Red Vines

Red Vines candy, which Robert purchases from Margot at the concession stand the first time they meet, is symbolic of the superficial nature of the connection between Margot and Robert that rests almost entirely on shared jokes rather than personal revelations. The first three times Margot and Robert interact, they joke about Red Vines. When the joke falls flat on the fourth occasion, when Robert makes an unsuccessful joke at the multiplex, it foreshadows the date going badly.

Cats

The two cats allegedly owned by Robert, and who inspire the story’s title, are symbolic of the extent to which Margot does not really know anything about who Robert is as a person. All of Margot’s knowledge about Robert is generic, for example the fact that he owns cats. Margot’s later repeated concerns that Robert might have been lying about his cats serve...