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“okay, kitty,” you cooed. “we’re going to head back out to the others now. you were so sweet!”
you scratched the back of the cat’s ears, earning the soothing feeling of him leaning his head into your hand. the vibrations of his purrs followed the motion. with the soothing buzz of his purrs against your skin, you couldn’t help but smile. drew walked up next to you to pet the cat’s back to create a joint goodbye.
you both exchanged a look before removing your hands. turning for the door, you blew a kiss at the cat. it’d been isolated from the other cats due to its FIV. considering that the cat area was much more open than that tiny room, you figured it had to get lonely living like thattha.
cats were sprawled out on various surfaces. some asleep, some loafing, and some giving mean looks to other cats. working 9 to 5 each day as pets for customers made most of the cats less nocturnal than they should’ve been but of course there were outliers. they were the ones who were threatening to pounce on one another any moment. to avoid provoking them to direct their attention to you, you looked around the walls.
the lights of the other room—the actual cafe space—were turned off, kitchen and tables being bathed in gray and black. the vibrant colors of the paint had turned to nothing but grayscale. also invisible was the writing on the menu. it looked like all of the color and spirit had been sucked right out of it.
“where is everyone?” drew furrowed her eyebrows.
“i have no idea.” you responded.
drew took your hand to bring you with her to the glass door dividing the cat room from the cafe. on the center was a paper sign that read CAREFUL! Our cats are known to escape. Please be mindful as you open this door. drew did a quick look down before opening the door and walking you both out to the cafe area. it was completely silent, almost eerily so. not even the espresso machine buzzed. the ice maker must’ve been off too, as there were no loud bangs that sounded like they’d be the last thing you ever heard. with even the everlingering scent of coffee absent from the air, now it was your turn to squeeze drew’s hand.
“let’s check the hours.” drew said with an edge of incredulousness dragging at her voice.
drew used her free hand to turn the hanging hours sign over. there, in white letters surrounded by doodles of cats, was exactly what both of you feared: the cafe had closed 10 minutes ago. you’d missed it due to your desire to shower a lone cat with love. you grimaced, your stomach sinking. there had to be a way out, right?
“okay, wait,” you placed your hand out.
using the frozen time, you made sure both you and drew had everything you’d come in with. at least you’d have your belongings with you if you died in a cat cafe. then, you reached your hand up to try to push the door open. a stubborn weight prevented it from moving. you got up on your toes to look past the bottom half of the door. with the window so small, all you could see was the top of a cardboard box peeking up.
“there’s a box,” you remarked, turning to drew.
“it can’t be that heavy.”
drew let go of your hand to use both of hers to push the door. it didn’t budge. not even after you joined in with your own weight. after a few seconds of the most strenuous pushing you’d ever done, you dropped your arms, panting in surrender.
“what the fuck could possibly be in that box? concrete?” you crossed your sore arms over your chest.
“i don’t know, but i’m definitely not staying to find out.” drew let her arms down.
you gave the door one last pointed look through your heavy eyes. even after such a lively date night with drew, an exhaustion loomed over you. you had no problem sleeping in a room full of cats with your girlfriend. in fact, you’d pay to do so. what you actually didn’t want was to be woken up by police sirens. you sighed, looking around. the staff closet door near the kitchen was illuminated by a distant building’s lit-up sign.
“there has to be a back door. it’s probably fire code or something.” you mumbled to yourself as you rushed over.
drew’s footsteps clicked behind you, the sound somehow the most soothing thing ever. past the counter, you opened the door. there was no light at all. it was like a portal into pure darkness. you leaned against the doorway, your limbs dropping the strength they’d gained from the glimpse of hope.
“is it even worth trying?”
drew bit her inner lip. she looked past you and into the hallway.
“i think there’d be an exit sign if there was a door.” drew leaned back to a comfortable stance. “we might be fucked.”
you laughed in a way that was more slap happy than anything. drew joined. with neither of you saying a word, you brought her with you on your search for a light switch. it only took a few seconds before you found one near the fridge. you threw your joint hands up in triumph before flicking it on with your free one. the horror of the kitchen vanished as soon as it was bathed in a golden lamplight—the kind that made the cafe comforting in the first place. everything about the night suddenly felt much more manageable.
“okay, finally. i don’t know why i didn’t do that sooner.” you continued to laugh at yourself.
“ehh, it was more fun acting like we were in a horror movie.” drew pecked your temple.
you rested your head on her shoulder. out of habit, her arm found the small of your back.
“i’m thirsty but i just know that will get us a charge.” you softened your voice in the name of being right below drew’s ear.
drew made a thinking hum.
“i can make you a coffee,” she said suddenly. “definitely.”
you blinked. “drew—”
“charmspeak,” she reminded you with a confident smile that could easily have an affect on you stronger than any charmspeak.
“right.”
➴•☕•➶
“woah,” you said as you pulled the cappuccino from your lips. “how is this so good?”
you and drew were back with the cats, decaf cappuccinos in hand, cats on your laps, sitting against the center coffee table that a persian cat loafed on prepotently. it was hard to be inclined to escape in these circumstances.
“my dad has an espresso machine.” she shrugged. “i practice almost every morning.”
you narrowed your eyes at her. there was no way a cappuccino that good could be made by someone who just so happened to know how to use an espresso machine.
“this is like, generational talent.”
drew laughed. “if that’s a good cappuccino to you, i need to make you more drinks. cause i wasn’t even trying that time.”
it didn’t take you two long to finish your drinks. somehow, five minutes of genuine fear can deprive you of thirst, enough to make you feel like it’d been days since you’d last had something to drink. the decaf, combined with the sight of a sleeping tabby cat on your lap, were enough to make you tired enough to go to sleep right then and there.
you and drew moved to lay on a rug covered in cat hair. with two pillows behind your heads, the only thing that reminded you that you were on a floor was the lack of a blanket. drew seemed to manage with a gray cat loafing on her chest. since the tabby had left your lap for good after you made a single move, you only survived a few minutes.
“i’m freezing.” you looked over to drew.
“can you and the cat somehow share my chest?'“ a slight rasp clung to her voice, her eyes struggling to stay open.
“we can try.”
you positioned yourself so you were halfway on drew’s chest, the other half secured by one of her arms. the cat meowed at you as it stepped off. you giggled before adjusting to be completely on top of drew. resting your face near the crook of her neck, you closed your eyes. a weight plopped onto your back shortly after. based on its softness and warmth, you realized it was the gray cat. it purred against your skin. being sandwiched between that and the faint sound of drew’s heartbeat, it didn’t take long for you to be lulled to sleep.