Kate lets go of Nick's arm and places her hand in my mother's. "Don't worry, Mom, I have it all under control. Planning things like this on short notice is what I do for a living."
"I remember when you were little and you had your wedding all planned out from the roses down to the dinner menu. You would get dressed up in your white satin dress and pretend to walk down the aisle. You were beautiful then and I'm sure you are going to be even more beautiful now. Now that I think about it, you probably already know exactly what you want. You always knew what you wanted. If anyone can pull off the most fabulous wedding in such a short time, it would be you."
Kate gives her a kiss on the cheek and lets go of her hands. Mom looks at Nick with a smile still on her face. "You were here so much when you and Chris were younger it was like I had a fifth child, but now it's going to be official. I have to call your mother so the four of us can go out to lunch."
"Thank you, Mrs. Reed, she'll like that."
I can't stand this want-to-be Norman Rockwell painting come to life anymore. "Excuse me, guys, I'm going to get a glass of champagne, I'll be right back." Not if I can help it I won't. The forced smile slides away from my face. I walk toward the kitchen picking up a glass of champagne from the table and finish it off in one shot. I was never much of a drinker but if there was ever a night to start it would certainly be tonight without a doubt. It's a night of one too many surprises. I can't wait till it's over. I hate surprises!
At this point my mind is blank. I have nothing to say, I'm just trying to hold it together. I go into the kitchen, take a cold beer out of the fridge, and walk over to the counter. I lick my lips, put my bottle on the marble counter top, close my eyes and let out a deep breath. I open my eyes then open my beer taking a long drink, feeling it slide down my throat cool and wet. I lean against the counter with one hand down on the cold hard marble putting the bottle down on the counter. I don't even know what to feel. There's a tightness in my chest. I push myself back off the counter, take my bottle of beer and slowly walk to the stairs in the kitchen that leads me to my old room. Maybe I'll find an old Mary J Blige CD "My Life", "My Life", "My Life". It might tell me how to feel.
Nick
I'm standing next to Cat and she's staring at Kate and the smile on her face is gone. She doesn't even look at me. I walk over to Kate, give her a quick smile for everyone to see, and stand next to her. What I really want to do is drag her out of this room and wring her neck.
Everyone in the room is smiling and congratulating us. I should have told Cat; this is not the way I wanted her to find out, in a room full of people—her family. The look on her face is unreadable, she's standing as still as a statue except for the deep steady breaths she's taking. I can tell by the rise and fall of her chest she's upset. Jay comes over to shake my hand.
"Congrats, soon-to-be brother-in-law, this was unexpected. When did it happen?"
"About three weeks ago," Kate says for me.
"Man, and she was able to keep news like this to herself for that long? That's a miracle. She's been waiting to get married since the day she was born. I'm happy for you two." He turns to his sister, gives her a kiss on the cheek and hugs her.
"Thanks, Jay, and for your information I can keep a secret."
"I'm sure you can, but you've been waiting for this for years. I thought you would be shouting it from the rooftops the day it happened."
Kate smiles and rolls her eyes, I'm not sure. I think her cheeks turn a little pink when she says, "Be quiet, you guys are making me sound desperate, which I am not."
"You know I love you, I'm only joking. Like I told Nick, I'm happy for you two; hopefully your marriage will last longer than mine. I'm going to get a drink to toast the happy couple."
I need a damn drink myself. I turn to get one and I see Cat move. She walks straight up to us and stands in front of Kate. She doesn't look at me. She has a smile on her face but it doesn't reach her eyes. Being this close to her I can tell it's not real, and anyone who really knows her and looks at her can tell. Her eyes, they always give her emotions away.
She asks Kate when the wedding is. I wish I could take her out of here and explain everything, but I can't leave my fiancée to find a private place to talk to her sister. Her mother is talking about how Kate liked to pretend she was getting married when she was a little girl, white dress and all. I never realized how much Kate wanted to get married. There are a lot of things I don't know about Kate, but I'm sure going to find out. I know her but not like I know Cat. Sometimes she was around when I came over but we never really hang out. Kate was never really interested in the same things I, Chris, and Cat were into.
