The Cat's Curse.

Sharon was late for work, again. Rushing around the house she had managed to pull together an outfit, her handbag, and the folder she needed for the morning’s presentation. There wasn’t time for a shower but with a spritz of perfume and a brush of her hair, she was as presentable as she was going to get.

Slipping on her shoes and grabbing her keys, Sharon turned around in the hallway to say sorry to the crying ginger tom behind her. “Red, I’m sorry, you’ll just have to snack on crunchies until I get back”. The cat sat, looked at her, and then hissed, almost spitting in her direction. “Oh my God, even my own cat wants to hex me”, she said out loud before spinning back around and heading for the door.

Sharon broke into a gentle jog. With one arm across her chest, she tried to minimise ‘the bounce of the boobies’ as her best mate, Rachel, would say. She hoped not to break into a sweat, but she couldn’t afford to miss the next train.

With seconds to spare, Sharon jumped in through the doors and then tripped. The shiny black brogue belonging to a tall man standing just inside the carriage was responsible. He immediately apologised and reached to help her up. “Are you ok?”, he asked as the doors closed and Sharon got to her feet with his help. “Um, I think so”, she replied and then bent down to collect her folder and the papers which had spilled out across the floor.

“In a bit of a hurry then?”, asked the man. “Yes. I have a presentation in front of some posh twat who probably hasn’t even heard of me, and my cat cursed me this morning”. As Sharon’s body straightened, she looked up at the man’s face properly. Her jaw dropped slightly, and she felt her face burning. “Your cat?”, he asked, tilting his head. “Um, yes. My cat. He’s a twat. But you’re gorgeous”.

“So, your boss and your cat, are both twats?”. Sharon realised that she needed to regain some composure, and some dignity. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from”, she replied. “Which bit? The twatish cat or the compliment you just paid me?”. The situation was getting worse thought Sharon. Now was probably a good time to stop talking.

She took a deep breath and held out her hand. “I’m Sharon”, she said. The man reached to meet Sharon’s hand, and they shook. “Glen”, he said. “So, Glen. Now that you know that I’m running late and have a twatish cat, tell me something about you”. Glen was a little taken aback by Sharon’s forwardness and this probably showed on his face.

“Well, you can’t just trip a girl over on a train and then expect her not to ask questions”, said Sharon, hoping that her face was a little less red now. “Ok, fair point”, he replied. “And you did call me gorgeous”. Sharon felt fire in her cheeks again and was starting to hope that the ground would swallow her up, but she considered that she was on a moving train and so that would never work.

“Something about me. Ok, so, when I’m not busy being gorgeous, I’m also a businessman and an athlete”, said Glen. “Of course you are”, Sharon replied. “What sport?”, she asked. Glen smiled and said, “Tae Kwon Do”. That wasn’t quite what she was expecting. No, a triathlete perhaps, but not martial arts. Who does that anymore, she thought. “Is that a sport?” Sharon asked, and Glen smiled again. “Yes. It’s an Olympic sport in fact”.

Sharon, standing just inches away from Glen had been completely unaware of the people around her listening to their conversation. She briefly looked around and a lady in a nearby seat was smiling and staring at the two of them. “Ask him if he’s married”, whispered the lady. A couple of surrounding passengers giggled to themselves but kept their heads down.

“Married, are you Glen?”, said Sharon, slightly embarrassed but also dying to know the answer to that question. After all, it’s not every day you get to trip over such a gorgeous man. She looked down towards his left hand to see if she could spot a ring. Glen chuckled a little and replied, “No. I’m not married”. “Interesting”, said Sharon. She looked back at the lady in the seat who then winked at her.

Sharon had surprised herself a bit. Never had she been so forward within a short space of time with a member of the opposite sex. “And you?”, asked Glen, “Are you married, or is it just the twatish cat?”. Sharon let out a loud laugh, and then realised she needed to rein it in. The train was full of commuters, and she felt even more aware of just how many eyes and ears were engaged with her conversation.

