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Cat Street Chapter 1

Feel This

Kirsty sat there in bed, pained, drained, and just about any other synonymous sting of "tragic" you can think of. The cat stared at the ceiling, then the TV, then the floor, and back again to the ceiling. Her lime eyes reflecting the sunlight, muffled out by the window blinds. Already missed enough work. Already been given the notice that she'd be fired in a few weeks. Did it even matter? Should she even care about going back now? It's not like she liked the job, nor like she cared. Her black fur, disheveled. The cat needed a shower. A shower and a pick-me up. Some coffee should do. But wait... she didn't have any creamer. Shit. She gets out of bed regardless, sluggishly, and only once her body would actually let her in the first place.

Shifting and shambling about awkwardly, Kirsty readjusted the shorts she sleeps in, and takes yet another deep breath. Finally and properly on her feet and out of bed, she takes a moment to get a nice, long stretch out of the way. Her small white top pulled up enough that her white underbelly was hit with the warmth of the light from outside. In came that deep breath. And with it, life and thought returned to her. But so too did that ever so delightful friend, existential dread. Riddled over and over by the anxiety of her situation, she grabbed up her phone, and opened her bank app. "Mmm... well... I can probably scrounge through this month... and I've got enough in my savings to last a month or two after that. And then..." the suggestion that anything waited beyond that dragged her back to the floor of her mind. Cornered yet again. As though nothing has changed over the past year.

Thoughts and terrors of what had been, and what would, float about in her head. She went into the small hall bathroom of her apartment, and tossed herself into the shower. "At least I know that if this is how I die, that I'll at least be ready for hell." As she turned the knobs, stopped the faucet, and felt the water pour down over her; cold! She jolted back, shocked. Slowly the water heated up, and things went back to the routine. That momentary reprieve of her brain fixating on the immediate, led her back into a new set of thoughts, now retrospective. Ever since she was left on her own at her old place, it's been one mess after the next. Lost her best job because she couldn't go back and forth on her own, wound up in a fast food job run by a total creep and his horrible wife. Then the family gave her a place to stay. Another fast food job, this time the polar opposite. But just like the first, it ran her into the ground, and barely gave her something to show for it. Finally she got a job with the company that ran her first one, but it just wasn't the same. People in this city just didn't seem to get her. To say nothing of what kinds of people she ran into around here. She knew cities in the south were full of some of the worst, but not that they were this bad. And now she was right back where she started. Again.

Deep breaths flow into the cat, as she tries to ground herself again. Slowly pacing over some sensory elements around her to bring her back to reality. The fact is simple. She needs money. Money comes from work. Work sucks. Work sucks a lot. She needs work that sucks less. But what? What fuels her passions? What does she love to do? She knows what she enjoys of course. But how on earth is any of it going to work? Wracking her brain, but never really going out of her way to find an answer. Uncertainty became fear once again, and she stepped away from it all.

Out of the shower, she grabs some clothes. Kirsty's usual attire, a black pair of shorts, and a green t-shirt for the hot weather outside. Into the living room now, she sat down and grabbed her pack. And just as she was sitting down, the front door's lock loudly unlatched. Her heart stopped. In burst Jacob, her roommate. The stark white horse was laughing and smiling, talking to whoever it was outside, before turning to see the cat settled on the couch. His smile shifted to a subtle frown. "Did you have work today?"

"No." She replied in a half lie. Turning away from him to focus back on getting ready.

"You still work at Robert's Club don't you?" He asked, now entering the apartment in full. Dropping a case of cheap beer loudly on the kitchen counter on the other side of the room.

She sighed. Trying to hide it, or at least contain it. "Yes, I still work there." She technically was still employed... but not for long, and for that matter, she hadn't been back there in three days.