We ran into each other about three months ago at a friend's house. I wasn't going to go, but she was having a dinner party and she wanted me to come because she hadn't seen me in a while. When I got there I saw Kate. I wasn't expecting to see her; in fact, I hadn't seen her in a long time. She looked good in a black above-the-knee pencil skirt that fit just right, a white sleeveless button-down shirt, and red bottom heels that made her appear to be about five nine instead of five six. She had brown highlights in her hair, pulled back in a loose ponytail with a bang that reminded me of Cat.
I was going to say hi to her but an old friend of mine started talking to me. Fifteen minutes later she walked up to me as my friend was leaving.
"Hi, Nick, you weren't going to come over and say hello?"
"Actually I was; you beat me to it." She tilted her head looking up at me.
"I'm glad you weren't trying to avoid me."
"Why would I do that?"
"I don't know, but I'm glad that wasn't the case. I haven't seen you with Chris in a long time."
"Yeah, I've been busy and a little preoccupied with other things. I'm actually supposed to meet up with him and a couple of the guys tomorrow after work."
"Speaking of my brother and people you haven't seen, have you spoken to my sister lately?"
"No, not in a while. I have to call her."
"She's doing great. She really likes it over there."
"Does she?"
"Yeah, when we talked she said it's starting to feel like home. Now that she's finished with school she says she's been dating a lot and there's one particular guy she's into."
"She has a boyfriend? A serious boyfriend?"
"I believe so. She's happy. It was a bit of an adjustment when she first moved, as I'm sure you know being so close to her and Chris, but she's really taken to Canada now."
"Has she?"
"Yes. I don't think she's coming back, she seems happy."
"Does she to you? I haven't really talked to her in a while with my schedule and dealing with other things."
"She's happy, she told me she has a few promising job offers she's interested in. She's really embraced Canada and made it her home away from home."
"That's good. I'm happy she's doing well. She's moved on." I give her a sad smile. "I guess she's not coming back? Are you sure?"
"I don't see why she would, her life is there now."
"You don't think there's a chance she'll change her mind and come back?"
"No. She sounds happy and as long as she's happy that's all that matters. Isn't it?"
"You're right; as long as she's happy, that's all that matters."
"Well, despite whatever it is that has you so preoccupied these days, Nick, you look good. You look different somehow, not that you didn't look good before but something's different about you."
I raise an eyebrow. Is she flirting with me? She is. I didn't see this coming. My eyebrows draw together. I give her a half grin, half smile. This is new for us, what the hell, a little flirting never hurt anyone. She's looking cuter by the minute. "Thank you, I think." I take a sip of my drink looking at her. "You look good yourself, there's something or things different about you. Tell me, what's your secret for looking so good and I'll tell you mine."
"Since you asked so nicely I guess I can tell you. Michael and I broke up. All the
excess baggage must have been weighing me down. What you're seeing is the glow of a newly single woman, new highlights, and a shopping spree."
Now I know why she's over here flirting with me. "Sorry to hear, I thought you and Michael would be married by now."
"So did everyone else after five years. We ended up wanting different things in life but I'm fine and we're still friends." She takes a sip of her drink and cups the base of the wine glass with the stem between her right ring and middle fingers. "I told you my secret for looking good now you have to tell me yours."
"Coincidentally, it happens to be the same as yours. I recently got out of a relationship. It wasn't nearly as long as yours, but we wanted different things."
She smirks at me. "'We wanted different things?' I hope you let her down easy." She tilts her head smiling. Looking at her I realize I've never noticed how attractive she is.
"Why do you assume it was me who ended things?" She raises an eyebrow and puts one hand on her hip. We both laugh and I take a drink of the beer in my hand.
