Well, romance is in the air!

It seems that Simon has a girlfriend. Her name is Samantha and she lives in the same apartment complex that we do, just a few doors down. She's a very lovely Orange Tabby. She's very sweet, she usually hangs out in the entryway to my apartment and greets me whenever I leave or come home.

Lately, though, I've heard her and Simon (who's an indoor kitty and will remain so, despite his rather loud protests) "talking" to each other through the door and Samantha has gently scratched the door to get me to open it to her. And, when Simon's missing her, he'll sit by the front door and howl at me to open the door for him (I did open it twice, but thought better of opening THAT can of worms and no longer open it on his "command").

When I do open the front door to go somewhere and Samantha is close-by, she'll run right up to my door. Now, any other cat in the neighbourhood will be summarily dismissed by Simon with a hiss and a (rather non-intimidating) growl. When Samantha's at the door, he gallops over and chats her up with all this "meeewww, MeOW!, MEEEWww!" He tries to get out to see her, she tries to come inside...it's all pretty funny to watch.

So, today, as I was heading out to buy a printer cartridge, Samantha was at the door and Simon came running over, chattering all the way. So I kept him just inside the door, but let the two of them check each other out. Samantha eventually made her way to the threshold and planted a kitty-nose-kiss on Simon's nose! To which he let out a sound somewhere between a gasp and a hiss, and poor Samantha retreated to the nearby shrubs.

As I nudged Simon back into the house, I sighed, "you're such a typical guy...you freak out at the first sign of seriousness in a relationship!" I think Simon still doesn't know what hit him! But, if I know Samantha, she'll be back...she doesn't back down easily.

Stay tuned...I'll add more to this story as it unfolds.

update 8 October, 2003
Ah, Miss Samantha is now playing hard-to-get. She and Simon had an encounter at the front door yesterday. Simon tried chatting Samantha up, but she was coy, choosing to slowly, teasingly make her way to the door. When she got close to Simon, he leaned over to nose-kiss her but she took off. Now, every time I go near the front door, Simon is right THERE, want to see if Samantha is at the door waiting for him.

I like Samantha's style...make your move, then leave them wanting more!