Alfie The Doorstep Cat

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Thank goodness; finally, it was a day of homecomings. On my walk to number 22, I saw Polly through the window of her flat. She was holding Henry and he seemed to be asleep. I also saw that Franceska and the boys were with her. I jumped onto the windowsill, and I heard Aleksy shout, ‘Alfie,’ in glee. Franceska said something to Polly and then she came to the door and let me in.

Ah, what a welcome. Aleksy was all over me, as was Thomasz, who seemed bigger than when he had left. Franceska smiled so much and even Polly seemed a tiny bit pleased to see me. She also looked much happier and healthier; her eyes didn’t have their usual dark rings.

‘I miss you, I miss you,’ Aleksy kept saying, over and over. It was so lovely and if I had been able to cry, it would have brought a happy tear to my eye. Instead, I had a massive cat grin stuck to my face for the rest of the afternoon.

‘How do you feel about being back here?’ Polly asked Franceska, as she put Henry into his cot and went to make a drink for them both.

‘I am OK. It was so nice to go home, see my family, so good. But I miss Thomasz, the boys miss him and I see that our home is here now. I sad to leave but happy to come back. Does it make sense?’

‘Yes. And I’m so pleased to see you, but I didn’t want to come back. I mean, of course I missed Matt, but having my mum help with Henry was just so nice. Even when I started to feel better I preferred being there to here, which sounds so terrible. I know I need to be more like you about living in London, but I really dreaded coming back.’ She looked sad again.

‘Oh Polly, I sorry. But you must speak with Matt about it.’

‘There’s no point. His career is so important. I mean, I was a model, and there’s no way I can go back to that now that I’ve had Henry, not that I want to. So we have to do what’s best for our future and it’s here; Matt’s job is here. Not only does he earn so much more than he did in Manchester, but also there are far more opportunities. I just wish I was better at this mum stuff.’

‘Oh Polly, you fine. It’s hard, that’s all. I never found it easy and only now the boys are bigger it gets better. But maybe your mum comes here?’

‘Have you seen the size of this flat? Of course you have, it’s the same size as yours!’ She laughed, which was a good sign.

‘No room, I know. Anyways, we make the best of things, yes?’

‘Yes, Frankie, we will. And you are so good at that, you know.’

‘I struggle. Polly, I didn’t tell you, before we went away, why we went … Thomasz made me go. Someone on the street was very bad to me. They hear me talk to Aleksy, in Polish, I forgot, and they say, “Foreigners only come here for our money and free living, you should go home.”’

‘That’s awful.’ Now I knew what she had been talking about before she went away and what she was crying about. My poor Franceska.

‘Yes but it not young boy or what you call it?’

‘Yob?’

‘No, it old lady. With the grey hair. She say it every time I see her. And we no have nothing free.’

‘I know you don’t. Honestly, don’t listen to people like that. There might always be prejudice, but it’s just narrow-mindedness.’

‘It hurts that people might say it to my children.’

‘Look, when Aleksy starts school at the end of the summer he’ll be fine. He’ll make loads of friends and you’ll see that it’s not as bad as you think.’ It was funny hearing Polly being reassuring and positive – it was usually the other way around.

‘Thank you. Meeting you makes me feel hopeful, that people will be like you. Not like that old lady.’

‘You’re normally the one reassuring me!’ Polly said, again reading my mind, and went over to Franceska and gave her a hug. My cat heart felt warm. I felt as if I was instrumental in this beautiful friendship that had sprung up between them, and it was one good thing that I had managed to do. I was fearful that I was losing my Claire and that Jonathan wouldn’t be so close to me when Philippa came back, so I would hold on to this tightly. It would make me smile when I was feeling sad.

When Franceska went back to her flat to make tea for the boys, I left Polly’s and wandered back to Claire’s house. But she wasn’t there. I felt excited that she might have gone out after work for once, and when I saw Joe lying on the sofa, I made a swift exit. I went to Jonathan’s and let myself in the cat flap. Then I started as I saw Philippa, sat at the kitchen table in front of a computer. She was wearing a dress, which she never normally did. She looked as if she had made a big effort and I fleetingly wondered how she had got in, as Jonathan clearly wasn’t here. I miaowed, loudly.

‘Oh, you bloody cat,’ she exclaimed, jumping slightly. ‘I was hoping that my homecoming would be cat free. Shoo.’

What did she mean, ‘homecoming’? This wasn’t her home. I began to panic. What if, like Joe, she had moved in? I ran into the living room and sulked under a chair waiting for Jonathan.

