I started writing this one then I got distracted by another idea! Then I got distracted from that one too so I decided to just finish up this one. Was going to combine it with another prompt but I'll do that one separately instead.
And the chapter title is both a cat pun and reference to a line from the song "Fashion!" by Lady Gaga. A double whammy.
"Grandmother, look what I found!"
The Contessa put down the newspaper she had been reading, curious at how excited Lucy sounded. The weather had been lovely lately, and so they had decided to spend some time outside today. The Contessa sat on the patio with a stack of different newspapers, catching up on current events. Lucy had sat with her for only a few minutes, growing bored almost immediately and leaving for the gardens. "Or maybe I'll explore a little further," she had said, although her grandmother would never have expected that this is what she would find. The teenager pranced over and held out her discovery: a scruffy, dirty, white cat.
"He's so cute, isn't he?" She cradled the cat in her arms like it was a baby. "And so friendly!"
"Where in the world did you find that?"
"Laying by the geraniums. He ran over as soon as he saw me, didn't you, honey?" The cat meowed in response.
The Contessa frowned. "You absolutely cannot keep it, Lucia, I can tell you that much. Now put it down, it's filthy."
Lucy huffed and made a face as if she had been expecting such a reaction. "Don't worry, I wasn't going to ask that. He already has a home, see?" She shifted the cat around to show the thin black collar on its neck with a dangling name tag. "His name is Romeo. And there's a phone number and address."
"Excellent, I'll have someone take it back where it belongs right away." The Contessa stood to find the nearest maid or guard and order them to drive the animal home when Lucy interjected.
"No! Not yet! Let me at least clean him up and give him some food first. Poor baby must be starving."
"Lucia," she sighed, "I don't want animals in the house. They make messes."
Lucy shuffled the cat around so that his front paws rested on her shoulder, and he stretched up to rub his face on her cheek. "It won't be long. And look how well behaved he is, he won't do anything bad. Please?"
Her grandmother, unimpressed, shook her head.
"Oh come on, don't tell me the whole villain thing extends to being mean to animals."
The Contessa flashed her a look that made Lucy worry that she had gone too far this time. She stared back nervously and held her breath. It had felt like the two had grown the tiniest bit closer since Lucy had come to live her- or at least had gained more of an understanding of each other – but she knew it still wouldn't be a good idea to push too far. At last, her grandmother simply closed her eyes and sighed again.
"Be quick about it. Bring the cat back out here as soon as possible. It leaves by the end of the day."
Visibly relieved, Lucy nodded and hurried inside. "Thank you."
"If it scratches the furniture, you are going to be in big trouble, young lady!" the Contessa called out at her retreating figure, knowing full well she wouldn't actually punish Lucy if the cat did anything. She picked the newspaper back up and grumbled to herself, "I'm going soft. If any of those kids at the school had tried that with me, I'd have… no, they wouldn't even have dared to talk back to me." She lamented the apparent decline in her ability to intimidate until an interesting article caught her eye.
Meanwhile, Lucy took Romeo to the closest bathroom and filled the tub with a few inches of water.
"Come on, sweetheart, in you go." She lowered him in carefully, knowing most cats hated water. "Please don't scratch me, okay?" He seemed to enjoy it actually, sitting down and swishing his tail through the water before rolling onto his back with a 'prrp!' sound.
"Good boy!" Lucy cooed. She rubbed his belly and splashed water on his sides to rinse off the dirt. He behaved wonderfully as she cleaned him off, only yowling and hiding behind the sink when she turned on the hairdryer. She switched it off right away and grabbed a towel instead. "Sorry, sorry! Didn't mean to scare you, kitty cat." She scooped him up in the towel and dried him off like that, his fur now pure white and fluffed up.
They made a brief stop at the kitchen for a can of tuna and headed back to the yard. Her grandmother was absorbed in the newspaper again, so Lucy took advantage of the distraction by letting Romeo eat on the table. She scratched his ears and he purred happily as he ate.
"Anything exciting going on?" Lucy asked.
"Hmm. A new museum was built recently but judging by the location and the looks of it, well, it seems all too easy to steal from. Here, what do you think?" the Contessa lay the article out in front of Romeo and pointed at the picture.
Lucy blinked. "Um, Grandmother? Are you talking to the cat?"
"No, I'm…" she glanced at the cat again and furrowed her brows. "Oh. For a moment I though he was someone else."
"Someone?" Lucy repeated in confusion. "What are you talking about? How do you mistake a cat for a person?"
"Is anyone available to take this creature home?" The Contessa stood up and marched over to the guard patrolling the yard. "You! I have another job for you!"
Lucy watched her yell at the guard as Romeo hopped into her lap. "She says the strangest things sometimes," she remarked, patting him on the head.
"Meow."