Two days later, Josh returned to the Cat Café. He didn’t see Lauren or Paige when he walked in, so he walked up to the counter. The barista who’d been handling donations at the fundraiser was there, a tall, pretty woman with dark skin. Her name was…Monique.
Josh walked to the counter and said, “Uh, hi, I’m here to pick up Mr. Knightley.” He held up the empty cat carrier he’d brought.
Monique smirked. “Yeah, Lauren mentioned. Congratulations on your new friend.”
“I feel like I need to make it really clear that he chose me.”
“That’s usually how this goes.”
“That’s what Lauren said. I wasn’t, like, looking for a cat or anything, though.”
“Sure you weren’t. I believe you. That’s why you’re standing there with a cat carrier.”
Josh sighed. He’d spent the last few days preparing his apartment. He’d stayed up late one night to finish unpacking the boxes. He’d spent Saturday assembling his desk and then setting up all the stuff he’d bought with Paige. So he was all ready for Mr. Knightley to move in, although he still couldn’t believe he was getting a cat. It wasn’t the sort of thing he imagined for himself, although he was a teensy bit excited. As he’d set up the litter box and found a good place for the cat bed, he’d imagined having a little furry friend in his apartment and how nice it would be to have a purring cat at his side on the nights he got stuck working late.
He would never admit that to Lauren, though. He didn’t want her to get that “I told you so” expression on her face.
“Lauren’s in the back,” Monique said. “She can help you.”
Josh peeked back toward the cat room. He could see through the glass door that Lauren was busy with some customers. “You know, I’m not in a hurry. Can I have a latte?”
Josh hadn’t spent any time in this space aside from the fundraiser. It might be nice to have the full cat café experience. He looked around while Monique made his latte. The front part of the café was separated from the cat room by a wall with a glass door, and on this side of the door, there were three café tables and a smattering of chairs set up, but the more comfortable seating was back with the cats. There was a little vestibule in the front, too, likely as extra insurance against the cats getting out.
Josh still couldn’t believe he was adopting a cat. He was a total sucker.
“Lauren said you’re a lawyer,” said Monique.
“Just barely.”
“My sister just graduated from law school, too. She works at Weiss & Polk now. Do you know it?”
“I do. I’ve heard great things. One of my law school classmates works there.”
“I never see her anymore. I think she sleeps in her office.”
“Yeah, the first year is rough going.”
“Anyone else in your family a lawyer?”
“Nope, I’m the first.”
“Same for my sister. She is the first one to go to grad school, even. My poor mother keeps asking her to come over for dinner and she’s canceled almost every time. Mom doesn’t quite understand why my sister is working so much. It’s almost comforting to know this first-year experience is nearly universal.”
“Yeah. Based on what I’ve heard from my law school classmates, it is. At least Lauren is my only family here and she seems to get it, but I won’t lie, it’s hard. Rewarding work, yes, and I’ve learned a ton even though I’ve only worked at my firm for two months, but I’m tired.”
Monique nodded. “My sister says basically the same thing.”
Josh tilted his head toward the backroom. “Is it crowded back there?”
“A bit. Pretty typical for a weekend. You’re here in time for the post-brunch crowd.”
“Post-brunch?”
“The crowd on Sunday afternoons is usually groups of two or three who just had brunch and want to sit and chat a little longer over a cup of coffee before heading back home.”
“Sure.”
“But go on back. There’s an adoption form to fill out, and you might need a couple of people to load Mr. Knightley into the carrier.”
“A couple of people? What have I gotten myself into?”
“Have you ever had a cat?”
Josh shrugged. “Sure, we had a couple of cats when I was a kid. I think my mom did most of the wrangling.”
Monique patted his shoulder. “This will be fun.”
Josh winced and carried his coffee and the cat carrier to the cat room. Lauren and Paige were both there, which could have been awkward, but Josh figured he’d play it cool.
“I expected you later in the day,” said Lauren instead of greeting him.
“Well, I’m here now.”
She nodded and looked around the room. She didn’t need to look hard; Mr. Knightley trotted over and smelled Josh’s shoes before rubbing against his shin.
“I’m sorry to say he is your cat,” said Lauren, taking the carrier from Josh.
