A big reunion

Somewhere in America...

A young male cat goes for a little stroll after finishing his shift at the copy shop.
His name is Jerome Herbert Murphy, son of a single father and born out of marriage.
He was skinnier and a tad shorter than other guys his age, which often spelled out trouble, more on that later.
Jerome was kind of a loner for the majority of his life, as he didn't have much friends growing up.
He and his cousin, Don, were both raised by Daniel, Jerome's father and Don's uncle.
Angelo, Don's father, died during the war when his son was just 2 years old, while his wife, Lydia, vanished for seemingly no reason shortly after the funeral.
Since then, Daniel took care of Don while at the same time raising his own son, all of this by himself.
Not much is known about Jerome's mother, as he never got to meet her and Daniel refuses to go much into detail about it, to the point of not even telling him her name.
Jerome was born 3 years before his cousin, and his mother had abandoned both him and his father shortly after being born, never to be seen again.
All that is known about her is that she was a black cat, which explained Jerome's appearance.
While Don and Daniel where 100% siamese cats, Jerome came out as a cross-breed between siamese and black.
This meant that his eyes were green rather than blue and that the sections of his fur that should be white/cream were gray instead.
So there he was, walking and minding his own business. Jerome ultimately decided to head towards the nearby burger joint and have a bite. However, before that he made a quick stop at the photo studio in order to pick up a bunch of photographs that had finished being revealed that very day. Said pictures were of, allegedly, odd events and strange phenomena that he happened to capture at just the right moment, such as ghosts, poltergeists, time travellers, among others.
Jerome had always a fascination towards this kind of topics ever since he was a kid.
One thing both he and his cousin Don had in common was that they had their own ways to deal with parental loss.
While Don went on to develop quick hands that he used to perform petty thefts in order to distract himself, Jerome on the other hand set his attention towards the supernatural and the paranormal.
He wasn't some conspiracy obsessed individual that went on constantly rambling about how TV was a surveillance device created by the government or that aliens built the pyramids, as he was smart enough to not believe that. However, his mere fascination with similar topics made him the laughing stock of most of his classmates during elementary school, most notably the class bully Edgar, and the rich girl Amanda.
Edgar was a rather impolite husky who resorted to both physical and verbal means to abuse his victims despite not being particularly athletic in build, being just slightly taller and less skinny than Jerome himself. He also liked to gloat about how successful his father's used car business was, stating that one day he would take over and that all the other children would work for him.
Amanda on the other hand was a spoiled rotten gray tabby cat that hailed from a wealthy family, which of course made her believe that she had the right of treating every child of lower income like dirt, especially Jerome, since she particularly liked mocking his hybrid appearance and his lack of a mother.
He still remembers some things she used to say, like "I bet your mommy left you because of how weird you look" or one time during mother's day where she said "hey Jerome, where's the card you made for your mom? Oh wait! You don't have one!", and so on and so forth.
At the cafeteria or at the schoolyard, no one would come near Jerome. Both Edgar and Amanda had gone out of their ways to make up rumors about him so that Jerome would remain a loner, and since they were children, they easily believed everything.
For a while, Jerome thought that he would end up graduating with no friends to play with or talk to.
Or at least that's what he thought until one day a new student arrived to his class. Her name was Aleksandra Malakovna, a polar bear whose family had just moved from Russia to North America.
And as soon as she introduced herself to the other children, she became Edgar and Amanda's brand new target, as they found extremely easy to make fun of her thick accent and her figure. Aleksandra, or "Sasha" for short, was noticeably overweight, which made her stand out more as she was the only fat girl in Jerome's class.
Needless to say, Sasha was hurt by the bullies' comments, something Jerome noticed at an instant.
During that very day's recess, Sasha was sitting by herself at the swings, with tears in her eyes. Edgar had already begun to spread rumors about the new girl, such as saying that if one were to befriend her, she would begin to steal and eat their lunch on a daily basis.
Just then, she saw a young boy from her class approach. It was Jerome.
"... Hi", he said.