‘Hello?’ he shouted, as he opened the front door.

‘In the kitchen,’ Philippa replied. He went through and I followed him. She jumped up and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him. She looked as if she was sucking the very life out of him. I rubbed against his leg, trying to remind him that this week I’d been his best friend.

‘My two favourite people. Well, person and cat,’ he joshed, as he bent down to stroke me.

‘Can you leave the cat alone and concentrate on me? In fact, let’s go upstairs – we have time to make up.’

‘Let me just feed him first,’ Jonathan said, which pleased me, but Philippa’s face looked like thunder. He put some prawns in a bowl for me and then they went upstairs. I knew when I was beaten, but at least I got prawns out of it.

Much later, they emerged. She was wearing one of Jonathan’s T-shirts and he was wearing a robe.

‘What do you fancy eating?’ he asked.

‘Apart from you?’ she said, giggling. She was acting very strangely. Maybe, like Claire, she had drunk too much wine, although I hadn’t seen any pass her lips.

‘Why don’t you order a curry? I know it’s your favourite,’ she said. ‘And we can open the champagne I brought.’

‘Sounds good to me.’ They spent time discussing what they would eat and then Jonathan ordered the food, opened the champagne and poured it into thin, posh looking glasses.

‘Let’s raise a toast,’ Philippa said.

‘To what?’ Jonathan asked.

‘To us and the fact that I think we should move in together.’ I was glad I didn’t have a drink, otherwise I would have choked on it.

‘Really? Move in together?’ Jonathan said. I was gratified to see that he looked a little bit shocked too. ‘But we haven’t been together that long!’

‘I know, but we’ve known each other for years and anyway, why not? I mean we clearly get on well and, you know, at our age I don’t see the point of waiting.’

‘It’s just a bit sudden, and, well, totally out of the blue. Isn’t this something we should discuss together?’ I wasn’t sure if Jonathan looked confused or terrified. I was definitely terrified, however. I felt my luck was really on a downward spiral.

‘Oh, don’t be a typical man. Look, I was away, I missed you. Since we started seeing each other we’ve been together all the time. This is a logical step.’

‘But …’

‘I know, we’ve only been dating for a couple of months, but when you know, you know! Johnny, you’re forty-three and I’m about to turn forty. We are both successful, attractive, intelligent people. What’s the point in waiting?’ I kind of had to give her credit for her confidence; she certainly seemed to know what she wanted.

‘Well, I’m not sure.’ I noticed that Jonathan hadn’t touched his bubbly drink. I think he looked as if he was turning a bit green, actually.

‘About me?’ Philippa snapped.

‘Of course not. I’m sure about you, just not about this. I mean, where would we live?’ He looked relieved as he asked the question.

‘Well, not here, of course. I mean the house is nice enough, but the postcode isn’t great. My apartment in Kensington would suit us both perfectly.’

‘I know yours is a nice place and a great location, but I really like it here.’ He looked a bit hurt at the criticism of our house. I wondered how Jonathan, who had seemed so arrogant and confident when I first met him, would even entertain the idea of being with such a woman. I know she wasn’t bad to look at but really, her personality wasn’t at all good enough.

‘It’s fine, but you know it’s just a bit further out of town than is convenient. Also, you could rent this place out to a family, it’d make a good rental.’

‘I’ve only just moved in though, really.’

‘Jonathan, what is wrong with you? I am offering you myself, full time, in my gorgeous Kensington apartment. Imagine, we can entertain in style, which will be good for our careers. I mean this isn’t great to invite people to – it’s not really in the best area, is it?’

‘All right, Philippa,’ Jonathan snapped. ‘I get it. I’m just not sure that I want to move in to your place.’

‘Don’t be silly, of course you do.’ I marvelled that her confidence hadn’t slipped one bit.

‘I really like you, and we’ve been having a great time together, but can’t we just leave things as they are? Just for the time being.’ He seemed to be begging a bit. I was beginning to feel happy inside. So far, Jonathan had seemed to really like this woman, and although he wasn’t like Claire was with Joe, which was timid and scared, I honestly thought she did exert a lot of control over him.

‘No, Jonathan, we can’t. I want to settle down. I’m thirty-nine. I want to be a partner in the firm this year and they favour married people, or at least settled ones. I want to get married. I want a child before I turn forty-one. There is no waiting to be done.’

