CHAPTER 4
Mischa woke up that Saturday morning to the smell of burnt bacon. She guessed her uncle had yet again tried his hand at cooking.. unsuccessfully. She lay in bed for a while, pondering over whether to either volunteer to cook a new batch or try to eat the stuff, but figured she'd better get up first, before lunch was ready at least. The grey housecat, Pearl, leapt up onto the bed. Mischa wondered what was going through her mind. Whether she'd get to eat the breakfast scraps, perhaps. Maybe she was even imagining what type of mouse to catch next. Ah, the simplicity of life to some. Cats have all the luck, thought Mischa.
She looked out the window to see a sudden downpour of rain. Tancred must have had a raging fit again, and he only lived down the street, Mischa laughed to herself. No Mischa, she thought to herself, Not all weather is caused by Tancred, just the indoor cyclones. And showers, and sleet, and perhaps the occasional miniature tornado, how cute was he at lunch yesterday?… It then occurred to Mischa that she was daydreaming about a guy she'd only known for a few days. She had to get a grip, but first, she had to get some food.
Mischa trudged downstairs, and then ate the somewhat okay bacon, throwing down some scraps for the cat. What she had smelled must have been the toast. Jane was sitting opposite, pushing the food around on her plate.
"Aren't you going to eat that stuff?" asked Mischa.
"Not hungry. Besides, I'm on a diet."
"Why? You're not fat..." It was true. Jane was healthy, but stick-thin.
"That's what you say... Anyway, how did you wind up at Bloor's? I mean, I'd think that people in the... lower class let's say, would just go to the local public high school? No offence or anything."
Mischa didn't know what to say. She never thought of Jane as a snob until now. Jane and Nathan attended an expensive private school, a rival school of Bloor's academy. Now, just because Mischa's family wasn't rolling in cash, her cousin found it amusing that Mischa's parents apparently begged the headmaster to get her there. Or, that was what Jane thought she heard from her parents. Little did she know that it was the other way around. Mischa got up and left, muttering something about cleaning her room.
Mischa decided to ask her new friend Artemis whether she knew any good cafes in the area. But, she wanted to get to know Tancred better, and it seemed mean to leave the rest out, so she decided to send a group text to Tancred, Lysander, Emma, Olivia and Artemis:
Anyone hungry?
If you know a good cafe,
reply and we can meet
Mischa
Mischa felt giddy about meeting up with Tancred. Would he think she was easy? Would he think of this as a date? Would she forget it wasn't a date? Mischa decided it was safety in numbers. She got a beep from her mobile, showing a reply:
----
You're asking me, the queen of food?
Pet's café is a good one
I'll let others know.
Tancred? LYSANDER!!!
So, is in half an hour okay?
Artz
-----
Artz? Mischa guessed that was Artemis, but ARTZ? Must be another of her creative outbursts... Besides, where was pet's café? Since nobody else was around, she had to ask her beloved cousin Jane, who was chatting on the phone. When Jane saw Mischa, she whispered to her friend (Wait, it's her. You know, the Bloor's girl that's living in our guest room. I'll be right back.)
"What? I'm busy!"
"Erm, where would I find the pet's café?" Jane giggled, and replied:
"Oh, um... Somewhere near frog lane... Take the cat."
"The cat?" Mischa was now completely confused. Nevertheless, Pearl's ears pricked up at the words 'Pet's café' as Mischa scooped her up, and headed for the bus stop. She decided to ring Olivia for some real directions.
Well, it took long enough, with enough strange looks on the bus as she sat next to Tancred with a large grey cat in her bag, (Oh well, those boring business people were teenagers once.) Tancred had a furry friend of his own- a tiny puppy.
"Aww, is that puppy yours? Well, stupid question.."
"Dad's German shepherd just had six pups. They're pathetic. All they do is whine and pee everywhere. It's funny when they slam into the wall when dad gets angry, though."
"Wha..? Oh, the wind.."
"Who else is coming?"
"Oh, Emma, Lysander, Artemis, Olivia.. that's it, I think."
"So basically the whole gang."
"Yeah.. basically." Mischa trailed off. They were running out of things to talk about. This couldn't be good.
"So other than the puppies, what else is new?" asked Mischa.
"Oh, I learnt how to sleet yesterday."
"Wow! I really need to focus on flowers myself.."
"Flowers?"
"Yeah, flowers. My endowment, duh. I can get them to bud, but they just seem to wilt from there.. I guess I just need more practise."
Boy, she could stare into those blue eyes all day.
As they got off the bus, they could see a neon sign reading "Pet's Café". They reached the bouncer at the front of the restaurant, and had no trouble getting in. Mischa stepped in with the grey housecat, followed by Tancred, who put down his "pathetic" pup as soon as he got the chance. Artemis, Emma, Olivia and Lysander were seated at the far end of the building, and beckoned to them with a free hand.
Artemis had a lime green budgie clinging to her left index finger, and Lysander had his own parrot perched on his shoulder. Emma had brought her duck, and Olivia was cradling a small white kitten.
"Hi, Artemis!", said Mischa cheerfully.
"Hey!"
"May I ask what's with 'Artz'?"
"Oh.. the clear button just HAD to be next to the send button, and I pressed the wrong one."
"So now I can call you Artz, for your own pain?"
"Not if you value your life as much as I think you do."
The others had already ordered, as the waiter came to take down Tancred and Mischa's order. Tancred ordered a glass of cerise juice of some kind with multicoloured sausages, as Mischa studied the menu.
"Do you do a latte here? It's not on the menu.."
The waiter raised an eyebrow. "Does the cat..?"
"No, no, for me," she clarified.
"Well, just this once."
"Thankyou! And I'll have the tuna bake."
"I must warn you, they are quite large.."
"That's okay, I'll share with the cat."
"You mean, the cat will share with you."
"Umm.. yeah, what you said."
"I'll bring an extra plate then. Would the feline like a beverage?"
"Umm, she'll just have some milk."
"Skimmed or full cream?"
"Umm.. full cream?" Mischa was confused. What cat would know the difference?
The waiter walked away, and Mischa asked Lysander:
"That's strange. What kind of café doesn't serve a latte?"
"Most of the food they serve here has to be okay for animals to have. It's a bit of a pain sometimes, but hey, the food's still good. They make a nice birdseed loaf here.."
When the food arrived, everyone dug in. After a half hour, all the food was gone, and everyone was pleasantly full. Soon, Emma and Olivia had a shift at Ingledew's bookshop, and Artemis and Lysander were needed at home, which left Mischa and Tancred alone. Again. They got on the bus, and sat down with their pets in their laps. Even MORE strange looks.
"I think we've ran out of things to talk about, Miss Greyton," declared Tancred.
"You think?" Mischa replied.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."
"Have it your way, then."
"Fine."
"Fine."
After ten minutes of silence, neither of them could stay quiet for any longer. As they got off the bus, they burst out in laughter.
"Well, there's always plan B," mused Tancred.
"Which is..?"
He softly kissed her on the cheek. Gently, but warmly.
"That we forget this ever happened," he whispered.
Nope, way too hard.