Sasha did not respond.
"... I'm Jerome Murphy", he said extending his hand out to her.
Sasha remained without responding.
"... You're Aleksandra, right? I like your name".
"... Go away".
"Why? I just wanted to talk to you".
"Why would you want to talk to me? No one wants to be even near me".
Jerome then went silent, and looked down.
"... Cause no one would come near me either".
That made Sasha's face light up a bit. She couldn't believe that there was someone willing to befriend her, let alone someone who apparently went through the same situation as she did.
"... Can I sit next to you?".
"... Sure".
And so, they began talking. The two had more in common than they thought. Both Jerome and Sasha finally found what they desired the most: A true friend.
The day had finally ended, and as they walked out from the school, they kept talking.
" ... American kids are mean".
"Not all of them, just those two".
"Then why do the other kids do as they say?".
"Cause they insult them and beat them up if they don't".
"That's awful!"
"I know".
It was then when a red car stopped near them and honked twice. It was Sasha's father who had arrived to pick up his daughter.
"Oh, that's my dad. I have to go".
"Ok, see you tomorrow, Aleksandra".
"My mommy calls me Sasha, but you can do it too if you want".
"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Sasha".
And with that, the russian girl got into her dad's car and drove off.
Ever since that day, the two continued bonding over various aspects. Jerome was delighted to find out that Sasha also thought that ghosts were real, so the two oftenly got into many affairs to prove they were real, some even almost got them in trouble. They remained friends through all elementary school.
But alas, all things must come to an end.
As soon as they graduated, for reasons beyond her comprehension at the time, Sasha had to tell Jerome with much pain in her heart that she and her family were going back to Russia.
This of course left Jerome devastated. Having to part ways with the only friend he had was something he did not want to do, but he had to do it anyway.
Jerome, his dad and his cousin Don were present at the airport to bid farewell to Sasha and her family. It was a truly sour and heartbreaking moment.
As years went on, Jerome had managed to befriend some of the kids he met at elementary school once they entered middle school, as well as some new classmates he went on to meet, an act that was possible when Jerome made the decision of keeping his hobbies to himself from that point on.
At this point, he had already graduated college, but even after all those years, he still missed Sasha, as he always thought that no one could ever replace her.
But right now it was not the time to be thinking about that, he had more important things to worry about.
Namely, the fact that right about now he was going to cross paths with someone undesireable to him.
After picking up his photos and on his way to the fast food place, every time he wanted to have lunch there he had to pass in front of a certain place.
"Hey, chump! What's inside those folders? Taking pictures of possible alien girlfriends again?".
That voice was from none other than Edgar himself, or "Mr. Goldman" as he now liked to be addressed.
People say that there's things that just never change, and in this case it was true.
Low and behold, Edgar had actually managed to take over his father's used car business after he retired, not only that, but some of his former classmates during elementary school were now working for him, much to their dismay.
"It's none of your business, Edgar", replied Jerome dryly.
"That's Mr. Goldman to you, punk! And unlike you, I actually have a business, and a very successful one at that! Just like I always said, remember?".
"Whatever, just leave me alone".
"Come on, man! Why don't you just swallow your pride and work for me, huh? We always have room for one more dude or girl who has hit rock bottom!".
As much as Jerome was in need for a job with a better pay, there was just no way in hell that he'd be working for Edgar.
"No thanks, I'm fine", said Jerome.
"Heh, whatever, that's what everyone says, and next thing they know, they're back here CRAWLING sooner or later begging me to give them a job! Oh, that reminds me. DONNA!".
Donna was a golden retriever hailing from Australia who was right now working there as part of an intern exchange program, and Edgar took every chance he had to make her internship a living hell, treating her with as much respect as the rest of his employees, which meant: None at all.
"Yes, sir?".
"Have you finished waxing all the cars? Twice?".
"Yes, sir! I just finished applying the second layer of wax, sir!".
"Good, now do it a third time!".
"A t-third time? But sir, I just finished waxing them twice!".
"And now I want them waxed another time! Got any problems with that?".
