Charlie the Kitten Who Saved a Life

‘No. Of course not,’ I said. ‘But I suppose I’ve assumed we’d have them at some point. When we’re ready and … financially stable and everything.’

‘And living in the cosy cottage in the country with roses round the door?’

‘Don’t mock me, Adam. We all need our dreams.’

As I swung my bag over my shoulder and walked out of the clinic, I thought about my ‘dream’ and whether Adam really was part of mine or not. I’d met him just over three years ago at a birthday party for one of my flatmates, and the attraction was instant – and mutual. Back then, we never seemed to argue. We were like any other young couple – independent and carefree, spending what little we had to spare on fun and frivolity. Ironically, it was only when our relationship became more serious and we started making long-term plans to settle down that the arguments began. Our differences, which hadn’t particularly mattered up till then, now seemed to loom in almost every conversation. He positively loved London and never wanted to leave, whereas I’d only ever seen it as a temporary base, somewhere I could enjoy an independent city-dweller life and establish a career, but not a place where I could settle down.

Adam was a trainee accountant and had aspirations of climbing the professional ladder and eventually commanding a big salary, with things like flashy cars and riverside penthouse apartments high on his wish list. I’d have been happy with a pushbike, a couple of Labradors and, well, yes, that fantasy cottage in the country. Were we really even compatible? Or had our relationship simply become a habit?

Easter was coming up and I’d booked two weeks off work so I could spend at least part of it with Adam at his parents’ house in Hampstead. I hadn’t taken any holiday since the previous summer, and when Adam had suggested it around Christmas time it had seemed like a nice idea. Back in the dark chill of December, when I was spending every evening huddled in my duvet in front of the electric fire in my tiny room, the thought of going for long walks with Adam on Hampstead Heath in the sunshine held a lot of appeal. I liked his parents, I liked their big townhouse on a tree-lined avenue, and I liked his mum’s hearty cooked breakfasts, roast dinners and home-made desserts. I’d managed to romanticise the whole notion of the holiday to the point where it was almost irrelevant that Adam and I were quarrelling so often. I’d even convinced myself that, somehow, things would be different during this mythical springtime idyll, and that afterwards, everything would feel better.

Dream on, Sam, I muttered to myself as I swiped my Oyster card at the turnstile in the Tube station. I needed to start facing up to the fact that we weren’t getting along so well any more. The longer it went on, the harder it was going to be. And suddenly, I realised that instead of spending more time in each other’s company over Easter, what we really needed was a break from each other.

‘Darling! How lovely to hear from you! Hold on, let me just put this down and turn off this …’ My mum, as usual, sounded like she was in the middle of doing at least three things at once, all of them urgent. ‘How are you?’

‘OK, thanks.’ I hesitated. It was best never to beat about the bush with Mum, so I just came out with it. ‘I wondered if I could come home for a couple of weeks?’

‘How lovely! Of course you can. When are you thinking?’

‘Next weekend.’

‘Hold on, let me think. So you’d be here over Easter?’

‘Yes, and the following week, if that’s all right. It’ll be nice to see you both, and catch up with the family, and—’

‘I thought that was when you were going to stay with Adam and his family?’

‘Well, yes, it was.’ I let the pause become ominous, not really knowing what else to say. ‘I don’t think I’m going to go.’ It was surely the biggest hint that things weren’t going well in my relationship, but Mum failed to pick up on it.

‘Oh, that’s a shame. Dad and I will be away,’ she continued in her upbeat voice. ‘Didn’t I tell you? We’re going on a cruise – Venice and the Greek islands. We thought we’d treat ourselves.’

Oh yes. I remembered now – Mum had told me about the cruise. I think she’d counted on me being with Adam over Easter. These days, it seemed as if my parents made a career out of treating themselves, not that I blamed them. They worked hard, and since my two brothers and I had all left home, they had no ties to hold them back and were determined to see the world. I was usually pleased for them but at that moment I could have really have done with their company.

‘Oh. Never mind. I hope you enjoy it.’

‘So what will you do? Go to Hampstead after all?’

‘I don’t know. Perhaps I won’t take the time off work at all.’ The thought of a holiday had lost all of its appeal now. ‘Maybe I’ll wait till you and Dad are back.’

‘Well, don’t forget we’re going to Madeira in May with Peter and Gaynor. And then at the end of June we’ll be in France for a week as usual. And then there’s the trip to New York coming up—’