Page 53 of The Chemistry Test

Cam

Bloody hell. That must be the cruellest thing she’s ever done. And if I know her as well as I think I do, by a long shot. I snap myself out of it, the only thing worse than being in that moment is reliving it.

If we weren’t home for Christmas or if I knew where she lived, I would’ve tried again.

Although maybe it’s lucky for her that I don’t have that option.

Mum said when a girl says no, it means no.

But I don’t know if that would’ve been enough to stop me turning up on her doorstep anyway. Just in case it didn’t.

She didn’t give me a chance to say any of the stuff that might’ve made a difference. Like how neither of us are bad people, just terrible communicators with good intentions and questionable judgement. Just like most people are.

Things that can very easily be worked on, especially as the bigger things, like what we enjoy and our moral compass, etc., are already aligned. It’s not either of us who would need to change for it to work. Just how we communicate.

I wish she’d let me say all that rather than shutting me down like she did. Too quick to run away, in the very same way that I was when I ran out on her. Good old karma, proving that she may be a bitch, but only if you are first. And in this case, I guess I was.

‘Oh, she’s here, Cam,’ Josie says suddenly, looking out the window.

She looks relieved, as if there’s a good chance I’ll finally change the subject now I have something else to focus on.

I might not be able to turn up on Penny’s doorstep, but we’ve been waiting all day for someone else to turn up on ours.

I open the door and try my best to not look or sound annoyed.

‘Thanks again for having her back,’ the woman says, thrusting the carry case at me like it’s contaminated with the bubonic plague. She turns on her heels and jogs back to her car like she can’t leave fast enough. Well, good.

‘Hi, stranger,’ I murmur, peering in to see her as I carry her back through the hallway. ‘Here she is,’ I say, bringing her into the big conservatory at the side of the house – for the very first time. ‘Our second kitten-room graduate and world’s most perfect cat.’

Josie practically pounces on us as I put the case down.

‘Whenever you’re ready, Tabby-cat,’ I say, opening the door. And then, there she is. My little sidekick, back in the family.

‘Look at her,’ Josie coos, darting a toy back and forth on the floor to tempt her out. ‘You were right, she’s perfect. I just don’t understand it.’

I sigh. I may have past experience with stuff like this, but honestly, neither do I.

The woman said she couldn’t cope with a kitten who was ‘this energetic’ and that we’d see what she meant if we took her back.

But here, for all intents and purposes, is a very normal kitten.

I can tell Josie’s itching to take her, but now the nesting instinct is kicking in, she made me promise not to let her.

‘I just wish she’d dropped her off sooner,’ I say.

She’s five months old now, so won’t be anywhere near as easy to adopt out as a normal, tiny kitten.

To typical prospective cat owners, especially those with kids, she’s just not quite as cute and not quite as fun. We’ve already learned that from Callie, who’s been ready for adoption for over three weeks, but doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

‘It’s almost like she didn’t know what a kitten was,’ I say, baffled by it.

‘Don’t get me wrong, I know kittens aren’t for everyone, but the way she was blaming her and making it sound like Tabby , specifically, is the problem, is what annoyed me.

As if I don’t know her like she does? Yeah, right. ’

Josie rubs my arm. I don’t think she’s seen me this pissed-off before, but I have every right to be. Maybe not at the woman, but definitely at the situation.

Not just this one, either. All of it. How things ended with Penny and how things ended up with my two little sidekicks as well. None of it for any good reason.

I look at Tabby now, curling her way back into the carry case.

No one puts Baby in the corner, and no one is ever going to put this baby back in a corner for a reason like this.

Ever again. She’s not being adopted out of the country next time, and that’s that.

No more long-haul to-ing and fro-ing for her.

‘Still, she must’ve really hated her to be willing to drive six hours each way to get rid of her,’ Josie teases.

I laugh. ‘Yeah, there’s no doubt they weren’t a good fit. Maybe she’d prefer something a bit calmer,’ I smirk. ‘Like a pet rock or something.’

She glares at me, trying not to laugh. I gently slide Tabby out and snap a photo to Penny, saying the same thing.

I know she’ll find this whole situation ridiculous too.

It’s only after I’ve sent it that I realise she might not want to talk to me at all.

The whole strangers to not-quite lovers to strangers again shitshow.

But it’s too late now. She can ignore it if she wants to.

The ball is, and always has been, in her court.