Willow

Karen logged onto her computer from her home office and prepared for the day’s work. She received a special project from her boss the day before: clean up the claims for a new hospital that was processing their insurance claims incorrectly. When she opened her email, she noticed she had seventy-five claims that needed to be gone through by the end of the day. With almost ten years of experience processing claims Karen was known as the “Claim Queen” at the company she worked for. As good as she was, she had one handicap that would slow her down: Willow.

As if by magic a black cat came darting into the cozy office, jumped on Karen’s desk and laid on her keyboard. Karen sighed. This happened almost every day. She would go into the office to work and Willow would run in and demand attention.

“Willow,” Karen said. “Mommy has to work. We’ll play later.”

Willow looked up at Karen and did not move. Instead she stretched out further covering the keyboard with her body. Karen picked Willow up and pet her with one hand while she typed with the other.

This isn’t working, Karen thought. She decided Willow needed play time. She lifted her curvy frame out of her chair and carried Willow into the living room. The room was filled with boxes for her and her husband’s upcoming move to their new home. Karen placed Willow in one of the boxes and put her two favorite toys: mice filled with catnip in the box and let Willow go to town. As she turned and walked back into the office, she could hear Willow meow and play with her toys.

Karen worked for about fifteen minutes and managed to get about ten claims done when Willow bounded back into the office and jumped back on her wood trim desk. Willow sat for a moment and stared at Karen, then let out a meow that would have probably scared people on the other side of the country.

“What!” Karen said raising her voice. Willow walked over and began rubbing her head on Karen’s arm. Karen’s heart melted when Willow started to purr. Karen picked her up and flipped her on her back and began playing with Willow. The cat would bat at Karen’s hand with her paws and purr.

The next thing Karen knew Willow let out another loud meow, jumped down and ran off. Karen sat back in her leather chair, removed her glasses, closed her eyes and took in the moment’s peace. After a few minutes she got back to work.

She managed to get about eight more claims done before Willow returned. She jumped on the desk and proceeded to climb on Karen’s chest and meowed. Karen couldn’t remember if she had fed Willow this morning, so she got up and headed towards the kitchen. Sure enough, Karen could see the image of a popular cartoon kitty poking what was left of the food in Willow’s bowl. Whenever Willow saw the cartoon kitty in her bowl, she knew it was time for her owner to refill her bowl.

Karen got the bag of dry cat food from the pantry and filled the bowl. Then she filled Willow’s water dish. The black cat began eating and Karen was satisfied that Willow was occupied and returned to her office.

Three claims later, Willow was back. She got back on Karen’s keyboard and laid there. Karen decided it was break time. She got a laser pointer out of her desk and walked into the living room. Willow followed her in. The two began playing with the pointer. Karen would shine the little red dot and Willow would race after it like she was an Olympic runner. After about fifteen minutes Willow began to get tired. She went to the pantry and climbed in to take a nap.

Satisfied Karen went back to work. She had been working for about an hour and managed to get fifteen claims done. It was a record for the day. Then she felt something hit her in the stomach. Willow had run in and jumped on her.

“Willow! That hurt mommy.”

Willow meowed and jumped onto the desk and laid down on Karen’s keyboard again. Karen pet her cat for about ten minutes before sighing. She was beginning to think she would not be able to get her work done today. She let out a frustrated sigh and wondered if she would be able to finish all her claims today. She picked Willow up and brought her to the bedroom. She laid the kitty down on the queen-sized bed and sat down next to Willow.

“Willow, mommy needs to get these claims done,” Karen said petting her. “Just lay in here and take a nap.” As if Willow understood what Karen was saying she curled into a ball and began to sleep.

Once again Karen went back to work. This time she closed the office door. She worked for about twenty minutes when she began hearing a whining sound coming from the other side of the door. The whining sounded a lot like a cat. Crap, Karen thought.

At first, she ignored the kitty, but that only caused Willow to meow louder. Finally, Karen stormed over to the door and cracked it open. Like a thief entering Fort Knox, Willow ran in and jumped on Karen’s keyboard. Karen had had enough. She picked up Willow and held her up to her face.

“Willow, I need to get this done.”

For her part Willow meowed. It was a standoff. Karen was about to set her down on the ground when she remembered she had an old keyboard in the closet that didn’t work anymore. It just might work, Karen thought.

She hurried into the hall closet and produced an old black keyboard. Then she took her working keyboard and placed it on a pull-out shelf underneath the desktop. Finally, Karen placed the old keyboard on top in front of her monitor.

Sure, enough Willow jumped on the desk and laid on the old keyboard. Karen smiled as she typed on her actual keyboard hidden underneath.

Karen alternately worked and pet Willow and by the end of the day she managed to get her work done.