“I see he’s still enamored with you,” Katrin, his owner, called from the mailbox.

Susanne bent to pet him and was about to walk past Katrin with a smile and a “hello,” but then she paused. “I admit I’m pretty enamored with him too. Were you serious about giving him up for adoption?”

Katrin clapped her hands, dropping her mail in the process. “Seriously? You want to keep him?”

“I think it’s the other way around.” Susanne smiled. “He’s keeping me. I haven’t talked to our landlord yet, but yes, I want to stay…and I’d like to give Muesli a home too.”

“I’d love that. At least that way, we could visit him whenever we want…right?”

“Of course. Drop by any time you want to see him.”

Katrin beamed. “God, that’s such a relief. I love knowing he’ll be happy and nearby. I’ll bring over his litter box, his cat bed, and the rest of his stuff later.”

And just like that, Susanne found herself the new owner of a cat.

She only hoped Anja would be as happy about her staying.

“This is beautiful.” Susanne stretched out her long legs in front of the bench.

“Very beautiful,” Anja said, but her gaze was on Susanne, not on the Japanese garden.

Spring was in the air today. The rays of the sun shone through the branches of the blooming tree they sat under, and the scent of cherry blossoms trailed on the light breeze. Every now and then, one of the soft pink petals rained down on them. Birds were singing, and an artificial waterfall pattered over large boulders and ran beneath a small wooden bridge.

The Japanese garden was only a few steps away from the popular Seepark—the park surrounding the artificial lake near Anja’s apartment—but it was tucked away at the edge and most people didn’t seem to know it existed, so they had this part of the garden all to themselves.

This spot was almost ridiculously romantic, and under different circumstances, Anja would have really enjoyed sitting here with Susanne. But right now, she was too nervous to fully relax and appreciate it.

Today was the day. She would finally take the leap, put herself out there, and tell Susanne how she felt.

Susanne opened the picnic basket she had brought and started piling fruit, veggie sticks, olives, cheese, and bread onto the red-and-white-checkered cloth she had spread on the bench between them.

Anja nibbled on a strawberry and a piece of cheese. Both were delicious, but she didn’t have much of an appetite.

Either Susanne had snacked while preparing the picnic, or she wasn’t hungry either. She didn’t touch any of the offerings she had brought. Instead, she peeked into the basket, closed it, opened it again, and stared inside.