Chloe sat on the window seat, calmly washing one of her sleek brown paws. The light in the room caught on sequined curtains and cushions, and shone through the window in a square bar of light onto the lawn, where another cat waited in the cold winter night. They were as different as two cats could be – Chloe with her sleek, chocolate fur and air of superiority contrasted sharply with the scruffy black-and-white tom outside. Alonzo didn't feel the chill of the night air as he gazed upon Chloe. He thought she was as close to perfect as anyone could be. He caught his breath as she delicately lowered her paw and then, for a brief second, she turned her head and her large grey eyes met his. He stood swiftly and began to move forward, but she turned away, and leapt gracefully from the window seat. Alonzo mewed one note, a plea, but no Chloe returned to the window. He sat, waited, but she did not come back, and soon a human hand tugged the curtain across the window. With a sigh, Alonzo turned away, padding silently across the frosted lawn and into the street. It was still no different from any other night, but he hadn't given up yet.
The moon had been up for some time, and Alonzo had a long way to go before he got home. Chloe lived in a glamorous suburb of London, far from the junkyard where Alonzo made his home, with many of the other cats in his tribe. There was no hurry for him to get back – the cats he often hunted with would have left by now, and besides, he wasn't in the mood to hunt. He couldn't help but think of Chloe – she was so beautiful, so proud! But Alonzo feared she would never notice him. After all, he was just a street cat – feral, as the upper class felines labelled him. He didn't have an expensive collar and therefore he wasn't good enough, that was their view. Alonzo scowled. He didn't see how they were any better than he was, especially that conceited, brainless tom, Cielito. Alonzo pounced viciously at a dry leaf, wishing it were Cielito's precious head. He didn't understand why Chloe preferred that airheaded cat to him. He doubted that Cielito would even stand up to him in a fight – probably afraid of getting his fur dirty! So why didn't Chloe get rid of him, and allow Alonzo to be her mate instead? Deep inside his heart, Alonzo knew that Chloe probably was the same as Cielito, but he wouldn't admit it, not even to himself. She was beautiful, and that was what mattered! He liked the feeling he got when he thought of her.
Absorbed in his dreams, he was startled when two cats leapt down from the wall of a garden, landing on either side of him. The gold-and-black queen, Demeter, hissed in his ear, laughing when he leapt away, claws extended.
"Silly!" She scolded. "We could see you dreaming a mile off. What if we had been gang cats, or Macavity?" Alonzo groaned.
"You didn't scare me," He lied, embarassed.
"Yeah, right!" The second queen, Bombalurina, said sarcastically. "Your head is so filled with that Glamour Cat, whatshername - "
"Chloe!" Alonzo interrupted hotly.
"Whatever, kitten. You're just full of kitty love, you'll get over it!" She cuffed him over the head unfeelingly.
"You can't call me a kitten, I'm no younger than you!" Alonzo protested. "What are you doing this side of town, anyway?" Demeter and Bombalurina giggled in unison.
"Ohh…nothing!" Demeter said playfully.
"Just checking out the talent! Right, Demi?" Bombalurina smirked, and they burst into giggles again.
"And you tell me I'm a kitten!" Alonzo sighed. "Kitty love yourselves. Bet you're trailing that brainless Cielito again. I don't get what's with queens and him!" He complained. Bombalurina sighed.
"He really hasn't got a clue, has he?" She said over his head.
"Not a single clue. We'd better enlighten him!" Demeter giggled.
"Alonzo…" Bombalurina began, purring as she pressed against him.
"We weren't trailing Cielito, oh no." grinned Demeter.
"We were trailing you!" Bombalurina finished, and they both howled with laughter, rushing off ahead of him down the street. Alonzo groaned. Demeter and Bombalurina never stopped teasing him. Now doubly embarressed that the two young queens had not only startled him, but had apparently managed to trail him all evening without him noticing, he decided to go through the parks and take the long way home.
