"Ooh! That Tom's going to end in nothing but mischief!"
Jellylorum snapped, as Rum Tum Tugger teased and provoked the kittens at
his paws and the Queens stroking his mane.
I wish he'd get to mischief with me.. Cassandra thought bitterly,
watching the muscles move beneath his thick fur as he strutted around the
junkyard. Silky golden and ebony fur, lithe and firm legs, cool evergreen
eyes, wild and spontaneous nature, it was no wonder every Queen in the
tribe wanted a piece of Tugger, Cassandra included. True, she could
turn a few heads herself with her natural slender form, sleek chestnut
coat and majestic grace. Beauty and elegance are very important yet
unlabored factors of ones personality when one comes from a well bred family
of Burmese, dating far back to one of the first families of Jellicle.
She knew she was perfect: sexy, slim, and just sulky enough to seem irresistible...
Unfortunately for her, Tugger seemed to notice none of these things.
She could hang off his tail for half an hour, and he still wouldn't give
a peke. It seemed that if he knew something was available and in
reach, if he knew he could get something with a flick of his tail, it didn't
seem to amuse him. He only went after the impossible. Anything
closed to him held his interest and-
"Held his interest?!" Cassandra hissed to herself, suddenly springing
up. She felt like a common-place fool for not thinking of this before.
He knew Bombalurina wanted him, the way she endlessly flirted and snuggled
with him. He knew Etcetera needed him, the way she endlessly chased
and followed him. He knew Jemima loved him, the way she endlessly
swooned and sighed over him. And he wasn't interested in any of them.
Tugger wanted a challenge. Someone he couldn't have, and would have
to fight and win over, almost like a trophy to display at the end of it
all.
If she was right, and a Jellicle cat was rarely wrong, the way to get
Tugger wasn't by pining after him like all the others. To win any
other Tom, you must first show interest, but he always liked to go against
the rest. To win Tugger, she would have to show disinterest.
Knowing such an exquisite, glorious, resplendent, sublime Queen, such as
herself, didn't care about him would drive him wild with desire - and that's
exactly what she planned to do.
"Rum Tum Tugger, I'll have you yet." She purred quietly, stretching
out in the warm summer sun as a plan began to form in her mind.
****
"Let's see..." Cassandra chirped brightly, examining the junkyard from
her position on her old mattress - carefully placed so her back faced Tugger
over by the old tyre - for eligible Toms suitable for her idea.
"Lessee... Tumblebrutus? No. Pouncival? No.
Skimbleshanks? God, no."
A round of giggles echoed around the quiet lot, and she looked up to
see what the kittens were so happy about.
"Hmm... let me see... I'm sure I had eleven yesterday..."
Mistoffelees mock sighed, suppressing a smile.
Cassandra watched lazily as the Jellicle Magician and usually shy Tom
entertained the kittens with silly magic tricks. Everybody knew Mistoffelees
had powers, he had made a big song-and-dance about them during their last
Jellicle Ball, and used the opportunity to show off and prance about like
a fool. She had never imagined him kitty sitting before, still she
tended not to pay attention to Mistoffelees. He seemed so... common.
Just another black and white - and rather scruffy - Short hair who happened
to have a talent.
"One, two, three, four, five... hmm, that's odd..." he looked
frustrated, as he counted his fingers, the kittens positively screeching
with laughter around him.
What is he doing? she wondered, raising a perfectly
arched eyebrow. I wonder if he's finally gone mad.
"I'll try it the other way," he decided out loud, and began counting
his fingers again. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six..." he looked at
his other hand, a wide grin set across his features. "Plus five,
makes eleven! I knew it!"
The kittens drew an almost simultaneous breath, awed by the 'magic'.
Bowing, Mistoffelees turned and walked away.
Cassandra shook her head, un amused. Parlour Tricks.
Anybody could do that. With a chuckle, she added Still,
I suppose Misto is just an anybody...
It wasn't necessarily true, she knew Mistoffelees had some degree of
power, he had, after all, brought back their leader. Still he wasn't
sure of it, and what use is advertising yourself as something special when
you can't control it all too well?
She thought back to that evening. All he had done was bring on
a light, and brought back an old cat, he had been given all together far
too much credit. Tugger had-
"Tugger!"
She began kneading the mattress absently, her dark eyes wide with realization.
They did bicker on occasion, mostly, Cassandra thought, because Mistoffelees
was deeply jealous of Tugger's wild and delicious sense of style and beauty,
however they seemed to stick together in the worst of times, almost chum
like. She imagined, with an educated guess, that if Tugger had one
close male friend in the Jellicle Tribe, it would be Mistoffelees.
