Friends Don't

by Kerry M Kelly

CHAPTER 7

  Katryn soaked in the tub for a very long time. It was no use. She could still feel Paul’s touch. She tossed and turned all night, and awoke feeling worse than she ever had. It was probably good that she had no idea what dreams had cost her a full night of sleep, she decided. The way things were going, she was afraid the dreams might give her a permanent blush.

  Never again, she promised herself. No more dancing. She knew she would do ok in volleyball because the occasional contact was over almost immediately. It had been too long since she had actually wanted any man, though, and being in Paul’s arms brought all those buried yearnings back. And she did not need that!

  ‘What happened to that time when owning your own business was all you could possibly want?’ she asked herself. Then, glancing at her watch, she realized she was now running late. Where had all the time gone? She was still rushing when Audrey showed up.

  “I never even got the boys their breakfast,” she had to admit, pulling her coat on.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Audrey told her. Katryn thanked her then headed out the door. She barely made it to the store in time.

  “Running a bit late?” she heard Joe ask as she turned the key in the lock.

  “Joe where’ve you been. I missed you last week.”

  “Had a touch of the ‘flu’,” he told her. “Picking up an extra day today. Guess I’ll have to come back later to browse, seeing how it’s time for me to go to work.”

  “Sorry Joe.” Then, an inspiration struck. “Joe, why don’t you come back for lunch? We could talk. We haven’t sat and talked for a long time. I’ll send for sandwiches. About 1:00, if you can wait that long.”

  “I can wait,” he assured her before he left.

  Katryn ordered the sandwiches for lunch, then was kept busy enough she never thought about lunch again until Dottie showed up. Katryn told her she would be having lunch at 1:00.

  “I ordered you a sandwich, too. Just in case you didn’t eat before you came.” Katryn added.

  “That was sweet, but you needn’t have. I ate just before I left home.”

  Katryn cleaned off her desk while Dottie waited on customers. After pulling a third chair up, she left to go get three sodas at the ice cream shop. The sandwiches arrived shortly after Katryn returned, and Joe showed up just minutes later.

  Katryn made the introductions, and then they all sat at the desk to eat lunch. At Katryn’s insistence, she and Dottie took turns waiting on customers. Luckily, lunch time business was slow, so they had a lot of time to talk.

  Katryn was pleased to see that her two friends appeared quite comfortable with each other. When about an hour had passed, Joe said he had to go back to work. Katryn walked out in the hallway with him.

  “Not too subtle,” he told her. Disappointed that it must not have gone very well, she apologized.

  “I’m sorry. I just ...” his grin stopped her.

  “Don’t be. I got her phone number.” He gave her a quick hug. “Thanks,” he said simply. She walked back to the store, and saw that Dottie had already started to clean up the lunch papers. Katryn went around the counter and helped.

  “Will you tell me a little about him? He doesn’t say much,” Dottie asked, a little shyly.

  Katryn wasn’t all that surprised when Joe showed up to ‘browse’ near closing time. He purchased a couple westerns and hung around to talk. When Katryn and Dottie closed up, Joe offered to drop Dottie off. Since her employee seemed quite happy with the suggestion, Katryn agreed it would give her a few more minutes at home before practice. She waved goodbye when they pulled out of the lot in front of her, then she headed home.

  Katryn got to practice in really good spirits. At least things appeared to be off to a good start for Joe and Dottie. Practice went well, too. Jim’s team was there to practice against, having switched to Monday practice since games were Friday’s. The EVER READYs, while losing two of the four games, still played well.

  Tom and Katryn were the first two at Denny’s. When they were seated in their usual booth in the back, Tom mentioned Katryn appeared to be in a good mood. She told Tom about her hopes for Joe and Dottie, not even noticing others arriving.

  “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner,” she was telling Tom when Paul asked what she hadn’t thought of.

  A little self consciously, she explained about her friends. Paul knew who Dottie was, but he had no idea who Joe was. By the time Katryn had explained it all to Paul, everyone at the table had heard.

  “Quite the match maker, aren’t you?” Anne asked. Katryn thought she detected just a hint of sarcasm, but no-one else seemed to notice, so she ignored it. She was busy trying not to look at Paul.

  “Are we practicing Thursday?” Ed asked.

