Chapter 17 Tony/Maya: Cats…

Tony's point of view

"Are you sure you'll be OK on your own while I'm in Antwerp?"
"Yes… I'm going to stay with my parents"
"OK"

Maya left in a cab. I went to stay with my parents… when my mother hugged me she said

"Anthony Edward Stark… you've lost weight"
"Maya is vegan and so am I"
"No you're not… I know you miss eating meat, Tony"

"You're right I do, I feel awful I can't sleep I can't concentrate, I am constantly hungry. You know what the weird thing is? I don't miss dairy… at all."
"Tony, you're an adult. Maya isn't your keeper"

I realized my mom was right.

"I'm not going back to the house, mom…"

"You don't have to"

"The one thing I want more than anything… is a non-human friend"

"What kind of non-human friend?"
"I think I want a cat or maybe two"
"You should get two… cats do better when they're not lonely."

"Just be sure we get two of the same gender… I don't want to be overrun by kittens, cute though they are!"

We went to the shelter, I chose two kittens… they'd just been brought in because they'd been dumped by their owner. One was white and really, really fluffy, the other was grey and black and had tiger stripes. They were tiny - they were about 5 weeks old, too young to be separated from their mother… mom, dad, Jay and I took it in turns to get up every two hours to feed and toilet them. I did the bulk of the work.

"Have you decided on names yet?"
"Yes… this is Pinky… and this is The Brain" I said around a massive yawn.

"How are you going to handle things with Maya?"

"I've left her a note explaining that although I like her, a lot, I have decided that we can't be together because we're incompatible."

Maya turned up at the house.

"Tony, you need to come back home"
"Nope… I'm happy living with my parents."

"Meow"
"Meow"

"What's that?"
"I got a couple of kittens… this is Pinky and this is The Brain"

"You're right, Tony, we can't be together… I hate cats"
"And I do. Always have. Always will."

"I have to tell you something and I don't know how you're going to feel about it"
"Maya, I think it's best if we just end things without you telling me anything"
"OK… fair enough"

Boy did I get a shock 8 years later…