Cat on the Fence (14 page)

Karabi scoffed. “So help me understand. Exactly how will the
treatment be made?”

“I don’t fully understand it myself but I’m not the doctor.
You’ll have to ask your father to explain it to you.”

Karabi winced. Fat chance of that happening anytime soon.
She glanced at Sree again. She knew he could hear them. They were standing
outside the room. But not once did he look up to acknowledge Karabi. Just being
back in that apartment with them made her felt as if she were suffocating. She
wanted to get out of there as soon as she could.

She turned to her mother and pulled up the sleeve of her
shirt. “Take my blood sample now, then,” she said. “I need to go.”

Rohini furrowed her brows. “You’re not going to wait for
your friend to wake up?”

“I can’t hang around here for twenty-four hours, Mum. He
knows my number. He can call me when he wakes up. If he wants to.”

Rohini nodded and led the way to the bathroom, where Karabi
followed. Neither one of them spoke while the blood was drawn. When it was
over, Karabi grabbed her coat and went to the door but Rohini stood in front of
it, acting as a blockade.

“Please stay,” Rohini said.

“Mum, don’t,” Karabi whined. “You know I can’t.”

“You can. It doesn’t have to be like this. Stay, so we can
all talk while we wait for Alex to get better.”

Karabi sighed and shook her head. The air in the apartment
was thinning, the walls were closing in. “Not right now, Mum. I’ve been through
so much already. I just really want to go home. Please.”

Rohini looked at her with sad eyes but she stepped aside.
Karabi paused and flashed her mother a warm smile. “Thank you for helping him,”
Karabi said. “He’s a really good guy.”

“I know,” Rohini said. “I could tell from the first moment I
met him.”

Karabi cringed at that and pulled away when the woman moved
in for a hug. But she was determined not to look ungrateful by bringing up the
whole setup thing right now. “I-I’ve got to go,” she mumbled, opening the door
and hurrying out of the apartment before she had to look at that woman’s
breaking heart a second longer.

Karabi stood at the fence outside the lion’s den at the zoo.
A few changes had been made to the habitat and she wanted to see what it looked
like from the perspective of a zoo patron. It looked amazing. The new trees and
rocks made the habitat seem a lot more natural while still being aesthetically
pleasing. There was also plenty more space for all the young cubs to run around
without hurting themselves now, and they immediately took to it. The adult
lions, however, barely seemed to register the changes. Didn’t matter how many
changes were made to the habitat. Either way, the fact remained they were still
trapped in a cage.

Karabi knew that feeling all too well.

She knew he was coming while he was still almost ten feet
away. She’d spotted him out of the corner of her eye about a minute ago. He
came to over to Karabi so casually, with so much calm and coolness. As if
standing by her side was simply where he was supposed to be. Never mind that it
had been two weeks and four days since they’d seen or spoken to each other. But
there was comfort now in him filling that space next to her. That space where
it felt as if he was supposed to be.

“It looks so different here,” he said. “Even some of the
animals seem different.”

“It’s spring now,” she said. “Things are changing.”

“It came so fast. Seems like this place was just covered in
snow.”

“That’s because it’s going on three weeks since you’ve been
here,” Karabi said. She finally turned to face him. Alex was more handsome than
ever. He looked vibrant and healthy. He was wearing a shirt with a knit vest on
over it. She could still tell he was firm and fit under there. Looked as though
he’d been getting plenty of exercise and sunshine, whatever he’d been doing. He
turned to look at her and the corners of his mouth curled up into a soft smile,
lifting her heart up with them. “Where have you been?” she asked. “The zoo says
you no longer work here. Your contract isn’t up until next week.”

“They called to tell me I was fired a few days after you’d
left me at your parents’ apartment.”

“What? After all of the awesome work you’ve done for us? Did
they say why?”

“They gave some vague explanation about not being sure I was
the right fit due to all of my absences. They also said I exhibited some odd,
inconsistent behavior. I’m pretty sure they think I was on drugs.”

“Oh no,” Karabi half laughed and half cried. “I could talk
to them, tell them you don’t do drugs, you were just sick and had a lot of
personal—”

“No, don’t,” Alex stopped her. “I don’t think I would have
accepted even if they had made me an offer. I already have another job that I
started last week. A bigwig who attended our zoo masquerade who contacted me.
Said he loved everything about the ball and offered me a job right on the spot,
as a dual event planner and finance manager at his firm.”

Karabi laughed. “Well, that was a pretty awesome event.
Congratulations on the new job!”

“Thanks,” he said. He took a slight step back as if he
wanted get a better look at her. “So. How are you?”

