Stella woke early the next morning, it was a bright Monday morning and after some initial tossing and turning she had slept more soundly than she had anticipated. What got her attention was Tesla's agitation. She heard Licorices crying in the apartment below, and Tesla answered with some urgency and kept looking at her as if to say "we gotta go rescue her, mom, now! why are you still standing there?"<br/><br/>Lics cries sounded plaintive, but she knew the cat was fine. She was heading to her bathroom when it hit her. This means Anton hadn't come home, and if he hadn't come home, he had spent the night at Magdalene's. The Latina was unlikely to keep her fingers off him, so ...<br/><br/>Stella's heart sank a bit more. What a fool she had been! What a fool to throw herself at a guy who clearly saw her as just the cat lady from the apartment above, how embarrassing. Stella used the toilet and then turned on the water waiting for it to turn hot so she could take a shower. Tesla kept meowing in response to poor Lics' complaints.<br/><br/>"stop it cat," said Stella to the big Maine Coon, "her daddy will undoubtedly be home soon to take care of her, he loves her too, you know?"<br/><br/>She suddenly had the image of Magdalene's fingers entwining Anton's, and then her imagination raked her perfectly manicured fingernails over his muscular back over his buttocks.<br/><br/>'Oy!' she exclaimed angry at herself "I need to get to work."<br/><br/>It wasn't long before her morning chores had been completed and Tesla locked into the apartment as she headed down the stairs. Today the Symphony would begin practicing new pieces and the conductor had threatened her with Alkan. She both dreaded and looked forward to Alkan, knowing that it had a reputation for being more of a man's domain in the professional circuit. Stella resolved to throw herself completely into her work, no more mooning over a man who had chosen already. There was no reason they couldn't let their cats meet a few times a week as long as that's all there was going to be. No more dinners for damned sure.