‘Woah Phil, slow down. Where is this coming from?’ I retreated a bit, and it seemed Jonathan was physically recoiling from her too. ‘As you said, we’ve only been seeing each other for a couple of months. Before you went away on business we were having a lovely time. Going to dinner, spending time here, everything was great but not that serious. You can’t come back from a business trip to New York and demand I move in with you, marry you and impregnate you.’ He laughed, uncertainly.

‘I can and I have. Look Jonathan, this makes sense. Look at you. You had this high-flying career in Singapore and you’ve had to take a considerable step back in your work here.’

‘Thanks for reminding me.’ He looked unhappy, so I went up to him and rubbed his legs under the table.

‘My point is that I have a great job and prospects. You can support me and work your way back up at the same time. We will be a great team. I’ll make you look good and vice versa.’

‘You make it sound like a business relationship,’ he said, sounding sad.

‘Of course not, but, well, I’m not the queen of romance, you know that. Anyway, that’s what I want and what I want, I get.’ She did look determined; her eyes steely.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. I suddenly wondered what the logistics of such a move would mean for me. I didn’t know where Kensington was, or how far from here. I had a horrible feeling that I wouldn’t be able to go and visit him, as it would be too far. I’d have to stay here with the people who rented this house. I loved Jonathan but I also loved Claire, and Franceska’s family, and I was growing fond of Polly and Matt. I felt terror creep up my fur. I didn’t want him to go, because what if I never saw him again? It hit me that I loved him.

‘What about Alfie?’ Jonathan asked suddenly. I wanted to pounce with joy. Philippa looked at him through narrowed eyes.

‘Cats aren’t allowed in my apartment building,’ she said, heartlessly.

‘I can’t leave him,’ Jonathan replied quietly.

‘Oh, for God’s sake. Cats get re-homed all the time. You can find him a family to go to, we’ll do an advert. He’s not even your cat in the first place!’

‘Philippa, are you completely uncaring? Alfie is my cat. I love him.’ I felt my fur warm up; he loved me, too. I hissed loudly at Philippa.

‘You bloody horrible cat,’ she screeched. ‘Did you hear how he hissed at me?’ She looked thunderous.

‘Well, you called him names,’ Jonathan replied, seriously.

‘Oh, for God’s sake, Jonathan. He came with the house, you’ve barely known him five minutes. It’s not great for your image, if I’m honest and let’s face it, he’s just a bloody cat.’

‘I’ve known him longer than I’ve been with you,’ Jonathan said quietly. ‘And when I first came back, I was in a pretty bad way; he sort of saved me.’ I felt my heart swell with pride. I saved him! He had noticed, after all.

‘He saved you?’

‘He was here for me when I felt alone.’ Jonathan looked a little bit surprised at this revelation; I basked in the glory of his acknowledgement.

‘Right, well, if you’re going to be so stupid over a dumb animal, you’re not the man I thought you were. I’m going home now, to give you time to come to your senses.’

She got up, looked murderously at Jonathan, and went upstairs to collect her things. We could hear her stomping around and slamming doors angrily, but Jonathan didn’t move, and neither did I. I curled myself up against his leg.

She emerged after a while, and stood at the door.

‘You’ll regret this. What kind of idiot man chooses a cat over me? No wonder you’re such a huge failure,’ she spat, more viciously than any cat I’d seen.

‘Bye, Philippa,’ Jonathan said, harshly, and then we watched the door shake as she left, slamming it behind her.

‘I didn’t see that coming,’ Jonathan said, after a while. ‘Goodness me. What a woman. I don’t know how she went from being a fun casual girlfriend to a psychopath.’ I wanted to say that she was never fun to me, but I couldn’t. ‘Anyway, looks like I’ve had a lucky escape and Alfie, it looks as if you’ve saved me yet again.’ I purred, proudly. I was so happy and wanted to tell Jonathan that he was very welcome. I had saved us both from the wicked witch. And the bonus was that, although he might have still been in shock a bit, he didn’t seem sad. I just hoped that he wouldn’t regret it and change his mind. But for now I had to trust him. He had earned my trust after all.

‘And the right woman is just around the corner.’

That reminded me of my plan. ‘She’s not round the corner, she’s just down the street,’ I wanted to scream. We’d got rid of Philippa, now we just needed to get rid of Joe, and get Claire and Jonathan together. How, I had no idea, but it would make me the happiest cat alive, if I could pull it off. My heart was beating with excitement at the thought that I was a step closer to my ideal goal.