Three

Jasmine spent the morning aggressively washing dishes, even ones that didn’t need it. How dare that man insult her precious cafe, this piece of her beloved grandmother? Who even did that, carried on about how much they hated a place without first bothering to see if the person they were speaking to shared their opinion?

“That jerk, that’s who.” She shoved the Turkish tea glass she was rinsing into the drying rack, looking down at her feet to see Cheddar blinking up at her, his head cocked to the side.

“What are you…?” she began, trailing off as her eyes tracked the cat’s pupils growing in size. Was he listening that intently to what she was saying? Was this cat, perhaps, a human who had been cursed to live as a cat, and he understood every word she was saying? Or were his eyes simply tracking the movement of the tassels on the hem of her shirt?

“Ouch!” she cried, as the cat’s nails sank into the thin fabric of her yoga pants. Cheddar had launched himself at the hem of her shirt, his teeth on the tassels and all four of his feet—including every single one of his kitten-sharp claws—were digging into her right thigh. 

“Get off!” she yelled, to no avail. Cheddar was lost in a world of shirt tassels, and Jasmine was seconds away from dropping the glasses and mugs in her hands and adding broken ceramic and glass to the mix.

It was the perfect moment for the doorbell of Kedi Cafe to chime, announcing the arrival of a customer. “Be with you in a sec!” she called over her shoulder through gritted teeth, shaking her leg now to release the offending beast.

The movement only seemed to trigger another level of ginger demon chaos monster madness in Cheddar, either because he was in danger of losing his grip on her leg or because the tassels were shaking even more frantically. Jasmine let out a shriek, then muffled it with her hand, hissing at the cat to release his grip.

It was a known fact in the cat cafe world that outwardly expressing anything that suggested one of the cafe’s feline residents was anything less than docile and calm, all purrs and zero claws, was frowned upon. So Jasmine persisted, suffering in near silence, painfully aware of the customer who must now be at the counter, within view of her back.

“It looks like you could use some help there,” said a vaguely familiar voice, a large physical presence approaching quickly after ducking behind the counter.

Jasmine turned and her jaw dropped at the sight of the man from the cat colony. “You!” she spat at him, shaking her head. “What are you doing here? I thought this place didn’t meet your standards.”

He rolled his eyes at her, crouching down in front of her leg. “May I help you free yourself from this unfortunate situation before I answer that question?”

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth, wishing her hands were free so she could cross them over her chest.

The man gave a quick nod, said something to the cat in Turkish, placed one hand on the scruff of the kitten’s neck, and used the other to extricate his claws, the whole thing resulting in Jasmine being cat-free in about seven seconds.

She set the glasses and mugs in her hands on the counter, massaging her sore thigh with one hand. “Wow, uh…thanks,” she said to the man. “That was quick. Where were you two minutes ago when that little monster first climbed my leg like a tree trunk?”

He gave a small smile, still holding the cat in his arms. Cheddar was purring now, but his eyes were trained on the hem of Jasmine’s shirt. “I got here as soon as I could,” said the man. “I think, though, that you’re going to have to take off your shirt.”

Jasmine’s hands flew to cover her chest, her stomach. “Excuse me? What, you think that just because you helped me out, now I owe you…what? A peep show? To bring some fantasy to life of having coffee served to you topless?”

His face had flushed red, and he was shaking his head. “No,” he said, quite firmly. He tilted his head towards the cat, whose pupils had grown wide, a sure sign that danger was coming. “But this guy definitely has a fantasy of attacking those tassels at the hem of your shirt, and if you don’t change it, you’re going to spend the day with him pouncing on your legs.”

“Ah,” she replied, feeling the heat in her own cheeks to match his. If she had embarrassed him with her accusation, the karma was instant because she was mortified, wishing to drop through the floor of the cafe and sink all the way down to the center of the earth. “Gotcha. Um…” She looked around behind the counter, willing a spare shirt that she already knew didn’t exist to materialize. Her eyes landed on an apron, and she made short work of wrapping it around her waist to conceal the tassels, before tying the strings into a knot behind her and tucking them away and out of Cheddar’s sight.

“That’s the best I can do for now,” she said with a sigh. “But I’m burning this shirt when I go home.”

The man smiled then, giving Cheddar one more scratch under his chin before placing him on the floor. The animal bounded away, pouncing on an older cat who was sleeping like a loaf in a sunny spot near the window.

Jasmine shook her head at his antics. “Thanks again,” she said to the man, forcing a small smile. “I appreciate the help and the heads up about the shirt. And you holding him back so he didn’t just do the same thing again as soon as he was on the ground.”

