Is it the Money Spent or the Thought Behind the Gift?

I got a present that was both expensive and thoughtful but….

Photo by Neakasa on Unsplash

She split. In leaving our six year relationship, she abandoned everything else in the apartment we shared. It was a sad time.

One item that she included in her largess was a rescue cat (Felix*). She’d acquired him before we made the decision to live together.

“He cares more about you than he does me!” she said as she went out the door for the last time.

Well, he may have: who’s to tell? The real question would be:

Do I care for Felix more than you do?

He’s your psychological support pet complete with $100 online verification in your name from a legitimate psychologist that states you need him for anxiety.

My buddy

Being alone in the condo was kinda tough in the beginning. However, the little fella won me over with his sweet disposition. I found myself enjoying his company and the structured way of living I was forced to lead because of his rituals. Got my mind off my troubles.

Not having a female human partner around took some getting used to. However, coming home to Felix wasn’t so bad while I was looking for aforementioned female.

I winked, blinked, messaged, text, phoned, coffee, dinners, I tried Match.com, OurTime, eHarmony…

My cat was witness to it all. If not personally, vicariously with the mysterious feline ability cats possess to understand a human’s problems without being affected themselves.

Felix and I were a team of two.

Her

After close to a year of prospecting, I found her. A good woman, age appropriate, smart, attractive physically, in good shape but most importantly — she seemed attracted to me.

Although a dog person herself, she quickly recognized the bond that I had with my cat.

She and I grew closer as the months slipped on by. Felix and her dog (Boo*) were integral parts of our relationship. We were humming right along with our first anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks.

I was pretty excited to see her face with the necklace I’d bought at the jeweler. Had opals in it!

Picked up an anniversary card, only semi-schmaltzy. I’d write in the proper words of appreciation.

Gift exchange

We celebrated our initial anniversary with a home-cooked dinner in my condo.

She was over the top with my choice of the opal necklace.

Kisses and hugs of appreciation.

She even commented on the sensitivity of the card and my addition to Hallmark’s verse.

She mentioned she had an anniversary gift for me also. She asked me to go out to her car and help her lug it in.

I’ll admit, I was curious. I had most everything I needed and didn’t wear jewelry of any kind.

What in holy-hell could she give me?

She sprung open her trunk and there it was. The present was a pretty good size and the box containing it was quite hefty.

I hauled it into my condo with some effort, her trailing behind admonishing me to handle it with care.

“Open it!” she said with excitement, as if anxious to see my reaction to her gift.

As carefully as possible, I used a box cutter and opened the Amazon package..

I lifted the object out of its container and couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it was.

It certainly wasn’t an opal necklace.

I was dumbfounded.

“It’s for you and Felix!” she gushed.

“It’s a self-cleaning cat box!” hoping her enthusiasm was infectious.

Felix gave it a sniff and walked away, unimpressed.

After she left that night, I googled self-cleaning cat boxes. I found this particular brand: has a fatal design flaw where their rotation of the cleaning mechanism when scooping up the waste can close the entryway and crush the cat.

How could she do this to my Felix?

How could I expose Felix to such risk?

I chucked the damned thing and replaced it with Felix’s old one.

So sue me, it was my duty as a cat companion to get the hell rid of that self-cleaning cat box.

What should I tell her? She’s coming over tonight.

Epilogue

When the doorbell rang that evening I opened it to see her: still a good woman, smart, attractive, and still in good shape.

She had on a necklace with an opal in it.

*Felix and Boo are fictitious names to protect the innocent animals