A Kitten Called Cat

Chapter Twenty One - A Walk...

A couple of Saturdays after the big party, I was up in Mr Bossy's study with him. It was my favourite day of the week. In the morning, he usually worked from home so I got to spend time with him. He even let me do little jobs like opening envelopes and bringing him cups of coffee. And in the afternoons, he'd find something fun for us to do.

He'd worked steadily for a couple of hours but then he sat up and stretched his back and smiled down at me. "Another one of those lovely dresses is going to be getting an airing," he told me. "Mr Andretti is coming for another visit."

I smiled at the idea. Mr Andretti was a bit scary but I sort of liked him. "Is Terri coming too?" I asked.

"No. She's had to travel back to America to visit her mother. He's bringing his nephew though."

I didn't say anything but I might have pulled a bit of a face.

"I understand that you don't like Simone much but Mr Andretti is potentially an important business partner and we have to keep him happy."

I nodded. I didn't like the idea much but I'd just have to live with it.

We were quiet for a bit as he leaned back and looked out through the huge windows. There was sunshine playing over the wooded valley below us and it looked lovely out there. "Let's go for a stroll this afternoon?" he said.

That sounded like fun. "Should I go and get your lunch ready?" I asked.

"Excellent idea, Kitten. I need to finish off here and I'll be down in about twenty minutes."

I'd normally have laid out his lunch in the kitchen but today I chose to do it in the dining room instead. That way, he could enjoy the lovely view out of the window as he ate.

I was just putting the finishing touches to the table when he crept up behind me and caught me trying to sing a bit of one of the songs from his 'Magic Flute' thing. I only realised he was there when he kissed me on the back of the neck.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" I spluttered when I realised what I'd been doing.

"That's quite alright!" he laughed. "You are allowed to be cheerful! In fact, I'm thinking of making it a new rule. Kitten is required to be happy!"

"With spankings if I'm not?" I joked.

"What an excellent idea!" he countered. "Kitten will be spanked until she's happy!"

I did vaguely wonder about whether this was the sort of thing I ought to be joking about but Master distracted me by tapping a couple of buttons on his phone and producing the proper version of the song. "Feel free to sing along," he told me with a smile.

"I can't!" I said, horrified at the idea. "Not if you're listening!"

"Yes you can. You've got a lovely voice."

I was a bit surprised but, because of his 'never lying to me' thing, I knew he really meant it. So I could relax and join in with the singing as I moved to kneel next to him. As a reward, he fed me as he ate instead of making me wait to the end... and he didn't even play any of his silly food games!

"Go and get dressed, Kitten," he told me when we'd finished lunch. He gave me a hand up and sent me on my way with a pat on the bottom. I hurried to do as I was told then I grabbed my rucksack as I scurried back to the kitchen.

Master had changed too and, when he saw my rucksack - with its lynx motif - he smiled and grabbed a couple of cereal bars and a bottle of water and popped them in.

We went out of the back gate and he took me down the steep path to the stream then up the broader track along the valley. The sun was dappling through the trees and children were splashing in the stream and it was all just lovely.