“I’m just glad I was here to offer some assistance,” said the man. “Though I suppose it would have been better for you if I had been here just a bit sooner.”

She gave him a small smile. “It’s okay, really. I’m sure I’ll live, and I doubt I’ll even have a cool scar to show for it.”

His lips lifted in a sheepish approximation of a smile. “I didn’t just come here to rescue you from that cat, though.” A hand came up to rub the back of his neck, his eyes dropping from hers to track Cheddar’s movements at her feet. “I wanted to clarify…er, to apologize, I suppose, for the misunderstanding this morning.” He gestured around them to the cafe. “I have nothing against your cafe, and I am truly sorry that it came across as disparaging. I haven’t actually tried your coffee yet—hoping to remedy that here shortly—but for all intents and purposes, it seems to be a great business with a unique idea.”

Jasmine frowned. “So what’s the problem, then? Because it sure didn’t come across that way when you were talking about it just a few moments ago.”

He grimaced. “It’s not about you. It’s, well…it’s about the cats.”

She felt her eyes goggle at him, practically bulging from her face. “Make that make sense. You were the one at the cat colony this morning, feeding all those strays before I even got there. And you certainly knew your way around Cheddar when he was climbing my leg like a tree trunk.” She placed her hands on her hips. “Not to mention the fact that you live in Istanbul, of all places. Are you really going to tell me that you live in what could probably be called the capital of the cat kingdom and you…what? Don’t like them?”

“It’s not that I don’t like them. Come on, I’m not a monster. I have enjoyed every cat I have ever met, and feeding strays gives my days purpose and meaning.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, I’m just fascinated how you’re going to come back from that. You can’t say that cats give your life purpose and meaning and then not want to be around them. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I like them in their place. I want to be around them in appropriate contexts. And as much as I can understand cats being a part of the scenery of Istanbul—and I’m even happy to drop a piece of meat from my dinner on the ground at an outdoor restaurant to share with one.” He shot a meaningful look in the direction of Cheddar, who was chasing a piece of plastic around behind the counter. “But you can’t deny that, when it comes to business, at least, they add a level of chaos that can be nearly impossible to manage.”

“That is absurd. You know that, right?” Jasmine scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. “You mean to tell me that, rather than going with the flow of life, working around the cats who cross your path, you…would prefer they go someplace else and give you some peace and quiet? What do you do, anyway, that’s so disrupted by cats and their chaos?”

“I’m a real estate developer.”

“Ha!” Jasmine’s laugh barked out of her before she could second guess it. “So you’re really doing the important work, huh?”

He pursed his lips. “Well, I would think building affordable, earthquake-safe homes for the residents of Istanbul is important, but if you disagree…”

“Of course I don’t disagree.” She could feel heat flushing her cheeks anew. “I just don’t see how cats would be such a problem. Are they messing up your construction site or something?”

“Well, that’s the thing. We haven’t actually broken ground yet, because the site in question is where the colony you and I visited this morning is located.”

She felt her eyes widen with comprehension. “I see. So…what? What are you going to do with the cats there?”

“Whether you believe it or not, I don’t just want to destroy their home, leave them in search of a safe place to live, or, more likely to get into fights with other cats when they inevitably start encroaching on their territory.” He gave a small shrug. “I’m open to suggestions, actually. I went there this last night to feed them for the first time and then again this morning, hoping to, I don’t know…get to know them? Hope that a solution presents itself?”

Jasmine was quiet, nodding along with his words. It was a more compassionate question than she had expected him to broach. “I’m happy to hear that. You could have just shooed them away, treated the consequences as if they weren’t your fault, had nothing to do with you.” She bit the inside of her lower lip. “I’ll admit that no easy solutions come to mind. But if there’s anything I can do to help, then I absolutely will.”

His eyes brightened, the corners of his lips turning up in a smile. “Really? That would be amazing. Maybe we could scout out a new location for them together. Or…I don’t know…hold an adoption event here? I don’t know how these things work.”

“I…don’t really either.” For all her bluster and the frustration she had directed at him, Jasmine wasn’t exactly an expert in the social dynamics of cats. Sure, she understood it on a smaller scale, like introducing Cheddar and Gator, but when it came to the relocation of entire communities, she found herself at a bit of a loss. “I could ask my vet for some advice.” She shrugged. “He should know more about these kinds of things, shouldn’t he?”

The man nodded slowly. “I guess so. Would it be alright with you if we both met with him?”

Jasmine narrowed her eyes. “Why? Don’t trust that I can handle it myself?”