For Heavyside's Sake, they had their own handshake! They did come
out with put-downs, almost brother like - why it was almost expected
from common cats like Mistoffelees - but there were times when they complimented
as well. Why, it was Tugger's own personal idea for Mistoffelees
to perform his magic at the Ball. They seemed to know each other
rather well, good friends, you might say. So who better to use to
her advantage?
****
"Mistoffelees, darling!" Cassandra called, slinking behind the smaller
cat quickly. She had waited patiently until he wandered off on his
own, this was not something she wanted other cats to see just yet.
"I want to talk to you..."
He stopped, turning to smile pleasantly at her with a simple "Hi".
"Hiiii..." she drawled huskily, leaning into him with a low purr. Ugh,
he'd better not have fleas... she grimaced, rubbing her head against
his shoulder and gently down his chest.
"Uhhh... wh-what did you want to talk about?" Mistoffelees asked hesitantly,
pulling back from her.
Cassandra pouted. This was going to be harder than she thought.
He had always been dreadfully shy, probably why he wasn't used to Queens
fawning over him. But for her plan to work, she needed a Tom on her
arm, and Tugger's best friend seemed like the perfect specimen.
"I just wanted to say hello..." she said nonchalantly, taking a step
towards him, and holding out a delicate paw.
"Hello." He muttered quickly, taking a step back.
"Hell-oooooo..." she moaned, nuzzling against him again, and licking
his ear in a slow, sensual movement.
She could hear him swallow nervously.
"Uuuh... I gotta go, Cassandra, I'll-"
"NO!" she shouted, her short temper finally running out. She
pulled back, fixing him a long glare. "You'll ruin everything."
"I'll what?" Mistoffelees stared at her as if she had
sprouted wings.
Oh dear... She let out an irritated sigh. Seduction
wasn't working on the girl-shy Tom, she might as well tell him the truth.
One way or the other, she would work him into it. He was the exact
candidate she needed, and she wasn't about to give up because he was getting
nervous.
"Look, I need you to help me with something."
"Help you with... what, exactly?" He eyed her suspiciously.
She let out another sigh. "Look, you idiot, I don't care
about you. Least of all like that. I need a favour."
"And that's the perfect way to go about it." He said, sarcastically.
Rolling her eyes, Cassandra continued. "It's just a little game.
See, I've been thinking: I'm going to win the Rum Tum Tugger, but
I need a little help doing it."
Mistoffelees shook his head quickly, turning to walk away. "I
am not setting you up with Tugger! No way!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" she snapped, stepping in front of him.
"Don't you see? Tugger only wants what he can't have..."
"Then the second he gets it, he doesn't want it any more." he argued,
giving her a concerned look. "Whatever you're planning, you're only
going to end up getting hurt."
"No, no, no. I'm not going to get hurt, because my plan is perfect.
I'm just missing one tiny detail."
He gave her a weary glance, almost not wanting to ask his next question.
"What's that?"
She flashed him a sly smile. "You."
"Oh no, no way, nuh-uh, not happening, ix-nay, NO." he moved to get
away, but Cassandra darted in front of him again.
"Listen, you don't have to do anything. Just act like we're an
item, you know, pretend we're dating or whatever, a nuzzle here, a kiss
there, before you know it, it's all over. I get what I want, and
you get what you want..."
Mistoffelees screwed up his face. "Which is?"
She paused, having not previously planned bribery. "Uh... you've
got a thing for that Victoria Queen, haven't you?"
He blushed, giving what may have been the world's most embarrassed
nod.
"Well," she improvised. "I'll get her away from Plato and into
your arms, if you'll just help me do this."
"Look, Tugger's my best friend, how can I-"
"Am'nt I your friend too?" she gave what she considered her most adorable
pout, and looked up at him, hurt shining in her eyes, as if pained by the
remark. True, they never spoke much usually, but no cat would say
no to that, if out of nothing about good manners.
"Well, yeah, I guess, but-"
"Then what's the matter?" she pushed innocently. "You're only
doing a favour for a friend, you're not hurting anybody..."
"But-"
"Rum Tum Tugger'll thank you for it when I'm curled up in his
arms. And Victoria's in yours."
Finding no other excuse, Mistoffelees gave a sigh and nodded, defeated.
Cassandra grinned slowly, triumphantly. "Then what are we waiting
for?"
****
Cassandra had insisted on putting her plan into action two days later,
a lot sooner than Mistoffelees would have preferred, but as she pointed
out, the sooner they carried it out, the sooner it was all over.
At quarter past eight Tuesday morning, Mistoffelees was scratching
patiently at Cassandra's kitty door, waiting to escort her to the junkyard.
