I crossed three of the items off my list and considered my next move. I definitely wanted to find the library and get some books; evenings were going to be really boring around here until I found some people to hang out with. I finally decided the cat would be able to fend for herself, and might prefer to explore the apartment without some crazy human trying to pet her all the time, so I went back out to the car and consulted the map for the location of the library. It wasn’t too far away, and the listing in the Yellow Pages had said they’d be open for another hour.

When I got home the cat was out of her hiding place and munching on the little fish-shaped morsels that made up her meal. I knelt down and held out my hand, and after a few moments she walked cautiously toward me and sniffed my fingers before burrowing her head in my palm and purring like a fine-tuned engine. I sat on the floor and stroked her sleek, black head, trying to think of a fitting name. I didn’t want to name her something prosaic or cliché, like Midnight or Ebony. As I pet her, she rolled over, nearly doing a somersault, and flopped on her back in apparent ecstasy. A name came to me as I laughed.

“Hey, Joker, whatcha think about that as a name, huh?” She continued to purr and didn’t really seem to care one way or the other what I called her, so I figured that was as good as anything.

It was getting dark out, and I decided to curl up with one of my books and spend the rest of the evening chilling out in anticipation of tomorrow: my first day at Williams & Williams. The cat evidently liked this idea as well; she settled beside me on the couch, snuggled between my side and the back cushion, and purred contentedly before falling asleep with her head on my stomach. Getting a cat had definitely been a good idea.

A little before ten I went through my closet to decide what to wear the next morning, then set the alarm and climbed into bed. Joker, who hadn’t seemed too pleased about being awakened from her nap on the couch, made herself at home beside my pillow and, after getting situated, stretched out a paw and rested it on my elbow. I melted.

I glance around the room. “I’ve seen the dog, but I don’t remember seeing a cat” I say, thinking back over the days I’ve been here so far.

Grace sighs. “Yeah, she turned out to be great with just one person in the house, but not real thrilled with the prospect of two. After we got married she sort of flipped out, and we gave her away”

“Aw, how sad!”