  “Not unless everyone wants to. I figure one practice is enough now that we have the games on Friday. That’s why Jim’s team is coming on Monday’s now. They don’t want to practice the night before a game. But what do the rest of you think?”

  While Paul, Ed, and Anne, were all for Thursday practice, Julie and Mary could not make that many nights out. Ken was not too enthusiastic, either, and Tom would rather not. They decided, therefore, to skip Thursdays.

  “Everyone’s still planning to go dancing Friday after the games, right?” Julie wanted to know. Tom noticed that everyone else had said yes.

  “You’re going too, aren’t you?” he asked Katryn.

  “I’m not sure my sitter...” she started to say.

  “Please?” Tom asked. There was no doubt in Katryn’s mind what the look on Anne’s face meant.

  “Of course you’ll be able to join us, won’t you?” Paul asked. Mary, Ken and Ed added their encouragement.

  “I’ll try.” she promised, and they let it drop. Katryn left shortly after that, and again refused Tom’s offer to walk her to her car. He followed her to the door again, making sure she was not being followed when she drove away.

  Lying in bed, she began to wish she had never laid eyes on one Paul Keegan. The team she had considered almost perfect was crumbling before her eyes. Julie was touchy, and Anne was becoming rather unpleasant. She could not even look at Paul, and Anne was making it fairly evident Katryn should stay from Tom, too. It amazed her how quickly the tide could turn.

  On her way to work Tuesday morning, Katryn felt things could not possibly get any worse. They did, in fact, take a slight turn for the better when Dottie surprised her with a beautiful dried flower arrangement that she had made.

  “It’s to thank you for introducing me to Joe. He seems really nice,” she explained to Katryn.

  Not ten minutes later, though, things did indeed get a lot worse. Paul walked into the store and invited her to, in fact demanded her presence at, lunch. When she tried to politely refuse, Paul’s eyes flashed danger signals, and his voice dropped two octaves.

  “We need to talk,” he quietly said

  “Paul, please don’t,” she begged quietly.

  “You join me for lunch, or I’ll have a long talk with Julie.” He meant it. She saw it in his eyes. She nodded, walked towards the back of the store where Dottie was helping a customer, and explained she was going to lunch. Dottie turned to see whom she was going with, and smiled her approval of Paul.

  “No need to hurry back,” Dottie told her employer, thinking how she had expected to see that tall good looking man back long before now.

  Katryn went unwillingly with Paul to the restaurant. His same table had been reserved for him and Katryn absently remembered it was Tuesday. Katryn told Paul she really was not hungry, so he ordered for both of them. The waitress walked away and Paul told Katryn they would talk after they ate, like before.

  Katryn really was not hungry. She picked at, and pushed around the beautiful trout that graced her plate. She hated wasting such well prepared food, but she felt if she ate anything, it would surely stick in her throat.

  When Paul was finished, he frowned at how little she had eaten, bu
t said nothing. He called the waitress over to remove their plates and bring them some coffee. When the coffee was poured and the waitress gone, Paul started in on her.

  “Now, Katryn, the rules change a little. I played your way, accepted my one and only choice, and made the best of it. You, however, are backing out of your end of the bargain, and I won’t have it.” He was pleased to see the anger in her eyes when she answered him.

  “You won’t have it? Just what do you think you have to say about it?”

  “Just this.” She saw his cool blue eyes darken menacingly. “I accepted friendship because it was all you offered. Now you’re pulling that away, too. Don’t argue,” he told her when she started to protest. “You’re leaving Denny’s earlier and earlier every night. You refuse to even look at me. Now you say you might not make dancing.” His look dared her to deny what he said. She did not, so he continued.

  “The way I see it, I no longer have anything to lose. You won’t even allow me the promised friendship. So now the tables are turning. Either you start being part of the team again, stay and talk with us, go dancing with us, at least pretend to enjoy being with us, or I go to Julie. And if you make me angry enough, I might not only tell her everything that’s gone on, I might even find myself embellishing what her best friend and I were doing behind her back, so to speak.”

  Katryn stared, horrified. There was no doubt in her mind about whether or not he would actually do exactly what he threatened. She half believed she deserved it, anyway. She had dug herself into this hole, after all.