Two hours later when everyone is leaving she asks me if I want to come over to her house since it was still early and I've never been to her place before. When we get to her house she asks me if I want a beer and we talk for a little while and she shows me around her newly built two-bedroom condo. I've been in the building before, Chris also has an apartment there, but I've never seen Kate's. Kate's style is much different. Where Chris's is dark mahogany wood, marble counter tops, and wood floors, Kate's is more of a clean sophisticated look. Beige leather couches, round glass tables, sheer white curtains with tan carpets all through the apartment.
We decide to watch a movie before I leave. I let her choose and she chooses a romantic comedy, of course. She kicks off her shoes and tells me to do the same and I sit at the end of the couch with my hand on the arm with one leg strewed out in front of me. She sits so close to me with her legs underneath her that her knees are touching my thigh. Near the end of the movie a slow song starts playing and she puts her hand on my upper thigh. In a low voice she says,
"I love this song."
I stop looking at the movie and look at her. "Yeah." I don't know if it's because I had a little too much to drink, but she's looking really good about now.
She gets on her knees on the couch, unbuttons her shirt and straddles me then leans in and kisses me on the mouth. This is wrong. I didn't come here for this. I'm about to say it and she whispers in my ear,
"Nick, just for tonight, no strings attached. I want you, please just one night."
I look into her eyes and I can't reject her and at that moment I don't want to. She wants something and she needs it for only one night and I can understand that. No strings attached. Someone to fill the empty space for the person you really want.
I lie in Kate's bed that night and dream of Cat, I'm not sure why; probably guilt. She wouldn't approve of what happened but we've both moved on in our lives. In the dream she touches my face, I look up into her smiling face and she tells me she missed me. I tell her I missed her too, she parts her lips, I part mine and she kisses me before she turns away and vanishes right before my eyes. The next morning when I wake up, Kate is already dressed.
"Good morning," she says standing by the foot of the bed.
Rubbing the heel of my hands into my eyes I say, "Good morning."
"Can I get you a cup of coffee or anything?"
I shake my head. "No, thanks. I have to go."
I get up, swing my legs over the side of the bed to put my pants on. She puts her hand on my arm stopping me.
"I meant what I said last night, Nick, no strings."
I look at her and nod my head in agreement.
She smiles saying, "Thank you."
I understood, sometimes you need a warm body to fill the void. No apologies and no regrets but that's easier said than done, particularly in this case. "Can I use your bathroom before I leave?"
"Of course."
I walk past her into the bathroom, look in the mirror and splash water on my face. I hear the doorbell ring. I pick up the toothpaste and look in the medicine cabinet for an extra toothbrush. I know I probably shouldn't, but she probably went to get the door. She had a regular medicine cabinet with Advil, Midol, floss, face creams, and razors, normal stuff. The last thing you want to see in someone's medicine cabinet the morning after is medication for a serious medical problem like mental illness or an STD.
No spare toothbrush, I'm not using hers. Sure we had sex, but I can't use someone else's toothbrush, that's a little too up close and personal. I can work with floss, toothpaste, and mouthwash.
The last person I expect to see when I come out of the bathroom is Chris.
"Nick? What the hell are you doing here?"
Before I can talk Kate answers him.
"None of your business, we're both consenting adults. You don't need to try and protect me from anything. He didn't do anything I didn't want him to. He's your best friend and I'm not some random girl he picked up, he wasn't that guy last night."
"Lucky for him I know he wouldn't treat my sister like a drive by, we're going to talk later, Nick."
We did have that talk later, but I never defined to him or anyone else what was going on between Kate and me. After that night, as far as I was concerned, we were two people who on occasion would go out because neither one of us had or wanted a date to escort them to a function. We weren't going at it all the time like rabbits and we definitely were not in love with each other. It was more like a business arrangement between us, no sex involved.