"Gowaaaaay..." the half-asleep Burmese groaned, rolling over on her
pillow. "Stoo eeeaaarlllyyy...."
"Cass? Cassandra, It's Mistoffelees... you in? Cass?"
The call came for ten minutes until she realised what was going on, and
ran out the door, still ungroomed. Without apology, she began to
lick down her fur hastily, refusing to look at him. "Don't you dare
watch." She hissed, wiping down her headfur as they trotted towards the
junkyard half an hour later than they had planned. Satisfied, Cassandra
grabbed Mistoffelees' paw, wrapping it around her slim shoulders, and pulling
him close by her side as they walked. She began to laugh loudly,
sneaking a glance at Rum Tum Tugger, already surrounded by his early morning
admirers.
"Oh, Misty, you're so witty!"
"Misty?" he asked, but she shot him an narrow eyed glare.
"Tell me the story of ...uh, how you saved Old D, again, Misty,
you're so-o..." Cassandra ran her paws across his chest lightly, pressing
tight against him. "POWERFUL..."
She dared another glance in Tugger's direction, as Mistoffelees began
babbling on about the little adventure. Their loud entrance seemed
to have held the Maine Coon's attention, and he was grinning their way,
a curious glint in his eye, as were a few other cats in the junkyard.
She rolled her eyes at him, as if Tugger was naught but a nuisance, and
began to giggle and flirt silently with Mistoffelees, leading him slowly
over to her favourite mattress, where she knew Tugger could see them.
"Hold me." she hissed, pulling him down on top of her sharply.
"...and Tugg-URK!" shocked, Mistoffelees stared down at her, practically
trembling.
Smoothly, she let out another giggle, and rolled onto her side, intertwining
her legs and tail with his, as if in a lover's embrace. "Will you
play along?" she grumbled, a fixed smile on her face as she cuddled into
his soft chest.
Tugger gave a quiet smirk, and turned back to Bombalurina. Mistoffelees
and Cassandra? Now there was a weird couple. Mistoffelees
with any Queen was a weird couple, still there was something... mystical
about them both. And there were definitely worse babes to go with
than her. She was pedigree, after all, and very well off. Some
of the others lived at the rubbish dump, but Cassandra had rich owners,
and was spoiled rotten. She was, he appreciated for the first time,
rather good-looking, too. Exotic looking, very slim, a very shapely
figure. Strange he hadn't noticed her before. Yes, there were
definitely worse babes than her.
****
"Is he looking?" Cassandra whispered, forcing herself to stay cold and
aloof.
From his position under the Burmese Queen, Mistoffelees shrugged.
It was bad enough to have her straddle and nuzzle him all day - even in
front of the kittens - but he was also forced to be the look out for Tugger,
constantly watching to see if he was watching. Things were
getting very confusing and stressful, and this was only their first day!
He had begged Cassandra to call it quits, telling her he didn't even mind
if Victoria was with Plato - after all, that was her choice, who was he
to interfere? But she insisted that everyone had already seen them
together, and it would ruin her plan to stop it now. How he ever
let himself be talked into being used and mistreated was far beyond him.
"I can't see anything but your chest!" he muttered, collapsing onto
the mattress.
She smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't look at my chest!"
"I don't know what you see in him anyway." Mistoffelees sniffed, looking
away dejectedly.
Cassandra stifled a giggle. "Jealous, are we? I can't blame
you, after all, I am... me."
He shook his head, making a face. "I'm not jealous."
"Sure."
"I just don't see why everyone's so mad for Tugger." he continued,
annoyed. "I mean, what's so special about him? Why not any
of the other Toms?"
"Darling, the other Toms are so... ordinary." she replied haughtily,
fluffing her whiskers. "Tugger is... uh, amazing. Tall, dark,
handsome. Very sexy..."
"Whatever."
"I wouldn't expect you to understand, anyway." she carried on,
glancing in a shard of broken mirror. "He's special, very special."
"All I'm saying is there's more than one Tom in the junkyard." he muttered,
staring at his paws, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation.
"Yes, and they're all very nice." she patted his head slowly, as if
he were a young child. "Now walk me home."
****
It was after ten o'clock when Cassandra had decided enough cats had
seen them together, especially Tugger, and let Mistoffelees finally take
her home. Rumours would be flying around the junkyard, and hopefully
would be brought to the attention of a certain Maine Coon.
"Uh... I'll see you tomorrow?" Mistoffelees murmured, shifting his
weight uncertainly. They had been 'dating' all day, as far as the
others were concerned, and he had held her paw all the way home in case
someone saw them. Was he supposed to kiss her goodnight? Give
her a hug? Nuzzle her goodbye?