"N-no, sir!"
"Then get on with it! And it's Mr. Goldman for you!".
"Yes Mr. Goldman sir!".
"Close enough. Now go!".
And off she went. Edgar then turned his attention back towards Jerome, only to find out that he had already left while he was busy being a nuisance of a boss.
"Ah, he'll be back around here. He always does".
And so, Jerome made it to the restaurant. The place wasn't very busy at the moment, so it didn't take long for him to make his order.
Jerome then took a seat at a table to the far left of the building and started to wait for his order.
As he waited, he resumed his thinking session. Life certainly wasn't easy for him, his current salary barely covered his basic needs, his apartment was pathetically small, many people often took advantage of his size and lack of strenght, among many other things.
However, Jerome got so submerged in his train of thought that he did not notice that something, or rather, someone was now looming over him.
Without a warning, a massive lady of a thicker than thick frame sat her enormous behind down onto Jerome, who ended up getting crushed.
"Well, at least the place was relatively empty", she said.
Then, the mysterious woman looked at both sides, as if she was making sure that no one was near, completely unaware of the small feline boy that was underneath her. Then, after her brief scouting, she proceeded to let out a powerful and foul smelling blast of flatulence, hence the reason why she sat so far away from the cashiers.
Meanwhile, Jerome was in pure hell, being smothered not only by this woman's weight, but by her gaseous emissions as well. He tried to scream, but to no avail, so he started trying to wiggle his way to freedom. And just as the lady felt that something was moving under her, her face blushed brightly after realizing what she had just done.
Wasting no time, she got up revealing Jerome's flattened frame stuck to the seat, gasping for air and coughing from the fumes.
"I'msorryI'msorryI'msosososorry! I swear I didn't see you sir, please forgive me!".
The woman, embarrassed beyond belief, started apologizing profusely to the poor man she so carelessly had squashed and farted on. Her shame was such that she couldn't even bear to look at him.
Just as Jerome caught his second wind, he replied to her apology clearly annoyed.
"Damn *cough* fine! I forgive you, just *cough* be more careful, geez!".
But then, when she looked up to the cat boy, the towering woman noticed something. Namely, Jerome's features, which she observed carefully.
"Wait... I... I think I know you! Yes! Your name is Jerome Murphy, no?".
Just then, Jerome froze in place. How could this woman of all people know who he was. It was then when he fully recovered from the squashing he received that he listened more closely to the lady's voice, realizing that there was something... odd, about the way she spoke. An accent, to be precise. Jerome proceeded to look at this woman, and what he saw left him speechless.
"... No way", said Jerome dumbfounded at what he was witnessing.
She was a polar bear. A REALLY big and fat polar bear. Her breasts were as big as balloons, resting atop her even bigger belly, which couldn't be contained by the hot pink tank top she was currently wearing, revealing her white doughy stomach. And something that was just as big was her butt, as Jerome had just witnessed. It was so big that each cheek stuck out from the sides. Her hair was black and long going all the way down to her hips, which clashed with her yellow eyes.
After seeing all of this, it did not take long for Jerome to put two and two together.
"... S... Sasha? Is... that really you?", he asked.
"Oh, Jerome!".
And just like that, the polar bear embraced the hybrid cat in a tight hug. After many years of being apart from eachother, Jerome and Sasha finally got reunited in a dramatic twist of fate.
During her entire life, Sasha felt that the only person oustide of her family that truly understood her was her childhood friend. He never judged her by her aspect, and that felt nice to her. He befriended her and accepted her for who she was, something she needed when she first arrived to America.
"S-Sasha, I'm happy to see you too, but you're kind of breaking my back!".
"O-oh, pardon me!".
The heavyweight bear lady, while enjoying this long awaited reencounter, seemed to forget that she was currently hugging her friend with the strenght of, well, a bear, so she let him go before breaking something of his.
After both had their meal, they took a walk through the nearby park.
"I still can't believe that I've ran into you after all this years. It's a good thing that you never left this city", Sasha said as she walked, her huge frame jiggling with each step.
