Chapter 6
SIX
I stood in front of my full-sized mirror with a blue dress held against my body, trying to figure out if this was right for my upcoming date. I wanted to look nice but a lot of the clothes I brought back from the capital didn't feel right anymore. They didn't feel like me.
With a sigh, I put the dress back on my bed and held another dress in front of me, one with black and white stripes.
I'd worn it many times before but it just looked so odd against me now.
The person in the mirror was trying to prove she was classy and refined and fit in with her in-law lawyers.
It was a chapter of my life that was now closed.
I jumped when a loud chime echoed through the room, my heartbeat speeding up before it calmed down when I realised it was my new doorbell. The doorbell outside my window for Balthazar. The windowbell.
I put the dress aside so I could open the window, amused by the grumpy-looking cat on the other side of it. A bit of fluff was sticking up from his head, making him look like a scruffy animated cartoon cat.
"Hello, you're back early," I said, curious why he was already back.
Balthazar squeezed himself through the window crack instead of waiting for me to open it further and jumped onto my desk, sitting right next to the box with his new bowtie. The one he hadn't touched ever since I'd given it to him.
"Are you moving out?" he asked, glaring at the dresses on the bed.
I could see how he thought that, given that more than half my wardrobe was spread throughout the room.
"I'm trying to pick an outfit for my date with Faye," I said, holding up a green dress that I'd only worn once before. "How's that?"
Balthazar looked me up and down. "It's a dress."
"Yes, but does it look nice on me?"
"It's not on you. You're holding it."
"Just imagine that I'm in it."
He flicked his ears. "It's not orange."
I lowered the dress with a sigh. "I don't have any orange dresses."
"Disappointing." He curled his tail neatly around his paws. "No, I don't like it."
At least that was a concise answer, even if it was a little hurtful.
"What about this one?" I asked, grabbing a blue ensemble. The skirt was a bit short but I could wear some leggings under it. "How about this? For a date?"
Balthazar only glanced at it once. "We're not going to do this for all your clothes, are we?"
"We are until I find a nice outfit." It wasn't often that I put my foot down but I was not about to set off on my date with Faye in unflattering clothes and he better help me with that.
He sighed and lowered his head. "I help retrieve sacred items. Why am I being punished?"
"Don't be so dramatic. Just tell me if you like it or not," I said, holding up the blue ensemble again. One look in the mirror negated Balthazar's opinion because it looked so stiff and formal. It was something to wear to a meeting, not to go out on a fun date. "Nevermind."
I tried on a few more outfits before settling on blue jeans and my nicest knitted sweater with yellow details. It wasn't exactly an outfit for the books but at least I felt like myself in it. If I added some makeup and got out my good earrings, maybe it wouldn't be too bad.
"Why does it matter what clothes you put on?" Balthazar asked with his grumpy face. "You always look like you."
"Thank you," I said, deciding to take his comment as a compliment even if it wasn't. "And the point is that I feel good."
He huffed.
"I'll be doing this for our familiar ceremony too," I warned him. "I'm going to pick out a nice outfit so we look good together."
"Something orange?" he asked, his ears perking up.
I felt myself smile. "Okay, I'll wear something orange."
For a moment, it sounded like he let out a single purr but he covered it up with a bit of classic hairball retching.
I ignored him and got changed, using the doors of my wardrobe for privacy.
Not that Balthazar seemed interested in looking at me.
I didn't know what the etiquette was about getting naked in front of my familiar either.
I wouldn't think twice about undressing in front of a regular pet but regular pets couldn't make comments about my body later on.
Then again, Balthazar didn't feel like the type of cat who would care enough to comment.
After I was dressed, I settled at my desk to do my makeup. Balthazar moved to the side when I grabbed the small mirror but stayed on the desk, watching me with a confused look from next to the previously cursed clock.
"Have you never seen a witch do their makeup?" I asked, wondering why he was staring so intently.
He touched the mirror gingerly, perhaps confused by why there was a cat in it. The look of befuddlement on his face was certainly adorable.
"That's you," I pointed out while I dotted concealer on my spots and blemishes.
"I understand mirrors," he grumbled while revealing his teeth to his reflection.
"Do you?" I asked while grabbing my eyeliner. I didn't want to overdo my makeup, just a little bit so I looked nice and like I put in effort. I wanted to look like I cared because I did. A lot.
Balthazar slowly stroked the base of the mirror with his paw and looked behind it, clearly still confused despite his insistence that he understood them.
The more I saw him, the more it was clear to me that he knew what a mirror was but not how it worked. I didn't blame him, it was an advanced concept to grasp for animals.
"When are you leaving?" Balthazar asked, now in a stand-off with his reflection.
I picked up my phone for the time. "In half an hour. Faye is picking me up."
"Where are you going?"
"No idea, it’s a secret," I said, pulling a face while I drew my first line on my right eyelid. I didn't have the most steady hand but it didn't come out looking too badly.
Balthazar fluffed his tail up, spooking himself. He hissed, batted at the mirror, and catapulted himself away, knocking into me. My hand jolted it upwards, causing the eyeliner to smudge.
"Oh, Balthazar!" I chided, groaning at the obnoxious line across my face. "That's not the cat eye I wanted."
He didn't pay me any attention and instead, bounced from furniture piece to furniture piece like a tiny furnado. It was a good thing he had no tuna in his moustache for this or my room would be smelling fishy for years to come.
While he raged around, I re-did my makeup and put my pair of favourite hoop earrings in. If my reflection was to be believed, I looked nice. I just hoped Faye would think so too.
Balthazar calmed down after he used the leg of my chair as his scratching post and settled on my pillow with his mucky street feet.
"That's where I put my head, you know," I said, gesturing for him to move.
He stomped on it a little more and gave me his grumpiest look. "Don't stay out too late."
"Aww, are you worried about me?"
"No, I don't want you to wake me in the middle of my sleep," he grumbled, not quite managing to sound as unbothered as usual.
"The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks," I said, amused and touched that Balthazar was slowly but surely showing that he cared.
He flicked his ears. "I don't know what that means."
"It means... nevermind. I won't be back too late and I won't do anything you wouldn't," I promised, giving him a curious glance. "Speaking of, what do you do when you're out all night?"
"A gentleman never reveals his secrets," Balthazar said, puffing up his chest as if he was enormously important.
So cute.
I gave him a scratch between his ears, doing it so quickly I was done before he could protest. It was nice that he was seeing me off, even if he was pretending not to care. It was becoming quickly evident that wasn't the case after all.
I just wished he would wear his new bowtie. Maybe when I felt a little braver, I would ask him about it but for now, I had a date to focus on.