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Charlotte's parents didn't allow pets in the house, not because they didn't like animals, but because they wouldn't have time to properly care for a pet. They worked full time, and Charlotte had school and a part-time job. Any pet would be too lonely at home.
However, one afternoon when she was on her way to the store after school, she came across a small critter in an alley. She heard some bitter, depressing meowing and decided to investigate, finding the source of the sound. It was a cat... or what had once been a cat. It was black, it was dirty, with missing tufts of fur and an expression that screamed "I hate the world" in its big yellow eyes. But Charlotte saw beyond the poor animal's appearance, she saw a sweet, innocent kitten in need of a family, and decided to adopt him.
She could not take him home, but in the Cave he could surely live very well. So she lifted him into her arms, and although the animal tried to struggle with her, in the end she ended up winning him over with sweet words and cuddles, and the little guy snuggled into his new owner's arms.
"Don't be scared, little furball, I'll take care of you." She promised him.
/
"Look what I found." She announced as she entered the store with a big smile, holding the cat in her arms.
Jasper looked at her interested, but frowned in distaste when he got a good look at the animal.
"Better return it to where you found it."
She looked at him angrily at his comment and Jasper threw up his hands in self-defense but apologized.
"Sorry, but your new friend isn't exactly pretty." He pointed out, looking at the animal who didn't look very groomed.
"He's a stray, but I'm sure with a good bath and food, Salem will look like a gorgeous kitty again." She assured, giving her new pet a sweet smile, and headed for the Cave.
Jasper doubted it.
As she exited the elevator, the cat was shaking with fright, but gentle caresses on his back and a few sweet words were enough to calm him down.
"What have you got there?" Ray asked warily as he saw her come out carrying something in her arms.
"I found a cat." She revealed, showing him off. "I named him Salem."
Ray and Schwoz leaned over to look at the feline, grimacing at the feline's appearance.
"What an... interesting creature!" Ray commented, forcing a smile and changing the words from what he really thought of that addition to the team to avoid angering the girl.
Schwoz, for his part, let out an "aww" and reached over to pet the cat. He thought it looked pretty cute. But, he also thought his sister Winnie was beautiful.
"I rescued him from the street and he's already attached to me." Charlotte said proudly. "He'll be the Cave's new pet."
Then she disappeared through the secret door to go give Salem a bath. When she disappeared from there, Ray gave his true opinion.
"What a hideous creature."
/
An hour later, Charlotte returned to the Cave with Salem in her arms. The animal was clean, perfumed and brushed. And she had scratches on her arms and disheveled hair from the mission, but a huge smile of satisfaction because to her, Salem looked much better.
"Hi Henry, meet my new friend."
Charlotte approached Henry to introduce him to Salem. The boy had heard Ray talk about the hideous animal, but thought his boss had been exaggerating. Evidently Ray's description had been benevolent.
"What happened to his face?" Henry asked, somewhere between disgusted and confused.
"Henry, don't be cruel." Charlotte scolded him, glaring at him.
The boy swallowed and nodded, not wanting to antagonize Charlotte. She calmed down and smiled at her pet again.
"I rescued him, the poor thing was lonely and hungry." She spoke to him in a sweet, loving voice, scratching behind his ears and getting deep purrs of contentment from him. "Isn't he a sweetheart?"
"Yes, he sure is..." Henry murmured, looking at her quizzically.
She looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
"Do you want to pet it?"
No, Henry didn't want to even be near that horrible beast, but his best friend was looking at him expectantly, with a bright smile, and she looked very happy with her new "friend". He didn't want to hurt her, he loved her too much to break her heart.
"Yeah, right."
Tentatively, Henry raised his hand and lowered it slowly over the animal, suppressing a grimace of disgust at the thought of touching that wire-thin looking fur. Still, he had to do it, she expected that of him. But before his fingers brushed the fur on his head, Salem spun and took a bite.
"Ouch!"
Henry shrieked in pain and backed away several steps, looking at the feline accusingly.
"Your cat bit me!" He exclaimed indignantly, clutching his injured hand.
"Because you scared him." Charlotte defended him. "The poor thing distrusts everyone because he had a hard life, didn't you, Salem? You didn't mean to hurt Henry, did you, little guy?"
