Into the coffee shop, love starts to blossom.

I turn around hoping to see someone, but what greets me is not a human. A cat. A pure white cat whose fur is as white as the snow. It’s sparkling blue eyes seems to shine as its mouth curl.

“I’m glad my efforts are not wasted.” The mouth open and close in accordance to the words. As if the cat is fluent in human language. I open my mouth to speak. But surprise got me a better grip on my throat.

The cat…. It’s the cat Kenneth and I saved. It’s the cat who stayed with me along those months I spent kneeling in Kenneth’s grave. And it’s talking right in front of me. As if there’s nothing strange about it.

My mind is probably too dumbstruck to give off any strong reaction.

“You’re not a cat?” The white cat’s blue eyes glared fiercely in my direction.

“Seriously? And you notice it now? I’ve been with you since four months? Or six? I even tried to talk to you but you are all moping miserable messy brat who can’t get over her lover. You did not even respond to me no matter how much I tried to create a conversation with you. Like, hello? Am I talking to an empty air? It’s a good thing that little servant of mine got your attention or else you will still be kneeling in the same spot, breaking your knee joints!”

How strange….. The cat is nagging at me.

I parted my mouth, trying to say something, but snow started to fall and I completely forgot. My eyes followed the direction of small white puffs as it fall to the ground. All those months spent kneeling in the snow got me immune to the cold.

“Anyway! Where’s the locket and the notebook?”

Notebook….. I look down to my hands. The realization finally came into me and I started to bolt back to the hospital.

“Hey! Stop! Stop! Stop! Where are you going?!” The cat has quick four legs. It can run beside me without any trouble.

“Notebook…. I left it. *wheeze* Maybe in the cabin or to the *wheeze* van. I don’t know…..*wheeze* I can’t remember…. I must find it. Kenneth… *wheeze* Kenneth is in there….”

“Stop! Stop! Listen to me first!” The cat got in the front and block me. Hence I was force to stop running. My sickly lungs cannot bear the sudden stretch of my body. Making me wheeze painfully through my mouth with cold air, as it stab my throat in its chilly mist, I despaired.

How foolish me. How could I forget it? How could I leave it behind? It was the only thing I have left of Kenneth. Our memories are engraved in its papers. Stretch limitless in the tip of my pencil.

“First, don’t panic. I’ll let my servants find it for you. Second, there are some more pressing matters you need to attend.”

My mouth hang wide open. The cat….. The cat is floating in front of me. If it wasn’t for me feeling desolated, I would have run in opposite direction when I saw its paw floating.

“Your ‘influence’ of the strings is way past its prescribed limit. If you direct ‘command’ into it, I’m afraid you will suffer the backlash of it.”

“Ha?”

If it’s possible for cats to snap their paws like how people snap their fingers, I would have eaten the snow in my feet. But I don’t think I can do that at this moment. I just watch a cat speak to me, float in front of me, now it made a gesture as if its snapping its paws. What’s even more unbelievable is the sound it produces…. It resembles human fingers.

“Wait, let me explain this to you.” Out of nowhere, strings floated and hovered around the white cat.

“The power to control the strings is called ‘influence’. This influence is like a battery that will run out of power if you don’t feed it more energy.”

My eyebrows shot up. Cats know what battery is.

“And this energy you will use to fill the ‘influence’ is called ‘tasks’. I think you know what certain ‘tasks’ are we talking here right?”

Tasks…. My mind space out. Remembering how Adeline manage to escape doing these troublesome ‘tasks’ by taking the forbidden road of offering blood of the Vermillion family instead of fulfilling tasks.

“I know.” I nodded my head.

“Good. Right now, you’re on a shortage of your ‘influence’ resources. You’ve used too much of your ‘influence these past few days. We need a refill. Now go, if you walk through this path you will meet two people tied by their pinkies with the red string of fate. Help them discover their feelings for each other.”

The cat got behind me and push me gently to the narrow alley with blinking street light. There are people on the sidestreet. Mostly going home to their families. Cars drove by, honking at the dogs who cross the streets.

I rubbed my eyes, worried if they will see the deep scarlet and think of me as a witch. But the cat reassured me they can’t see it.

After walking for a few minutes, the cat suddenly grab my clothes and force me to halt. It was a coffee shop. The name says, ‘Luke’s Tea and Coffee Shop’, the smell of cakes and pastries entered my lungs.

Across the glass walls, I can see one man in the counter. He look like he’s in his mid twenties. His black hair lay flatly in his head. The hair lines crisscrossed in his forehead. Making him look younger and youthful. He is handsome. And every part of his face is delicate.

Even his build is delicate. The line of his lean body from not so broad shoulders to his small waist make him look even more fragile than a woman.

“Look at his pinky.” the cat ordered me after noticing my line of sight. At the man’s pinky, there’s a red string tied latched on it. And it was connected… to someone who is also inside the cafe.

There are three customers inside. A woman in mid fourties whose busy talking to someone in the phone. A man in his sixties drinking his cup of tea with slightly trembling hands. And a man whose also in mid twenties looking straight at the man in the counter. As if he’s going to lavish him.

I narrowed my eyes. The strings on their pinkies match each other.

“This is your first task.” the cat announces. Before I know it, the cat has made itself comfortable in my arms. Snuggling in my chest, as if looking for warmth.

“If only the locket is here and the notebook. You would have completed this task in one night.” The cat deliberately sigh, while I still have my eyes focused on the display, full of delicacies and sweets.

“Why?” I can feel my stomach grumbling.

“Do you remember the locket has a girl and a boy figure inside? Those two figures will tell you how much points of ‘intimacy’ the two fated people have. When one of it is full, then the confession of love will commence -”

“But you want me to match two men together. How can that locket be used?”