"Yeah, see you later." She said coolly, slipping into her house quickly.
Mistoffelees blinked, staring at the space she had stood for a moment.
"Bye?" He began his long journey home, wondering if there was any
escaping Cassandra's confused plot.
****
"Did you see them, Alonzo?" Electra was practically hopping. "Etcetera
said she heard Bombie tell Demeter that they were kissing!"
"Och, she's a belter, that yun!" Skimbleshanks beamed, proudly.
"Ah always kent she'd find a nice laddie like tha' Mistoffelees!
They make such a bonnie pair! Ah wonder whit their bairns'll look
like?"
"Cassandra?" Munkustrap seemed suprised. "You know,
I would have never imagined her with Misto... I always thought she
liked Rum Tum Tugger..."
"Pregnant? You think so?" Jennyanydots gasped. "I was thinking
she was looking a bit chunky these days..."
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, I saw them together!" Jemima tittered. "He was
lying on top of her!"
"MATES! MATES!" Etcetera laughed, tears springing to her eyes.
The excited chatter abruptly stopped, almost comically, as the junkyards
most popular Jellicle's walked in paw-in-paw.
Cassandra smirked, knowing she was being watched, and with slow deliberate
grace, led Mistoffelees to a secluded part of the lot, which funnily happened
to be near one of Tugger's favourite places, the old Ford.
Hushed, the entire crowd watched their every move, noted their paws
clutched together, examined the smile on Cassandra's face, and the moment
they thought they were out of ear-shot, the gossip started up louder and
wilder than before.
Cassandra sniggered happily. "Isn't this fabulous?
Everyone's falling for it!"
"Yeah," he muttered glumly. "It's just peachy."
"I think we should kiss today." She continued, not taking notice of
him. "Later on, we'll separate for something, I can wish to groom
my fur with the Queens or something. You put on a fuss, and give
me a big kiss. But make sure Tugger sees you, I don't want to have
to kiss you for nothing."
Mistoffelees groaned at the tone in her voice. He was sick of
her constant put-downs and praising of Tugger. If he hadn't promised,
he would turn his heel and leave right then. But that wouldn't be
fair on Cassandra, she was relying on him to do this, and as little gratitude
as she was showing, she did need him right then. He never could refuse
a Queen, and Cassandra used every trick she could to make sure she was
no exception.
"Good, because I don't want to kiss you for nothing, either." he muttered,
holding his face in his paws. This entire experience was making him
very weary.
Cassandra blinked in suprised, her head snapping up. "Excuse
me?"
"What?" he asked, not sure what was wrong.
"How dare you!" she snarled quietly, glaring at him. "How
dare you speak to me like that!"
"Well why not?" he snapped, looking at her pointedly. "You speak
to me like that all the time. And worse."
Cassandra frowned. "I do not, I'm never that petty. I consider
myself a very generous person." She turned her nose and began smoothing
her hair, as Mistoffelees snorted loudly.
"What?!" she growled. "I am!"
"You're snobby all the time!" Mistoffelees exclaimed, amazed
that she could consider herself a kind person. "You ignore
everyone, you're mean to people!"
"SNOBBY?" she wailed, obviously offended. "I come from a pure
bred Burmese family dating back-"
"To one of the first families of Jellicle, we know!" he finished.
He knew this speech off by heart he had heard it so often. "But why
should that make you any different from... from Demeter? Or from
Admetus? Or me! Just because we aren't pure-bred doesn't
mean we can't be Jellicles! You're a cat just like everyone else!"
Cassandra drew a breath through her teeth, not taking her eyes off
Mistoffelees. "What are you getting at?"
He shrugged, shaking his head. "That you shouldn't put yourself
above everyone else? That you shouldn't put people down when they're
helping you. We're feline beings too, you know."
"I am not a thing like that!" she sneered, smoothing her fur
nonchalantly. "You may be a cat, but you're nothing special.
So why should you be treated special? All you can do is play with
lights, and you don't even do that well." She turned quickly, stalking
away from him - almost melting into the shadows before he could stop her.
"Oh dear..."
****
As Cassandra sauntered around the junkyard, she found the gossip was
a lot less than it had been a few minutes before. As she listened
in on their conversations she found that the Jellicles had seen her bickering
with that vermin ridden pseudo genius coprophagous ape Mistoffelees.
They seemed to think they had 'broken up' and had all lost interest in
the couple.
"Och, Ah knew they wouldnae last." Skimbleshanks muttered, his
face set in a deep frown. "Not wi' tha' numpty, Mistoffelees.
