Thirteen

In the end, the day went off without a hitch. Whether it was because of his charm or because of his superior ability to pick the tastiest cat treats, by the time Jasmine returned to the abandoned lot to check on Burak’s progress, all the cages were full, one mama cat and her kittens nestled inside each one, and the remaining cats were milling about.

“Well done,” she said, unable to keep the surprise from her voice.

“You didn’t think I could do it?” Burak’s eyes were twinkling, but there was a note of challenge there in his voice.

“It wasn’t anything to do with a lack of faith in you,“ she said. “More that herding cats is a notoriously impossible task.”

“Well, since you weren’t here to see how I got it done, then I suppose you’ll just have to remain in awe of my powers.” He winked at her then. “If I go revealing my secrets, then what need will you have to keep me around?”

Her smile was pained. She wished she could keep him around, but the problem was, of course, that she didn’t even know where “around” was, where she would be in a month.

“Shall we, then?” She picked up the two cages that were closest to her, her concerns drowned out immediately by the plaintive meows of the cats inside.

A few of Burak’s colleagues appeared then, and with all of them put to work, the cages were accounted for, and they began the short walk to Kedi Cafe. Jasmine wished for just a moment that there was someone there to document their procession, this parade of complaining cats walking a few short blocks, the saddest celebration a street like theirs had ever seen. Glancing over her shoulder, she was pleased to see that they were being followed, in fact, by the cats that hadn’t deigned to enter one of the cages. The vacant lot was now truly vacant, and the entirety of the colony was on the move.

It was working.

The next test was the courtyard. When the cage doors were opened, would the cats make a break for it, or would they explore their new surroundings, settle in to their new home?

Burak had already been hard at work that morning. The courtyard was now equipped with beds and cat trees, a multilevel cat house for its new residents to sleep outside of the elements. One of Burak’s colleagues had even carried a few of the ratty old beds the cats had been sleeping on in the vacant lot, in the hopes of the familiar smells speeding along the adaptation process.

The cages were placed on the ground as Jasmine and Burak distributed food and water, Burak’s workers blocking the courtyard entrance once all the cats were inside.

She opened the door of the first cage, pleasantly surprised when the cat inside emerged, walked over to the freshly dispersed food and began to eat. Just like that. With no drama whatsoever. Whatever Jasmine had been anticipating, fearing…it wasn’t happening.

As they continued to open cage doors, the responses of the cats and kittens inside were similarly anticlimactic.

Burak placed an arm around Jasmine’s shoulders and pulled her in for a quick squeeze. “We did it,” he said in a low voice. “We really did it.”

“We did,” she agreed, still shocked by how easy it had all been. It was just the beginning, of course. They would need to keep an eye on the cats and make sure they didn’t return to the vacant lot—though by the looks of the calico and tabby cats who were settling in, one in a sunny spot next to the wall and one staking a claim on some prime real estate in the cat condo, there wasn’t much to worry about on that front.

They would also need to keep moving forward with the kitten adoption, the fundraising, the veterinary care…Jasmine could feel her pulse picking up as she imagined attempting to cross everything off her list before her grandmother returned and the cafe was once again in her hands. It would be unfair of her to leave this project half finished for her grandma, and she would always wonder how it had all turned out if she didn’t see it through to the end herself.

But that was a concern for tomorrow. For today, at least, she could celebrate the victory they had just seen.

And she could let Burak down easily, she thought, her mouth twisting at the reminder.

Take the good with the bad, she told herself. You can still have a nice evening, even if it’s the last one you get to spend together. No need to ruin it before it has even begun, is there?

“I should get the cafe open,” she said, checking the time on her phone. “Why don’t you and your guys stop in for some drinks on the house before you head out?”

“That’s very kind of you. Thanks.”