"I'm fine, Charlotte, thanks for asking." Henry mumbled sarcastically, watching as his friend comforted the perpetrator instead of the victim.
But she wasn't paying attention to him. She was focused on Salem, stroking his back and talking sweetly to him.
"Come, you must be very hungry, let's see if the machine has any tuna."
She asked for a bowl of tuna, and served it to Salem, who devoured it desperately. And when he was done, he licked his muzzle in satisfaction. Then she lifted him in her arms and went to sit at the monitors with him.
The cat stared at Henry with its cold yellow eyes. It was a look of hatred and contempt. Henry stared back.
/
Although he was not very pretty to look at, everyone in the Man Cave had become somewhat accustomed to Salem, and his quirks. The cat liked to sit in the window of the store and stare outside, his cold, intimidating eyes and hideous appearance making passersby shudder. Sometimes he would sit at the counter next to Jasper who had learned the hard way not to nag him to get down. Ray had at first been reluctant to allow his stay in his Cave, he was ugly, surly and territorial. He was also devilish, or at least his aura was evil, and being in his presence was a bit uncomfortable. He was repulsed to find him in different parts of the Cave when he least expected it, he was stealthy and agile, and his gaze was penetrating and heavy. Secretly, Ray had tried to get rid of him, by putting him in a box and taking him to the desert... Only for Salem to show up on his own the next morning, sitting in the chair behind the monitors, wagging his tail slowly, sending him an intimidating look from his position, as if to confirm with his gaze that he was aware of the discomfort his presence caused and that he would not forgive Ray's insolence.
Later that night, he found his favorite T-shirt torn to shreds on the floor of his room, and the remains reeked of cat pee.
Ray got the message and never tried to get rid of him again. And he "gladly" agreed to let him stay. Avoiding any unnecessary contact.
With Schwoz, the cat got along well, because the scientist genuinely thought he was a cute and cuddly little animal, and had given him a couple of rubber toys to amuse himself, finding it endearing how the cat seemed to like to tear his toys to shreds. Charlotte found it funny.
The girl who had brought him loved him, to her he was the best pet in the world. But Henry... Henry was sure Salem hated him.
Every time he tried to pet the cat, encouraged by Charlotte who loved that creature and wanted their best friends to get along, the cat attacked him. Biting, scratching, threatening hisses and hateful looks were all part of the repertoire. And the cat would only do it with him, never with the others, whom he would just watch indifferently or tolerate. Or he would teach a lesson when he saw fit or felt he had been offended by them in some way. But the hatred that he seemed to feel for Henry was undeniable.
To make matters worse, Charlotte seemed oblivious or unwilling to accept that fact, dismissing her best friend's complaints. In fact, she was more attentive to the cat than anything else, including him. And that had him furious. And jealous, he would admit he felt displaced, and it seemed Salem was picking up on his feelings and taunting him.
"I'm telling you, that cat hates me." Henry complained, showing a small bite mark on his hand.
Salem had given it to him when he tried to sit next to Charlotte on the couch and the cat jumped up before he could, attacking him.
"That's ridiculous, Henry." Charlotte said, scratching Salem's head, who had jumped into her lap after perpetrating the attack. "Salem was going to jump and you took him by surprise, that's all."
The cat settled into his mistress's lap, purring in satisfaction, sending a mocking look at the blond.
This situation happened often, Henry would try to get close to Charlotte, but Salem would ruin the moments by doing something that ended up with the damn cat in the arms of his friend, who spoiled him in everything, and with Henry being scolded for fighting with an animal. When they got together to watch a movie, the cat would settle into his owner's lap and tolerate anyone next to her...except Henry, who always ended up sitting far away from her to avoid fights. If she was in the store, Salem would be at the counter keeping her company, and if he think of going near her, he would end up with scratches. If she was alone with him, the cat would steal her attention by doing some "mischief" or demanding her attention with purrs and headbutts. And Henry was getting fed up.
Once, Salem was asleep on the console, and there was no one there but Henry, who was supposed to take an emergency call, but Salem was in the way.
