Martin Greenberg - Catopolis

Abigail’s human opened the door for Cassie. Before she slipped into the hallway, the woman petted her very softly, as if she knew Cassie was sad and needed some cheering up. Cassie rubbed against her ankles before dragging herself home.

Over a week later, Cassie roused herself from an incredibly long nap. She had been sleeping almost nonstop, preferring to spend her time dreaming of better days, rather than dwelling on the fact that Mr. Big-Paws had cut her loose like last month’s collar.

Cassie glanced at the clock and realized it was time for her weekly lunch date with the queens. She laid her head back down, not wanting to face her friends today. Oh, well, they would understand. She wanted to mope a little longer and think about the cat that got away.

The clock seemed to be glaring at her. Both hands pointed upward and told her to get off her lazy haunches and do something. She did need to get out and stretch her legs. Lying in the garden on the roof sounded pleasant. Moments later she was sitting under a wooden bench beside the little pond that should really have had some koi in it when an unfamiliar voice sounded.

“Hello, beautiful.”

A cat with light green eyes and slate gray fur sashayed toward her. His ancestry was obviously Russian Blue, and he was definitely new to the building.

Cassie demurred, keeping her body neutral and her tail still. His fine breeding was obvious from his perfect features and shiny thick coat. He moved with a casual fluid grace that imlied a great lineage. She smelled his maleness and fought the instant attraction.

“I am Stefan. I am most pleased to meet you.”

“I’m Cassie, nice to meet you too.” She took in his foreign accent. His captivating scent was so exotic and musky. It tickled her nose and made her warm in all the right places. He was much smaller than Mr. Big-Paws, but he had an old-world charm so different from the common cats in the city who had only one thing on their minds. “Where are you from, Stefan?”

“The East, over the sea, though I have been traveling a lot in past seasons.” Stefan came closer, his the tip of his tail dancing in the air. “Please forgive me for disturbing you. I have been in your city not very long and am eager to learn more of this place.”

Cassie had always wanted to travel like Stefan, but she was too comfortable in her home. She’d heard that traveling was often tiring. “You’re here on vacation?”

“Perhaps vacation, yes. Though I am considering staying for long time. Many things beautiful are in this country and my human will stay as long as I wish.”

Cassie knew where this was heading and decided she was not ready. She rose to all four paws and prepared to leave.

“May I call on you sometime?” Stefan asked, lowering his tail politely and almost hiding his disappointment.

She wanted to say yes, but it was too soon for her to start dating again. Wasn’t it? Her feline-biological clock started to tick loudly in her ears. She summoned her willpower to say no.

“Don’t say anything, please.” Stefan winked at her, his lustrous eyes full of mischief. “We are neighbors now. How do you say it in this country, see you later?”

Cassie admired his persistence, but she couldn’t let herself be drawn into one of those rebound-dating things that never worked out. She should just prance off and not reply, but that would be rude. Especially to a foreigner who had just arrived in the city. “Yes. See you later.”

Stefan’s eyes followed her as she left the garden. She could feel them. As she went down the stairs, Cassie started to miss Big-Paws even more.

Maybe it could work out between us? Maybe he just got scared? Maybe if I go to him now, he’ll want me back?

The door to his penthouse suite was open. Cassie gingerly approached the door and peeked inside. Harsh carpet cleaning chemicals replaced the usual smell of leather ottomans and those strangely intriguing cigars Big-Paws’ human liked to smoke. The place was empty save for a housekeeper’s cart and the nice woman who always shut off her vacuum when cats passed her in the hallway. It was true that Cassie had planted the original idea to shut off the ear-splitting machine, but even after that, the woman continued to be thoughtful.

Cassie realized she was doing a good job of avoiding the truth as she surveyed the penthouse. Mr. Big-Paws was gone. He wasn’t going to ask for her back. It really was over. Cassie felt as though she were sinking into the carpet and had to get out of there. Now. She had to go back home and take a nap that would last for days. Maybe weeks. Perhaps it would be better if she gave up on the idea of kittens all together and just got spayed like a lot of the other cats.

She sulked toward the staircase, her tail feeling dead and lifeless. Stefan appeared, his eyes filled with concern. “What is wrong? May I be helpful to you?”

“No. Thank you.” She didn’t want to tell him. After all, they had just met.

“Later, perhaps, we will have dinner. I will be in my new place of living all night.” Stefan motioned toward a door to a posh penthouse suite facing the park.

Cassie made it back to her place and hid under the bed. She fell asleep after wondering where Big-Paws had gone. She missed him, especially the times when he would wrap his tail around her legs and they would fall asleep together. She awoke in the darkness and crawled out from under the bed. Her stomach was empty, and her food bowl was too. Damn. Her human must not have come home-again. The silver laptop with the fruit symbol on it was on the desk, so she couldn’t be out on business. She must have spent the night with one of those fashion photographers that she was so fond of mating with.

Stefan did say to drop by for dinner. Cassie found the custom-made penthouse cat door open and soft music playing inside. It sounded like one of Tchaikovsky’s sweeping piano concertos. She poked her head into the spacious room. It had modern décor with two cognac-colored Ekornes chairs in front of a huge flat-screen TV, brushed metal tables, plush couches with a very relaxing pattern, and thick sand-colored carpet that had only a hint of the just-off-the-roll smell.

“Welcome to my new home.” Stefan’s eyes beamed as he greeted her. “Come in. Come in.”

“Thank you.” Cassie entered the lavish apartment, noticing how low and perfect for hopping onto the furniture was. As they passed the soft couch, she smelled gunpowder and money beneath the cushions. Perhaps Stefan’s human had heard how rough the city sometimes was and decided to keep a gun close by.

“Are you hungry?” Stefan asked.

With impeccably embarrassing timing, her stomach growled. “Maybe a little.”

“Follow me.”

In the marble-floored kitchen, Stefan showed her a silver bowl with small black fish eggs. “Mmmm, caviar.”

“Beluga, of course,” Stefan said, “I find it more palatable than Malossol. Don’t you agree?”

“It smells delicious.” Cassie took a bite and was hooked. “Would you like some, Stefan?”

“I’ve already dined, thank you.”

She finished the bowl rather quickly as he explained that his human was at some nightclub and would probably be there all night with business partners.

“Care for something to drink?” Stefan indicated a saucer of water.

When her tongue touched it, Cassie noticed something different. It was extremely pure and had a clean taste so lively and different from the plastic-flavored bottled water she was used to. “This is excellent.”

“It’s from a pristine spring in my Motherland, shipped in glass bottles to preserve the taste. Common brands are so bland.”

Stefan came over for a taste beside her, and their tongues almost met by the edge of the bowl. Cassie pulled away, licking her upper lip.