She shrugged. “I’m okay. Not too bad, not too great. The
more important question is, how are you?”

“I’m good,” Alex said. “Your parents took great care of me.
I was up and about in a day and a half. My blood was completely free of toxins
and I was in full control of the tiger by the end of the week. Your mother
started introducing me to the Pride members who live there. They’re all cool
about me not being a member, since I’m a new Cat and all. Also, there are those
private woods on the property that your father and I have been using to help me
practice hunting like a normal big cat. You never told me that your father was
a tiger too.”

Karabi cleared her throat. “Yeah, he is. I’m glad they were
able to give you all the help you needed.”

“Well.” Alex moved in close, entering that space right in
front of her that sent her heart racing. “They couldn’t help me with
everything
.
Apparently my increased libido came with the tiger. Not the bite.”

“You were horny before the tiger came out.”

“Mostly every time I was near you.”

She folded her arms. “Who have you been near the past couple
of weeks, then, that proved to you your libido was still around?”

“No one,” he said with a chuckle. But then his expression
turned serious. His blue-gray eyes burned into hers. “But I’ve thought a lot
about you. Have you thought about me?”

She licked her lips and took a couple steps back to try to
free herself from being pulled into his enticing energy. “Maybe.” She tried to
turn away but couldn’t help but stare back up longingly at that delicious mouth
of his. “Yes,” she changed her answer.

“You didn’t return my call.”

“You only left one message.”

“I didn’t want to harass you if you honestly didn’t want to
be bothered. I wanted you to know that I was thinking of you, but I also wanted
to give you time, if you needed it.”

Karabi blew air out of her lips and looked down at the
ground. She finally got a guy who
didn’t
leave her a hundred messages
and she’d still gotten annoyed with him. What was wrong with her? “I appreciate
that. I guess I really wasn’t ready to talk to you yet.”

“Still on the fence about me, huh?”

She shrugged. “I’m still on the fence about everything. The
Pride. What it is I’m looking for. You and me.”

“What could I have done differently to at least make you
feel better about the you-and-me part?”

“Honestly? Nothing. It was more about me than you.”

Alex scoffed. “Oh no. Not the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ line.”

“No, hear me out. You were right. I’m hotheaded. Independent
to a fault, and sometimes stubborn beyond reason. I’ve let you suffer because
of
my
selfish pride. Not to mention, I’m the one who got you into this
mess. I don’t even know why you want me. I’m broken. I’m not sure I deserve
you. I’m afraid—I’m afraid that after you’ve spent time with me for a while,
and
really
got to know me, you’d realize I’m not what you really want.”

He reached out and tenderly took several strands of her long
hair, stroking them between his fingers. “It’s my job to decide what I want,
not yours. And I’m certain I want you. Endearing stubbornness and all.”

Karabi blinked several times to keep her eyes from watering.
“Why?”

“Why not? Because you’re not perfect? Who the hell is? You
fell for me, even though I’ve been nothing
but
a mess from the day we
met. You don’t need to be perfect to be with someone. Just be perfect for
someone.”

“You’re on lunch break, right? Would you like to go
someplace to get something to eat?”

She bit her lip and shook her head. “Thank you, but no. I
still—I have some self-healing to do first.”

Alex looked disappointed but he nodded acquiescingly. “Well…whenever
you’re ready to climb down off that fence, if you’re on my side, come look me
up.”

“You’re going to wait for me?”

He shrugged with a grin. “I don’t know. Depends on how long
you make me wait.”

She laughed softly. “Gee, thanks.”

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her sweetly on the side of
her mouth. “You’re not the only one who has some thinking to do. I need to
figure out what I’m going to do now that I’m a Stray Cat all alone out there in
the world.” He straightened up. “I’m going to get out of here then. I’m
starving. It was good to see you, Karabi.”

He started to walk away when Karabi called out to him.
“Alex,” she said. She waited until he stopped and turned to look at her.
“You’re not alone. My parents will look out for you.”

He gave her a long, thoughtful look. Then he smiled. “You’re
right. They already do. Your parents are good people, Karabi,” he said. Then he
left.

Karabi watched him walk off. The irony was that he was the
orphan but
she
was the one who was the Stray. And she felt more alone
now than ever.

* * * * *

Sree entered the apartment and closed the door behind him.
He started taking off his jacket when he saw Karabi setting the plates on the
table, and froze. “What is she doing here?” he asked.

Karabi had been wondering the same thing. She’d been
thinking about them every day for a week and half, after Alex had visited her
at the zoo. She wasn’t sure what compelled her mother to call and invite her
over for dinner. Nor why she agreed to it. But Karabi felt driven to try to end
the standoff between them. It was only a month ago that she was there, dropping
off an injured Alex before taking off, but it seemed like ages. The apartment
felt foreign yet a place she was very well acquainted with at the same time.