“It’s just the cat. And the occasional dead bird”, said Sharon, considering briefly that she was all alone, but kind of liked it that way. It would take someone very special to upset the apple cart and she couldn’t imagine living with anyone right now. But dating might be nice, should thought.

Concerned that the conversation was about to dry up, Sharon blurted out the next thing that popped into her head, “That’s a nice suit. Well dressed as well as gorgeous”. Glen cleared his throat and replied, “Thanks. I’m in finance. Mergers, acquisitions, investments, you know, that sort of thing, so I guess I have to look the part”. Sharon knew little about finance, other than she needed someone to either buy her current idea or invest in it, otherwise she was going to go broke.

“Yes, you do”, said Sharon, “Unlike me who just grabbed the first thing she could find this morning after missing the alarm”. Glen smiled and laughed a little. “It happens”, he said. “I once missed a flight and a really important meeting in New York because my phone died before the alarm could go off”. “Oh wow”, gasped Sharon as she lifted her hand to her mouth. “And what was the fallout?”, she asked. “Well, let’s just say, I never heard from that particular client ever again”. Glen shrugged and Sharon imagined that whatever the financial cost to him at that point, he either recovered, or it didn’t affect him personally, as that suit he was wearing must have cost a bomb.

Sharon took a long breath in through her nose. This guy also smelled expensive. He was dripping money, and she couldn’t figure out why he was riding a public train. “Is your Bentley in the garage then?”, she asked. Glen laughed and told her that if people with money were truly careful and wanted to hold onto it for longer, they wouldn’t be wasting it on fancy cars and mansions in the countryside. Sharon thought this a little odd, as to her, rich people did live in big houses and drive around in expensive cars.

“I much prefer to spend my money on living, not buying. I move money around for a living and I see so many people making the same mistakes. Houses and cars are bottomless pits. I’d rather buy experiences and make memories”, said Glen. Sharon smiled and thought this mindset rather refreshing. Typically, rich people are buying up property portfolios and have multiple cars on the driveway. Not Glen it would seem. He just wants to enjoy life.

“Interesting” said Sharon. “This is my stop”, said Glen. “Mine too”, said Sharon, followed by, “It was nice to trip over you”. Glen smiled and offered for her to exit the carriage first. Sharon stepped down onto the platform and Glen followed closely behind. “Good luck with your meeting. I hope you get the result you’re looking for”, said Glen. “Shit, I’m going to be late. But thank you”, replied Sharon. She began a light jog along the platform and Glen watched as she held her chest and pulled her folder and handbag in tight to prevent everything bouncing around as she ran.

Sharon huffed and puffed up the stairs, then along the bridge over the tracks, back down the other side and towards the barriers. Sharon pulled out her phone to scan her ticket and then stepped outside the train station and into the busy city high street.

Sharon’s phone rang. A lady had called to inform her that the meeting was delayed by thirty minutes. “Thank God”, said Sharon out loud as she hung up. She took a deep breath and looked around for the nearest coffee shop. Perhaps Red hadn’t hexed her after all. This would give Sharon time to use the bathroom she thought, grab a coffee and walk, instead of run, to her meeting.

As she waited for her coffee, Sharon texted Rachel: ‘Ran into a hottie on the train. Will call you later to give you the goss. Off to pitch. Loves ya x’. She then collected her latte from the counter and made her way outside. A steady walk towards the building she needed took just ten minutes and she arrived at the reception of Incredible Investments Ltd. a few minutes ahead of the meeting.

“Mr Thomas will see you now”, said the receptionist. Sharon followed on down the corridor and felt her stomach turn over. She hadn’t been this nervous since having to sing on stage in the year six Christmas play at primary school. The receptionist opened the door and showed Sharon in. “Miss Wilcox, for you, Mr Thomas”, she announced. “Thank you”, replied a man stood with his back to them looking out of the window.

