Exhale
He stretched lazily, then walked straight toward me as though we'd arranged to meet.
"Morning, Politician."
He rubbed against my leg, purring loudly.
The elderly woman in 12B had named him almost two years earlier after joking that he could convince every tenant in the building to feed him without ever choosing sides. Somehow, the name suited him perfectly. He belonged to everyone and no one at the same time.
I crouched to scratch beneath his chin, earning an even louder purr.
"I'd stay and spoil you, but some of us have jobs."