Siesta

A scorching summer's day in London. Two women venture out to buy tropical fish. While one shops in the cool, dark basement, the other stays outside to keep an eye out for traffic wardens. She doesn't think she's parked illegally but she's not entirely certain.

She crouches in the shady lee of the building and lights a cigarette. A hefty grey cat waddles to the shop's threshold and feigns a sidelong disinterest in her presence. She greets him and turns back to watching the traffic go past. Five minutes pass companionably and they are firm friends.

The woman is amused. Hector, as the cat has come to be known, has sprawled contentedly at her feet. The man in the parked Volvo has been watching her. She knows because he looks away too quickly and deliberately when she makes eye contact. She's aware that she probably makes quite an odd sight squatting purposelessly on a narrow pavement beside a fairly busy junction in Fulham.