“I got a latte,” he said, holding up his cup. “I’m not in a hurry. I thought I could sit for a few minutes and chat with my sister and have the whole cat café experience.”
“Sure. Have a seat.”
Paige was seated at a table in the corner, looking at a laptop. She looked up and met his gaze. “Hi, Josh.”
“Hi. Uh, mind if I sit with you?”
She smiled, which was promising. “Not at all.”
“Hey, Lauren?” called Monique from the front of the store.
Lauren sighed and shoved the cat carrier under the table, near Josh’s feet. When she left the room, Josh turned to Paige and said, “I came for the cat. I still can’t believe Lauren talked me into it.”
“Yeah, Lauren told me. She does that to everyone, by the way. All of her friends and most of the employees have cats who were adopted through the café.”
“Price of doing business, I guess.”
“This is really just a fancy cat shelter that serves coffee.”
Josh nodded and sipped his latte. “This is a solid latte. I’m impressed.”
“There used to be a great coffee shop across the street, but it closed, I dunno, eighteen months ago? After that, we became the main place for coffee between about Henry Street and the subway. Business basically doubled overnight.”
“Wow, okay.”
“I mean, we always sold good quality products, especially since this is the sort of place where people tend to sit for a while. But we stepped up our coffee game when we got all the business from the old coffee shop. Also, your brother-in-law is a coffee regular type, and when he mentioned offhand once that the plain old coffee here was a little on the weak side, Lauren spent a month figuring out how we could make a better cup of coffee.”
“Coffee regular?”
“That’s a New York thing, I guess. Coffee with cream and sugar.”
“Ah, okay. Lauren has picked up some New York slang since she moved here, but I hadn’t heard that one.”
“You didn’t sit next to me to talk about coffee.”
“True.” Josh smiled. “Actually, I’m glad you’re here. I was going to call you today. Is Thursday still good for you?”
She clicked around on her laptop. “Yes, I’m still free.”
“Perfect. There’s an Italian place near my office, if you don’t mind coming to Manhattan. Uh, real middle of the road. Not remotely romantic. Like barely a step above meatball subs.”
Paige laughed. “I don’t mind coming to Manhattan.”
“Cool, I’ll text you the address.”
Mr. Knightley hopped up on the table and stared at Josh. Josh stared back, wondering what he should do. Mr. Knightley lifted his paw and tapped Josh’s arm. Josh took this to mean he was supposed to pet the cat, so he did. Mr. Knightley immediately started to purr.
“That cat really likes you,” said Paige.
“Yeah, not sure what I did to deserve all this.”
“Cats choose people more often than people choose cats. I have an aunt in New Jersey who got a cat recently because one showed up on her back porch one day.”
“Well, buddy,” Josh said, petting Mr. Knightley’s head. “I hope you like sitting around while I do legal work, because that’s pretty much my whole life right now.” He scratched under Mr. Knightley’s chin. “You’re just trying to get sprung from this place, aren’t you? Are you going to be my friend once I get you home?”
Mr. Knightley kept purring.
“Are you going to be one of those guys who talks in baby speak to their pets?”
“It’s possible. Does that make me look cute and charming or like a pathetic loser?”
Paige smiled. “More cute than anything else.”
“Then yes. Who’s a good boy?”
Mr. Knightley butted his head against Josh’s chin.
* * *
Josh and Mr. Knightley really were awfully cute together.
He’d ended up hanging around the café until close because Lauren had been so tied up helping customers and her staff that she hadn’t had enough time to help Josh get the cat into the carrier. So she and Josh had spent a couple of hours chatting while Josh steadily put more caffeine into his body. She’d enjoyed his company immensely, even if it distracted her from putting together the next month’s event schedule. She could finish that tonight, though.
Josh was a great-looking guy; it was true. Now that she knew he and Lauren were related, the resemblance was unmistakable. They had the same coloring, the same eyes, the same freckles, but Josh’s features were harder, more masculine. He had an ease about him, too, like nothing really bothered him. Maybe that was true; he seemed to be able to compartmentalize work when he had a day off, and he definitely was not a worrier the way Lauren could be. Paige had enjoyed watching him as he’d lounged in the chair across the table from her, wearing a pair of well-worn jeans and Washington Nationals T-shirt that stretched nicely across his chest.
