"Butter, sweetie, come to your mistress."

Sweetie looked at his mistress; his green eyes brimmed with woe. 

"Little one, come to me, please. I really want to spend more time with your beautiful mistress."

The little one looked at the man he had pinned his mistress's future happiness on. 

"Don't try to turn his head with lies." Pepper snapped at Sal. Avoiding his eyes, she turned and winked at Butter before mouthing, "Do your thing, B." 

"I never lie. Twist the truth a little, maybe, but never lie."

Pepper huffed a lock of her hair out of her eyes. "Don't listen to him, B. Come on, you know what you need to do."

Salvador shook his head. Amusement shone in his soulful gold irises. It reminded Butter of Halloween for some reason. Also, the man was clearly holding in his laugh. 

"It's sweet how you talk to him like he is your best friend. You have a strong bond. I can sense it. If you keep it up, he will talk back one day. How will you explain that to the world?"

"I will tell them that I am a witch and that he is my equally magical familiar."

A loud, uninhibited laugh escaped Sal's chest. His whole body, all six feet of it, shook. "Yes, tell them that. It will shut them up."

"Shut up!" The witch's calm facade broke for a moment. She left a sigh and hung her head. "I didn't mean it rudely, I am sorry."

"I know. No need to apologize." Sal gestured to the terrified kitten to approach him. “Come on, buddy. Pick me.”

"B, show him where your loyalties lie," said Pepper. 

Butter closed his eyes. I am doing this for my mistress, my Pepper, he thought repeatedly, praying the words would fuel his steps, steps that took him into the waiting arms of Salvador Hart. 

"Thanks, little one."

"Butter, nooooooo!"

Butter buried his face in the man's maroon suit and wagged his tail. 

"What in the world are you doing, B?" fuming, Pepper reached for her kitten, but a muscular circle of arms kept him out of her reach. 

Salvador stood up, caressing the tuft of golden fur on Butter's head; he said, "Now. Now. Don't be a spoilt sport. It's not his fault that he likes me."

"Hand. Him. Over," Pepper said, making Butter tremble. When upset, his mistress was one scary witch. 

And boy, had he upset her. 

"Ms. Woodgrip, come on. You are putting him in a tough spot, don't you think?"

"How so?"

Butter looked at his mistress's pursed lips; her hands were crossed over her middle, and she was tapping her left foot on the ground. 

"The little one clearly loves you, or he wouldn't have picked me over you."

"Do you realize you are not making any sense, Mr. Hart?"

"We can have a civilized conversation about it when we return to our seats."

"Why can't we talk here?"

Butter wanted to facepalm himself. Alas, it would look unnatural if he did. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why his mistress wanted to spend more time in the boiler room of the resort instead of somewhere lovely like the flower-decked lawn Sal had suggested. 

Sal walked towards his date with intent. "Please hold your hand out."

"Why?"

"How else would I return Butter to you?"

Oh, no. Butter was going to be betrayed. Sal was his safety net, his savior. Without him, the kitten had no hope of surviving the night, hypothetically, of course, for he was immortal. 

Pepper blinked and did as instructed. A moment later, Butter was in her arms again, where he belonged.

Darn it! 

"If you are worried about Brandon interrupting us again, you can rest assured that he won't." The man, who reminded Butter of Hercules, stepped closer to his mistress than what the kitten usually deemed appropriate and said in a low, deep whisper, "I get that it's pretty warm and cozy in here, but it's bad for your reputation if anyone catches us here."

Thump. Thump. THUMP. 

His mistress's loud, arrhythmic heartbeat confused Butter. He decided to scour the web at night for what was happening to her ASAP.

Pepper's lips fell open, but words stayed buried.

"I will take that as a yes," Salvador said as he helped her hold up her dress and walked her to the door. 

"What is this drink?" Sal asked when the three had returned to their table. It surprised Butter that no one had stolen their spot despite the magnitude of people still standing.

"Fierce Fire," Pepper replied, bringing her drink, a hot Malmat, to her lips. "Do you want to know what's in it?"

"No, I don't. I enjoy a degree of mystery in my life. For a celebrity, keeping something secret is difficult. So the ones I do have, I treasure."

Wow, wasn't that profound? The more time Butter spent in the man's company, the more he wished for him to be a part of Pepper's future. 

"Would you like to know what's in mine?"

"Nope." Salvador shook his head. Glancing at Butter- the kitten was looking between the two from his vantage point at the center of the table- he said, "I hope I haven't gotten the little one in trouble."

"He is definitely in trouble." Pepper glared at her familiar as if the innocent-looking feline was Judas. 

Butter yowled. "Meeeeoooow."

"If it's because he picked me, don't be upset with him anymore. It was never my intention to make you feel uncomfortable. I release you from our agreement."

Butter detected disappointment in the man's eyes. If he was being honest, he was disappointed, too. Without the deal, there was no way his mistress would let Sal stay next to her. 

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. You are free to abandon me. No strings attached. It was not my intention…I was just trying to break the ice. As I said earlier, I don't take what I love without consent." A lopsided grin graced the human's face. "Consent, Ms. Woodgrip, is earned. And I haven't done that...yet." His eyes shone like they had downed dusk in one gulp.

A good man. No, a great one. He is an exception in this world filled with regular jerks!

Butter peeked at Pepper, who opened her mouth as if to speak but closed it again. 

"You don't like being around people, do you?"

"No."

"I understand." Sal bobbed his head. "You must have felt awfully lonely growing up."

Pepper shrugged. "I wasn't topping popularity charts, that's for sure."

"I can relate."

"I find that hard to believe."

"I see why you might; to be honest, I wasn't lying when I told you I had cats while growing up. They kept me company when I felt like I was adrift at sea. Anchorless. And I loved them as much as a child could. In fact, I consider myself somewhat of a cat-whisperer."

"A cat-whisperer?" Pepper smiled. "I don't think you can whisper to this cat."

"Given enough time with him, maybe I can." The man offered the witch a toothy grin. "This one here"—Sal caressed the kitten's head, calming his nerves—"he loves you; I think Butter wants me around because he wants you to have someone by your side, to take care of you. Not that you can't take care of yourself." He raised his hands in surrender and winked. 

"Yes…" Pepper trailed; her eyes cast low, she said, "I can take care of myself."

Butter wanted to hug his mistress. Yes, she was very capable of caring for herself, but that didn't mean she didn't need anyone. It was just that she never had the luxury…all because of the curse… because of him. The feline hated himself for the nth time for what he had put his mistresses- and every Woodgrip preceding her- through.

"But Ms. Woodgrip," Sal slid his hands across the table and placed it palm-up, inches away from Pepper's. "I am here now. I would greatly appreciate it if you let me take care of you, at least for the next few days. Please, will you let me stay by your side?"

Please say yes, my lady. 

Butter closed his eyes, made a wish, recited the spell in his mind, winced, and promptly collapsed on the table. 

Chapter word count: 1398