" At present, the ottoman was occupied by a pair of cats who eyed Alex with blasé effeteness. He stuck his hands in his pockets and eyed them back.
"Romeo and Juliet," she told him. "They used to be lovers, but since that visit to the vet they're just friends."
"Are they friendly?" he asked, stretching out a hand at Romeo's funny pushed-in face.
"They're cats," she said, grinning as Romeo turned up his nose at the outstretched hand. Juliet wasn't interested, either. They poured themselves off the furniture, then minced away.
"I think they've been talking to your friends at the restaurant," Alex said.
"They don't talk to anyone." She saw him glance at the terrarium on the windowsill. "The turtles are Tristan and Isolde, and their offspring are Heloise and Abelard."
"So where are Cleopatra and Mark Antony?" he asked.
"In a tomb in Egypt, I imagine. But you can look in the fish tank and see Bonnie and Clyde, Napoleon and Josephine, and Jane and Guildford."
He bent and peered into the lighted tank. "Fun couples. Is it a coincidence that they all ended tragically?"
"Not a coincidence, just poor judgment."
"Isn't it bad karma, naming your pets after doomed lovers?"
"I don't think they care. "

― Susan Wiggs , Summer by the Sea