"Move." He ordered him, getting serious and trying to intimidate him.
Salem just blinked lazily and cocked his head, wagging his tail from side to side.
"I have to answer, step aside, will you?" repeated Henry.
But the cat just yawned mockingly and lay down again, never taking its eyes off him. Henry exhaled audibly and gathered his courage.
"All right, you asked for it, you hairy beast."
Henry left the main room and went to get a sprinkler. When he returned, Salem was in the same spot, looking at him curiously. Without a word, Henry threw water at him with the sprinkler. Salem shrieked and hissed, jumping up and running away. Henry guffawed, thinking himself the victor, and took the seat behind the monitors.
"Yes! I'm the one in charge, fur ball!" He shouted in victory.
But then, Salem came back and jumped in his face.
/
When Charlotte arrived, Schwoz was healing the wounds Henry had received on his face. The boy was disheveled, and his whole face was scratched and with trickles of blood rolling down his cheeks.
"My God, Henry!" She exclaimed in concern, coming closer. "What happened to you?"
His friend sat next to him, helping Schwoz heal him. He felt the urge to smile because he could see that she still cared about him, that her life wasn't all about Salem. But he resisted giving in, and just looked at her in annoyance. She had brought that hairy demon to their lives.
"Salem was what happened." He replied between gritted teeth.
She gasped in shock, searching for her cat with her eyes.
"What did you do to him?"
Henry's eyes widened, dumbfounded. "What did I do!?" He asked. "Charlotte, your damn cat is a monster, he's evil and hates everyone!" He pointed out angrily.
"He's not a monster, he's just surly to people he doesn't trust, it's his personality." She justified.
"Well, it's a psychopathic personality!" Henry retorted.
Then said cat appeared, as if to contradict Henry's words, rubbing tenderly on his mistress's calves, purring softly and looking up at her with big, apologetic yellow eyes. That trick worked and she lifted him into her arms.
"How can you say that?" Charlotte shook her head. "You sure did something to him, didn't you?"
Henry's eyes looked everywhere but at her, embarrassed, because if he looked her in the eye, he was going to tell the truth. And he didn't want to admit that he'd provoked a fight with the animal...and lost.
Things went from bad to worse as the rivalry for Charlotte's attention grew between human and cat. They both loved the young girl and fought for her attention, but Henry, still her best friend since early childhood, felt that Salem was winning effortlessly, and she began to ignore him more and more.
One day, when Henry was alone in the cave, he found himself face to face with Salem again. Ever since the sprinkler incident, he'd tried to avoid him so he wouldn't end up fighting with him, because then Salem would get the upper hand because his owner would defend him or minimize his actions every time he showed up acting tender and innocent. That was what made him angry the most, that his best friend seemed more interested in that horrible fur ball than in him and the injuries he had suffered. Before he could boast that he was Charlotte's favorite, her best friend and confidant, but now Salem was stealing his place, for now it was the cat to whom she told her secrets and covered him with attentions, there were days when she barely spoke to him. It was humiliating and exasperating.
The cat lay on the chair behind the monitors, its head resting on one paw, the other dangling. It was staring up at him from its throne, expectantly. Henry was sure he was smiling at it, mockingly, because he knew he was winning.
"I won't fall into your trap, I know what you're up to." Henry told him, as if the cat could understand him.
The cat just wagged its tail in disdain. Henry thought Salem understood him perfectly. It scared him. But he was tired of it, tired of competing with a fur ball.
"You want to provoke another fight, don't you? Do you think that I don't know what your game is?" Henry narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You're trying to play the victim so you can get Charlotte to comfort you and get mad at me, you want to get her away from me, don't you?" He accused him, lowering his voice.
Salem ruffled the hairs on his back and stood on all four legs, lowering his head and flattening his ears, looking at Henry with narrow, calculating eyes. His posture was aggressive, his tail wagging slowly, indicating his mood.
But far from panicking, Henry sighed, relaxed, and dropped onto the couch.
"I understand, your behavior, I mean." He went on, looking at the cat.
Salem relaxed his posture, sat up and cocked his head to one side, his eyes fixed on him. Henry was sure that he was paying attention to him. So, even though he looked like a madman talking to Salem, he moistened his lips and continued.
