The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

36| White Lie

Time was ticking and Rosé—previously sitting and eagerly watching the clock like a kid waiting for class to end—started to frown.

A quarter past four.

Maybe it was just the bus, Rosé decided, that's why Lisa's late. Maybe there's a lot of traffic.

Ella was writing in her textbooks at the kitchen table with Bori curled up at her feet when her mother walked in from the pilates studio.

"Hey sweetie. How's homework?" Rosé asked as she went over to hug her daughter, chuckling as Ella squirmed in her grasp when she dropped a sweet kiss on top of her head.

"Mmm," Ella mumbled. Rosé tilted her head.

"What is it baby? What's bugging my little flower?" 

"Moooom!" Ella whined. "Stop babying me!"

"Oh?" her mother laughed, "grown up all of a sudden, have we? Well then if you're not a baby, you'll tell me what's bothering you without me having to guess, how about that?"

Ella pouted some more but relented. "I...I can't stop thinking about the kittens," she mumbled at last.

They had heard the helpless mewling in the alley next to their condo earlier that morning, when they had been waiting out on the kerb for Ella's friend to ride to school. Ella had been all but ready to ditch school and hunt for the source of the piteous cries but Rosé had to reluctantly send her away, with promises of finding them in her stead. 

Her search proved to be unsuccessful as she combed the area in vain whilst doing her best not to barf up her breakfast. The smelly alley was a dumping ground for all kinds of refuse from the big buildings towering above her—black garbage bags bursting with trash were stacked up on each other next to overflowing skips filled with rotting produce.

"It's gonna get dark soon...and their Mom isn't there for them. Maybe she...she got squashed on the road and they'll be all alone, waiting for her...hungry and cold..." Ella trailed off.

"Oh sweetie, ssh ssh, no," Rosé crouched down in front of her upset daughter and cupped her face. "Listen to me. They're street cats. They probably were a bit naughty, like a certain someone," she added with a quick raise of the eyebrows, eliciting a little giggle from Ella.

"I'm not naughty!"

"Okay, you're not," Rosé smiled. "Anyway, they were probably playing, and they wanted to explore out of their territory, and they strayed away from their home and got lost. But they'll find their way back, or their Mom will. Moms always know how to find their kids."

"But what if they're hungry and cold? They sounded like babies Mom, little tiny kittens! They can't possibly know the way back home...by the time the mommy cat finds them, it might be too late!"

"Street cats are strong and plucky cats from the moment they're born," Rosé comforted, "not useless and lazy like our Bori here."

As though she had understood, Bori gave a rather indignant miaow from beneath Ella's chair, bringing a smile to her owners' faces.

"Bori didn't like that," Ella giggled.

"Well but it's true though," Rosé grinned back. She booped her daughter's nose. "I'm sure that we'll soon be seeing a bunch of cats roam around like they own the place, probably being a nuisance and searching for scraps. You'll see. It's spring anyway, we have nice weather right now. They'll be okay."

"Mmm. And you sure you searched everywhere for them?"

"Positive. I even took another look after Ms Shin finished here, before you came back," Rosé nodded. "I found Bori alright but...no sign of them."