Page 10 of Game on, Love

The exhaustion, the frustration and thehurtthat had been building up to that moment surged to the surface as I saw my flat, my safe space, half submerged in water.

Hot tears fell from my eyes; the relief of not holding them back was evident, but as water pooled on the floor, the smell of dampness hung heavily in the air; I couldn’t help but feel anything but relieved.

One of my cats was perched on the edge of the kitchen counter, while the other was by the windowsill, both staring at me wide-eyed, clearly distraught, their fur damp from their surroundings, but they remained stoic, and I was frozen in my spot.

What was up with this day?

Why was thereso muchwater?

I could easily write this off as a coincidence, but something in my gut kept on screaming at me to notice it.

To notice the signs.

Why today?

No matter how much I tried to connect the dots, the other part of me kept screaming at me not to overthink it.

“What the fuck?”

Axel and I turned to look at Vedant standing a couple of feet from us, both of us still stuck in a state of shock.

I didn’t give him much of a reaction, but his presence was enough to snap me out of my trance.

I walked into my flat, thankful I was still in my boots as they swashed. I didn’t care much for my electronics; most of them would be ruined past any saving, as I internally grumbled at myself for dumping them on the floor post a binge session last night. All I wanted was to get these two out; I had already wasted enough minutes not going straight for them.

My heart broke further when neither jumped up and waited for me to scoop them in my hold.

I heard more swashes behind me, but, in that moment, I didn’t care much for what either of them were doing behind me.

I went to Lilli first; she was a Scottish fold, and her black fur was completely soaked.

She must be cold.

But as her eyes watched me intently, I knew she was more aware of my feelings than anything.

She was my first cat. I got her when she was just a kitten, planning to foster her after my therapist suggested she would help with my anxiety.

Removing my scarf from my neck, I wrapped her in half of it and pulled her to my chest before walking to her brother, Milo, who was chilling by the windowsill.

After a couple of weeks, I knew I couldn’t give up Lilli. She was more than just helpful to my anxiety; she became a part of my life, but every time I left her home, a part of me got crushed, leaving her alone. It was only twice a week when I went to the campus, and on race weekends when I was away for longer, shewas with the Kaira, my neighbour, but when I went to make her adoption final, they told me her brother was the only one left from their litter, and it just felt like a no-brainer to adopt him as well.

Milo was seemingly dry compared to Lilli, which relieved me a little, but as I picked him up, he whimpered, making my heart drop.

He must’ve gotten hurt.

Between the two, he’s always had a more sensitive tail, and we’ve had a couple of emergency runs to the vet in the past, but it was never anything too critical.

I gulped, feeling more helpless by the second.

I turned to my sofa and one look, and I knew It was ruined. It was velvet and had no legs, and, by the looks of it, took and absorbed the hit before it reached my bookshelf. I walked over to where their carrier bag was, thankful it was among the things that were miraculously dry and walked out the door.

Giving both of them proper shakes, I tucked them properly in my scarf and their blanket in the bag before setting them down.

Vedant walked out of the flat, his jaw clenched and shoulders stiff. “You need to call your building manager.”

“How bad is it?”

“Your room is a mess, your clothes are not that bad but we need to figure out what the cause of this leak was. Depending on that you can either just give them a wash or get them dry cleaned. Your bed is ruined, and so is your laptop.” He shook his head, clearly frustrated. “Why do you still dump it on the floor?”