“No, of course, that’s not it. I just…well, to be honest, this is my first major development project, and I’m really trying to do things right. Keep my finger on all the pulses, as it were. And even if you don’t believe me, I do care about those cats and I do want to make sure this is handled in the most appropriate way.”

“Ah. So you want to make sure nothing shady goes down behind the scenes that you end up getting raked over the coals for in the future?”

“I…what? No!” He sputtered, and Jasmine laughed.

“I’m just kidding, dude, relax. Pretty sure that sort of extreme scrutiny is reserved for people with a little more clout than a real estate developer. I mean, you aren’t some famous actor who’s just dabbling in real estate, are you? Should I know who you are?”

“I can’t think of any reason why you would. I’m Burak,” he said, extending his hand.

She took it in her own, feeling his warm, firm grasp. “Jasmine,” she replied. “And that’s Cheddar.” She released his hand to jerk her thumb in the direction of the orange beast, who was eyeballing the curtain. Jasmine marched over to him and scooped him up just as his haunches started wiggling, seconds before he was sure to launch himself into the curtains yet again. “And we clearly need to figure out a different way to provide sun protection in here. I don’t suppose there are any real estate development secrets for that, are there?”

That got Burak’s attention. “Well, if it isn’t an option to keep the cat away from the curtains, then outside, perhaps—”

“It’s not an option,” she interrupted.

He nodded. “Right, that’s as I expected. You could try blinds, though you might run into a similar problem. You could add a window tint or perhaps an awning outside would do the trick for the vast majority of the daylight hours.”

“Hmm.” She considered his words with a small nod. “Well, I’ll file those ideas away on my list of things to do if I ever have an excess of cash lying around and am looking for a project to burn it on.” She forced her lips into a small smile shot in his direction. He had tried to help, after all. “I appreciate the suggestions, though. Probably should have mentioned we were talking about a project with a zero dollar budget.”

“I could help.” The words escaped his lips, seemingly without his awareness that they were about to do so, judging by the shocked expression that followed their exit.

“You…why? Why would you even suggest that? Surely you’re busy enough with your cat eviction project.” She turned her back on him and set to washing some mugs that were already clean. If she didn’t keep her hands busy, there was no telling what they might do.

“It would be no big deal, I promise. I can get the materials for an awning at wholesale cost, and it won’t take long to put it up. It’ll be a way for me to thank you for your help with the colony. I don’t know if you could tell when you found me there this morning, but cats aren’t exactly my area of expertise and I feel pretty in over my head with this particular project.”

“Hmm.” She focused her attention on scrubbing nonexistent stains from the bottom of the mug in her hands. “You seemed to handle Cheddar just fine.”

“Sure, but a whole colony? That’s different. It would mean the world to me to have a partner helping me figure this out. Making sure we do right by the cats.”

“I’ve already said I’ll help with that.” Her words came out more abruptly than she had intended.

“Okay, then…” She could hear the hesitation in his voice. “Then what exactly is the problem with me returning the favor by getting an awning set up here for you?”

Jasmine dropped the soapy mug in the sink and whirled to face him again, water flying from her fingertips. What exactly was the problem? And how could she put it into words, even if she knew what the issue was? “I’m just not crazy about getting into weird reciprocal relationships with strange men. I’m happy to help with the cats and leave it at that. We barely even need to be in each other’s lives, so you certainly don’t need to be coming around here taking measurements and installing awnings.”

“I see.” His smile was small and sad as he gave her a single nod. “I respect your need for space and the boundaries you’ve established. I won’t feel right about taking your time and energy unless I’m able to return the favor in this way, so can I promise to do that in the way that will be the least invasive? I promise to stay out of your hair, to spend as little time here as necessary, and I won’t even speak to you if you don’t want me to.”

She frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest, immediately regretting the move as her wet hands soaked through the sides of her shirt. “I’m not sure if you’re mocking me by taking my words to such extremes, but—”

“Absolutely not,” he interjected. “I am simply respecting your boundaries.”

“Okay, well, at ease, soldier. Or…down, boy. Whichever term you prefer, I guess.” She exhaled a sigh that conveyed a level of exhaustion with the whole situation that surprised her. “I mean, yes. Please. I would love to have the curtain situation resolved. And I understand that you feel like you need to do something nice for me too, so…yeah. Let’s do the thing.”

“Great,” said Burak, a smile spreading across his face. “I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership.” His eyes landed on an old photo of Viola and Jasmine next to the sink, and something like recognition flashed in his eyes.

Jasmine rolled her eyes, then went back to rinsing the mug she had already washed three times. “Don’t get carried away, bud. We’ll be out of each other’s hair before you know it.”