  When she thought about the repercussions, she cringed. Julie, of course, would hate her, and would most probably quit the team. After Julie explained to everyone what Katryn had done, the team would come apart as people chose whose side they were on.

  Even Tom, good old Tom, would probably side with Julie when he found what an awful friend Katryn had turned out to be. She would lose Julie, the team, Tom, and of course, she would never be able to forgive Paul. She refused to even look at him when he asked,

  “Well?”

  “What choice do I have?” she answered, defeated.

  “The same choice you offered me. Only this time you’ll play by my rules.”

  “Which are?” she asked in a whisper, afraid of the answer.

  “First, you aren’t to tell Julie of this lunch, or about our discussion,” he mocked. “Second, you’ll go to the dances with us every week with no further excuses about your sitter. Third, you’ll stay till at least 10:00 at Denny’s. Your sitter didn’t mind when I first joined, surely she won’t now. And Fourth, Katryn,” He tipped her face up towards his, forcing her to look at him. “Fourth, you will have lunch with me every Tuesday.”

  “And if I can’t?” she asked finally.

  “If you won’t,” he corrected, “I’ll go to Julie.”

  Katryn put herself on auto pilot, refusing to try to make any sense of what had happened, or to think about it at all. She functioned well at work, and at home. Even the boys did not seem to notice a change.

  Friday night rolled around, and Katryn steeled herself for the night, vowing to herself that she would at least look like she was having a good time. Volleyball helped. She enjoyed playing, even when they lost. And tonight, they did lose one of their matches. They played well, though, and did beat Jim’s team.

  They went straight to KELLY’S after the games, and Katryn honestly tried to have a good time. She was sure she was fooling everyone. Julie was too interested in Paul to notice if anything were amiss with Katryn. Tom was kept dancing continually, with Anne asking him most of the time. No-one else knew her well enough to see through her guise.

  Paul did not ask her to dance very often, and never during a slow dance. After the first set, a friend of Paul’s showed up and joined their table. Bill was in his early forties, slender, blonde, and had big brown eyes. He seemed taken with Julie, and asked her to dance quite often. When they were in the powder room together, Julie asked Katryn what she thought of Bill.

  “Seems nice. Dances well. Hardly gives anyone else a chance at you. It must be fun to be so popular,” Katryn teased.

  “It has been fun this evening,” Julie admitted. “Paul’s been rather attentive, too. I think Bill’s making him a little jealous. At least, I hope,” she added.

  For just a moment Katryn had had her hopes up. Julie’s last statement crushed them again. She should have known things would not work out that well for her. Julie would never like Bill more than Paul!

  Katryn was beginning to feel just a little like a bump on a log as the evening wore on. Anne and Tom danced together quite often. Mary had Bob. Julie had Bill and Paul. Ken and Ed went to other tables to ask younger women to dance. Not that she could complain she was sitting too much, she really sat out very few. After all, the odds were still in her favor.

  By the end of the third set, Mary and Bob had left. Ken and Ed all but deserted. Tom and Anne were becoming quite a pair, and Katryn watched Bill and Paul taking turns dancing with Julie. She had to admit Bill was the perfect gentleman, asking her to dance, too. But it was obvious he liked Julie. Paul asked Katryn for a few more fast dances, and even took Anne from Tom for a slow one.

  Tom danced with Katryn, and she felt good knowing he was still a friend. She felt comfortable dancing with him, and almost hated when the song came to an end. Anne immediately reclaimed Tom. When she got back to the table, Katryn told the others she had to go.

  “I work tomorrow,” she explained, daring Paul to argue. Ed came over when she was putting on her coat.

  “I’m leaving, too. I’ll walk you to your car if you’d like.”

  “Thanks,” she told him and they left together.

  “Did you find someone your age?” Katryn asked him.

  “Sorta’. She wouldn’t give me her number, though. She said she’d be here next Friday, so who knows?” He raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes. She had to laugh at the face he made.

  “Just don’t do that when you ask her out!” she warned lightly. Ed waved goodbye, still rolling his eyes.

  Katryn drove away feeling relieved. She had made it through the night. The fact that everyone had at least one ‘someone’ but her did not make the thought of Friday night dancing any easier to take, though.

