“That was great.” Rudy danced around Angel, trying to keep in front of her so he could talk to her.
Cringing, Angel turned away, trotting toward the elevator.
“Let’s go to lunch. Are you going to the cafeteria? We can talk about the filming. Herman did an impressive job, didn’t he? Was it hard to climb the oak tree? Was it scary to jump like that? Were you scared you’d miss him?”
Angel sighed. Rudy was nice enough, but she didn’t need his endless chatter. “No, I’ve got to find Jazz.”
“Oh. Why?”
Angel wanted to sneak away alone, not answer his questions. But she was too polite to ignore a direct question. “Well, Jazz and I always eat lunch together.”
“Cool!” Rudy said. “Maybe I can join you?”
Angel didn’t answer. She wondered how she could get away from Rudy and find Jazz by herself. She liked their quiet lunches, when they shared about their morning’s work.
Mr. Sean, the elevator operator called, “Fifth floor, Studios 10 to 15. Going up.”
“Let’s go!” Rudy scampered toward the elevator.
Since the cafeteria was on the ninth floor, Angel had no choice but to follow.
A human hurried off the elevator, carrying a basket full of grooming supplies: combs, brushes, a hair dryer, ribbons, and bows. There must be an emergency on some set, Angel thought.
As Angel and Rudy stepped inside, Mr. Sean said, “Good morning, Angel. Rudy.”
They nodded politely at him.
Rudy picked up their conversation saying, “Do you think our video will go viral? That would be so great, because I really need a boost.”
Sighing, Angel wondered why Rudy was even in her Underdog Cat video. Was she supposed to pull up his views? “How old are you anyway?” she asked.
“Sixteen weeks,” Rudy said.
“That’s my age,” Angel said. “Why are you still an innocent? Every other kitten has moved on.”
“Because Devons are so little,” he said. “We can stay innocents for years. My uncle was an innocent for three years before he found a new role.”
Angel grimaced. “That’s not fair.”
“It’s not fair or unfair. It just is,” Rudy said. “The Maine coon kittens were giants at birth and never got to be innocents, while I’m as small as a mouse. It’s just who we are.”
“Innocent was so easy,” Angel said wistfully.
“You think it’s easy to stay an innocent?” Rudy’s voice rose. “To appear naive, like I know nothing? It takes as much acting as for you to be Underdog Cat.” He lifted his chest and head and looked away.
“Ninth floor, cafeteria. Going up,” Mr. Sean said.
Angel and Rudy stepped off the elevator.
Just outside the cafeteria stood Jazz, surrounded by a small clowder. TyAdam was an American shorthair who was rumored to be a good mouser, though, maybe it was just his grandfather who still ate wild meat. Rhapsody was a charming Norwegian Forest cat with overlong hairs coming out of her ears. Angel had always wondered if they were antennae to catch the Wi-Fi. She looked away from Isobelle, an exotic cat. Angel and Isobelle were both white cats, so sometimes they had to work together. Angel didn’t like to be compared to Isobelle, because Angel had such different grooming needs. She was groomed daily, while Isobelle’s hair was easily managed with a light grooming. We aren’t the same at all, Angel thought.
“Angel. Rudy. Are you going in to eat?” Jazz asked. “Let’s sit together.”
Angel’s heart sank. After a hard morning on the set, she didn’t want a crowd like this. She was so tired of Rudy’s chatter and excitement. But she didn’t want to eat alone either. She wished she could be more like Jazz, friends with everyone.
Enthusiastic, Rudy bounded to Jazz and rubbed her cheek with his. “You won’t believe how hard we worked…”
Sighing, Angel followed the clowder of kittens into the cafeteria. With Jazz and Rudy around, she needed to get used to crowds.