Kathy the Unexpected

By Matt Deckman

With adopting a young kitten, Louis has some responsibility, other than his job and keeping his apartment.  Enter his friends, whom are a variety of individuals; Electra and Sonni whom are polar opposites- gothic and bubbly, Kadence and Hank- hedge fund manager and public service worker. All is life as Louis tries to find his life partner- enter Bastet, whom gives him the girl of his dreams.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Matt Deckman
• Release date: May 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201327897

Book preview

Chapter 1

Smart idea, adopting a cat first and not a dog, Frank said, who was a gruff, older looking man, but with a gentle touch as he handed the 6-week-old kitten to Louis, a recent college graduate. Frank smiled as Louis cuddled the newborn black and white kitten, both quickly hearing a purring from it. Cat person myself- less maintenance in the long run…so that little girl good for ya?

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Louis

Most definitely, Louis, smiling as the kitten pushed itself into his fingers, wanting a deeper scratching. I think she likes ya, I’ll go start the paperwork. Julie, can you get a cat carrier for our friend here? Frank asked a staff member. Certainly, she smiled at Louis for having found a new friend.

Louis petted the kitten as he filled out the paperwork and only at the very end did he place her in the cat carrier. He quickly took her to the car, putting her in the front seat so she could see him as he drove home, meowing almost immediately. He had done extensive research on pets and pet ownership, a cat being the least amount of maintenance of them all.

Not only that, he found that they had certain health benefits, but most of all, he wanted a friend other than his regular ones. We’ll be home shortly, Katherine. She gave meows as her ears twisted and turned, taking in the new sounds, but soon stopped as she saw her new human friend not ‘meowing’ himself.

The moment Louis got home, he quickly took his new kitty friend to his apartment and let her free to roam. He watched as the kitten sniffed the rug in the living room, the furniture and slid a bit on the hardwood floor.

Louis stepped over to the kitten and gently picked her up, hey Kathy- makes sense right? Full name Katherine, shortened to ‘kathy’; how about I show you where the litter box is? Louis waddled over so the kitten could find it at her level and put her in the low end of the box. She sniffed the litter before turning tail and hopping out. He showered her the food and water bowl as well.

Now, the infinitely wise web says to give you about 24 hours to acclimate to your new abode, so I’m gonna be working from home today and and tomorrow. Afterwards, it’s an on and off thing, he stroked the little thing.

With that, Louis setup his laptop for work on the floor, connecting a second monitor while putting in his phone’s earbuds. It didn’t take long for the kitten to climb into his lap and watch him work- noticing the mouse move across the screen as her owner played with it.

When Louis had to finally use the restroom that morning, he noticed that the kitten had fallen asleep on his thigh, quieter than a church mouse. When he moved her onto the sofa behind him, she woke, stretched and yawned, looking for a way down. He went to put her down on the floor, only for her to jump the height…and landed without grace, shaking herself out.

You should’ve let me help you down, silly, he said and petted her gently before getting up to use the bathroom. The kitty walked over to the water bowl, sniffed it and took a few licks before returning, laying right where her new friend had been sitting. Once he returned, he giggled at where she was sitting and maneuvered the laptop and screen around her.

Once quitting time came around, Louis stretched, watching the kitty shake herself out, going over to the food bowl.

Yeah, that’s a good idea, Louis went to the fridge, finding a quick dinner, popping it into the microwave. Once Louis’s food was done, he watched streamed Tv, glancing at the Kitty’s curiosity.

Kathy didn’t care for the noise that the thing her master had and kept away, jumping onto the ledge that gave a view of the outside. Wanting a closer look than the ledge, Kathy kept going until her nose hit the window, only to sniff it- finding it had no scent.

Pawing it did nothing, so Kathy sat there, watching the outside- more creatures like her master and others with things that made them go up, ones that made her want to jump out and catch them. She found her tail wagging at the site of the flight abled things.

She meowed and pawed at the winged things outside, but to no available. It irked her that she was forced to be content with just watching them.

She watched the things outside come and go, pawing only intermittently, eventually just settling on watching them.

Well, I think that’s It for me today, Louis said, turning the tv off, closing his laptop. time for a shower and then bed… he got up, petted Kathy a few times before retreating into another area of the new home. Kathy’s ears twitched at the sound of running water, urging her to investigate the new sound.

Upon finding the source, she pawed open the door, finding a door close. She gave a meow, which was drowned out by the running water. She sat there, watching her new owner, foggy as he was, move behind the glass.

Once the running water shut off, her ears twitched again, watching him exit the glass box, him smiling, hey Kathy… he grabbed a towel and dried off. I’ve got a bed for you in the bedroom.

Kathy watched him get dressed before following him out the door, deeper down the long hallway, before opening up to another sparsely decorated room. Louis pointed to a smaller, fluffy bed next to his own, there’s yours, he crouched down, patting the inside.

Kathy was leery as she made her way over, stepping into it, sniffing it. It had an unusual smell, unlike all others that she had encountered. But it was soft. She nuzzled it, finding it comfy. Circling and pawing, she settled down, giving a meow of approval.

Knew you’d like it, he patted her head, fiddling with her ears. I’m gonna check things for the night before turning in next to you… he stood and stepped out of the room. She heard a few clacks and watched as the light turned dark, seeing him walk back into the room.

Sitting on the bed, Louis opened his night-stand, pulling something out that fit in his hand. He opened it partially before putting back into the drawer, slipping back into bed.

