A Black Cat Crossing in Front of a Car Ron AI
I will admit I was a little bit drunk, and, as usual at parties like this, the last one to leave and help out the hostess whose husband had gone to bed to sleep it off.
Claudia and I carried all the glasses and plates to the kitchen, when, in the heat of my long-time growing passion for her—watching her beautiful body swaying ahead of me—I came up close behind her, turned her around, took the wine glass out of her hand, and pulled her close.
When I gave her a sloppy kiss and placed my right hand on her left boob, she tensed a bit but, then relaxed for a moment, letting my hand roam, starting to feel my pleasure, too.
Then, her eyes narrowed, and Claudia politely removed my hand. “Not tonight, Harvey. Do you want me to drive you home? So glad you came to my party, but not tonight.”
I backed off, knowing she’d warmed for a moment and she wanted to. Unfortunately, it would be bad for both of us since her husband, Richard, and her, were my business partners.
I thought, Maybe sometime soon, and pecked her on the cheek, then turned and headed for the door. I nearly tripped on the rug in my half-inebriated state. But was still confident that I could drive, like I had many times before, always making it home safe.
I was about a mile from my house when that damned black cat came into my LED beams, even though they were so bright they lit up the whole road ahead of my car for fifty yards.
The cat crossed in front of me, and I thought it would make it until it stopped in the middle of my path and stared at me. Its bright yellow eyes taunting me.
I hit the brakes, hard! And then remembered I hadn’t had them repaired when I discovered they pulled to the right on hard braking a couple of days before. I let up on them, and my car scooted up over the curb to the right and across the sidewalk, narrowly missing a huge oak tree. My front wheels ended up in the yard turned muddy after the recent rain.
At the last second, the cat leapt to the left, and ran to the other side of the street. As I relaxed where I stopped on that lawn, I thought, That was one damned lucky cat.
I got out and surveyed the damage. Holding onto the front of the car for support on the rain slick, steep lawn, I saw there was no damage to my car. I got back in the car, backed down into the street, and drove off, leaving only deep ruts in the lawn of a stranger. No use waking him up in the night tipsy just to tell him I’d fix his lawn.
Was it the curse of that cat, I wondered.
That Sunday morning, I got up a little later than normal and had forgotten about what happened. As usual, as a single man, there were always things to do around the house, and I busied myself doing them—nothing really unusual. The toilet off my bedroom was leaking, and I couldn't get it stopped myself. I tried to mow the lawn, and my lawnmower quit halfway through. While trying to get it running again, I pulled on the cord so many times I broke it. I was beginning to think maybe all this was something to do with the cat… No, it can't be, that's just a superstition.
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Claudia got up and made breakfast for her husband like she always did on Sunday morning. She knew Richard liked everything just right and on time. This morning, he was a bit slow and she wondered why? His food was getting cold and he would complain about it. But then, she heard the door close from the backyard and he came running up the steps to greet her. It was a big surprise because she hadn't looked to see if he was there on the other side of the bed when she got up and didn't care to anyway.
Richard popped into the kitchen all sweaty and announced, “I guess you stayed up too late last night. You were sound asleep when I woke. So, I took a jog to get what's on my chest off and I feel a bit better, but not completely.”
“Good morning to you, too.” Claudia replied, a bit sarcastically, “So… What's on your mind that you have to get off your chest?”
“What I videoed last night.”
“You made a video last night? I didn't see you videoing anyone at the party.”
“Of course, it was after the party when the two of you, Harvey and you, got together in the kitchen washing dishes after cleaning up. Got the whole thing on my phone, including everything you said.”
Claudia was a bit shaken by what she'd heard. “What are you going to do about it?”
“I'm not sure, yet, but I'm going to end it some way. I know that Harvey Wall is our partner, but I think I've got enough leverage to do something about him. In the meantime, you are married to me and me alone. I haven't given you any permission to have any affairs, only to have our first child as soon as possible.
