On their walk home one evening after closing up their Manhattan macaron shop, pastry chef Christina Ha and her husband, Simon Tung, heard the cries of an abandoned cat.

The workaholic couple, stressed with running their 8-month-old fledgling business, found the emaciated cat with white paws, had him checked out by a veterinarian and gave him a name: Mr. Socks. Over time, the couple began delegating more work to others at the pastry shop, in order to "go home and play with Mr. Socks.”

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