Don’t Love, Don’t Lose

Jasmine was startled when he started laughing. It started low and soft, like a rumbling very far away, and got louder and louder until she joined in helplessly. The cat protested, but that only made her laugh harder.

“Oh, this is funny!”

“Well, this is not what I had in mind when I demanded that you come out for dinner with me. Nothing is ever how I expect it to be with you, Jasmine. You’re a strange woman, but I wouldn’t change that for all the world.”

Jasmine smiled.

“You’re a pretty strange man, too,” she offered, and they went off into a fit of giggles again.

“I’ll come in. To get you settled, you and Harlequin. No funny business, I promise.”

Jasmine nodded. She trusted him. It was alarming how much she trusted him now. She hadn’t meant to, but it had crept up on her.

“Well, Ms. Turner, looks like you’ve gotten yourself another cat.”

Jasmine grinned.

“It looks like I have, Luca. She was crying under a car. I couldn’t very well just leave her there, could I?”

“I’m sure you couldn’t. You be careful with Lucy, though. She doesn’t like other cats, that one.”

Jasmine frowned and shook her head.

“As long as I introduce them, I’m sure they’ll be just fine.”

But as she got up the stairs and fumbled for her keys – Anthony deftly nipped them out of her hands and opened the door for her – she wasn’t too sure. She flicked the light on.

Lucy was curled up on her chair, as usual. She stretched and rolled off the chair with that special grace, and came towards Jasmine.

Lucy stopped, and arched her back, those wicked claws making a very special appearance.

In her arms, Harlequin expressed her displeasure with a hiss, too.

Jasmine tried to hold on to the kitten, but there really was no holding on to a kitten who didn’t want to be held, so she found the two cats on the floor, stalking each other.

“Lucy, this is Harlequin. She’s going to be our new friend,” tried Jasmine desperately.

She didn’t think that that was what they meant by introduction.

“Please be nice, Lucy,” she begged, and wondered if that was any closer to a proper cat introduction.

There was a sharp hiss and a low yowl.

“Oh no!”

“That’s it, let’s break it up,” muttered Anthony, and grabbed for Harlequin.

It was obviously the one thing he shouldn’t have done, because it set them off. They looked like a whirling Frisbee of fangs and claws, and fur that seemed to be flying in all directions.

“Oh no! Kittens, stop fighting!” pleaded Jasmine, absolutely uselessly.

Anthony set his jaw grimly and made the grab again. This time, he swore harshly, cried out loudly, but he got one of the cats. He got Harlequin.

Or more precisely, Harlequin got him, because all claws from four paws were dug into Anthony’s arm, and he looked like he might faint.

Her brain finally functioning again, she grabbed the cat carrier and opened it, her trembling fingers fumbling a little too much. But he managed to shove Harlequin in there and close the door.

“Oh no, you’re bleeding!”

Anthony’s mouth was set grimly, and he looked like he was pleased that Jasmine was finally paying attention to his heroics, but she was talking to Lucy.

“Why would you do that, Lucy? Why? She’s our friend. She’s going to be our friend. You can’t act like that towards our friend, it’s incredibly rude, Lucy. Come on now, you owe us all an apology. But let me take care of that for you. Let me get the first aid kit.”

Jasmine was trembling, but she made it to the cupboard and got the kit. Carefully, she checked the cat and saw that there was only one mark, and it wasn’t a bite mark.

“Well, that’s not much. You’re making a fine fuss over nothing much, aren’t you!”

Lucy meowed pathetically.

“No, don’t you do that.”

“Could I perhaps have the first aid kit?”

Jasmine looked at Anthony, dazed, and realized what she’d done.

“Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Tony. Here, let me take care of that, come on.”

She got to work, washing and cleaning his wounds, and gently applying the antiseptic cream.

“There, we’re fine now. I’m sorry, did that hurt?”

“Yes, it hurt,” he told her through gritted teeth and glared at her.

“Sorry. Sorry about that. Well, I think that’s it. You should feel better soon. I am sorry, Tony.”

He looked a little mollified.

“What are you going to do about the cats now?”

“I don’t suppose you’d like Harlequin?”

He just stared at her.

“No, I didn’t suppose you would. I was just checking, you know. Just in case. You never know for sure until you ask, right? I didn’t want to assume until I asked. I… Now I need to check Harlequin.”

Slowly, warily, she took the black and white kitten out of the carrier and checked her, too.

“You got a scratch, too, but that’s it. Well, I suppose that fight looked a lot worse than it really was. The two of you did more damage to poor Tony than you did to each other. Here, let me clean you up.”

Feeling like an expert, Jasmine cleaned Harlequin up, too, and looked at Lucy warily.

“If either of you try it now, I will kick both of you, and hard. I’m going to put Harlequin down. That’s quite a mouthful, I should call you Harley. Or Quinn. I think Quinn suits you better. Here, we have two bowls here, one over here, and one over here. Now I’ve got cat food. Your nice dinner. If you’re nice, you’ll have your dinner. Let’s see, some in here, and some in here.”

Talking to soothe herself and the cats, she put down the offering of food, and slowly and carefully, far away from Lucy, she set Harlequin – Quinn now – down.

Holding her breath, she waited.

“If they try to kill each other now, I’m just going to let them.”

She couldn’t blame him for that. If she’d just gotten scratched up like that, she would’ve felt that way, too.

“Look, they’re not fighting! They’re checking each other out!”

Miraculously, they were checking each other out, and without any signs of overt animosity.

“They like each other now.”

“Fickle creatures,” muttered Anthony.

Jasmine grinned, but she was trembling from relief now.

“They’re going to be friends, Tony. Isn’t that amazing? They’re both going to be friends with each other after all! I thought it wouldn’t happen! Look at them!”

She heard the dippy pride in her voice, but she couldn’t stop it. She was proud. She did feel like a proud mama.

She looked at Anthony, and she saw the reluctant affection on his face, too. Who was this man? She knew next to nothing about him. And she didn’t want to dig into him. She didn’t want to find out without him telling her about it. She didn’t want to dig and make him feel… bad.

She’d never felt like this about a man before, and it frankly terrified her. She had nearly gone home with him, and that terrified her, too. Maybe Quinn had saved her from getting in too deep.

But who was she trying to fool? She already was in too deep. She was already in far too deep, and she didn’t think she’d be able to get out, not anymore.

What had she gotten herself into?

“I think they’ll be fine now.”

Jasmine nodded.

Anthony smiled at her.

“I can see that brain of yours going a mile a minute. Give it a rest for a few minutes. I won’t push you now, I promise. But I won’t just go away, Jasmine.”

“Not until you get what I want.”

Anthony went still.

“Is that what you’re worried about?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m worried about. We’re supposed to be working together. That’s supposed to be all we’re doing. But we’re getting… involved. I don’t know how to handle that.”