Lullaby (The Fable Series, Book 2)

Chapter Nineteen

CRUNCH.

Kitty takes a bite of the apple, and then... nothing.

She doesn't faint or vomit or turn purple. She just takes another bite, seeming to savor the apple's crisp, sweet flesh.

"Mmm, just what I felt like," she says. Her face suddenly creases with concern. "Are you ok Ash? You look sort of... freaked out, or something."

"I'm fine," I say, breathing a sigh of relief. I guess the apples were ok after all.

I notice that Kitty's wearing nothing but slippers and a very flimsy wine red silk dressing gown, almost perfectly matching the roses curling behind her. It clings provocatively to every curve, showing off her supermodel figure in a way that normal clothes just can't.

I look self consciously down at my own outfit – denim shorts, sandals and a plain white cami.

"Anyway, I told Jade I'd go out with him, but only if it's a double date," Kitty says, in-between munching delicately on the apple. "He seems decent enough, but still, a girl's got to be careful."

"So if Jade's your date, then mine is...?" I ask hesitantly, almost afraid of the answer.

Kitty smirks. "Well, originally I was going to pull the big sister card and order Fee to do it, but then Jade mentioned he had a single friend. Your date is some photographer friend of his called... I think it was... Cameron."

Cameron. Jade's mentioned him before. The guy's a major player.

"I asked Jade to send me a photo," Kitty says, fishing her phone out of her dressing gown pocket. "Quality control. Can't have you paired up with some hideous troll, now can we? It turns out Cameron's pretty hot. Wanna see?"

"No, that's ok," I say, my mind racing to find an excuse that will get me out of this. "I really don't think it's a good idea Kitty. I mean, I feel bad leaving tonight, after I was already gone yesterday. Maybe you could just-"

"Tonight?" Kitty interrupts me. "We're leaving now. This morning. We have to get to the high street and buy shoes, dresses, get our hair done, facia-"

"I can't," I say, trying to sound as firm as possible. "I only just got back. And I haven't done any recording with the guys for days now. At this rate we'll never get the album finished."

Not that it would be such a bad thing.

The thought of the guys leaving, walking out of my life forever once we've finished our little project, strikes a chord of sadness somewhere deep down inside of me.

Kitty rolls her eyes, turning away and looking out over the clearing as she throws her apple core over the side of the porch.

"The boys can wait," she says. "You've been making music with them non-stop every day for the past what, three weeks? There's nothing wrong with taking a few days off."

I need to try another approach.

"I thought you weren't interested in him," I say. "You said he wasn't your type."

Kitty looks thoughtful for a moment, brushing aside a few stray locks of her dark hair.

"He's not," she says. "Which is why I decided to go out with him tonight."

"I don't understand," I say, feeling stupid.

"Well, the boys and I are probably leaving in a few days anyway, so there's no point looking for anything serious right now," she says. "Falling in love with some random stranger is the last I need. What I do need however, is a bit of excitement. I've been stuck out in the woods doing nothing but stare at a vegetable patch the past few weeks. I want to get all dressed up, flirt a bit, go dancing, with no strings attached. He'll be perfect for that."