Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Balthazar was snoring softly when I came into the bedroom and I was once again struck by how nice it was to have him here. If it wasn't for him, the flat would be cold and lonely. Now there was a cat here and even in his sleeping form, his presence was providing company.
Not wanting to disturb him, I left the light off while I got ready for bed.
I moved around the room as quietly as I could, putting my wand on my altar so it could charge for the night and sending a thought or two to the Wild Spirit.
I smiled a lot today and I was grateful for many things, even Balthazar's untimely interruption.
My foot thumped into the dresser and pain shot up my leg, making me whimper in pain. I held back the cry and screamed air while the stinging turned into dull throbbing. That was going to bruise.
"You're not as quiet as you think you are," a grumpy sleepy voice came from the cat bed.
"I just stubbed my toe," I groaned, finding the bed and flopping down on it.
Balthazar let out an exhausted sigh. "Humans are so clumsy."
"I've seen you fall off the roof."
"And I landed on my feet." The bed rustled. "Just turn the light on, that'll disturb me less than your pained screams."
"It's fine, I'm already in bed," I said, crawling under the blanket so I could get comfy. I had messages to reply to so I got my phone out, dimming the light on it before it flashed me blind.
There was a selfie from Gran by the pool with Betty on a cat-sized floatie. They were both wearing sunglasses and looked like they were having the time of their life.
I sent a message back, wishing them a good time. I considered telling them about my date with Faye but decided that could wait for when they got back here.
I ignored the next message in my inbox, a text from mum who had mastered the art of weaponising apologies. The preview was enough to tell me that much.
A notification popped up and a very small picture of Faye appeared in the bar.
My mouth instantly broke into a smile and I was typing a response before I knew it.
Her reply came immediately. A pause.
I muffled my laugh.
The implication wasn't lost on me and I felt warmth spread through me. So she was also thinking about our future together and what that might look like for us.
I replied, wondering if that was a good idea. It seemed fun but my chaos combined with Faye's might be too much for any instructor to handle. In any case, it wouldn't hurt to try.
Faye replied with lots of excited emojis.
I hesitated, thinking a bit before I sent the next message.
Another text bubble.
My breathing hitched.
I wanted to kick my feet but instead, I just squeezed my phone tighter.
I glanced up over my blanket. Now that my eyes were used to the low light, I could see that the orange cat had gone back to sleep.
The message came with winky faces. Lots of them.
Something inside me coiled tight at the memory of our kisses.
I bit my lip.
The dots danced for a little while and I turned on my other side, glad that Balthazar was asleep. Not that I was going to do anything about the tingling between my legs but maybe it would be good to have that sock-on-the-window talk with him.
Faye's message popped up.
My thumbs tapped faster than my thoughts could form.
I felt pleased.
Another message popped up.
A dramatic cough came from the other side of the room. "Are you going to keep doing that all night? I can hear you tapping your phone, it's really loud. It's just tap, tap, tap."
I pushed my blankets back so I could sit up. "I'm texting Faye."
"You just saw her, what more could you possibly have to talk about it? There are cats trying to sleep here."
"I'll keep it short," I said, a promise not just for his sake. I did have to get up early to open the coffee house so staying up too long was a bad idea. Even if a part of me wanted to text with Faye all night long, just like when we were in school.
I dimmed the light on my phone even more and tried to tap the screen quieter when I composed my next message.
My heart started hammering. I knew this, of course, I knew this.
And yet, seeing it written like that was making me giddy and breathless.
After having my heart broken, I didn't think I'd get to feel the flutters of falling in love again but Faye was making me feel so light, it felt like I could float away on a cloud of bliss.
I really didn't want to go to sleep but Balthazar was coughing again, making his opinions very clear. When I glanced in his direction, I could see two shining orbs of anger aimed at me.
I typed out, disappointed that I had to cut the conversation short.
Faye sent an amused emoji, and I could just hear her laugh in my head.
The three kisses at the end meant nothing and everything at the same time. I typed a goodnight message back and darkened my phone, tempted to hold onto it while I slept to keep Faye's message close. That was a little ridiculous so I put the phone on my nightstand.
"Finally," Balthazar said with a grumpy sigh.
"Sorry. I'm just very happy."
"Youth," he grumbled. "At least Antique-girl is okay."
That was high praise coming from him. I took it as a sign that he wasn't too upset with me but was just a bit set in his ways. We were still learning how to live and co-exist together so it made sense that there were some growing pains to work out. That was a conversation for later.
For now, I was going to enjoy this elated feeling of everything going right for once.