Page 67 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘Gosh, I really hope so,’ said Tori, crossing her fingers.
‘Hey, looks like we’ve got a visitor,’ said Joyce, pointing to the window, where Ernie was sat looking in. He spotted Mr Wiggles immediately and pawed at the glass. Mr Wiggles wandered over and both cats sat looking at each other.
‘Well, they’re not hissing at each other, that’s a good start,’ said Rose.
Ernie pawed at the glass again and meowed.
‘Sorry, little man, you know you’re not allowed in the café and that goes double now it’s full of cats,’ said Tori.
‘Aw, can’t you let him in?’ asked Rose.
‘Afraid not – we can’t risk him upsetting the rest of the group. Izzy’s worked so hard to make sure they all get along, plus there’s disease control measures we need to stick to,’ explained Tori.
‘Sorry, Ernie. Don’t worry, Tori will spoil you at home later,’ said Joyce, as Ernie eventually got bored and padded away towards the green.
‘Ooh, I know! Let’s get some pics of them settling in for your socials,’ said Rose excitedly, grabbing Tori’s phone. ‘I bet they’ll go down a storm.’
‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ said Tori. ‘I’ve set up the accounts, but I’ve only posted a few shots of the renovation so far and I can’t wait to show these guys off.’
‘If social media has taught us anything, it’s that people can’t get enough of a cute cat photo,’ said Rose. ‘Hold still and I’ll take one of you and Angel while she’s still snuggled in your lap.’ Tori smiled for the camera. ‘There! This one’s perfect,’ she said, holding the phone out for Tori to see.
‘Aw, Angel looks adorable,’ said Tori, tickling the sleeping cat underneath the chin.
‘She’s not the only one; that’s a great pic of you. Here, get posting!’ said Rose, passing the phone back to her.
Tori drafted out her Instagram post:The cats have arrived at the Cosy Cat and we’re getting ready for our grand opening onJune 30th! #sussexcatcafe #caturday #catsandcoffeeShe hit the share button.
‘There we go, Angel, you’re live on Instagram!’ said Tori.
‘I don’t think she’s bothered, do you?’ said Joyce.
‘Nah, too busy sleeping,’ agreed Tori. A ping alerted her to a notification on her phone:The Cosy Cat Café has 1 new follower… Ryan Wicksand Tori’s stomach fell through the floor.
Chapter 23
Ryan?Ryan?What on earth was he doing? He hadn’t made any contact since dropping her off at the airport in Thailand. How would he even know about the cat café? It didn’t make any sense. Rose and Joyce had realized something was wrong when they saw the blood drain from Tori’s face; they’d been as shocked as she was at seeing Ryan’s name on her phone. Tori’s head hadn’t stopped pounding all afternoon and even though she’d gone to bed hours ago, it was no use, she just couldn’t sleep. Her mind was whirring, trying to find an explanation, something, anything, which would explain why Ryan would make contact now. It just didn’t add up. Should she message him? Follow him back? No, why should she? She shook her head. She’d forget it; if Ryan wanted to follow her on Insta, fine, that didn’t mean she had to talk to him. She’d put him out of her mind and focus on the business.
When Tori’s alarm went off the next morning, she woke with a dull headache. It felt as though she’d only just fallenasleep. Despite her resolution to put Ryan out of her head, he’d managed to remain very much lodged there when she’d eventually drifted off. She sat up, pulled back the duvet and gave Ernie, who was asleep in his usual spot at the end of her bed, a gentle scratch on the head.
‘You don’t have any trouble sleeping, do you, sweetheart?’ she said. Ernie rolled on to his side, purring. ‘You’ve been dreaming about chasing mice and eating tuna, right?’
Tori shuffled across the room and looked in the mirror. ‘Eurrgh. Look at these bags, Ernie,’ she said, pulling at the skin under her eyes. ‘I look awful.’ And then she remembered she had lunch plans with Leo today. She groaned. It was going to take a lot of make-up to make her feel presentable today. A whole lot.
She jumped in the shower, brushed her teeth and reached for her make-up bag. ‘You don’t know how lucky you are,’ she said to Ernie, ‘you just roll out of bed looking gorgeous.’ Ernie hopped up onto her dressing table and began batting her mascara with his paws, almost knocking over the framed picture she had on display of him as a kitten. ‘Hey, I need that,’ she said, making a grab for the mascara. ‘Gosh, were you ever this tiny?’ she said, picking up the photo. ‘You know, the Cosy Cup may be full of cats now, but you’re still my number one boy,’ she said, tickling him under the chin.
Make-up done, she pulled on her favourite pair of skinny jeans, one of the branded T-shirts with the café’s logo on that had arrived yesterday, much to her delight, and grabbedher handbag. ‘Come on, you, I need to go and see how our new kitties are getting on.’ As she made her way down to the kitchen, she spotted a note on the table from her mum.I couldn’t wait to go next door and see how the cats are doing xxTori smiled. She knew Joyce was just as excited about their new residents as she was.
Tori spotted Joyce sitting at one of the window tables, coffee in one hand and Mr Wiggles fast asleep in her lap.
‘How’s it going?’ she asked eagerly.
‘Take a look around,’ said Joyce. ‘I’d say pretty well, so far.’
Tori scanned the room; all the cats seemed to be settling in fine. Valentine was flopped out on one of the tables, Angel was curled up asleep in the chair opposite Joyce and she could see two pairs of green eyes, presumably belonging to Norris and Daisy, peering out from one of the hidey-holes.
‘Wow, everyone seems pretty relaxed!’ said Tori.
‘I know! They were quite lively when I arrived, but they’ve had breakfast and I’ve given Mr Wiggles his thyroid tablet.’
