The First Year

Who Needs Enemies

George sipped his coffee and glanced at Katie. The Sunday afternoon meeting she had had with Angelina before she had moved to Toronto had picked up with him in Angelina's place. He found he rather enjoyed slipping out after lunch and spending a quiet hour with Katie. 'So, how's it going with Summerby?' he asked, wincing internally.

'It's fine,' she said, shrugging.

'Does he have to stay the night so much?' George asked, a pained expression on his face.

'He stays over once or twice a week,' Katie said pointedly. 'Why does it matter to you?'

George squirmed uncomfortably. 'It doesn't,' he mumbled. 'I just don't want people to think you're...' He scratched his nose in an attempt to cover his embarrassment.

'A what?' Katie asked in amusement.

'Nothing.'

'A whore?' Katie guessed. 'Woman of loose morals?' She waved a hand in the air. 'Pfft. I'm well over age and if someone doesn't like the fact I'm having sex, then it's their problem, not mine.' She stirred milk into her coffee and glanced at George. 'Is that what you think?'

George twitched and ducked his head. 'No,' he admitted.

Katie gave George a shrewd look. 'Have you ever...?' George blushed and mutely shook his head. 'Really?' she asked in surprise.

George grimaced and pushed his coffee away. 'I saw what Fred had with Ang,' he explained. 'Kind of a hard act to follow. And I'm not interested in a shag and run type thing.' He suddenly chuckled. 'Want to hear something pathetic?'

'Sure.'

'Ron – my baby brother – Ickle Ronnikins – has been shagging his girlfriend since July.' At Katie's raised inquiring eyebrow, George elaborated, 'They came in one afternoon right before dinner, and both of them had that "I've been shagging my brains out" smirk Fred used to have...' He coughed lightly. 'And when she came over last month, she stayed the night with us. I saw Ron's room the next morning. They obviously made a night of it...' He sighed and picked up his coffee. 'And here I am. I haven't even kissed a girl since I tried to hit on Verity before we closed the shop,' he mused. 'That was total disaster,' he sighed mournfully.

Katie tapped her fingertips on the surface of the table. 'You know,' she said thoughtfully, 'there's a girl at the magazine...'

'No,' George said firmly. 'No set ups.' He swallowed nearly half the scalding liquid in his cup. 'I can find my own bird, thank you.'

'Not if you keep referring to us as birds,' Katie retorted.

'Yeah, well...' George rubbed the back of his head and leaned back in his chair. 'I'm not really interested in doing the dating thing right now...' He glanced at Katie. 'So what does Summerby think of all this?' he asked gesturing between the two of them.

Katie's cheeks burned dully and she set her cup on the table firmly. 'It's kind of a sore point,' she allowed. 'We don't talk about it. I think he's jealous of you.'

George snorted. 'Of me? Why?'

'I have no idea,' Katie sighed. 'I can go and have a drink with a group of friends from work, and that's not a problem. It's kind of odd, because there're plenty of blokes in that group.'

'Could be because you're meeting with me one-on-one, and not with other people,' George pointed out.

'Not like I haven't thought of that,' Katie sighed. 'I've even told him he could come with me here, but I think he likes to play the wounded party.'

George refrained from commenting on Summerby's maturity level. He didn't think it would help, and it was apparent Katie already felt badly about it. 'So heard from Ang lately?' he asked, changing the subject.