Sal, Butter and Pepper || ONC2024

Chapter 14: Finally, Progress

Butter realized for the first time what money could buy. The extent of it shocked and surprised him in equal doses.

"Oh, my Satan!" Pepper ran her fingers over the marble countertop decked with so much alcohol that even looking at it was making the kitten tipsy. Butter saw his mistress soak in the magnificence of the room. "How come there is a pool in the drawing room?" she wondered aloud as soon as she noticed the oval blue water-filled cutout on the floor.

"I thought such kind of things didn't exist in the world. Imagine the pain it would be to clean it," Butter added in an equally impressed voice.

Sal had insisted they take his room for the night. Saying that he was comfy in theirs and was too tired to move, adding that they would be doing him a favor by shifting there for the night.

It had taken some convincing on Sal's part to get Pepper on board. Butter had just sat in the man's lap, meowing and looking every bit as adorable as the hunky guy thought him to be.

Pepper threw the two duffels she had carried from their room on the water bed and followed it by letting herself fall face-first into its wobbly, inviting arms. "Feels wonderful. Try it, B."

"No, thank you," the kitten replied, jumping onto the window sill. "I can see nothing right now, but I can tell the view from this room will be spectacular!"

Pepper sighed and sat up. Her butt did a little dance before going still. She poked the bed and sighed again, "I wish we could get this for our apartment."

"If we ever do, don't expect to cuddle with me on it," Butter said, leaving his spot and checking out the other wonders the room had to offer. "You know, you could get this in our apartment."

"Hum?"

"All you have to do is ask Sal to buy you one. I am sure he will be happy to do it."

A pillow caught him square in the butt. "How dare you suggest something so... so..."

"So doable?"

"No."

"So practical?"

"No!"

"So thoughtful?"

"Preposterous! Your suggestion is preposterous."

Butter jumped on the bed-stand and inspected the water bed woefully. "If I was still human, I would have given it a try." He caught Pepper's eyes. "My lady, I think it would make an exciting addition to our apartment."

Pepper held her hand out. "Come here."

Butter obliged. It always felt nice to be held by the Woodgrip witches. Since his first day as a kitten, he had seen twenty four births and as many deaths. Each had hurt more than the previous. He closed his eyes and tried to remember his first mistress, Patty Woodgrip. After her, Pepper was his favorite.

Penny, Pepper's mother, had had her when she was eighteen. She had passed away when Pepper had turned sixteen. Over the next two years, Pepper and Butter had stayed at Felicity's. That's when the two girls had grown closer.

At eighteen, Pepper applied at the magistrate's office as a part-timer. The job required her to run any and all errands for the higher-ups. As soon as she was accepted, she had moved out of her uncle's place. Of course, Butter had followed.

Now, resting his head on the crook of the witch's neck, for the first time, he thought about what his mistress had done differently from the rest of her ancestors for her not to have fallen in love at all. As he mulled over it, something horrible occurred to him.

What if she fell in love but never told me?

"B, what's wrong?" The witch brought him to her eye level. "Are you going to faint again?"

"No." Butter shook his head and fixed his mistress with a calculating gaze, "Have you ever been in love, P?"

"Nooo! Why?"

Butter gasped; pointing his right paw at her, he accused, "You are lying, P."

Pepper put the kitten down and stood up. "I need to use the washroom," she said, picking up the duffel and walking away.

Butter hurried behind her. "My lady, answer me. Please. I need to know who-"

BANG!

"Go to bed, B. We have a long day tomorrow," the witch yelled from the other side of the door.

Darn it. Why hadn't this occurred to him earlier? And if Pepper had fallen in love, why had she kept this very important nugget of information from him?

"Fine!" he replied loud enough for Pepper to hear. Tiptoeing over the edge of the intimidating furniture, he dug his teeth into the duffel his mistress had left on the bed.

When his mistress finally stepped out of the bath, she went to Butter's side. He was waiting for her. "If you don't want to tell me now, I can wait," he said, meaning every word. "I just wanted to know why you never told me. You tell me everything." He pouted and followed it up with silent sob.

Pepper scooped the kitten into her arms. "I am sorry. I couldn't bring myself to tell you. And now it just feels stupid."

Yep, Butter was more than familiar with this tone. Not only would he not receive any answers, but when his mistress spoke like this, it usually ended up making her cry, which in turn made her eyes look puffy the next day.

The matchmaker in Butter couldn't let that happen, especially since Pepper was supposed to attend the next ceremony, Color day, with Sal.

"Let bygones be bygones, my lady. Go to sleep now," he said, returning to his spot on the window sill.

"But you haven't told me what happened in the car yet."

"Nothing's for free, my lady. If you want answers, I would be happy to give them to you, provided you make an effort with Sal tomorrow."

Pepper closed her eyes and pursed her lips. "There you go again."

"Yes, I am going there...again."

"Why are you so obsessed with him?"

"I dunno, my lady. But you gotta admit, he is kinda perfect."

"Perfect, my butt!"

Butter smiled, watching Pepper stomp her feet- all the way- to her beloved borrowed bed and throw herself on it.

Nice! I am making progress, Butter thought, for he had noticed that his mistress had never once, during all the times he had brought up the man, addressed Sal as that jerk.

Chapter word count: 1079
Word count so far: 20420

20k milestone reached! ❤