"It must have been nice for you to have such a nice and pretty girl rescue you, give you a home and pay you so much attention, right?" Salem got up from his seat and walked over to him, lifting his eyes and looking at him patiently. "She's wonderful, she can make you feel so precious, she's caring and sweet, she's always there for you, she always knows what to say to lift your spirits, and it must have been touching for you to have her repeat to you how pretty you were when a lot of people - myself included - said you were... well, ugly." The cat hissed in warning, and Henry held up his hands in a conciliatory manner. "Easy, I know how it feels to be called things like that, not ugly, but to be told you're a good-for-nothing, a failure or a fool..." Henry sighed softly. "But then she came with her gentleness and warmth, and your whole world was bright again, wasn't it? Everything ceased to be gray and hopeless. She gave you her affection and you're afraid someone else will steal it from you and you'll be back in that alley, alone and depressed... you're jealous of me, is that what this is about?"
Salem jumped onto the couch, next to Henry, who leaned back a bit out of caution due to past experiences with the animal. But Salem made no pretense of trying to attack, rather looked at him as if waiting for him to continue.
"She must have told you about me, her best friend, and that worried you." He pointed out, beginning to lose his fear. "You were afraid that she would push you aside, that she wouldn't cuddle you or play with you anymore, in other words, you were jealous. I'm jealous of you too, you know? Before you came along, Charlotte gave me all her attention, and I was never worried about someone else taking my place because I was sure to be her best friend, to always be her favorite... until you came along, and then she only had eyes for you, and I got jealous... of a cat." He admitted with a soft laugh.
Charlotte, who had entered the Cave through the secret door unnoticed by Henry, heard everything.
"Are you jealous of Salem?" She asked, holding back a laugh.
Henry startled and turned quickly, nervous.
"Charlotte?" He asked, eyes widening. "How much of this conversation did you overhear?"
Charlotte smiled tenderly and walked over to him, taking Salem and placing him on her lap to sit in the same spot next to her friend.
"Enough." She replied, meeting his embarrassed gaze. Then she held out her hand and took his. "Listen, you don't have to be jealous of Salem, and you don't have to be jealous of Henry." She added, stroking the back of her kitten, who lifted his eyes to hers. "I love you both, you two are my favorite person and animal."
Henry looked into her eyes and saw the warmth in her smile.
"So you don't prefer the cat over me?" He asked, half joking, half serious.
"Don't be silly." Charlotte replied, laughing softly. "I couldn't possibly prefer anyone else over you."
Henry looked at her intently, feeling a surge of courage to confess something he had long wanted to tell her.
"Charlotte... I think I need to tell you something." He hesitated for a moment, but continued, interlacing his fingers and squeezing her hand lightly. She gasped, but didn't pull away or remove her hand. "I am jealous, yes. But not just of the cat. It's just... you're special, you're the most important person in my life, I like you a lot and I'm afraid of losing you, that one day you'll get away from me, I'm jealous to think that there's someone you appreciate more than me..."
The boy felt his cheeks burning and looked down. Charlotte looked at him, surprised but pleased. She tugged at his hand to get his attention so he would look at her again.
"Henry...I have a confession to make to you as well." He swallowed hard at the sweet smile and her intense gaze. "I like you too, more than you can imagine."
Henry smiled, feeling a heavy weight lift from his shoulders. Charlotte leaned over and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. The boy inhaled sharply, closed his eyes, and shivered at the contact. Just then, Salem jumped into Henry's lap, snuggling up to him for the first time. He opened his eyes in surprise, and both teens looked down at the cat.
Charlotte giggled. "Wow, looks like Salem has already made up with you." She joked.
"Better late than never..." Henry whispered, carefully reaching up and stroking the cat's head.
Salem recoiled a little from the contact out of habit, but his owner stroked his back and used reassuring words to get him to relax and accept the caresses from Henry. With enough encouragement, he would be able to accept his owner's other pet.
And even though the cat was still hideous, Henry decided that maybe it wasn't so bad, they both wanted the best for the same person, so they could learn to live together for her sake... as long as the cat didn't attack him again.