If they were a real couple, he could take her hand. He could lend her his jacket if she were still cold. He could buy her a necklace from one of the jewelry vendors or an ice cream cone from one of the food trucks. But they weren’t a couple, and none of that was appropriate.
“Has business been good at the Cat Café table?” he asked.
“We’ve gotten a lot of traffic. The goal is more to attract future customers than to make money on the spot. A lot of people have come into the café to check out the cats, but they aren’t really buying anything.”
“You could charge a couple of bucks for people to sit in the cat room, you know.”
“I could, yeah. But the point is to encourage people to come meet the cats and fall in love with them. Hopefully the people stopping by today will come back some other day and spend money on food and beverages. It’s about long-term business, not short-term gain.”
“Makes sense.”
Lauren grinned. “And I don’t even have an MBA. I’ve learned a lot on the job, though. I may make it look haphazard and accidental, but there is actual thought that goes into keeping that place open.”
Caleb chuckled. He could appreciate that she was often self-deprecating.
When they returned to the table, Paige offered a chair so Caleb could sit and eat his empanadas, but only if he was willing to answer questions about cats from random passersby. Caleb was game, so he sat and dug in. Lauren took Hank’s leash and held it tight after Hank started sniffing at Sunday’s crate. Hank didn’t seem to be anything but curious, but Sunday retreated to the back of the crate and stared at Hank.
“You want me to bring him back inside?” Caleb asked. “Rachel can watch him while I eat.”
“Nah, it’s fine. He probably likes being outside.”
Indeed, Hank lost interest in Sunday when a woman with a beagle walked by. Lauren let the leash out a little so that Hank and the beagle could sniff and bark at each other.
Then two familiar faces approached the table.
Caleb didn’t recognize them at first, or didn’t believe what he was seeing. The row of men in dark suits and sunglasses with earpieces behind them gave something away, though. Then Lauren said, “Wow, Mayor Martinez, Senator Schmidt. Thank you so much for stopping by.”
So that was something significant. The mayor of New York City and one of New York’s United States senators were just standing right there at the table.
Hank went looking for attention and barked at the senator. “Who is this friendly guy?” Senator Schmidt asked.
“That’s Hank,” said Caleb.
“Can I pet him?”
“Absolutely. I believe he would love that.”
Hank’s tongue rolled out of his mouth as the senator scratched his ears.
“So tell us about your business,” said the senator.
“We’re a café that allows customers to have coffee and pastries and then sit with cats in our back room,” said Lauren. “We’ve found hanging out with the cats is good for bringing down your stress levels.”
“We also do cat adoptions,” said Paige. “Our goal is to find forever homes for all the cats in the café.”
“Except Sadie,” said Lauren. “She’s kind of our mascot.”
“What a clever idea,” said Senator Schmidt. “I’ve heard about animal cafés in Japan.”
“I went to an owl café in Tokyo once,” said Mayor Martinez.
“And business is good?” asked the senator.
“Yes, very!” Lauren fidgeted like she was nervous, but it was pretty neat to be talking to high-ranking politicians about one’s business. “Oh, and this is Caleb Fitch. He’s one of the veterinarians at the clinic next door. We work with the vet clinic a lot.”
Caleb stood and shook hands with each man. He felt a little overwhelmed.
“Hank is Caleb’s dog,” Lauren said.
