I rubbed against his suit trousers, which I knew used to annoy him – apparently I left hair behind – but he was more tolerant with me these days. It had only taken three years. ‘Coming in for dinner? I’ve got you some fresh sardines from the deli, but don’t tell Claire. Luckily she’s at her book club, so it’s boys’ night in.’
I miaowed as I followed him into the house. This was a good result. A perfect result in actual fact.
Jonathan tipped my dinner into a bowl for me and then he went upstairs to take a shower. While Claire favoured packets of ‘cat’ food, Jonathan always gave me a finer dining experience. They disagreed about it but on this issue neither of them would budge. I obviously preferred it when Jonathan fed me but I still loved Claire so I tried to be grateful at the ready meals she provided for me. I didn’t want to look as though I expected fine dining but I certainly wasn’t going to turn it down.
When he came back downstairs, Jonathan was wearing his casual clothes – a T-shirt and jogging bottoms. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge and went into the living room flicking the TV on as he sank down onto the sofa. Jonathan and Claire were so different; he couldn’t be in the living room, without the TV being on, whereas Claire would often sit with a book rather than watch the square screen. I followed him in, licking myself clean after my delicious meal. Whilst Jonathan was flicking the TV channels, the doorbell chimed. As Jonathan went to open the door, I followed and was delighted to see Matt on the doorstep holding a pack of beers. Matt was Polly’s husband, a tall, quite handsome and very kind man. He and Jonathan had become good friends since my incident and the four of them often spent time together. I was often referred to as Cupid cat, as well as a cat who created friendships. It was a very good thing.
‘Free pass?’ Jonathan asked him, his voice slightly teasing.
‘Polly’s putting the children to bed, so I thought I’d see if you fancied a beer? And of course, the football’s on in a bit.’
‘Excellent. Come in.’
As Matt petted me I congratulated myself on having done good work in bringing friendships together, and maybe when the family moved into number 48, they could become part of our little world too.
I often hear people talking about love, family, relationships and friendships and when you see them working in real life you realize how much of human life hinges on other people. It’s not always a good thing though. People can make others happy but they can also make them sad. It is a very complicated concept to unravel. It’s different for cats of course, and sometimes people say cats are very self-sufficient, although most of us like being taken care of too.
‘So how’s work?’ Jonathan asked Matt.
‘Pretty good, busy but I’m working from home a bit more so I can help Pol out. What about you?’
‘You know I was so sceptical when I got my job. I thought the company was a bit rubbish, I thought it was beneath me. But it turns out to be the best move I ever made. Once I got over myself and threw myself into it, it’s all started going really well.’
‘Finally, it seems that life is good. So let’s drink to that.’ They clinked beer bottles. ‘Oh and by the way, mate, can you and Claire babysit for us on Saturday? I want to surprise Pol with a nice meal out.’
‘Sure, I don’t think we’ve got plans and anyway, it’s good practice.’
‘She’s not is she?’
‘No, well I don’t think so, not yet, but hopefully soon.’ Jonathan sounded unperturbed, unlike Claire, as he discussed the wanted pregnancy.
Our cosy boys’ night was soon interrupted by the doorbell again. Jonathan groaned as he got up, and I followed him to the front door. He opened the door, coming face-to-face with Heather and Vic Goodwin, who stood smiling – or rather, grimacing – at him from the doorstep.
‘Jonathan, is Claire here?’ Vic asked. I looked behind Vic and Heather and saw that Salmon was with them, standing at my front gate. He aggressively flicked his tail up, I narrowed my eyes but decided to ignore him. Irritating cat. Mind you, irritating owners. They were older than my owners, both with grey hair. They lived in a smaller house, a bit like Matt and Polly’s, on the opposite side of the road to us. They always dressed in a similar way, and today they were both wearing navy blue jumpers with white shirt collars poking out from underneath. Vic was wearing corduroy trousers, Heather a corduroy skirt. I wondered if they were a certain species of humans – none of the couples I knew wore matching clothes.
‘Um no, she’s at her book club,’ Jonathan mumbled nervously, as I saw him move forward to block the door. I knew he didn’t want to let them in but I also knew he shouldn’t underestimate Vic and Heather.
‘Not to worry, we’ve got you.’ Heather grinned and before I knew it, they had managed to get themselves inside the house. My fur stood on end. As they walked into the living room, Jonathan shut the door, looking confused. I stayed at Jonathan’s feet as we followed them in.
‘Ah, Matt, you’re here,’ Vic said. ‘Good, good. Saves us visiting your house.’
‘Hello.’ Matt looked at Jonathan with panic in his eyes.
‘We are—’ Heather paused, sitting down on the sofa. I cowered under a chair and put my paws over my eyes. This wasn’t good. She continued, ‘Here on Neighbourhood Watch business, of course.’
‘Of course.’ Jonathan and Matt exchanged another glance. Jonathan was standing up, Matt was on the chair in the corner and Vic and Heather sat together on the sofa.
‘So what can we do for you?’ Jonathan asked, politely.
‘Well, as you know there’s been a few changes in the street lately. And now number forty-eight has been let we thought it would be a good time to strategize,’ Vic started. I pricked my ears up at the mention of the new house.
‘Right, strategize how?’ Matt asked.
‘Well, as you know, dear, Edgar Road has become quite a community and we want to keep it that way. So we thought that when the new people come into number forty-eight we should hold a meeting, explain to them that it’s a community here and how we all look out for each other,’ Heather explained.
‘Sort of a welcome party?’ Matt asked, eyebrow raised.
‘Exactly, Matt, exactly,’ Vic concurred. ‘Start as we mean to go on.’
‘I didn’t get a welcome party,’ Jonathan said grumpily.
‘Well you didn’t act suspiciously when you moved in, did you?’ Vic pointed out.
‘What are you talking about?’ Matt asked.
‘Moving boxes in at night, unpacking at night, it’s not exactly normal behaviour is it?’ Heather smiled, almost in the same way that Salmon does, baring her teeth. I promptly re-covered my eyes.
‘And, I have a friend who lives in a nearby neighbourhood, and a house in their street was let recently,’ Vic continued. ‘Well about twenty of those foreign people moved into the house, and well, we can’t have that here.’
Jonathan looked shocked, his brows knotted in confusion.
‘What on earth are you talking about? What does that