Chapter Two
Cat
Where am I…yeah, I'm in my old bedroom trying to forget the nightmare that was last night. Along with the nightmare wedding dream I'm waking up from. Some homecoming surprise, my ass, more like a heart attack. I'm going to try and forget about last night. I'll deal with it later. One thing I can't forget about is that I'm really hungry. I totally lost my appetite last night after Kate's little announcement.
Let's see what I have to wear in my suitcases. I'm so glad I sent my things before I came home. I'm even happier that all three suitcases made it here and didn't get lost. That reminds me, I need to go shopping to replace most of the clothes I threw out since I got in shape and gained a few pounds. I'm much happier with my body now since I've started doing Pilates and lightweight lifting. I have abs and muscles that I never knew I had before. Standing in front of this mirror in my bra and panties makes me happy I didn't quit after my first two workouts that kicked my ass. I was sore for a week.
I'm going to stop the weights, I do not want to start looking like a man but I'm definitely going to stick with my Pilates workouts. I like the long, lean, toned look it gives my body especially my legs in three-inch heels, my butt looks great too if I do say so myself. I think I'll wear my dark blue jeans today with my pumpkin orange tank and the matching button-down cardigan. "What shoes am I going to wear?" My riding boots. Comfortable, but still sexy in my fitted two percent spandex jeans. Thank God for the person who decided to put spandex in jeans, best idea ever.
After I shower and brush my teeth, I put my clothes on and pull my hair back in a ponytail and leave soft tendrils out at the sides to frame my face. On my way out the door I decide to look in my jewelry box. The first thing that catches my eye is a solid gold panther pendant with aquamarine eyes covered in little diamonds. I lightly run my fingertips over it.
I remember this. It was a gift from Nick on my sixteenth birthday. I haven't worn it in years. When he gave it to me he said it reminded him of me. "A beautiful sleek cat, for a beautiful girl. Both can be very dangerous." He took me in front of the mirror by the hand, turned me around, standing directly behind me, and placed it around my neck. No one had ever given me anything so beautiful in my life. I was so overcome with emotions I almost cried. He placed his hands on my bare shoulders, looked into my eyes in the mirror, placed a kiss on the side of my face near my temple and in a low sultry voice said, "Happy birthday, k
it Cat."
It was kind of his way of apologizing for not spending as much time with me since he was in college and was spending a lot of his time with his new girlfriend, Lisa…whatever her name was, one of his many girlfriends. I pick up the snake chain and pendant and put it on along with my gold and silver Tiffany watch, give myself a once over and check my lip gloss, eye shadow and mascara—the little makeup I actually wear.
As I make my way down the stairs into the living room that leads to the dining room, the smell of eggs, bacon and coffee hits me in the face. I'm reminded of how hungry I am. I can't wait to get in there. But I slow down as I take in the scene in front of me. My parents, sister and brothers along with my niece are all sitting at the table talking and laughing at something Sasha is doing with her food. I really do love my family; this is one of the reasons I came home. I missed them. We're not perfect but this is as close to perfect as we're going to get.
"Good morning." My father gets up and gives me a hug.
"Morning, kit Cat, you must have been tired last night, you disappeared on us in the middle of the celebration."
I shrug my shoulder and hope I don't sound too sarcastic. "I'm sorry, but I was exhausted from the flight and all the surprises. I guess it was just too much excitement for me."
"It's okay, we understand."
No, you don't, if you only did. My dad sits back down at the head of the table. I take the empty seat next to Jay and my adorable little niece. She is too cute. I instantly smile and hold my hands out to her. She looks at me for a minute, smiles and climbs into my arms. "Hey, cutie." I give her a kiss on the cheek, place her on my lap and put my hands around her waist. "You probably don't remember me but I'm your Aunt Catherine, but everyone calls me Cat." I press my cheek up against hers. "You're getting so big! The last time I saw you, you couldn't even talk, now look at you."
Sasha looks up at me with her big bright brown eyes and holds up three fingers with her chubby little hand, with the cutest little voice sounding extremely proud of herself, she says, "I'm three years old, I'm a big girl."
Imperfections Page 2