Tha's a pure quality lass goin' oot wi' a glaikit eejit jakey jis'
fer some boaby, ye ken? She needs a righ' good guy wi' the goolies
ta treat her right!"
"I knew they were a bad pair the moment I saw them together!"
Jennyanydots kept saying. "They don't go well together at all!"
Hesitantly, Cassandra turned her head to Rum Tum Tugger. Bombalurina
was already all over him, his arms were around her small waist and she
was tickling him with her tail.
Cassandra bit her bottom lip, watching her plan fall down around her,
all because Mistoffelees couldn't keep his fat mouth shut.
She knew she needed to do something, and needed to do it soon.
If they had a melodramatic 'make-up' in front of the others, they could
still have their kiss, and it might save the plan. Of course, Mistoffelees
was a pompous idiot who wasn't about to go along with her plan as easily
this time - once bitten twice shy.
But if I play my cards right... she thought, a smile tugging
at her lips. He won't even think he's about to get bitten...
She began the act right away, walking into the open, and slowly making
her way back to Mistoffelees with her head bowed. Acting very humble,
she began to sniffle, as if she were holding back lonely tears. She
forced her bottom lip to tremble when she saw Tugger glance her way, and
paused to wipe 'something' from her eye, before making her way over to
Mistoffelees. The junkyard fell silent once more.
"Misty, I... I don't know how to say this..." she began quietly.
He couldn't seem to see through her act, because he stepped forward,.
grabbing her paws in his. "Cass, I'm so sorry, I really didn't
mean any of those things!"
Some of the Queens "awwed" and "aaahed" at his remark. Perfect.
"No, you're right! I can be like that, I'm so sorry I upset you!"
she forced a sob, and collapsed into his arms, shaking.
Taken back, Mistoffelees stood very still, holding her stiffly.
"Are.. are you okay?"
"Everyone's watching." She rasped in his ear, still 'crying' into his
chest. "Say you forgive me."
"Oh..." He realised what she was doing, feeling less comfortable with
the others watching. He had actually thought Cassandra was apologizing,
but he realised now this was still her game. She was too proud to
come down, especially to him. Giving up, he decided to keep her happy,
but he resolved to speak to her later. "No, I'm sorry. I wish
I'd never said those things." Even if she was acting, Mistoffelees
regretted their argument, and this was his best chance to say sorry.
"Forgive me?"
She grinned, it was all fitting back into place. "Only if you
forgive me." She chuckled, pulling back to look into his eyes dramatically.
She was suprised when they shone sincere and true. Was he being serious?
She shook her head slightly, ridding of the strange uncomfortable feeling
gnawing at her, and decided to skip to the finale. She reached forward,
cupping his face in her paws for a moment, before pulling him into a passionate
kiss. There was a shocked silence, before the kittens began squealing
and laughing, and some of the Queens cheered.
"Don't they make an adorable pair?" Jennyanydots sniffed, wiping at
her eyes. "I always knew they were perfect for each other!"
Cassandra groaned as she felt Mistoffelees try to pull away again,
not expecting her to go so far. Not about to have him ruin the moment,
she slid her hands down his back, and placed them firmly on his hips before
winding her tail around his thigh, holding him in place.
She pulled back slightly, gasping for a breath before ordering him
to do something with his arms. Hastily, he grabbed onto her lower
back, and for effect, began to run his paws across her slim body, careful
of where he placed them. Satisfied, she leaned back into the kiss
until the others decided to give them privacy.
"I think we've successfully saved it." She grinned smugly, brushing
off her paws.
Mistoffelees gave a sad sigh, and sat down on the mattress. "Did
you mean anything you said?"
"Of course not!" she tittered, rolling her eyes. "Why would I
mean any of those things?"
"Because I meant them!" he said, genuinely hurt. "I guess
I hoped..."
"You were actually sorry?" Cassandra seemed suprised as
she sank down beside him. "But... why?"
"Because I thought I'd hurt your feelings." There was a moments
silence, and she could think of nothing to say. Should she console
him? Laugh at him?
"I guess I was wrong." He muttered, moving to stand up.
"No, wait..." She pulled him back down. "If you're not happy
with this, I'll... I guess I'll..." she paused, for once not sure of herself.
"I'm sorry."
Mistoffelees examined her eyes for a long moment, trying to decide
if she was being truthful.
"I swear on my life, I'm... I'm sorry, Misto."
He gave something between a laugh and a sigh of relief, before nuzzling
her shoulder quickly. "I'm sorry too."
There was another brief silence.
"Do you... do you still want to do this?" Cassandra asked eventually.
"I never wanted to do it." Mistoffelees sighed. "But I
promised I would, and I never break a promise."
