Jake liked to think of the fish market as his home away from home. He enjoyed walking through the legs of other pedestrians, sniffing at the bits of fish in the bags below the market tables. Most of the sellers knew him by now, though there were still a few that enjoyed trying to shoo him away. Jake usually set them straight when they did that. He didn't appreciate being treated like a wild animal. He was very civilized, after all. And educated, too. And a very good customer.
When he came upon the tuna seller, Jake hopped up on his back feet, propping his front paws on the table top to get a better view of the tuna steak cuts.
"These look real good today, Joe!" Jack said to the older fisherman.
Joe laughed, rubbed his long white beard, and nodded his head.
"Got some good catches over the weekend. Should I package any of them up for you, Jake?"
"Yeah, I'll take that one over on the edge," Jake replied. Telepathically, of course. None of the humans would understand him in his own language (though some often pretended to know how to speak cat.) His collar glowed as he spoke.
Joe the fisherman began wrapping up one of the tuna steaks in a bag.
"Oh, don't look now, Jake. But I think you have an admirer," Joe nodded away from Jake.
Jake turned around and for a moment he wasn't sure if his eyes were deceiving him. He blinked a few times as he stared at the white cat sitting a few feet away from him on the sidewalk.