Otherworld: A Son of Two Realms

Chapter 36: "Saying Goodbye"

The following day was a blur. An army of cleaning staff descended upon the north wing, scrubbing, sweeping, vacuuming, and dusting until it regained some semblance of its former majesty. A garden's worth of flowers was delivered to the front hall, a squadron of red-jacketed valets assembled at the front drive, a string quartet began playing respectful hymns in the atrium.

There was a knock on his bedroom door and Kate entered, dressed in a somber black dress which only made her red hair stand out more. "Harriet sent me to get you."

"Why did she schedule the service for eleven in the morning?" Jack said, watching the bustle of activity through his curtains. "It only takes me an hour to get shower and put on a suit, which leaves approximately three hours to sit on my hands and think about how much I'm dreading this day."

"I've never been to a funeral like this one," Kate said, walking over to look out the window. "But normally people like to eat afterwards. Something about grief makes people hungry for casserole."

She leaned in front of him to get a better look and Jack was struck by her sudden closeness. With so much happened with Rufus and Harriet and the memorial service, they hadn't even had a chance to be alone together. A few days ago, he had been certain he'd never see her or kiss her again and now she was only inches away.

"Is that Styles Adler?" Kate gasped, her face practically pressed to the glass.

Jack saw the middle-aged movie star tossing his keys to the valet. "That's good Kate, if anyone won't leave us alone at the reception, just do that."

Kate gently ribbed him. "Harriet mentioned guests would be arriving soon. That's why she sent me here in the first place. Now we better get you to the front hall before she notices I've been gone for more than five minutes."

"You work for Harriet now?"

"There's something about her that makes it impossible to say no," Kate said, turning to inspect him.

"She has that effect on people."

Kate tapped a finger on her lip, scanning him up and down. "You forgot something."

Jack looked down but didn't see anything out of place. Black slacks, white shirt, black tie, black suit...

"Cuff links!" Kate said, snapping her fingers. She spied them on his dresser and motioned for Jack to hold out his arms. "I'll never understand men's fashion. Why do they even call them cuff links, anyway?"

As Kate clasped the cuff links around his wrists, Jack had a sudden flashback to a soldier grabbing his arms and locking them in iron chainlink cuffs. "No idea."

She seemed to hear it in his voice. "I hate asking people who've experienced a recent tragedy if they're okay but...are you okay?"

Closing his eyes, Jack banished the memories of Guildron from his mind and, almost instinctively, found another explanation. "I don't know how to feel right now."

Furrowing her brow, Kate finished attaching the cufflinks and simply held his hand. "There's no right or wrong way to feel."

"But I'm supposed to be sad." Jack nodded out the window. "They're expecting me to be sad."

"Don't care about them. Everyone takes grief differently. It might not hit you for a while and that's okay. When we walk into that ballroom, block out everything and everyone else. Don't think about who's there or how they want you to act. Just be there."

Jack nodded. "Thanks again. I don't know how I could have done this without you."

Kate kissed him on the cheek and pulled him close.