She smiled fondly, looking away. "Thanks."
****
Things were getting worse. Just a few days ago he had known everything.
His life was clear and straight and enjoyable, but now...
Everything was so confusing. Mistoffelees sighed, collapsing
into his cat-bed. He watched the thin slivers of moonbeams creep
across the living room floor, destroying shadows and bringing faint light.
It had to be past midnight, but the entire situation was bringing him a
terrible insomnia, and he doubted he had slept more than six hours in three
days. Cassandra had acted kinder to him for the rest of the day,
almost humbled when she realised he was genuinely sorry, but that was what
confused him the most. She had stopped her put-downs and was acting
less conceited than he had ever seen her. She was being the kind
and generous person she had convinced herself she was, or at least to him
anyway. After the others had left them alone, they had simply sat
for a while, and spoke of everything and nothing, and he had enjoyed
it. He had enjoyed being in her company, he had enjoyed speaking
to her, but worst of all, he had enjoyed the kiss. It was sudden,
and it was scary, but the sensuous feeling of Cassandra's soft, sweet lips
against his own, her mouth massaging his, it had felt good.
And it confused him. This was a game. This Queen wanted to
mate his best friend, not him. He knew she wasn't interested in him,
she had said so herself. But was it so bad to enjoy one kiss?
Mistoffelees sighed again, and lay his head down on his paws.
Girls confused everything.
****
Cassandra was waiting for him in her humans back garden the next morning,
all ready and groomed with what may have been a smile on her face.
"You're up early." Mistoffelees noted, smiling at her warmly.
She looked away, shrugging. "I woke up earlier today."
He grinned shyly, and offered her his arm. "Milady?"
With a chuckle, she looped her arm through his, and they strolled towards
the Junkyard talking and laughing like old friends.
Rum Tum Tugger watched the entrance to the old pipe, nodding as Exotica
spoke, but paying no attention to the words. He smirked as the now
familiar slender figure strolled in, hips swinging from side to side.
"I gotta go. Somethin' just came up." he excused himself, pushing
off the car boot, and strutted over to the pipe. "Hey, there."
Cassandra looked up, genuinely suprised. She had been too busy
she hadn't seen Tugger approach. A wide grin set across her face,
before she remembered she was supposed to stay aloof, and with only a "Which-One-Are-You"
look and a simple "Hello," she and Mistoffelees walked over to an old tyre.
Alonzo looked after them, smiling softly. "They look good together,
don't you think?"
"She'd look better with me." Tugger growled, folding his arms across
his chest. "I've got to have her."
Mistoffelees sighed at the look of wistful contentment on Cassandra's
face. She was right, her plan was working and Tugger was finally
taking notice of her. So what did that leave of him? Nothing.
They would carry on deceiving the others until Tugger finally did succumb
to it all and dated Cassandra, and he would be forgotten. Nothing
but the stepping stone she jumped on to get to Tugger.
Cassandra turned to say something, but the noise died in her throat
as she saw tears building up in Mistoffelees' brown eyes. She reached
forward without thinking, squeezing his paw tightly. "What's the
matter?"
Suprised, he looked up. "Nothing."
Mistoffelees didn't seem like the kind of Tom to cry over 'nothing',
but he obviously didn't want to speak about whatever was bothering him,
so she nodded and simply rested her head on his shoulder as they looked
out at the rosy morning sky in silence.
****
Cassandra stretched out in the sun, lazily licking a paw as she waited
for Mistoffelees to return. Some of the Toms had asked him to go
out 'mousing', probably just an excuse to find out why he was dating her,
as he had never been much of a Mouser. He had agreed to go nonetheless,
and Cassandra was starting to notice how strange it felt to be alone again
after being with Mistoffelees all week. She was beginning to feel...
lonely.
"Hi Cassandra!" singsonged a harmonic voice beside her.
She looked up slowly, forcing a small smile at the lovely albino who
had walked up behind her. "Hello, Victoria."
There was a brief silence as Cassandra waited for the other Queen to
say something. She had never been too friendly with Victoria, or
indeed many Queens her age, she liked to keep more to herself, so it was
odd for someone to approach her without good reason.
"I saw you with Mistoffelees this morning..."
There was the good reason. Cassandra nodded, waiting for her
to continue.
"Uh... I was... just wondering..." Victoria hesitated, uncomfortable
with the way she was acting. "I don't mean to be rude or anything...
but um... are you two dating?"
Cassandra broke a smile and nodded again. "Yes, we are."
"Wow, I never thought... I mean, well... you guys are so... so different!"
