The Trouble With Lily pt 5

Scott laughed as he sat next to Lily, with the little calico still in his hands. “A little, I like cats, more than dogs really, but I do love Rascal. I got him from a kid who was going door to door to give away his dog’s puppies she wasn’t supposed to have had. Rascal was the runt, but the boy said he fought hard to live and that he would make me the ‘bestest friend ever’ as he put it. And so far, he has.” He carefully held the kitten out to Rascal to sniff, and to let the kitten see if he wanted to acknowledge Rascal as a friend or foe.

“She seems to like Rascal,” Lily said as the calico licked Rascal’s nose.

“That she does. So, what are you gonna name this little girl, or are you just going to call her Cat as Holly Golightly did in Breakfast at Tiffany’s?”

“Oh, that’s my favorite book! And Audrey Hepburn played her so well, but no, Cat was a mangy orange tabby, this sweet girl is pretty, and her coloring is like marble… That’s it!”

Scott looked at Lily quizzically, “what’s it?”

“Her name, of course. Marble, she looks like marble, so her name shall be Marble,” and as Lily said the name again the little calico looked up at her and chirped her approval at the name. Scott set her down next to Rascal and said, “Well then, Rascal meet Marble. Marble meet Rascal.” Scott and Lily watched the pair play on the floor until they tired themselves out and curled up next to the fireplace to keep warm.

“Would you like some tea?” Scott asked Lily.

“That would be wonderful,” she said as she took off her wet shoes and socks and put on the thick, woolen socks Scott had provided, “is there somewhere I can change into these sweats at?”

“Down the hall, second door to your right,” he responded as we walked into the kitchen to get the tea going.

Lily walked into the cozy bathroom and shut the door behind her. She took off her damp clothes, underwear and all, and put on the warm sweat pants and sweatshirt, both of which were much too large for her small frame. She knew they had to be Scott’s, he stood at least 6ft tall, and was solidly built. He had some gray at the temples, which was quite charming on him, and he had a great smile that lit up his eyes. The sweatpants were much too long for her legs, she had to roll them four times just so they would expose her feet. The sweatshirt went down midthigh on her and she had to roll the sleeves six times so her hands would poke out. She tried to tighten the string on the sweatpants to fit on her a little better. She tied it in a bow to keep it in place.

She glanced at herself in the full-length mirror in the bathroom and laughed out loud at the sight. Her normally elegant updo had completely come undone, and her curly red hair was falling in rebellious waves down to the small of her back. Her green eyes were rimmed in red and terribly puffy from all the crying, and her mascara had run. She couldn’t believe that Scott had even spoken to her the way she looked.

She went to the sink and ran the water warm as she pushed up the sleeves of the sweatshirt and proceeded to wash her face. When she was done, she felt a bit better about herself. She grabbed her clothes off the floor and folded them. She brought them out to the living room with her and set them on the coffee table. Scott returned from the kitchen with a tea tray and as he looked up, he was stopped dead in his tracks.