swarm of bodies. But I heard
the cage open, and as I struggled against my siblings, I felt a warm hand
grab me by the scruff of my neck. I opened my eyes and mewed as he cradled
me in his arms. "Perfect colors, too, little Raja." He had named me right
then and there.
"Raja," Kevin growled. "Get out." His fingers were inches
away from me. I scooted even farther back.
"Leave him alone, Kevin. Don't take your anger out on
him," Jasmine sighed.
"He's not staying here," Kevin huffed, crawling out
of the space under the chair. He headed towards the kitchen for his arsenal:
a spray-bottle of water (my enemy).
Jasmine had been thrilled when she pulled me out of
the box. "Kevin, he's beautiful. And he's colored just like a tiger!" I
was part of their grandiose inside joke. By her looks, Jasmine might as
well have been the model for the cartoon character, and she always nonchalantly
called Kevin Aladdin from time to time, joking that he should have kept his
Disney costume. And I completed their picture, as their tiny tiger kitten.
I was so pampered. Only when things change do you realize
how good it used to be...I'm not sure when, but they had eventually decided
to live together, but were slow in the process of moving things. Jasmine kept
her apartment, though the majority of their things were in Kevin's. Along
with toothbrushes, and random items of clothing, I was carted back and forth
between both domains, the only being able to witness firsthand the strength
that their love had once had...and sadly, see it deteriorate to the breaking
point.
"Kevin, don't you dare. Stop making him hate you," Jasmine
yelled at him as he reappeared from the kitchen. Making me hate Kevin,
or her hate Kevin? I wondered. At any rate, I could see his feet. As he
stopped to offer a biting reply, I shot to another location.
"Where'd the little shit go?" Kevin looked at the empty
space that I had once occupied.
"Kevin, stop it. Just stop!"
"I thought I told you to leave?"
"Oh, so it wasn't permission, but rather, an order?"
"Jasmine, just shut up. I don't want to listen to your
nagging anymore."
"Kevin, take your anger out on me, not him."
"Didn't I tell you to get out of my apartment?"
"You mentioned it. Before you decided to threaten our
poor cat. Leave him alone. Stop assaulting our cat and talk to me for once."
"You never listen, so what's the point?"
"Well, I must have listened once.... We got this far,
didn't we?" Jasmine's voice softened, and almost cracked. I was sitting
in the box he had used as the present box. It had always stayed in the corner
of Kevin's entranceway, as a reminder in a sense. I guess a vision of me
in it had spawned some memories.
For the majority of my first year, everything had been
perfectly fine. I reveled in the rare Friday night movie fests in which
Kevin and Jasmine would curl up on the couch and I would always find a perfect
spot to sit contently between them. Rare only because of their schedules,
not because of any lack of commitment either part. I even got to go into
the studio a few times; the other guys gave me hell, and jokingly let Kevin
know they could turn their dogs loose on my if I ever gave any trouble (such
comments I feel were highly unnecessary!) Those were the days I only missed
once they were gone. I don’t even remember when the last movie night was,
when I last saw one of the guys in the studio, or now, come to think of it,
the even the occurrence of their last kiss. Slowly, things had begun to sour.
They'd bicker, but somehow always make up. Not fully make up, though; there
would always be this tension floating about, a tension they tried to ignore,
but that I could always sense.
"Yeah, we did get pretty far, huh?" Kevin's voice softened
as well. Jasmine's eyes were full of tears, but had held them back during
the whole evening. Only now, when she sensed that ounce of compassion, did
the tears begin streaming down her face.
"Somehow, yeah...we did." Jasmine's voice wavered.
"Thee years...three years...what happened?"
"I don't know you anymore, Kevin..." she almost whispered.
"I miss you."
They had met in circumstances that reminded me of the
million chick-flick movies we had watched. She was the sister of one of
Brian's friends from high school. Kevin and her had known each other when
they were younger, but had grown apart. Brian finally invited that friend
to a concert, who grabbed the big sister so be company. I'd heard Kevin
recite the moment so many times before: Jasmine had been sitting by a table
of food backstage, reading a Peter Mayle book, completely oblivious of the
chaos around her. Kevin ran by, looking for his water bottle, and mistook
her unopened one for his. Essentially, they met with a fight. She practically
assaulted him, beating him with her book till she figured out who it was.
She profusely apologized and both crumpled
onto the floor in a fit of laughter. After the show, when everyone else went
out to party, the two remained in Kevin's hotel room and ordered pay-per-view
movies. And the rest, as they say, was history...
"Don't do this again, Jasmine. This is how it always
works out. We think about the 'good old times' and somehow make up. But we
don't. It's just superficial. It just makes the next fight worse. I can't
handle this anymore. My heart--"
"--Can't handle this anymore," she finished his sentence
for him.
No no no no!! They can't be calling it quits!
I curled up in the box. I didn't want to look at them anymore. I was their
cat, not his or hers. I was their kid. This was like a divorce. And I wasn't
taking it too well.
"Truce?" Kevin meekly stuck out his hand. Jasmine looked
at me, blinked hard, and sighed. She met his hand with a firm shake from
hers.
"Truce. We won't end this mad at each other."
With that, Jasmine picked up her bag in one hand, and
scooped my box in the other. I jumped out and ran back to my spot under
the couch.
"Looks like he's trying to tell us something..." Kevin
commented.
"I'll be back for my other stuff tomorrow morning. Keep
him, here. Just so it won't be a shock to him...k?" Jasmine said in a small
voice.
"Yeah...k. Damn. This feels like a custody case. Who's
gonna get the kid?" he meekly laughed. Jasmine half smiled back at him.