Cassandra rolled slowly onto her back. "Now why do you say that?"
"Well, you... I mean umm..." she stuttered.
Looking at the embarrassed, fumbling teenager, Cassandra couldn't help
but wonder what Mistoffelees saw in her. She was pretty for an albino
Queen, and true, she could dance, but she seemed all wrong for Mistoffelees.
She was nothing special, she knew nothing of Magic - the most important
thing in Mistoffelees life. She was a very sociable feline, who liked
to know what everyone was doing, while Mistoffelees was very shy and liked
to keep to himself. She took enough interest in Toms, but she was
always one of the cats who whined about looking after the kittens when
the adults were busy, when Mistoffelees leapt at the chance for they adored
him as their Magical Hero. Cassandra wondered if Victoria knew anything
about the Short hair, like his favourite colour - orange - or how he hated
the word "Goodbye" because it sounded so depressing, or how every Sunday
night his human would give him what was left of the double cream they ate
for dessert and a large bowl of tuna fish.
No, she wasn't right for Mistoffelees at all. He needed someone
who knew him well, someone like... no, that was ridiculous. What
was she thinking?
"We're more similar than you may think." Cassandra said, partially
to herself as she stared in the direction he had disappeared to over forty
minutes before. She was suddenly feeling very hot and cold all over.
"He must be a really great guy..." Victoria sighed longingly.
"Yeah, he's terrific. He's really easy to talk to, you know?"
The white Queen nodded. "A lot of Toms hate to listen to Queens,
they're all talk, talk, talk..."
Yeah, so are you, dear. She thought, looking away.
Mistoffelees would listen to anything, but he needed his chance to talk
too.
"He's very sweet..." Cassandra confided, laughing at something only
she could remember. "And funny... and magical! He can
do about anything. you know, last night he made me a flower out of
no where!"
Victoria let out a shakey breath. "How romantic!"
"He's very romantic. And clever. And amazing..."
"And cute..." she added, winking at Cassandra.
Something about the glint in Victoria's eye made Cassandra want to
raise her hackles and slash out her claws, but she restrained herself.
"You think so?"
"Well, yeah!" Victoria giggled, fluffing her headfur. "That li'l
bow-tie! He's easily the cutest Tom in the Junkyard!"
Cassandra's face fell. "What about Plato?"
She was half expecting Victoria to ask 'who?', but instead she threw
back her head, and let out an - obviously put on - tinkling laugh.
"We broke up ages ago!"
Cassandra could have sworn she had seen them snuggling together the
first day she and Mistoffelees became a 'couple' at the start of the week,
but she bit her tongue. "Oh."
"You're pretty lucky, Cassie!" Victoria told her, shaking her head.
"You've got the envy of about every Queen in the junkyard..."
With a small, almost smug smile, the white cat turned and strolled
back towards her friends, leaving Cassandra with an overwhelming feeling
of unease she had never before known. Worry.
****
She had fought with herself for the last fleeting hours of the afternoon
whether to say anything of her strange encounter to Mistoffelees - but
what could she say? She didn't want him seeing Victoria? The
other Queens were trying to steal him away? She was beginning to
feel jealous? There was nothing to tell him. No, Mistoffelees
was a big grown up Tom, who could take care of himself. He could
decide who to and to not date, that was up to him. And she wasn't
jealous, she was just... worried about him. Because they were friends
now. Yes, she was worried that he might go with a Queen all wrong
for him, who wouldn't treat him right or take the time to get to know him.
Like Victoria. But she wasn't jealous.
Cassandra kept repeating these lines over and over in her head.
She knew she couldn't possibly be envious of Victoria, after all,
she wasn't really interested in Mistoffelees, she wanted Rum Tum Tugger.
That was what this was all about. But if this gnawing sensation was
not envy, if she truly did not care about him, then why did she still feel
so ... empty?
It had been a very quiet evening, and both were too engaged in their
thoughts to speak much. It was not until Mistoffelees had walked
Cassandra up to her door that they began to have a conversation.
"Thank you. For all of this, I mean. Doing this for me..."
She stopped, smiling softly. "I know you don't like fooling everyone."
"I don't mind." He assured quickly. "It's kind of fun... uh,
just hanging out with you, I mean."
"I like 'hanging out' with you, too."
They exchanged shy smiles.
Cassandra took a few steps towards the door, turning to look at Mistoffelees
once more. It wasn't until the moonlight flowed across his fur, and
transformed his eyes into a golden green, that she realised what Victoria
had been gushing about. He was classically handsome. He just
didn't flaunt it like Rum Tum Tugger, Mistoffelees wouldn't cheapen himself
that way. He probably didn't even know he was good-looking, she realised.
