Animal Café Ch. 15

"Do they climb on you to cuddle while you are eating?"

"Yes... all the time."

"That's so awesome. I MUST go there! What is the name of your café?"

Oh no! Dead. Just dead. Contrary to my belief that I was sneakily zigzagging my way out of trouble, I had cornered myself nicely instead.

"..."

"... You don't want to tell me?"

Just as I was about to start crying, Misti and Elizabeth entered the living room, rescuing me from this nightmare.

"Kitty, I said not to bug my clients. Go put your swimsuit on, instead. It's time for your swimming lesson."

"Aaaah! Fiiine!"

Without insisting any longer, Kitty walked away and headed to the basement, which allowed my heart rate to go down a bit.

Elizabeth gave Misti a box along with some instructions.

"Sorry about her. She can be a bit intense. So, as I said, I cannot fix your costume today. It's going to take a bit of time. This box contains the new costume Lucy had ordered a while ago. I finished it earlier this week. It's your size, so maybe she will let you use it until then. Please don't open it. Lucy needs to inspect it first. Once it is worn, the sale is final."

"We won't. Thank you."

"Misti, it's not my place to say this, but I would appreciate it if you were more careful about your costumes from now on. It's not because I sell them that I don't care about them anymore. I spend countless hours on these, and it makes me feel sad when they get damaged."

"Sorry... Yes... I understand. I will be extra careful from now on. I learned my lesson."

"Thank you. At least it is nothing I can't repair. Your costume will be like new in a week or so. "

It had been such a strange day so far, but it ended on a somewhat good note. Misti had realized how important those costumes were for more people than just Lucy and her, so she would be more careful in the future. It was probably the lesson Lucy had hoped to teach her by sending her over here.

In my case, I got to spend a long day with my new friend and learned a bit more about her out of costume personality.

Sure, our unexpected encounter with Kitty had not been very easy, and I hoped that I had not sent her on a path of further investigation. If she were to show up at the café expecting to see small furry critters, she would be in for quite a shock...or not; there was still this latex-smelling crate mystery that we were not sure what to think of.

As we walked out of the house and headed to the bus stop, Misti seemed happy. Squeezing her precious box in her arms, I could tell she was curious about what it could contain.

"What do you think it is, Clara?"

"In the box? I don't know."

"Do you think it's another cat?"

"Lucy already has three cats."

"I know... but I think it would be nice to have one more. Maybe it will be yours, Clara?"

"..."

"Yeah... I'm sure it will be yours...

I stopped walking, but Misti just continued... Was she serious, or was she just teasing me?

"Hey!... Wait up, Misti!... Don't say things like that!"

"Haha! Claraaa will be a cuuute caaat!"

Looking back at me with her big smile and her short blond hair hiding one of her eyes, she jogged away, giggling.

"Mistiii! Stop teasing me!... Wait for me!"