If he wasn’t home by sunrise, she would leave him. Sophie stared out the window to the deserted street. Nothing moved. No red car came around the corner. No welcoming arms came through the door to pick her up like she was young again. No kiss on the top of the head and telling her how much he missed her. The street was as dead as their love had become through these long years. Sophie sighed. It wasn’t always like this. When she was younger, they did everything together. Played together, took walks together, slept together. She couldn’t remember the last time he held her as she slept. It must’ve been months, at least. He used to give her warm milk when she couldn’t sleep, and run his fingers through her dark hair, humming to her as she slowly drifted off to sleep in his arms. But that was the old him. She sighed again, taking on last look out the window, and hopped down from the windowsill.

Sophie lay down on the couch, trying to get to sleep, but still full of thoughts of him and the past. It was stupid; he was probably on another one of his overnight conferences, why should she bother waiting up for him? He never appreciated it anyway, just shrugging her off and hurrying to bed. She stood up and resituated herself. It had all started when he got that promotion so long ago. The long hours, the overnight trips, the silent nights; all started with that promotion. Couldn’t he see how much she missed him? At first, he was so happy and everything was going great, but as time went on, the long hours started getting to him. He complained about having so little sleep, so she started sleeping on the couch. His constant drowsiness and overwhelming workload carried over to his home life, coming home late and irritable. She had put up with it for so long, and she had just about had enough.

Sophie was all ready to go if that sun rose before his car pulled into the driveway. She’d already eaten dinner, tuna, her favorite, and had very few real possessions she would like to take; too many painful memories would be brought with her, and she decided she’d rather go on without them. She hoped, dreamed, that he would return before sunrise, because she really did still love him. And he did too, she knew it. He had just lost sight of what was important in life. And maybe, just maybe, if she left, he’d figure it out. And if that happened, she’d be more than happy to forgive him. But for now, she waited. She had given up trying to sleep. All she needed was a sign, a sign that she was still belonged in this house, that she still had someone to hold her at night, that he still loved her. Sure, they’d grown apart, but if he could just make one motion that he cared, it would be enough.

The time was close now; it was only a few more minutes until sunshine engulfed that desolate street. She stood, stretched, and then made her way over to the windowsill. Sophie gazed out at the dim street, longing for his red car to turn that corner, to see those bright blue eyes, that wide smile. She knew it wouldn’t happen though. Bright heat burst through the window, and blinded her. Sunrise was here, and that red car was still out of sight, and she would leave him and be forced to find someone new to love her and take care of her… But wait. A screeching of tires. A flash of red. A car was now slowly turning the corner into the sunlight. His car. She bounded down, landing on her feet as always, and ran to the front door to meet him. It opened up and sunlight filled the room.

“Hey there, Princess!” The man scooped up the cat and hoisted her into the air. “Hope I wasn’t gone too long; I don’t want you to worry!” His bright blue eyes shimmered as the black cat licked his face. He ran his fingers through its hair and set it back down. It purred and rubbed up against his leg, affectionately. “Aw, Sophie, I missed you too.”