  Monday evening’s practice was a little hectic, and Anne picked a fight with Julie. Denny’s ended up being slightly strained, but Katryn was glad Anne was angry at someone else. When Paul called Tuesday morning to say he would have to miss lunch, Katryn was relieved. A little less stress would do her wonders.

  Work, during the week, was busy, and her only high point was that Joe showed up more than once, and Dottie seemed to light up like a lighthouse whenever he was around.

  Friday rolled around quickly and Katryn was looking forward to volleyball.

  They won all three matches that night, and ended up at KELLY’S in really good spirits. Ed saw his friend right away, and soon was entrenched at her table. Ken also found some other women to dance with. He danced with his teammates too, though, so Katryn was kept busy.

  Around ten, Bill and another friend of Paul’s showed up. Larry was only slightly taller than Katryn, with dark brown hair and piercing gray eyes. He was not bad looking at all, and Katryn was pleasantly surprised to have him asking her for quite a few dances.

  She noticed Julie eyeing him, and when they went into the powder room this time, Julie mentioned he seemed fairly nice. Katryn agreed. He did seem nice. He paled next to Paul, but he was a welcome diversion.

  Larry monopolized Katryn’s time, and with Ken, Tom, Bob and even Bill asking her for dances, she rarely saw Paul at all. For her part, she tried not to think of whom he was dancing all the slow songs with, and was extra glad Larry was there to keep her busy.

  She and Larry left the dance floor after two dances in a row, and Paul met them half-way back to their table.

  “May I have this dance?” he asked her. Larry bowed and placed Katryn�
��s hand in Paul’s before he walked back towards the table. Katryn was surprised to see Julie get up and ask Larry to dance before he even got to the table, but she soon forgot all about Larry.

  The band was playing another slow song, and Paul held her close. The sparks coursed through her the moment he pulled her near. Every part of her tingled in awareness of him. His hand burned through her shirt again, and when he whispered in her ear, she fairly jumped out of her shoes.

  “I’m pleased to see you trying so hard to pretend to enjoy yourself,” he said none too nicely. “Did you miss me at lunch Tuesday?” Katryn tried to pull back slightly, but he pulled her even closer to him.

  “No, I didn’t miss you,” she lied. “I was quite relieved. But I suppose you’d like it better if I were miserable,” she answered in kind.

  “It would seem more fair,” he admitted. His hands began to slowly roam up and down her back while he whispered in her ear, “You do seem to be enjoying yourself now.”

  “Please, Paul. Not here. Julie will...”

  “Julie wouldn’t even notice,” he assured her. “Bill is keeping her quite busy. And right now she seems pretty happy with Larry.” He turned and loosened his grip so she could see the truth behind his words. Julie was dancing, if possible, even closer to Larry than she was to Paul. Katryn was a little surprised that Julie would act so friendly with someone Katryn had been dancing with.

  “Do you really think Julie would turn Larry down for your friendship?” Paul asked, reading her mind.

  “Of course she would,” Katryn defended her best friend. Pulling Katryn close again, he shook his head in disbelief.

  Katryn lost track of Julie almost immediately. Paul was too close, his hands were too warm, and she no longer had any control over her body. All her resolve, all the promises she had made were slipping away. The walls she had erected were crumbling. Her senses were filled with Paul - his scent, his touch, his voice. Where her head rested against his chest she could feel the quickening beat of his heart. She felt as if she were drowning in him.

  Had she wanted to save herself, wanted to pull away, she would have been unable. Paul held her too close. Her head began to swim as he twirled her faster and faster around the floor. Eyes closed and holding tight, she knew she would soon be beyond the point of caring about Julie.

  Julie! Her head echoed, reverberated as it shouted the name. Julie! Your best friend!

  Only Katryn could have heard the warning, and yet Paul must have sensed it. The whirling slowed, he loosened his hold on her, and when, finally, the dance ended, he pulled himself away from her.

  It was like a physical loss when they separated. Katryn felt cold and achingly alone, her feelings in a type of shock. And when the shock slowly ebbed, she was left with the pain. That one dance, a dance that both lasted too long and ended too soon, showed her how good it would feel with Paul. And then, that same dance had let her know exactly how deep would be the loss. She was playing with a much more dangerous flame than she had ever imagined. She had been scorched already, now she wondered just how badly burned he would leave her.

