I blink.
The cursed mirror witch blinks too.
I take a step forward.
The woman stuck in the mirror does the same.
I reach out a hand.
The mirror lady does too.
Slowly, my hand connects with the mirror and I let loose a garbled sound of dismay.
That’s not a nightmarish being trapped in a mirror.
It’s me.
My hair looks like it had a fight with an eagle and the eagle won. My eyeliner melted and now gives the impression that I’m bleeding black tears. There are heavy dark circles under my eyes. My mascara is thick and hardening at the ends, turning me into that purple villain fromThe Emperor’s New Groove.
“Please tell me I didn’t look like this in front of Nat.”
The silence mocks me.Of course you did. And you thought Nat wanted to kiss you? You must be out of your mind.
Grabbing either end of the sink, I suck in a harsh breath and try to compose myself.
Okay. Okay… maybe Nat did see me like this last night.
So what?
It’s not like I’m going to see him any time soon. I warned Nat to keep his distance. He’s a gentleman. He’s going to honor that. And even if he doesn’t, Nat has his pride too. I probably won’t see him again unless I go to him first.
I wash my face until all the makeup is gone and brush my teeth. My head isn’t pounding as much as it did when I first got up, but I still feel awful.
I head to the kitchen in search of any edible substance that can settle my stomach.
But something is wrong with my kitchen.
Something is wrong with my entire apartment.
“What the…” My voice trails as I turn in a slow circle, observing the clean floors, the shiny TV stand, and the dishes that have dried on the rack instead of piled up in the sink where I left them.
Who snuck into my house and cleaned everything? Did Nat take a key and hand it over to some stranger from a cleaning company?
At that moment, there’s a knock on the door.
I look through the peephole and see Nat standing there with his hands behind his back.
Miffed, I wrench the door open and blast him without stopping to exchange pleasantries. “Nat, did you let a stranger into my apartment this morning?”
His jaw drops. “What?”
From his reaction, he didn’t do it this morning. “Was it last night? Did you hire a cleaning company while I was asleep?”
That is so incredibly dangerous. Who knows what kind of person was tiptoeing around in my space while I was oblivious to the world. I could have been bludgeoned to death in my sleep.
“I don’t like people I don’t know in my apartment, Nat,” I scold him.
“I didn’t let anyone else in.”