In came the one who was behind the door. A vixen, a black furred "silver" vixen as they are sometimes known. Likely Jacob's new sex object of the month. He was known to bring back a new girl with him every so often. Usually the girl he cheated on the previous one with. While the cat herself wasn't exactly known for being the patron saint of romance, there was still something just inherently gross to her about the relationship present before her. The vixen said something that Kirsty didn't really pay attention to. Then in came Jacob again. "Well I wish y'all would clean up around here for once! If you're gonna live here you oughta be doing something at least." He shoved a broom into the cat's hand, having retrieved it from the laundry closet in the hall. Typical of Jacob really. He'd vanish for weeks, sometimes even months on end, and show up at the apartment out of the blue. Every time he did, it was usually just so he could have sex with his girlfriend. And each time, he always had some complaint about how Kirsty and her brother never cleaned enough. Nevermind that Kirsty herself paid for almost every cleaning supply in the damn place to begin with.

Not really having it in her to argue, let alone stand up for herself, Kirsty goes to sweep. She tried to contain her unhappiness at the situation, muttering on occasion under her breath. Nothing seemed very fair or even very pleasant about this to her. She had been taking care of the dishes on a daily basis until yesterday, had been the only one taking out the trash for that matter, and the trash had only just filled up again last night. Then Jacob butts in again. "Why don't you ever do the dishes? You need to take out the trash too! It's a fuckin' pigsty in here! Y'all know they run inspections here right?" Her hands tighten around the broom. Teeth gritting underneath that empty, expressionless face of hers. It's like he could read minds. Like he knew just what to say to especially piss you off.

I'm her head, stirred hundreds of things to say. About her cleaning methods. About the money she spent on all the things he takes for granted. As he takes a soda that she paid for from the fridge, that he told her she'd be paid back for. Yet she never saw a dime. Imagine that. For that matter, the landlord didn't seem to give a rats ass about the condition of the place. As long as everything still worked, and there wasn't a pest infestation, all they ever came for was the monthly safety inspections... that they performed once every three months. She wanted to tell him to just shut up because he didn't know what he was talking about. But in her current situation, it wasn't her place to say. But when was it ever? As soon as she had finished the task she was given, she shoved the broom and dustpan back into the laundry closet. The feline returned to the couch to finish getting ready, when the damned horse went to the closet, pulled the broom right back out, swept up another little pile from god knows where, tossed the dustpan and broom to a corner, and left the pile. Just before she got out the door. He spoke out. "I hope you finished sweeping like you were supposed to." She turned back, and finally caught sight of the pile of hair and dust. From where? She had no clue even still.

This kind of stuff irked Kirsty so horribly. It was infuriating! It brought her back to when her parents would ask her to clean, and go out of their way to needlessly complicate the task. Hiding dirty dishes throughout places in the house they should never be, and getting angry with her when she didn't find them. What kind of jackass says "Hey you realize that you missed the pots and pans in the bathroom closet don't you? And don't get me started about the glass bowls in the oven! Why are you always so lazy?" It was never a question of if she was trying to keep up with things, or how much she was keeping up with. The goal post would shift. It was never enough until she was doing everything for the people around her. Regardless, she cleaned up the little pile, threw it in the trash, and went back to the door.

Jacob butts back into the scene, with the cat just wishing he'd leave her the hell alone and go right back to doing unspeakable things to his "girlfriend." He stands in the hallway, beer in hand, with a half empty, wasted soda on the counter now from where he effectively wasted more of her money. "You need to stop being so fuckin' lazy all the time. It's like you're a four year old!" She sighs much more blatantly and goes back to opening the door. "Where are you going anyway?"

She looked back at him and somberly spoke. "I don't know, I'm just going." Before slamming the door shut behind her. Taking a long deep breath, but far from free after the events that took place. He was going to be stuck on her brain for a while. He had a knack for getting under her skin like that. If it wasn't this, it was something else. How much money she makes from her work. How his job is so much more stressful than hers and she just needs to get over it. Always lording over her and judging her. She just wished sometimes that he'd fuck off and ditch the place already. She and her brother both already knew it was coming eventually. At least until recently. He's been home a lot lately. More than usual to say the least. Something about it has been bothering her. Like something is off for him as well. Sure there was his recent breakup with his recent girlfriend, but that was his own fault for fooling around with this new girl. At least, Kirsty thought to herself, she knew that she wasn't really after anything serious or long term with her own... admittedly lackluster partner-searches.