"Eh, I never had any reason to leave in the first place. This city is all I've ever known, and I wouldn't change it for anything", replied Jerome.
"So, when did you arrive to America?".
"A few days ago, really. I got myself an apartment in downtown but I decided to take a trip here for old times sake".
"Guess I can't blame you".
"Is the school still here, by the way?".
"Yeah, actually. Just crossing the street, see?".
Jerome and Sasha turned their heads towards the school, which was still open and operating. It was a weekend, so there were no children or school faculty members at sight. The look alone brought back memories for the two.
"Ahh, this sure brings me back. I still remember the day we met", said Sasha with much nostalgia in her voice.
"Me too. Our friendship sure did help me get through elementary school. I was just a lonely outcast until you arrived. Sure, we were still outcasts, but now we weren't alone anymore, and to me, that's all that mattered", continued Jerome.
"Awww, that's so sweet of you. I'm glad you haven't forgotten about me".
"How could I? In fact, I still remember being very sad when you left after we graduated. Speaking of which, why did you have to leave, anyway?".
Hearing this, the russian lady let out a heavy sigh and a tone of sadness took over her voice.
"It's complicated. Remember when I told you about the family business?".
"The one bakery that was passed down from generation to generation for over a century?".
"Yeah, that one. Well, when my family and I moved here to the US my dad left the business in hands of my uncle. However, he ran into... issues".
"Let me guess, he caused the place to be submerged in debt".
"No, the place caught a fire and burned down. With our main source of income gone and the following spendings that had to be made in order to rebuild the bakery from the ground up, we couldn't afford to stay here any longer, so we had to move back to Russia. He wanted to open up a new branch here in America so that we could stay for the rest of our lives. But after the fire, that just wasn't possible. The first night I spent at home after returning to Russia, I cried so much that my mom just couldn't get me to cheer up".
There was a brief silence. Jerome knew that Sasha's departure was sad, but now hearing the reason behind it just made it worse.
"And... why did you return?", he asked.
"My father died not too long ago. The loss was too much to bear, so I decided to go back to the place where I spent the majority of my childhood to start off from scratch".
However, when she finished saying that, a bit of her joy returned.
"But now that I've found you, things are gonna be so much better. I can see it, you and me spending time together, just like when we were children!".
"I... well...", said Jerome scratching the back of his head.
"Look, I'd love to spend time with you again, I really REALLY do, but I already have a job that takes up the majority of my time. Plus, you live downtown, I'm still here in the neighborhood, we literally live at opposite sides of the city".
"... Oh", this basically broke Sasha's heart. She just wanted to be with Jerome again after so long, especially now that she was determined to start her life in America in company of a familiar face, but given the circumstances that would apparently not be possible. She did not want to believe it, but she had to. Nevertheless, Sasha hid her grief to not worry Jerome.
"W-well, that can't be helped I guess", she said with her voice wanting to crack, but managing to keep her cool.
"But can we at least spend some time in your place before I head over to my apartment for the night?".
"M-my place? Right now? Eh, I don't know if you'd like that", replied Jerome clearly nervous.
"Come on, pretty please? It can't be that bad, you always used to be pretty organized, or don't tell me that puberty took that away for you".
"I'm still organized, it's just that--", it was at that moment that Jerome suddenly stopped and seemingly started to think to himself.
"... Is everything ok, Jerome? Something wrong?", asked Sasha.
The feline hybrid was hiding something from the russian amazon, but apparently, whatever it was, did not matter at the moment.
"Eh, nothing. I just thought that I had work tomorrow, but I just remembered that tomorrow is my day off. So I guess we're good to head to my place".
"You really mean it?! Yay!", said Sasha with clear excitement.
And so, this odd friendship made its way to the apartment building were Jerome was currently living, hoping to spend some quality time like in their school days, even if it was for just a couple hours.
Unfortunately, their little reunion was about to be crashed, and let's just say it wasn't going to be pretty for Jerome.

To be continued...