The Cat Café was closed now, and Josh and Lauren were struggling to wrestle the cat into the carrier. “You want to go home with me so bad, go in the carrier, cat,” Josh grumbled.
Paige snuck into the backroom and found the plastic tub full of cat treats she knew Lauren kept there. She grabbed a handful and went back to the cat room. She wedged herself between Josh, Lauren, and the recalcitrant cat and tossed a few into the carrier. Then she made a little trail of treats from the cat to the carrier.
“Did you learn nothing from trapping the ferals?” Paige asked.
Josh looked at her with awe on his face. They all stood back and watched as Mr. Knightley ate the treats and then hopped into the carrier to finish off the rest. Paige swooped forward and closed the flap.
“Well, gee,” said Josh.
Mr. Knightley let out a mighty yowl as he realized he’d walked into a trap.
“You need help getting him home?” Lauren asked.
“You think that carrier is secure?”
Josh had bought a model that looked like a duffel bag. It was the sort of thing affluent women carried their purse dogs around in. Paige checked all the zippers and found them to be closed securely. “Yeah, he can’t get out of there.”
“Then I think I should be okay. I’m gonna call a cab, because I can’t imagine hauling ten pounds of angry cat all the way home will be easy, but then I should be fine.”
“Okay. I mean, Paige, you can close, right?”
Paige had wanted to volunteer to help Josh, but she didn’t want Lauren to ask questions. Maybe she was paranoid. But she said, “Sure, Monique and I can finish here.”
“Let me grab my bag,” said Lauren. “Then if you’re really nice, I’ll buy you dinner.”
While Lauren was in back closing down her office for the day, Paige said softly, “I’d help, but…”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll see you Thursday.”
Mr. Knightley yowled again.
“Uh, congratulations on your handful,” said Paige.
Josh didn’t seem to notice and was in fact staring at Paige intently.
“Do I have something on my face?”
Josh shook his head. “No. It’s just that you’re beautiful and I want to kiss you, but I really don’t want to get caught. That was like a whole debate that played out in my head in an instant.”
Phew. Paige couldn’t help herself and looked at Josh’s lips, which looked soft and kissable. Suddenly she really wanted to kiss Josh, too. But then she heard footsteps and said, “Hold that thought. Thursday.”
Josh nodded and leaned down to pick up the carrier. He took his phone out of his pocket to pull up a ride share app as Lauren walked out of the back.
“Paige, everything in back is set, but can I bother you to do one last litter box cleanup before you go?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“I hate to ask. It’s a gross job.”
“Lauren, it’s fine. Make sure Mr. Knightley settles in at his new home.”
“Okay. Well, let’s go.”
“I’ve got a car coming,” Josh said as he held up his phone.
Lauren said goodbye, and Paige tried to will away the inevitable awkward pause as Josh did the same, but Lauren didn’t seem to notice. Paige watched them leave, then went to the backroom to grab the vacuum so she could clean up the cat room.
Monique stuck her head in and said, “Front of house is clean. You need any help back here?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m going to vacuum. If you could put all the cat toys back in the bin, that would be a help.”
“Sure, no problem.” Monique glanced back toward the front of the café. “Lauren’s brother is a cutie, isn’t he?”
Paige sighed. “Yeah.”
“You like him, don’t you? Like, not just in a ‘he’s a cute guy who spent the afternoon in the Café’ way. I saw you guys chatting earlier.”
“Maybe. Yes.”
“Wow, Lauren will hate that.”
That was exactly what Paige was afraid of. “This is why you won’t be saying anything about it.”
“Of course.” Monique mimed zipping her lips.
Paige plugged in the vacuum. “You really think she’ll disapprove?”
“You know her better than I do. She always struck me as someone who likes her life ordered in a certain way. You dating her brother threatens to upset that order.”
It was a fair point. Paige remained hopeful that Lauren would ultimately be okay with this, but she feared the worse. Nothing she could do about it now. She moved the vacuum to start on the floors. “All right, let’s do this.”