Might as well use it, she figured. No point in not taking advantage of her time in the tub. The steam always seemed to make the masks work even better.
The water was almost where she wanted it, so she set her phone nearby, then climbed into her big rolltop, footed tub and sank into the water, shifting instantly. She flopped her tail out over the end. The relief that came from shifting was immediate and very welcome.
With a satisfied exhale, she rested her head against the inflatable bath pillow suctioned to the end of the tub. This tub had absolutely been a deciding factor in buying this house. It was modeled after one of those old-fashioned claw-foot types, except this modern interpretation was larger, deeper, and had the faucet in the middle, meaning none of the fixtures got in the way of relaxing.
Having a faucet and handles at one end might be okay if you had feet, but when you had a tail you needed space for, not having them there was much more comfortable.
The tub was full enough, so she reached over and turned off the water, then sank a little lower.
She let out a happy sigh with the perfection of it all. She closed her eyes and drifted deeper still. Just as she was really floating and mellowing out, her phone rang. Naturally.
With a sigh, she reached down for it and looked at the screen. Mattie. She answered with a smile. “Hey, girl. What’s up?”
“I have some good news and some bad news.”
“Yeah?” Undrea didn’t really care about the bad news that much. She no longer felt any pressing need to rid herself of Ethan. In fact, keeping him around had gotten much higher on her priority list. She would have to find a way to protect him, but that had to be doable. “What’s the bad news?”
“I can’t find a way to break the kissing spell.”
“That’s all right.”
“It is?”
“Yep.” Undrea laughed and lowered her voice, even though there was no way Ethan could hear her.
“Okay, what’s going on that you haven’t told me yet?”
Mattie was so intuitive. “Ethan left Nina.”
“And?”
“And…he’s currently staying with me.”
“What?” Mattie almost shouted into the phone. That was very unlike her. She was pretty laid-back. Actually, she was about the chillest person Undrea knew.
Undrea quickly explained everything that had transpired. “And so he needed a place to stay right away that would also accept pets. Plus I felt a little responsible. And a little like I wanted Nina to know she doesn’t scare me.”
“Hmm,” Mattie said. “I can understand that, but I don’t like the whole rare witch thing.”
“How do you know she’s a rare witch?”
“Pandora called me.”
“Oh, that’s cool. Anyway, Corette said it’s nothing to worry about.”
“I trust her on that. She’s a lot more dialed in to all that general witch stuff, but there’s just something about Nina. She comes off as the type eager to make trouble.”
“Maybe. Nothing yet. Not saying I disagree with you, but she might not want to make a big thing out of this. After all, she just got dumped. What woman would want to draw attention to that?”
“I suppose that’s true. But this isn’t just any guy we’re talking about. Ethan is a man of means. He’s got fame and fortune. A lot of women would fight tooth and nail to keep a guy like that.” She paused. “He’s been in your house, what? An hour? Two? It’s early still.”
“I know. But I think she might have gotten the idea that he really meant things were over when he moved out.”
“Sure.” Mattie snorted. “Let’s hope that’s really how she feels.”
“I guess we’ll see soon enough.”
“Hey, you’re not backing out of going to Insomnia tomorrow, are you? Now that he’s staying with you?”
“No way. In fact, I’m doing a mask right now while I’m in the tub. Just so I can look my best.”
“That honey mask I made?”
“No, just one of those cheapie sheet masks I picked up at the drugstore. I should snap you because I look crazy.”
Mattie laughed. “Do it. I could use a laugh. Blueberry got into my craft supplies, and there are currently about three thousand seed beads scattered throughout my cottage. I told him he doesn’t get another cookie until they’re all picked up, but it’s going to take days with the production he’s making out of it.”
“Oh my. You really do need a laugh. Hang on.” Undrea opened up her camera.
And saw a cat face staring back at her on the screen. She shrieked, realizing a second later it was Bowie, but not in time to stop from dropping her phone.
She grabbed for it in a desperate attempt to save it from going under, but her hands were damp, and the phone slipped through them like a bar of soap.
It fell into the water and sank like a stone.
She scooped it out, scowling at Bowie, who had his front paws on the edge of the tub and was staring over the rim with great interest. “How did you get in here?”
He meowed at her.
“You’re cute, but that was a rotten trick. But then I guess your father warned me about how naughty you can be.” She shook the phone in the hopes of getting any excess water out, but she had a pretty good idea it was dead. Water and electronics didn’t mix. With a sigh, she shifted back into her human form, climbed out of the tub and dried off to see if there was any way to salvage her phone.
Bowie looked into the water like there might be something in there for him.
“Go ahead,” Undrea said. “Jump in. See how you like it.”
He didn’t.
She got dressed and took her dripping phone out to the kitchen. Ethan was already there, getting a glass of water.
“Oh my,” he said as he saw her.
“What?”
He circled his finger around his face. “That’s, uh, quite a look.”
She groaned. She still had the sheet mask on. She pulled it off and dropped it in the trash. “I forgot about that.”
He leaned on the counter and took a long drink. “Short bath.”
She frowned and held her phone up. “I dropped my phone in.”
“Oh no, that sucks.”
Bowie came sauntering in like he was completely innocent.
She glared at him, miffed despite still thinking he was very cute. “Yes, it does, doesn’t it, you naughty little beast.”
Ethan’s brows bent. “Why am I sensing there’s more to this story?”
“Somehow Bowie snuck into my bathroom and I didn’t see him, and when I was on my phone he startled me and that’s why I dropped it in the tub.”
Ethan frowned at his cat. “Bowie, what did I tell you about behaving?” He shook his head as he looked at Undrea. “I am so sorry. I’ll pay whatever it takes to make it right, but I might have a trick to save it.”
“Let me guess. Stick it in rice?”
“Better. I’ll be right back.”
As he left, she took the case off her phone and wiped it dry with paper towels. She didn’t hold out much hope that it could be saved.
Ethan returned with a big zip-top plastic bag half-filled with little milky-colored beads. “This is a next-gen desiccant I’ve created for situations just like this. May I?” He held his hand out.