Page 79 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘Fabulous, you’ll be great,’ said Rose, taking a swig of Prosecco and heading off to find Jake.
‘Tori!’ said Melissa, beaming. ‘Thanks so much for the invite. This place looks amazing!’
‘Ah, thank you, it’s been a lot of hard work, but totally worth it,’ said Tori. ‘Harriet, hi! It’s lovely to see you again.’
‘Oh, come here,’ said Harriet, leaning in and kissing Tori on the cheek. ‘It’s been too long! Melissa’s right, this place really does look fantastic. I love how you’ve kept the feel of the Cosy Cup but brought something fresh and new. It really is genius, Tori! I can’t wait to bring the kids. They’ll love it.’
‘That reminds me, I spoke to Mum and we’re going to be running a child-friendly slot just for parents and their kids every Wednesday between ten and twelve,’ Tori explained.
‘You are? Oh, I’m so pleased,’ said Melissa.
‘Kids are welcome all the time, of course, but Wednesday mornings will be specifically for them. There’ll be colouring activities, babyccinos and supervised petting sessions with the cats,’ said Tori.
‘Brilliant!’ said Harriet, smiling. ‘Fancy making it a permanent day to meet up, Mel?’
‘Try stopping me. We’ll spread the word with the other mums too, Tori – you’ll be packed out!’ said Melissa.
‘What’s in these cakes, by the way?’ asked Harriet. ‘These green ones are phenomenal!’
‘Ah, Mum made them specially. The green ones are matcha,’ said Tori.
‘Delicious!’ said Harriet.
‘Right, I’d better go but it was lovely to see you both – we must have a proper catch-up soon, though,’ said Tori.
The soft launch was a triumph. Tori and Joyce served the perfect afternoon tea, and everyone was full of compliments on the new-look café and menu. The cats were adorable; there was a moment when Tori thought Valentine was about to pounce on an unsuspecting Jean’s salmon sandwich, but Lara had averted the danger by the well-timed throw of a toy mouse. Norris had settled comfortably on Maggie’s lap and refused to budge, while Jess kept Daisy and Angel amused all afternoon with a game of chase the string. Mr Wiggles had taken up residence on the chair next to Nina and was snoring loudly, which Lara found hilarious. ‘I didn’t know cats could snore, Mummy.’
‘How about we get some photos for social media?’ said Jess, picking up Tori’s phone. ‘Show your followers how great the afternoon’s been?’
‘And I have to be in them, do I?’ asked Tori, pulling a face. ‘Can’t it just be photos of the cats?’
‘You’re the face behind the business. People will want to get to know the woman at the heart of the café,’ Jess insisted.
‘Oh, go on then.’
‘Here, take this,’ said Jess, passing Tori another glass of Prosecco, ‘and…smile.’
‘To the Cosy Cat Café!’ said Tori, flashing a cheesy grin for the camera.
‘Perfect! Get these up on social media – you’ll be fully booked in no time.’
‘I really hope so,’ replied Tori, crossing her fingers.
‘Honestly, Tori, this place is going to be a great success, I just know it,’ said Jess, encouragingly. ‘You just need to believe in yourself.’
‘Thanks, Jess, I appreciate your confidence in me,’ said Tori, slipping her phone back into her pocket.
Tori tidied up the café alone that evening. Her mum had worked so hard, she’d wanted her to go home and put her feet up. Tori wanted to spend some time alone with the cats and make sure they were all relaxed after their first proper day with visitors. Luckily, they seemed to have taken it all in their stride, as if they’d always lived there. Tori finished the evening feeding routine and all five cats had found a cosy spot to settle down for the night; even Valentine had finally fallen asleep in Tori’s lap.
She opened Instagram on her phone and started loading up the snaps Jess had taken. Posting:Had our soft launch today and the cats loved every minute of it! Remember, they’re all up foradoption, so if you’d like to meet them ‘in the fur’ why not come and pay us a visit! We open Monday!Before she could even put her phone away, it started buzzing with notifications. Bryony249 had commented,Aw they’re so cute, can’t wait to pop in for a cuppa.Genie1989 wrote,Wow, is this in Sussex? Can we book online?Annie31 posted, Let’s check this place out @simone24, look at those cute cats!Tori smiled, it looked like Jess was right, people reallywerekeen to pay the café a visit. She typed out some replies.Yes @Genie1989 we’re in Sussex and you can book online, the link’s in our bio. Thanks so much @Annie31, we’d love to see you!
This was better than she’d hoped for, she’d only put the pictures up ten minutes ago and she already had over thirty likes! Scrolling through the comments, her face turned ashen as she reached the latest one. Ryan Wicks.Wow! Tori, you look amazing. I’m so proud of you xxBefore she had time to react, her DMs beeped with a new message.I miss you xx
Chapter 26
Tori’s head was thumping when she awoke the next morning, and it wasn’t just because of the Prosecco. She’d lain awake for hours thinking about Ryan’s message.I miss you.How dare he! Just when she felt as though she was moving on with her life and getting to know Leo. She hadn’t replied to his message, she didn’t know how to respond… Was he having regrets about ending things?I miss you.What did he expect her to do with that? If she was honest with herself, she knew that she still missed him too, but she was finally starting to accept things were over, finally starting to move on. She was moving forwards with her life, not backwards. She threw off the duvet, reaching for the glass of water at the side of her bed and looked at the clock – it was just gone seven. Today was the big reopening and one thing she did know was that she wasn’t going to let thoughts about Ryan spoil things for her.Today was her day.
When Tori and Joyce arrived at the café, Tori dealt with getting the cats’ breakfast ready and laying tables, while Joyce popped a few slices of bread into the toaster.