  Katryn left shortly after her dance with Paul. Larry walked her to her car and asked if she would be there next Friday. If she sounded skeptical when she assured him she would, he did not seem to notice. She headed home to lick her wounds.

  Too exhausted to even think, Katryn fell asleep immediately and awoke feeling only slightly refreshed in the morning. She was thankful she could go to work a little late since Dottie was opening the store. Ryan and Timmy fought over breakfast, and Ryan whined about having to be with a sitter all day.

  “Other kids do fun things on the weekends, we never do,” he told her.

  “Other kids do their work Saturday and play Sunday,” she answered, refusing to be drawn into a fight. “You two agree on what you’d like to do tomorrow, and if your work’s done, we’ll do it.”

  “Roller-skating?” Ryan asked.

  “No. A movie,” Timmy demanded.

  “Work it out, guys. You have to agree,” she told them. She was saved by Audrey’s arrival and she left for work.

  When she arrived at work, Katryn found Joe ‘browsing’ while Dottie waited on customers. They all had lunch together, and Dottie asked if Katryn and the boys would like to join Joe and her for supper Sunday. Katryn said yes, knowing the boys would love to see Joe and Dottie again.

  After work, Katryn picked up the movie MARY POPPINS and some ice cream. When she got home, Timmy told her the good news.

  “Ryan and I agreed. A movie AND roller-skating.”

  Katryn reached down and took both her boys in her arms. Laughing, she gave them each a squeeze and told them that was pretty sneaky. She had to admit, though, that she had not said that they had to agree on only one thing. She would have to remember in the future, to be more specific!

  After checking to see that their work was done, she called the roller rink and the theater. They could go skating in the morning, go to see a movie in the afternoon, and go to dinner at Dottie’s afterwards.

  She fixed a quick supper, topped it off with ice cream, and then the three of them watched MARY POPPINS. The boys were so excited about tomorrow that Katryn had no trouble getting them into the bathtub, and into bed.

  Katryn soaked in the tub when the boys were asleep. She focused on all the good things in her life. Two healthy, happy sons who were a joy to raise. She had her own business that was doing well. She had Dottie and Joe for family. Tom and Julie were good friends. If she looked at all the positives, her life seemed pretty darn good. So why didn’t if feel so good, she asked herself, before falling asleep. Why did it suddenly seem not good enough?

  Katryn started Sunday morning refreshed and ready. She only fell twice skating, made it all the way through the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, and they arrived at Dottie’s on time with the boys looking faintly angelic in slacks, sweaters, and ties.

  She had not told her sons that Joe would be there, and they were excited to see him, too. It had been awhile since the boys had seen Dottie or Joe, and Katryn was reminded she should make sure the boys saw more of their only ‘grandparents’. She was glad soccer season would start soon. Then Joe would see the boys more often.

  Katryn was helping Dottie get supper ready when she saw the glitter from Dottie’s right hand. Katryn pointed to the ring and tears came to Dottie’s eyes.

  “That’s what we wanted to tell you tonight. Joe’s asked me to marry him.”

  “Oh, Dottie, how wonderful. You two are perfect for each other.”

  Dinner was a joyous occasion with Timmy and Ryan also excited that Grampa Joe and Dottie would be married. Joe even promised Katryn that Dottie could stay working at the store if she wanted. Dottie quickly assured all of them that she had no intention of quitting.

  Dottie told Katryn and the boys all about Joe’s proposal. How he had asked her to marry him Friday night with flowers, candy, and on bended knee. Joe’s face turned red when Dottie let Katryn know how romantic ‘Grampa Joe’ could be. It had been Joe’s idea to keep it a secret until they could all celebrate together at dinner, Dottie told her.

  “I was dying to tell you all day yesterday,” Dottie explained. “I even had to take the ring off so you wouldn’t see. But Joe said he wanted to tell you and the boys together!” Joe nodded, and Katryn knew her boys had a pretty wonderful set of grandparents right here.

  Before she left, Katryn found out they were to be married in December. Dottie asked if Katryn would stand for her, and Katryn assured Dottie she would be honored.

  The boys went right to bed, when they got home. Katryn was not sure if it was because of the good news, or how busy they had been, and decided it was probably a little of each. Katryn was soon asleep, too. Joe and Dottie had improved her spirits greatly.