Notorious
Jalapeño falls asleep waiting. His water bowl is still nearly full but his food plate is half empty. Outside the dark silent house the November rain keeps falling and makes everything look grey and cold and empty. The divorce papers Lester received earlier today lie on the dining table. Esmé wants nothing from him. She comes from a respectable rich family, and the thing she needs and wants the most is what Lester can't give her. He can't change who and what he is. He can't have his memories altered or erased. He has too many scars and gaping wounds. He has caused harms and done terrible things, and no shrinks in the world can do anything about his guilt. Esmé has wanted to know everything that has been tormenting him, but he just couldn't bring himself to bare his soul to her. He was too afraid. He didn't want to scare her away. He thought everything was going to be okay if he kept saying "I love you" and wrapped her in his muscular arms long enough. But, alas, like most women in this world, his beautiful wife needed more than that.
She didn't feel safe when time after time he jerked awake in the middle of the night because of the same nightmare. She grew frustrated when time after time he refused to open up to her. And then one day she decided she'd had enough. She wants a normal life. She wants a husband who can truly laugh, joke, and enjoy his life. She wants a husband who has no shadows in his dark brown eyes. She needs a husband who can fully let go of his dark disturbing past and move on without looking back. She wants to move back to the sunny West Coast city where she was born. She wants him to cut all his ties and start anew. She wants him to meet new people, make new friends, and find a new job. She likes his friends but she wants to be close to her family and friends. He can work for her father if he wants. They can start their own family. They will be happy. They have been through so much together. They deserve to be happy. He deserves to be happy. She deserves to be happy.
But Lester doesn't want to part ways with his friends. He loves his job. He knows who and what he is. He doesn't want to forget and then pretend. He wants to remember and then heal. It will most probably take a very long time. But that's the only way. He has to put himself back together. He has to grow out of it on his own. All he asks of the woman he loves is a little more patience. All he wants is a second chance. He never likes her brothers and their snobby wives. He can't say he like her mother. Her father is a good man but what he does for a living is boring. And he doesn't want to tear Jalapeño and Sweet Pea apart. He needs and wants to stay true to himself.
He and Esmé are too much alike. They are both stubborn, headstrong, passionate, and hot-tempered. And that fatal day they both lost their temper and chose the wrong things to say. A lot of hurtful words. A lot of untrue accusations. Then their disagreement evolved: A heated argument. An ugly fight/yelling match. A destructive conflict. A separation. And now a divorce...
Jalapeño wakes up and yawns the moment the sleek German black car stops at the curb. He's already waiting at the door when a tall dark familiar man half carries Lester inside. Jalapeño stays at the bedroom door watching curiously and worriedly as Ranger puts a murmuring Lester in bed. The strong smell of tequila fills the air. He meows and rubs against Ranger's legs as the silent man checks on his water bowl and fills his food plate. He jumps onto Ranger's lap and starts purring as a large warm Mocha Latte hand gently scratches him under the chin. He always likes Ranger: he's so quiet and so calm and somehow reminds Jalapeño of sunlight, of the moon, of the wind, of the sea and far away places. Ranger was there the day Jalapeño almost died. He is the one who took the gun out of Lester's hand and told him to get the dying kitten to the vet ASAP. He is the one who stayed behind to get rid of the gun, clean up the scene, and bury the dead mom cat and her babies. He is the one who found the perfect house for Tank and all his cats. He's the one who knows all the right spots to make a cat purr and he also has those most wonderful, magical hands.
Jalapeño curls into a ball and falls asleep. In his dream he sees his mother and siblings. In his dream Mama and Papi are still laughing so happily. In his dream Sweet Pea's Mommy didn't move to Atlanta, marry someone else and have babies. In his dream the world is perfect and no cats and dogs have to die just because they can't find a home. He dreams on. His tail and paws twitch slightly. He starts snoring. He feels safe and protected. And the large warm Mocha Latte hand never leaves him.