"Uh, did you say anything to Victoria today?" he asked, breaking the
long silence. "She was talking to me before..."
Cassandra froze, another pang of 'worry' striking her. "Oh?
What did she say?"
"Uh, not much. She was asking how we got together and everything,
the same thing everyone else has been asking."
Cassandra would have relaxed, had he not added: "Did you know
she broke up with Plato?"
Coldly, Cassandra turned, moving towards the door again. "I'll
see you tomorrow, Misty."
As the kitty door swung shut in his face, Mistoffelees couldn't help
but wonder what exactly he had said wrong.
****
Cassandra was ready to meet him again the next morning, but she wouldn't
speak of her cold goodbye the night before. Knowing her short temper,
Mistoffelees decided it best not to push her, and they walked a lot of
the way in silence.
Finally, when they were nearing the pipe that led into the rubbish
dump, Mistoffelees pulled her to one side. "Are you mad at me?"
She gave him a tired smile, and shook her head. "Of course not.
Who could ever stay mad at the Magical Mister Mistoffelees?"
Knowing she was only teasing him, he flashed her a grin, and before
he knew what he was doing, licked her cheek gently.
Both paused, suprised at the action before letting out a shakey giggle
and walking through the pipe.
"Umm, Cass?" he asked nervously, not sure what to say. There
was so much he wanted to tell her, yet he would be a fool to say it all.
"Can uh, can I talk to you?"
She smiled at him brightly - something she had been doing a lot more
of recently. "What is it, hon?"
"Hon?" he shook his head, forgetting the strange new nickname.
"I uh, I just wanted to say that... these last few days... I mean, I've
been having fun with you. You're... you're a really nice Queen and
everything, and I, umm... after everything that's happened, after I got
to know you, I think... it's just that..." he trailed off, looking away
from her expectant smile to the swaggering tom coming up behind them.
In an instant he remembered she didn't care. It was all for Tugger,
and not really for him. Why should he pour his heart out to her,
when he was predestined for rejection. Why leave himself open for
hurt when he already knew the outcome.
"What is it, Misty?" she asked, squeezing his paw reassuringly.
He dropped it quickly and turned away, not wanting to watch as Tugger slipped
his arms around Cassandra's waist, and leaned his chin on her shoulder.
"It's nothing." he finished, looking down. In a voice so tiny
he could barely hear it himself, he added: "I think I love you.
It's nothing at all."
"Cassandra, you're lovely, why are you ignoring me?" Tugger purred,
playing with her fur teasingly.
"Am I ignoring you?" she asked coolly, a slight smile playing on her
lips.
"Yes, and it is most irritating... so why don't you stop this
little game, and go out with me on Sunday?"
Cassandra laughed, delighted, and winked at him. "Why not?"
He licked right up her neck, and with a slight nuzzle, turned to stand
in front of her. "It's a date."
He looked over his shoulder, nudging Mistoffelees as a sort of greeting,
but his triumphant smile suggested it was just to boast.
When he was out of sight, Cassandra squealed, and hugged into Mistoffelees.
"It worked! it all finally worked! Didn't I tell you I was
right?"
"Yeah, you told me." he said, barely above a whisper. "I guess,
uh... I guess this is goodbye?"
Her entire face fell as she stopped to look at him. "Goodbye?
What do you mean?"
"Well, you don't need me anymore." He shrugged, trying to look unaffected.
"You've got what you wanted out of all of this, so I guess I won't be coming
to pick you up anymore. I guess it's... goodbye."
"I... I thought you hated goodbyes." she said, forcing the tremble
out of her voice.
He only shrugged again, still refusing to meet her gaze. "What
else do you call this?"
Eventually he gave a weak smile, shaking her paw formally. "You
should be happy, Cass. Don't let me ruin this, you finally got a
date with Tugger. You were right all along."
She nodded, looking down so he couldn't see the tears stinging in her
eyes. They squeezed paws very lightly, neither wanting to let go,
then without another glance at her - as he was sure he would break down
if he were to stay a moment longer - he began to make his way back through
the pipe.
At once, her pride collapsed and she finally admitted, all too late,
what she had known for a long time. The one thing she had wanted
all along wasn't Rum Tum Tugger at all. It was the only cat that
had made her laugh, and cry, and smile, and had taught her to be kind and
had seen past her faults and had liked her not because she was a descendant
of one of the first families of Jellicle, but because she was Cassandra.
Just another small and confused kitten who had finally found love and kindness
- and turned it down. And as Mistoffelees turned and walked away,
he couldn't hear her choked sobs whispering "No, you were right.
I only ended up getting hurt."