A wave of bitterness flooded the girls heart.
Oliver slowly shut the flat door behind him, let out a heavy sigh, and sank onto the sofa. Anger and confusion simmered inside him. Hed just had a blazing row with his girlfriend, all over a stray kitten. The last half-hour had rushed past in a blursharp words, accusations, desperate attempts to defend himself. It felt like the ground had vanished beneath his feet, leaving a hollow ache in his chest.
Charlotte had always drawn him in with her gentle nature, her kindness, the way she made everything feel effortless. Theyd balanced each other perfectly. But lately, shed drifted away, consumed by the care of some scrawny street cat shed taken in.
At first, Oliver had shrugged it offwomen loved animals, especially the pitiful ones. But soon, her obsession took a worrying turn. Every conversation circled back to the kittens treatments, its health, its needs. It was as if all the affection shed once poured into him had been rerouted to this wretched, half-blind creature.
When the fight erupted, hed laid it bare: the cat took up more space in her life than he did. To him, pouring money and emotion into a hopeless case was ludicrous. Why not get a proper, healthy pet? One that could actually bring them joy?
Charlotte had recoiled, calling him cruel, heartless, blind to what really mattered. The harder he argued, the wider the gap between them grew.
It had been an ordinary morning when Charlotte first heard the pitiful mewling by the front steps. Shed almost ignored itjust her imagination, surely. But then she glanced out the window and saw the tiny, shivering bundle of fur. Without thinking, shed thrown on her coat and rushed outside.
The kitten was a sorry sightmatted, skeletal, eyes crusted with infection, nose weeping. Its tail trembled as if struggling to stay upright. She scooped it up and carried it home, then straight to the vet. The diagnosis was grim: a severe eye infection, likely to leave it completely blind. “Itll take time, effort, and a fair bit of money,” the vet warned. “No guarantees.”
But Charlotte refused to give up. She spent pounds on medications, IV drips, ointments. Every day, she patiently cleaned its eyes, dressed its sores, fed it by syringe when it couldnt eat on its own.
A month later, the infection was gonebut the sight never returned. The kitten was blind. Friends suggested rehoming it, even putting it down. “Why drag out its suffering?” they asked.
Yet Charlotte felt responsible. Shed pulled it from the gutter. Now it relied on her completely. So she kept it, naming it Pip.
The first days were chaosPip stumbled, bumped into walls, struggled to navigate. But soon, his cleverness shone through. Within a week, he mapped the flat perfectly, dodging obstacles, finding his food bowl. By the second week, hed mastered the litter box without a single mistake.
Before long, Pip revealed an uncanny intuition. The moment Charlotte sat down, hed leap into her lap, curling up as if hed always belonged there. If she was upset, hed press close, purring softly, as if to say, *Im here.*
Everything was perfectuntil the night Oliver snapped. He called her a fool for wasting time and money on a “useless” cat. A healthy, pedigreed one wouldve been better, he insisted.
His words cut deep. How could he dismiss a creature that loved so freely? She tried to explain what Pip meant to her, but Oliver only scoffed and walked out, tossing a final jab about wasted effort.
The bitterness surged, and suddenly, she understood who was truly blind. Not Pip, who gave love unconditionally despite his limitsbut Oliver, who couldnt see the worth of loyalty and kindness.
The breakup was quiet, without regret. Charlotte didnt need a man who couldnt recognise love in its purest form. Now, she had Pipa friend whod stand by her, no matter what.
