As Elspeth prepared herself for her date poor James was left with nothing to do but stare at himself in his new, thoroughly unwelcome form and ruminate on his predicament.
So many thoughts flooded his mind. Were any of the other objects and decorations in Elspeth's place formerly human? Had they once, long ago been promised they would be restored to their former selves by her then forgotten about? He consoled himself with how out of place he looked - a cheap, cartoonish figurine in a house otherwise filled with exotic, important looking artefacts. Surely his presence was only intended to be temporary.
He wondered about Nicola - was she faring any better with that horrible, sinister wizard than he was with Elspeth? Either way, there was nothing he could do about it right now.
After a while there was a knock at the door. The mirror opposite him revealed to James another magical storybook figure - an ageing, scholarly looking gentleman with long, dark hair and a short, immaculately trimmed beard. James soon learned his name to be Horatio.
James' role in the evening's events turned out to be a relatively brief one. The wizard guest had quickly spotted his presence and seemed rather amused at the sight.
"Elspeth my dear, what an earth were you thinking?" He gestured to James the frog "This is just so....not you"
"His name is James" Elspeth wandered over, the two giant figures looming over the subject of their conversation as if he couldn't hear them "I saw him earlier when I was out shopping and thought he looked rather fetching. I've become quite attached already so please don't be mean to him"
"Well, there's no accounting for taste" Horatio smiled, mercifully not seeming to realise the frog prince ornament was anything more than it appeared.
The pair then sat down to their evening meal, James an unwilling observer as they discussed a range of complicated, supernatural sounding subjects he knew nothing about. There was no mention of Nicola or Jasper.
After a few glasses of wine the conversation took a more flirtatious turn and James began to feel increasingly uncomfortable at being forced to sit in plain sight listening in. Thankfully Elspeth invited her guest upstairs before things got any more intimate, switching the light off on James as she went without so much as a goodnight.
At daylight the next morning James regained consciousness to a jarring reminder of his bizarre predicanent as his ceramic amphibious reflection greeted him with a mocking smile. Before too long Elspeth entered the room and approached - she hadn't forgotten him at least.
"I must apologise" she whispered "but I am going to need you to maintain your disguise a while longer"
James' heart sank.
"My friend is sleeping in and I need to head out to attend to a few matters. Once I return and we are alone I promise to restore you to human form, but it is far safer for you to remain hidden for now. Horatio is a very talented wizard with something of a jealous streak. Once we're alone I promise I shall kiss you and make you better!"
To James' disgust she planted a wet kiss om his froggy lips before leaving. James was left perched on the side table staring at his unfortunate new image a while longer. He could only hope this ordeal would end soon.