A Cat Called Alfie

Chapter Twenty-Two

Well, that piece of information certainly set the cat among the pigeons. If I thought I was going to try to find Snowball after that little bombshell I was sadly mistaken. I know Tiger had been acting a little bit differently towards me lately — well, since Snowball entered the scene — and I’d been warned by others that she had feelings for me, but I valued Tiger so highly as a friend I guess I hadn’t wanted to confront any of that. And now I’d been forced to, I had no idea what to do.

My head was reeling and I knew I wasn’t nearly sharp enough for the task. In fact, I really needed to have a bit of time to think. And of course I didn’t do great thinking on an empty stomach. Although it wasn’t yet tea time, I realized that if I caught Polly in the house I might get a snack, which would certainly help my focus.

I let myself in through my cat flap and was delighted to see Polly in the kitchen, cooking. The children were both nearby — Henry sat in his booster seat at the table, drawing, and Martha was in her highchair eating carrots. I miaowed loudly.

‘Alfie!’ Henry shouted, grinning broadly. I grinned back and blinked at him. Polly petted me and then without speaking she went to the fridge and took out some milk. She poured it into a bowl and then got my special biscuits out of the cupboard and tipped some of them into another bowl. I quite enjoyed the biscuits, they were tastier than they looked and worked well with my milk. As I finished them off, then cleaned myself and my whiskers, my mind returned to the problem of Tiger’s declaration.

I curled myself up on the sofa in the living room as Polly put a DVD on the television for Henry. He was soon engrossed in it, whilst across the room Martha was just as engrossed as she practised her standing — she finally seemed to be getting the hang of it. Polly sank onto the sofa and I curled up on her lap. It was so comforting to be there as all manner of strange and confusing thoughts about Tiger raced through my brain.

I knew I’d been warned that she felt romantically towards me but I’d put it to the back of my mind and I certainly hadn’t taken it seriously. I might have known but I pushed it away because I didn’t want to deal with it. Tiger was my buddy and I didn’t want anything to change that. However, feelings were already changing that. The more I thought about it the more I realized that I wasn’t sure how I was going to fix this one. It seemed to me that as soon as I thought I had one problem under control, another would present itself.

I wished I could talk to Jonathan, because before he met Claire he had lots of women in his life. Although thinking about it, he generally got rid of them pretty quickly. Nor did they seem to be very happy about it.

I didn’t want to get rid of Tiger, I loved having her as my friend, but I didn’t want a romantic relationship. I needed to be honest with her about how I felt, but the last thing I wanted to do was to hurt her feelings. Oh, it was such a conundrum! The only thing for it was to sleep. Polly stroked me gently, talking to the children every now and then, and I could hear Henry’s laughter and Martha’s occasional tears as I drifted off.

Polly gently moved me, waking me up. I yawned and stretched and then, miaowing my goodbyes, I made my way back to Claire and Jonathan’s. The house was empty, so I made my way to my favourite spot in the living room, where the sun streamed through the window. I rolled around in a big patch of sunlight, enjoying the warmth and the feeling of the soft carpet against my fur; it was as nice as sunbathing, but in the comfort of my own home.

A little while later, I heard the key in the door and Claire rushed in, all smiles. I smiled and purred as we greeted each other.

‘Hey, Alfie, Jonathan has a work thing so I’m having a girls’ night,’ she said. I wondered if I would get to see mine and Claire’s friend Tasha.

‘Yes, Alfie, Tash is coming,’ Claire said as if she could read my mind, ‘as well as Polly and Franceska.’ I purred my approval. My favourite human women all under one roof. It would be a good night, even if I was the only man.

I prepared by eating my tea and cleaning myself thoroughly so I looked my best. I sat in front of the big hall mirror, and slicked my fur down so it wasn’t sticking up. I tilted my head to check how I looked from all angles and after a while I was satisfied with my appearance. Claire approached and laughed at me.