Two men were seated, towards the top of the board room table. Sharon stood at the other end, and placed her coffee, folder, and handbag down. “Good morning”, she said to the room. The man at the window turned around. “Good morning, Miss Wilcox. Gorgeous posh twat, pleased to make your acquaintance”. Sharon gasped and felt the immediate need to die right then and there. Glen smiled and walked towards her with his hand outstretched.

Sharon nervously smiled back and took his hand. “Um, good morning, Mr Thomas. Twatish-cat lady. Thank you for seeing me today”. Glen directed Sharon to sit down and then made his way to his chair at the top of the table. The two other men looked confused and glanced back and forth between Glen and Sharon. They looked at each other but neither said a word.

“Gentlemen”, Glen started, “I’d like you to meet Sharon. She’s here to pitch to us today. Sharon, the floor is yours”. Sharon shuffled her papers, drank some coffee, and got to her feet. She felt her heart pounding, and her face going red once again. It was now or never though, and she couldn’t afford to screw this up. Or maybe it was already too late, she thought. She had essentially insulted her potential investor and completely embarred herself earlier this morning. Maybe Red had actually performed some ritualistic curse as she stepped out the door. He can have dry crunchies for the rest of the week, she thought to herself.

Glen cleared his throat, which startled Sharon and interrupted the chaos inside her head. She looked up at Glen. “My apologies. Let’s begin with a description of the problem I’m aiming to solve and then I’ll go into the details of the services on offer”. Glen smiled at her, and Sharon proceeded to make regular eye contact with him as she told the three men about her solution for safe online dating introductions – Digital Dating.

Sharon described the app she had designed and then commissioned a tech guy to build, which prevents anyone from uploading images that have been altered, run through a filter or generated by A.I. It also doesn’t allow placeholder images to be used instead of real photographs and extensive background checks are run on everyone who pays to create an account. Multiple images are required from each user and reverse image searches are made on the internet to ensure people are who they say they are when signing up. That, coupled with a quick video call and copies of photo I.D., Sharon believed she had created the ultimate ‘safe service for singles’.

“So, gents, unless you’re lucky enough to trip and fall into the arms of the love of your life, you may choose to date online. But I’ve created a way of making it safe. No cat-fishing, no scammers, and no one telling you they drive a Bentley when they don’t”.

She stood, looking at the men, who then proceeded to have a whisper between themselves. They spoke for a minute or so, and then Glen stood up. “Miss Wilson, you can tell your cat that he can have tuna for dinner tonight. You have your investment”.

“Oh my God, thank you. Thank you everyone. This is incredible”. Sharon walked around the table to shake hands with everyone and then headed to retrieve her belongings. “I’ll walk you out”, said Glen rather authoritatively. Walking towards reception Sharon felt nervous and didn’t know what to say. “I trust the thirty-minute delay wasn’t too much of an inconvenience for you Sharon”, said Glen, breaking the silence. “I figured you could do with a coffee”.

Sharon stopped and turned to Glen. “How did you know?”, she asked. “I saw the name of my company on your folder as you picked it up off the floor of the train”, Glen replied. “And you didn’t say anything, and I completely embarrassed myself. I’m surprised you still wanted to see me this morning”, said Sharon. “Well, I figure we can all have bad mornings. And I was intrigued to know what a crazy cat lady might be coming to pitch to me today”.

Sharon laughed and Glen smiled at her. “You said earlier that you tripped and fell into the arms of the love of your life”, said Glen, in a softer tone. “Did I?”, asked Sharon. “You did”, whispered Glen. “And you called me gorgeous in front of a bunch of strangers”. Sharon chuckled and said, “I did, didn’t I? Oh my God. I’m so sorry”.

“Don’t be”, said Glen. “How about we celebrate your investment with lunch? Will your cat mind if you’re a bit late back?”. “I’m sure he’ll manage without me for an hour or two”, said Sharon. With that, Glen offered his arm like a true gentleman and Sharon took it. They left the building and stepped out into beautiful sunshine.

Perhaps Red didn’t curse me, Sharon thought to herself. Maybe it was all just meant to be.

Words: 2,452.