“You know, Richard, we can't have babies. And like you've told me, I'm infertile. Why can't we just adopt?”
“I want our baby the old-fashioned way!” Richard replied in a determined tone. “Like that Forrest Gump said in that movie, with adoption… 'It's like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're going to get.’” Startled at his own quip, he chuckled.
Claudia rankled and clammed up like she usually did when Richard began to rule the roost. They spent the rest of breakfast in silence while she thought, I wonder what he has in mind for Harvey, but didn't ask it.
The rest of the day was a normal Sunday for them. Richard spent part of it at the golf course with his buddies and the rest of it at the office, arriving late for dinner Claudia prepared for them. They both ate in steely silence. Claudia had spent her day doing household chores and dreaded going to the office the next morning.
###
As head of promotion for the business, Claudia knew we only thrived because of my hard work. I was the smallest investor with only 10% of the firm. Richard had invested 15% and used Claudia's inheritance from her father for the other 75%, giving him basically, 90% of the business while I did 90% of the work. Her key position did 100% of the essential marketing task, getting the word out on what our company did for other companies, mostly, software for improving business efficiency. Done by a group of coders led by me. Richard couldn't code software and didn't care to.
Back in high school, Richard and I were neighbors. We formed our friendship in grade school but always seemed to be on different tracks in life. Richard was into sports and didn't get good grades, but his father was a lawyer and could get him what he needed to get ahead in life.
I, on the other hand, came from a hard-working family where my father was a mechanic and my mother a teacher's aide. I set my sights on college and took all the advanced elective math and science courses I could in high school.
Claudia seemed unattainable to both of us—a high school goddess. She was the daughter of a very successful owner of a car dealership in town. She was very popular and one of the most beautiful students in our class. She was a cheerleader and both Prom Queen and Homecoming Queen. But always on the arm of jocks who ruled high school.
I had fantasies of her ever since she gave me a copy of her eighth-grade prom picture when I helped her with her algebra. She always gave me looks that I liked. I even got to dance with her up close during dance lessons a few Friday noons in our senior year, but I never got up enough courage to ask her out.
On the other hand, Richard had a couple of dates with her near the end of our senior year until both of us enrolled in two different colleges. Richard earned a degree in business administration from a local state college and Claudia a degree in social work from the same state school.
I worked through high school. My parents were strapped with bills, and I wanted to go to the polytechnic college in the next state. Without borrowing a lot of money, my only option was ROTC, so I took it for a free ride to a degree in computer science I completed in three years.
I signed up for the Air Force and was sent to Alaska.
When I was on leave near the end of my tour, I checked in with Richard's family next door and learned that Richard was working as a law clerk for his father's firm and going to law school. He had a high-rise apartment downtown. I called and we got together and talked about what we were doing over a few beers. Richard shared that he wasn't doing well in law school,
“What do you think of us starting a consulting business? You have the computer smarts, and my dad has a list of companies in trouble because they are not computerized enough to be competitive. What do you think?”
I hesitated a moment, because what he said came out of the blue… Answered with, “That does sound like a good idea, Richard. I probably would be working for a major company, anyway. But I've gathered enough skills, especially with the Internet, to help companies with their operations and their Internet exposure.”
“That's great, Harvey! I hoped you would feel that way. Let me get the ball rolling on that idea while you finish up your tour. Of course, you will have to fork up some cash if you want a partnership.”
“How much.”
“A few grand, 10 or 20,” Richard said. “I've been dating Claudia. She's been working for the city and hates the way she's been treated… You know… Sexual harassment for her good looks and not her ability. They're not giving her any recognition for her work with the poor here. So… I'm thinking of making her a partner doing promotion. Her father just died and her mother is going to sell the dealership, leaving Claudia a ton of money to help start our business. What do you say? Are you in?”
“It's a lot to think about,” I said. “But it sounds great. It would give me independence.
To be continued…
Copyright 2024 © Ronald W. Hull
2/14/24
