Page 27 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘Thinking about what?’
‘Well, it’s about that money I’d set aside for the deposit for you… Why don’t we do something else with it instead? Something exciting?’
‘Okay…’ said Tori hesitantly. ‘What have you got in mind?’
‘Well, I’m not getting any younger—’
‘You’re hardly—’
‘Just let me finish, would you?’ Tori nodded silently. ‘I’m not going to be running the Cosy Cup forever. It’s been playing on my mind a bit recently, what’s going to happen when it’s time for me to take a backseat—’
‘But, Mum—’
‘So,’ continued Joyce, holding a palm up to silence her, ‘if you’re not going to be looking for a house right now, why don’t we turn the Cosy Cup into one of those cat cafés, like the ones you went to in Tokyo?’
‘A cat café? In Blossom Heath?’ said Tori, stunned.
‘Exactly,’ replied Joyce, smiling broadly.
‘You’re serious?’
‘Deadly.’
‘But, Mum, it would take so much work.’
‘I know, but I’m pretty sure we’re both up to the challenge. The Cosy Cup is crying out for a revamp.’
‘It’s lovely as it is…’
‘That’s kind of you, but we both know that’s not strictly true. It’s looking more than a little tired around the edges and I think you’re exactly the person to give it a facelift.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes, you.’
‘I’m no Mary Berry, though, Mum. My cakes aren’t exactly up to your standards.’
‘There’s more to running the Cup than baking, Tori. Much more. It’s a business and needs someone with a business brain to run it.’
‘And you think that’s me?’
‘Iknowit is. That business degree of yours has given you all the skills you need. And I’ll still be next door to bake cakes and help serve. You can manage the business and sort out the cats! We’ll keep the character of the Cosy Cup, but with a new twist.’
Tori’s brain was whirring.Could she?Would it even work? It was a mad idea but… They would have to get planning approval, of course, she had no idea what welfare measures would need to be put in place for the cats; she’d have to look into health and safety too, and then there was the financial side of things – how much would a project like this even cost? But, well, she had been looking for a project, a new adventure to take her mind off things. What if? What if Joyce’s idea could work? A cat café was unique, she was sure people would travel to visit; there was certainly nothing else like it anywherelocally, was there? A sudden thought struck her.What if there already was?
‘But, Mum, what if there’s already a cat café?’
‘In Sussex?’ Tori nodded. ‘What do you think I’ve being doing all night?’ said Joyce, pointing at the laptop screen and angling it towards Tori. The wordscat café, Sussexwere visible in the search bar. Tori’s heartbeat quickened as she scrolled through the results page…London, Yorkshire, Essex, the Lake District, Devon… nope, she couldn’t see any results in Sussex, that had to be a good thing, right? But could they really do this? Was it even an option? They’d need to do more research, come up with a proper business plan. But she could do that. She’d spent three years at university studying business, if not for this project, then for what? A job back at the furniture warehouse?
‘And you think it could work? Here? What would the regulars make of a load of cats in the Cosy Cup?’
‘It would certainly make us unique, and I can’t see why our regulars would mind; we’d still be the same Cosy Cup they know and love, just with cats. We’d attract new customers too, people who would travel here specifically for the cats.’
‘I guess there’d be nowhere quite like us nearby.’
‘There only seems to be a handful of cat cafés in the whole of the UK and none of them are in Sussex…’
‘There’s still an awful lot to think about – logistics, planning permission, welfare regulations, my head’s swimmingwith it all – but, you know what, I think we could make this work, Mum, I really do,’ said Tori, reaching for Joyce’s hand.