“I invited her for dinner and she accepted.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to talk with her.”

“Well, if she’s staying, I’m not.” He slid his jacket back
onto his shoulders.

“Sree.” Rohini marched over to him and grabbed his arm. “Don’t
you think this has gone on long enough? It’s been
ten years
that neither
one of you was willing to put your pride aside. But finally, she has made the
first time by coming here tonight. This is our
daughter
, Sree. Come sit
down and eat. Let’s talk.”

“I have nothing to say to her.”

“Saying nothing says something too, you know,” Rohini
chastised him. “Is that really the message you want to convey to her after all
of this time?”

He paused, reflecting on those words. He drooped his
shoulders and tossed his jacket on the couch, walking past them to go to the
bathroom. He came out and sat at the table without looking up.

They ate in silence for a long while. Every once in a while
Karabi and Rohini’s eyes met and they’d flash each other an awkward smile. So
Karabi put her focus on devouring the meal—spicy chicken tikka masala with
brown rice and garlic naan.

“This is really good, Rohini,” Sree said after a while.

“Karabi made it,” Rohini said.

Sree glanced quickly at Karabi, then looked off to the side
as he spoke to her. “Thanks for making dinner,” he said.

“You’re welcome.”

“Are you seeing anyone?”

“Right this moment? Not really.”

“Are you still attracted to women?”

Karabi nearly choked on her food. “I will always be bisexual,
Papa. I wish you wouldn’t hate me for that.”

“He doesn’t hate that you’re bisexual, you know that,”
Rohini defended him.

Karabi lowered her eyes and twisted her mouth sarcastically.
“Do I know that? Really?”

“If you don’t, you should,” Sree spoke up. “We’re a dying
breed. You know how important it is that we procreate. You come from a long
bloodline of Weres—you have strong Cat genes. We expect you to continue the
lineage. You ignoring your Cat and fooling around with females and humans
doesn’t serve any purpose other than to waste time.”

Karabi dropped her fork. Her cheeks were red with anger and
frustration. What a waste of time this was. Her father was never going to
change and neither was she. She pushed her chair from the table and was about
to abandon the rest of her meal and leave when Rohini spoke up.

“Oh Sree, can’t you can find a better way to say what you
feel than that?”

When Sree apologized and hung his head, Karabi sat back,
stunned.

“Karabi, you know how much your father and I want
grandchildren,” Rohini continued. “You are our only child and our greatest
contribution to the world, to the Pride, to our family. Sure it would be great
for you to have more Werecats for the Pride, but the truth is we always wanted
more children than we were successful in having. You are the only chance we
have of expanding our family. Your father is just so disappointed that you won’t
marry, it’s easier for him to talk about rules and expectations than his
feelings.”

Karabi took a deep breath. Then she scooted her chair back
up to the table and took a long swallow of water from her glass. When she put
the glass down she was able to see things from her father’s perspective a lot
more clearly than she ever had.

“Papa, just because I am bisexual doesn’t mean I can’t get
married or have children.”

“But
will
you get married?” he asked. “Will you have
children? You don’t seem the settling-down kind. You never have. You haven’t
ever considered anyone seriously enough to just bring home to meet us. Male or
female. You don’t even take your own Cat seriously.”

“I’m only twenty-nine, I won’t even turn thirty until this
summer. I have plenty of time to settle down. Why must you to try to rush me on
this?”

“Why must you go so slow?” Sree asked. “What exactly are you
waiting for?”

Karabi folded her arms and looked away. “I don’t know.”

“What is it that you need, Karabi?” Rohini asked.

“I have what I need. My freedom. My independence. The
ability to be who I am, and no more or no less.”

“And are you happy?”

The question threw her off guard. “What?”

“Are you happy with your life, Karabi? I hear you saying you
have everything you need, and that is good! But do you also have whatever it is
that you want?”

Karabi let out a long, drawn-out breath. “Yes. I mean, no. I
don’t know. I’m-I’m not sure I know what happy is anymore.”

No one said anything else for a few minutes after that,
instead choosing to continue to eat.

“That Alex sure was happy to get to know you,” Rohini said,
breaking the silence. “He’s such a handsome, intelligent young man. And he
cares for you. You shouldn’t be too hasty in dismissing him.”

“Mum—”

“Yes, I like that one,” her father said. “He’s a healthy,
strong man. Plus he’s a Tom. He’s nothing like that last one you were seeing. What
was his name—Chaudhuri?”

Rohini poked Sree in the ribs. “What?” the older man said.