Hitting the street, Kirsty wandered around town as she usually did, hopping from store to store, but never actually buying anything. It was starting to get boring though. Nothing was ever really going on around this town. Big city with nothing to do. How wild was that right? She wandered along to the big local convenience stores. Making a quick trip into Rob-Mart, taking care to avoid the adjacent former workplace right next to it. Dodging parking lot traffic, which was always moving approximately ten miles faster than it should at any given point. You could even hear the peel-out of people speeding through empty stretches of the lot for fun. No doubt scaring pedestrians to death. Normal Thursday afternoon really. Walking in, and striding through the store as always. Looking at things she'd love to buy one day, but never really set to sink the money in. Even her hobbies got put on standby. Ever since she suffered from those previous jobs that couldn't pay rent, she was absolutely mortified by spending any more than ten dollars on something she had some sentimental value in. Even then, that small amount was expensive. As usual the grocery section was wiped out too. All the usual crazies convinced that the government was going to try to kill them one way or another preparing for war or some religious ideological doomsday. None of it made sense to her. Just keep living how you normally do. Not like all that stockpiling is going to save you. If anything you are just making it easier for others to starve.

She moved on, buying some garbage processed coffee drink, and casually drinking it as she carried on to the next store. This was life for her. Normal, boring, empty life. Dozens of people around her at all times. Yet somehow she always felt alone by the end of it... she knew she needed to find some place to get away from it. Somewhere to hang out. To make friends. To stop being alone. Mentally and emotionally alike, as well as physically. But where could she go? She didn't want more Jacob types in her life. But this town was just filled to the brim with them. She was on the walk back now, when she noticed something. A café of some sort. One she had never seen or even heard of before. Was it always there? Was it new?

Kirsty couldn't shake a distinct feeling about the place. Like it was somehow familiar. It drew her in. Caught her by the mouth practically, as she was being reeled in. "Cat Street." Was the name it seemed. A sign as plain as day, all nice and stylized too. She could see from outside that it was a pretty standard place. Booths for people here and there. Barstools at the counter, with plenty of coffee crafting tools. But it looked empty. No owner in sight. Closed maybe? The sign says it is open... she ponders over it, before something seems to cause her fur to stand on end. Nerves perhaps? Some aspect of her anxiety? She broke her line to the place then and there for now, making her way back to the apartment as the sun fell. Back into the torment of being around Jacob...

By the time she made it home, Jacob was asleep. Thank god. Kirsty sat herself down, and went to play a game or two. Swapping between them when they got to boring her. Eventually, the door unlocked again, slowly with a meticulous click, until she saw the face of her younger brother, Holton. He came in, dressed casually in his usual. Jeans, white shirt, plaid button up loosely cast over that. Black fur, pure black throughout, and easily almost twice her height. She brightened up a bit, knowing she could at least talk to him. She motioned to let him know that their favorite roommate was here. Before switching her games off so he could play some of his own. She'd observe as they would joke for a bit. Discussing work idly. This was a reprieve certainly for her. But lately he had been distant and difficult to talk to himself. Then she shifted over to talking to him about what happened with Jacob.

"So he's being an asshole again?" Holton asked quietly. His own darker, yellow green eyes looking back with clear concern.

"Yeah. I don't know, he does this every time you aren't around."

"I'll talk to him. What did he say this time?"

"I don't even remember half of it anymore. Went on some tirade about how the place is never clean when he shows up. Like, how is it my fault that he only shows up at the worst of times?"

"Yeah, well, it's not like he's around to do anything about it anyway."

Kirsty was just glad to have someone who understood. Anyone else she talked to seemed convinced she was just exaggerating or lying. Especially her parents. Go figure. Eventually Holton went to bed. Kirsty however. Stayed up. Thinking and wondering about what she was going to do next. About her dreams and how she was going to be able to achieve them. About how to tell her family she lost her job. Again. For the fourth time. Sleep evaded her, as it often did. So she spent the night until about 5 in the morning, browsing the net on her phone. Until at last... she fell asleep.