Kathy blinked, cocking her head before she got up and looked up to where her master was. Peering up at the top of the thing he was on, she realized she couldn’t make it. Turning back to her bed, she settled back into it.

Chapter 2

Kathy woke to the smell of something, sniffing in curiosity. "Bloody nose is too damn sensitive… she thought- remembering when Louis first poked it, calling it ‘cute’. He had talked to her a lot in the first few days. She had been surprised when she had heard her own thoughts. She made her way out of the room, heading towards the kitchen. Skimping out, she found Louis making something on the stove. Hey Kathy, morning!"

Morning, but you woke me up… she blinked at him, sitting as he continued cooking his breakfast. So it’s been a week for you, I thought you might like to meet some friends of mine. They’ll be here after I’m done work. He plated his breakfast, pointing to her own bowl.

Walking over to it, Kathy found the usual soft cat food there, along with what looked like- well, she didn’t know what it looked like. Upon sniffing it, she found it delectable and scarfed it down, licking her chops. She heard a chuckle, finding Louis smiling at her. You liked that huh?

She peered at him intently, wanting more. As if he could read her mind, he handed her another, it’s called sausage. She sniffed it before biting and taking it away, placing it in her own bowl. She worked at biting and eating it, not caring how much effort was needed- it was just that good.

Louis chuckled before eating the rest of his breakfast, forcing Kathy to go back to her soft food.

After breakfast, Kathy watched as Louis laid out his laptop at a desk that he shifted to- she had learned that he had only worked on the floor the first two days because of her. Now that he was back to his workstation, he could take full advantage of two larger monitors that connected to his device.

Knowing his routine, Kathy went to the window to watch what she had learned to be birds and the random other humans that meandered around the street below.

You’re kidding me…that’s impossible… Louis snapped, causing Kathy to whip around, ears pointed at him. She watched him stand up, looking irritated. She gave a meow and walked over.

I can’t meet that deadline… he sat back down as Kathy looked up at him. Without a meow, Louis picked Kathy up, sitting her on his lap as he looked at the thing again, petting her. She looked at the colorful gizmo, finding something catch her eye.

Louis took notice that Kathy was watching the mouse, following it around the screen. It amused him as he moved it around and around, watching her head micro jerk to keep up with it.

She leapt up onto the desk, going to paw the thing, accidently touching the monitor. Louis had freaked a bit, finding that Kathy was still too small to actually move or make worry about it. Don’t do that again little girl, I can’t have you knocking the monitor off the desk. He lifted her up, putting her back in his lap as he took another look at the email, hitting the reply button.

With…all…due…respect… he started, Kathy watching him type on the keyboard. She watched him create black and white things on the color device.

‘With all due respect, meeting that deadline isn’t possible. It would require several more programmers, some of higher level than I, to be able to even complete in its entirety, not to mention the bug checking and problem solving associated with it.

To make sure everything is done correctly, I would need help and two more months of time. Otherwise, you’ll have a crap-tastic plugin on your hands that won’t function properly.

If you try to offload this plugin to another programmer, they will spend as much time catching up as I need to finish it, then longer to complete it.’

Kathy watched as he moved the thing on the screen, It’s called a mouse. He muttered before using it to send away what he created. Boss and client won’t like that, but so it goes. He continued working, typing away, only this time, the stuff was different colors; greens, purples, oranges and white against a dark background.

She meowed at him, not understanding. He smirked at her while he worked, petting her head. She continued to watch what he did, trying to make sense of it all.

He noticed Kathy watching what he was doing after a bit, I’m programming. It’s computer code, he petted her, here, he pointed and started explaining things to her that he knew she wouldn’t understand, but just enjoyed the attention he was giving her.

Good thing this stuff makes sense to you, because it’s gibberish to me, Kathy thought after Louis explained things.

After several hours, something blinked on his color thing. It caught his attention as well, him clicking it, it bringing up a white window with more black specs on it.

Louis, this is unacceptable. The work must be done in one month or the client will be caught in a jam and be forced to bring on more programmers to complete the project. Overtime is authorized to get this done by any means, Louis sighed. Moving the mouse, Kathy watched as he typed up more black specs.

Then the client will be caught in a jam. I will continue operating as normal- I will not rush the work to cut corners in time. That leads to bugs, problems and things that will only draw more time. If you wish to bring on additional programmers, they will be responsible for getting themselves up to speed. I will not sacrifice my time- nor the project’s current schedule, to bring someone up to speed to meet such an…arbitrary, unobtainable deadline put in place. He sent it off.

From that tone, sounds like you’re preparing to fight someone…or get into trouble… Kathy thought, hoping down from Louis’s lap. Trotting to her bed in the bedroom, she pawed it before circling, going to sleep.

* * * * *

A myriad of voices came from outside the bedroom, waking Kathy. She stretched, shook herself out and left the bedroom.

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Kadence

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Hank

Hey, look who’s finally awake! Louis smiled, petting Kathy, allow me to introduce to you; Kadence, he pointed to the tall black dude, Hank, Louis motioned to an equally tall and overly buff white guy. This is Sonni, he pointed to a bubbly looking woman, and Electra- the resident goth.

Yo kitty, Electra squatted down, don’t pay attention to these losers- I’m the only cool one in the group. She petted Kathy, who started purring loudly.

Oh my god, she’s adorable! Sonni squealed, joining Electra in the petting.

She know any tricks? Hank asked.

"Eat, sleeping,