‘Oh, Alfie, you are a vain little cat,’ she said. I bristled. I was certainly not vain, I just liked to make sure I looked my best at all times like any self-respecting cat. Still reeling from the accusation, I followed Claire into the kitchen where she took wine glasses out of the cupboard and put some plated nibbles on the table. She still had that glow from Paris about her and she was still singing to herself as she got ready to receive her friends.

Franceska arrived first with a bottle tucked under her arm, so I prepared for my first lot of fussing. Tasha followed soon after, with such an enormous bunch of flowers that I could barely see her. As Claire greeted her and then ushered her into the kitchen to join Franceska, I could see her baby bump was beginning to show. I remembered Polly’s when she was pregnant with Martha; I thought she looked a bit like an egg to be honest but I understood now that when babies grew inside you they made you fat — cats and humans alike. I was quite grateful that it was a female thing.

I curled up on Tasha’s lap as they sat around the kitchen table. I knew this wouldn’t exactly thrill Claire — she didn’t like me being to near human food, but I took a chance and luckily she didn’t say anything. Claire and Franceska sipped wine and Tasha sipped a soft drink. They were commenting on the fact that Polly still hadn’t arrived, and how it wasn’t like her to be late.

‘I’ll text her. Maybe the kids aren’t settling tonight?’ Franceska suggested. As she did that, Claire turned her attention to Tasha.

‘Are you finding work easier?’ she asked. When I first moved here Claire and Tasha worked together, but not anymore and I knew Claire missed her still.

‘Yes, but I wish I was back at the old place. Here they want a pound of flesh, pregnant or not. To be honest I think they’re a bit annoyed that I’m pregnant; after all I’ve only been there a year and it was a promotion,’ Tasha replied.

‘Are they that bad?’ Franceska asked, rejoining the conversation.

‘Probably not, I think I’m a bit oversensitive. It’s just that there’s a lot going on and I’m not feeling the sympathy I want,’ she said with a wry smile. They all laughed.

‘You mean they aren’t treating you as a delicate little flower?’ Claire teased.

‘Exactly.’

The doorbell interrupted them and Claire jumped up. I waited with Tasha, being particularly comfortable, but I was as surprised as everyone else when Claire walked in with not just Polly but Karen Snell behind her.

‘Everyone, this is Karen,’ Polly introduced. ‘Karen, this is Claire, Franceska and Tasha.’

‘Hello.’ Tasha looked at her with interest as did I.

‘Hi.’ She looked awkward, as if she was going to turn and run away again.

‘Pull up a pew, Karen. Karen recently moved next door to us,’ Claire explained as Karen reluctantly took a seat. I had never seen anyone look less pleased to be there and it seemed that no one knew what to say exactly. Claire put two glasses of wine in front of Karen and Polly.

‘Thanks, lovely,’ Polly said.

‘So how do you like Edgar Road?’ Tasha asked innocently. Karen looked at her as if she was an alien.

‘Karen is having a bit of a time of it with some of the neighbours,’ Polly interjected. At the sound of that, Karen burst into tears.

‘Oh no, don’t cry!’ Claire exclaimed. Franceska pulled her chair next to Karen’s and put her arm around her.

‘I picked Karen up outside as she was being accosted by the Goodwins. Someone had to help her escape that terrible pair!’ Polly explained. The atmosphere had changed and it suddenly felt oppressive.

‘Street busybodies,’ Claire explained to Tasha.

‘Anyway,’ Polly continued, ‘they were threatening to call the landlord, unless Karen told them why the police were there the other day — it was all very silly but upsetting at the same time as you might imagine.’

‘The police?’ Franceska asked, wide-eyed.

‘Never mind that.’ Polly shot her a look. ‘Anyway, I’m afraid I’ve made enemies of the Goodwins now.’

‘We need some help though,’ Karen mumbled through her tears. She was brandishing some pieces of paper but I couldn’t see what was on them.

‘Why, what’s going on?’ Claire asked, full of concern. I pricked up my ears.

‘It’s our cat, Snowball. She’s gone missing.’ She held up a poster and I found myself looking at the love of my life. Well her picture anyway.