"He's ours. Not yours. Not mine. But ours." With that,
she left.
Jasmine didn't come back the next morning. I ended up
sitting on Kevin's chest to wake him up. That was around noon. She came
in the afternoon with a box, a small one. Why didn't she get it over with
already? True, not all of her stuff was there, but there was a substantial
amount. She'd take me back and forth now and then; but it's like she never
had the guts to just go and do the task all at once. It was like she was
weaning herself instead of going cold turkey. Was that a sign?
Thank goodness this happened after the holiday season
and New Years. Knowing Jasmine, seeing the other happy couples, she probably
would have gotten really depressed. She begrudgingly made herself a batch
of cupcakes (and let me have some frosting!) for happy SAD (Single Awareness
Day) instead of Valentine's Day. I know the guys dragged Kevin somewhere,
but I have a feeling he left early and went home to either write music or
watch TV. Jasmine's friends tried to get her out of her place too, but she
just gave them the extra cupcakes, skillfully directed them back outside,
and shut the door.
A few weeks turned into a few months...and before I knew
it, it was almost May 2nd, the day that Kevin had stole her water bottle.
A year later, it happened to be the first time they made love. They used it
as their anniversary date. On May 1st, I could assume Kevin was pacing his
apartment. I couldn't know for sure, since I was sitting pretty with Jasmine.
She was watching TV and giving me a nice petting. The phone rang.
"You forgot something," Jasmine heard Kevin's voice.
I looked up when she stopped with the glorious pets. "Come over tomorrow night."
"Um, I think I got everything, Kev. My last trip was
over a month ago..." Jasmine trailed off, confused by the tone of his voice.
"You forgot something. Jas. Trust me."
"Kevin, aren't you supposed to be recording today?"
Jasmine tried to change the subject.
"You forgot something. Come get it. Bring Raja. I'll
see you tomorrow." With that, he hung up. Jasmine looked at the telephone
in her hands and gave an exasperated sigh at the telephone.
"Alright, Raj. Looks like Daddy Aladdin has something
up his sleeve..."
Jasmine opened the door since she still had the spare
key. The apartment was dark. "Kevin?" she called out. My eyes focused in
the dark. You poor humans and your lack of nocturnal vision. I could see him standing in the living room.
Jasmine closed the door and walked towards the living
room. She almost tripped over something--it was a lamp. It was Kevin's (it
had been another convenient part in their Aladdin joke). What was it doing
on the floor?
We both heard a match flare and saw a candle emerge in
the darkness. The light danced off Kevin's face. "Open it."
Jasmine put down my box and looked skeptically at the
lamp.
She picked it up, opened it, and peered inside.
In it was a tiny velvet box.
She looked up.
Kevin lit two more candles.
He was wearing the Aladdin suite.
He looked so stupid.
So freaking stupid.
But it was so perfect.
She started to cry.
"I told you, you forgot something... You forgot me."
Jasmine's hands were shaking. Kevin rescued the lamp
before it fell and placed it on the coffee table. I hopped out of my box
to go inspect it.
He took the tiny box from her trembling hand, took that
hand in his, and knelt down.
"You forgot me... We forgot each other..." he began,
pausing incase she had any objections. When he was met with silence, he continued.
"Jasmine, we've been through a lot. We knew each other before all this adult
crap got in the way. And we spent almost three years together... I wish
I could take back every argument, but I can't. Relationships are about work.
They're tough. But they're worth it...
"I thought being away from you would help me start anew,
help me get out of the rut we both fell into. But the effect was opposite.
You can get out of a rut, but not a grave. I felt dead with out you...I miss
you. Hell, I miss fighting with you. I miss your eyes, the way they gaze at
me when no words need to be expressed. I miss your lips, the way they look
when you tell me you love me. I miss the smell of your hair. I miss your
laughter at my stupid jokes. I miss you waking me up when I try to sleep in.
I miss your tantrums. I miss spoiling Raja and you yelling at me for it.
I miss doing laundry together. I miss sending you postcards from when we
travel. I miss having you to distract me from the details in the long, boring
award shows we attend. I miss your voice on my cell phone when I'm stuck
at the studio all day. I miss being a stay-at-home-stick-in-the-mud with
you when the others wanna party. I miss cuddling. I miss the movie nights
with Raja...
"I miss us. I miss ALL of us," he almost whispered, turning
his head to look at me. I had chosen to sit a few feet away from them to observe.
I cocked my head to the side. Jasmine remained quiet.
"I wanted to make US more official. I planned this 6
months after we met, as crazy as it sounds, but was too chickenshit to ask.
But now I see I should have. Fighting or not, you complete me. You're my
match. The other half that gives me balance. We may both be stubborn at times,
but that’s what keeps things interesting...I thought my heart couldn't handle
us fighting, but that was mere exercise for it. It was tiring, but our hearts
stayed fit... What my heart truly can't handle is knowing where you live,
seeing you around, sharing our kid, but not being yours. That is a pain that
I can't bear...will you help give Raja back his Mommy & Daddy?......Will
you marry me?"
At that, Jasmine's knee's crumbled. Just as they met
like out of a movie, this scene was picture perfect as well. She engulfed
him in a hug and began sobbing heavily...with happiness.
Two years later, I'm sitting pretty in the middle of
them as they watch a movie on the couch. They're comfortable, but I'm not.
I thought I was, till something kicked me in the head. Supposedly a new member
of the family is coming soon. And she's damn feisty. I can't sit near Jasmine's
belly for too long without getting socked. This kid had better be cute,
though. I know for sure, like the rest of us, it's gonna be a stubborn little
thing =)
.My.Stories.
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