The Feline Gaze

“Yep.”

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to say yes.”

Honesty is always surprising to me, for some reason.

“What did you expect? That I’m going home to watch reruns with my cat?”

“Isn’t that what you usually do?”

“Dude, nobody says reruns anymore,” he laughs. “You’re showing your age by the fact that you even knew what I was talking about. I stream and I hang out with my cat, yeah, but I do other stuff, too. Tonight, for example,” he motions to himself. “I have a date.”

“Anyone I know?”

“Considering the fact that our mating partners tend to be of opposite genders and species, I’d say no. Sorry, boss.” Justin shrugs.

“Well, good luck to you both,” I say with a smile.

“I don’t need your luck,” Justin says. “I’ve got this.” He motions to his body once more and I laugh as he heads outside. The door closes and I lean back in my chair.

The world is moving quickly by me. Just a few years ago, I was a young lion in my prime and now? Justin is kind of right. I’m not old, but I’m 35, which is old enough to have a life partner. It’s old enough to have a mate. The reality is that I’ve just been caught up with my job and my business and growing my company.

I haven’t really had time for anything else.

Maybe I’ve been screwing up.

Justin is an incredible employee and he’s a fantastic friend. He’s also gay and exclusively dates vampires. I’m a lion shifter and I exclusively date...

Well, no one.

I date no one.

I really am turning into a bit of a recluse.

The office is closed for the night. The rest of my team has gone home to their families, but I don’t really have anywhere to be. That’s never bothered me. I don’t mind going to restaurants alone or traveling solo. I don’t mind wandering the world as a single dude. That sort of solitude has always appealed to me. It’s never made me feel like I’m missing something.

Besides, there’s always sex, right?

But now I’m getting older, and I’m finding that the idea of sharing my life with someone seems a little more appealing. Exciting. I don’t need someone to come home to at the end of the day to have dinner ready for me. I don’t need a wife who sits around waiting for me to show up and entertain her. Nah, I don’t want that sort of thing.

A partner, though.

A friend.

Someone I can tell all of my secrets to.

Those are the kinds of things that I want.

Maybe Justin knows something that I don’t. Maybe he’s realizing that there’s more to life than just working and meetings. Maybe there’s more to just completing project after project and moving through a series of checklists over and over again.

The question is whether I’m going to actually do anything about this sudden realization that I might want to meet someone. How would I even start to try to find someone? All of my employees are either married or in committed relationships: not that I’d date someone who worked for me. Still, it’s been so long since I tried to find someone that I’m not even really sure where to start: an app, maybe?

I flip casually through my phone, looking at my planner and my calendar, and then I realize something. An old friend is getting married soon. There will be a wedding to go to: a big one. In fact, it’ll be the talk of the town. Melanie isn’t the kind of person who could be satisfied with a small ceremony. No, there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s going to go all out when it comes to this wedding. The reception is going to be incredible and it’s not something I’m planning on missing.

I had, however, thought that I’d go solo. What if I don’t, though? What if I decide to do something a little different this time around?

What if I found a date?

Oh, I always go solo to these things. It’s easier, and it’s cheaper for the happy couple to not have to feed one more mouth that’s never going to remember the event, but what if I stepped up my game for this particular event? There’s no reason not to. After all, I’m a professional businessman. I’m in my prime.