Every morning before he would go to work, Joe would get some moist cat food; cram it into a plastic semi-transparent plunger and try to force feed poor little Betty. She would only hiss and turn her head. As each day passed she became weaker and frailer. Joe was desperate. He got up one morning, filled the plastic plunger and shoved it in the back corner of Betty’s mouth and said: “God damn it cat, eat!”

This time she didn’t fight and started to lick the end of the plunger. “Good girl Betty…good girl.”

 

It was amazing how fast Betty recovered after she started eating again. After that she spent every minute following around the man who nursed her back to good health—well almost good health. She still had a bad eye and horrible breath, because the accident caused a digestive problem. But she was alive—and when she was with Joe, happy. Betty wasn’t supposed to be on Joe’s bed when he was sleeping, but every morning since she started to feel better Joe would wake up to her one green eye and one multi-colored eye staring right into his eyes—so close he could smell her bad breath. 

“You’re not supposed to be up here Betty,” was always followed by a loud meow and purring. Betty was Joe’s girl now.

 

As Joe lay in bed that first night in his new home, memories from his old house and marriage with Connie were coming back to haunt him. He was a failure at marriage and right now that made him feel like a failure at life. Eventually he would start dating again but the pain of his broken marriage would stay with him for a long time. Romance seemed far away. But Joe wasn’t a quitter, and he would never give up on love … But where to find it?