Aimlessly, Kate stared at her ceiling as the night wore on. Claiming a massive headache, she told her mom she was going to crash early. Holding her phone in her hand, she peeked again at the text that had come about an hour ago.
It was from Jared and it simply said, I'm sorry.
Debating whether to reply, she was trying to piece together what to say. A part of her craved to call her mother in and tell her she must make Jared promise to never call or text her again. However, the insight from earlier plagued her and she knew she was done with hiding from confrontation.
He picked up on the second ring. Without a hello, he launched into an apology. "Kate, I can't tell you how sorry I am about the story. Your mother said reporters were hounding you two all day."
"Was it Nikki?"
"Yes," he replied and swallowed hard. "How did you know?"
"Lucky guess," she said dryly. She was glad to have a definite confirmation—she now could begin working on her voodoo doll. "It's not your fault this happened. I just wanted to call and explain that this doesn't change anything. I'm still trying to see into Cori's head and I'll pass any info along to you."
"Well... I'm grateful for that," he said awkwardly. "Kate, about the other night..."
"Oh no, we're definitely not going there. I've had a traumatic enough day to not rehash that particular humiliating debacle. Listen, we're good, no hard feelings. I'll call you, Detective Corbett, if I see another vision of Cori." She hoped her formalizing his name conveyed her need to keep things professional.
She had never heard him sound so off kilter. "I feel horrible about the news story and everything else..."
"Really, don't worry, it will work out. To be honest, I'm getting to the point where I no longer give a rat's ass who knows I'm psychic. Talk to you later," she said and abruptly ended the call. She was thinking maybe that would be her new calling card: hang up mid-conversation before anyone had a chance to say anything she didn't want to hear.
***
Julie gave her the silent treatment until Wednesday. It had been Kate's prerogative to stay home for a few days to avoid any reporters. When she requested a week's vacation from her job and they didn't argue, she figured they were probably relieved she wouldn't be there causing a stir among the patients. Reporters had come to the house regularly until Tuesday. Tragically, that night on the other side of town, an abused wife had killed her husband after one too many beatings. Kate was horrified that this was what it took for the media to back off. Her mother had changed the number of their house line and her cell phone was never compromised. Not that it mattered since it remained silent without calls from her father, Julie or Jared.
She was having trouble sleeping. As days passed without any visions of Cori, Kate prayed she hadn't been hurt. In the meantime, the only vision she had was lifted from her father's memories. It was a recollection he had of Kate as a preschooler. She was trying to show off for her parents and slid down the railing of their stairs. They weren't impressed and she landed herself in the emergency room with a deep cut on her knee. Two needles and five stitches later, she was allowed to leave. Her father had taken her to the toy store immediately and allowed her to pick out any toy she desired. A huge dollhouse was brought home for her that day and it was still stored in their attic after all these years. The stitches were long forgotten by the time he took her and her mother out for ice cream.
It was obvious Kate was on his mind and she had a good feeling their relationship could be mended. He needed to accept her for who she was and she had to forgive him for his shortcomings. It sucked her parents were getting a divorce, but it wasn't the end of the world. She could still have a healthy relationship with both of them. Getting along with her father didn't have to be a betrayal of her mother. If anything, her mom encouraged her to work things out with him. She wasn't a young child pitted against parents in the midst of a nasty custody battle. Labor Day was in two weeks and she planned to see if her father would be interested in maybe planning a mini-getaway.
When someone came to the door around lunchtime on Wednesday, she was starved for human interaction. She was almost ready to do a tell-all with a reporter in order to talk to someone besides her mother. She almost burst into song at the sight of Julie through the peephole. She didn't allow her to speak and instead forced her into an embrace.
"Whoa there, chica. I'm still with Gage. He hasn't yet pushed me to play for the other team," she chided.
Kate gave her an unabashed grin and pulled away. "You don't know how good it is to see you. I don't remember the last time we went more than twenty-four hours without speaking. Can you stay and hang out?"
"I suppose I can come in for a bit. I came here to grant you an audience in order to beg for my forgiveness," Julie replied haughtily.
Kate led her into the kitchen before saying, "I'm ready to grovel, whatever you want. I went to call you like a zillion times, but I knew the mature thing would be to give you time." Motioning to the cold cuts on the counter, she asked, "Do you want some lunch? I was making a sandwich, if you want one. Anything to drink?"
Julie requested an iced tea and whatever kind of sandwich she was having. Kate assembled a couple of turkey sandwiches on wheat and brought the plates over to the kitchen table.
Julie took the seat across from her. "As much as I loathe admitting it, I've hated not talking to you. No one is a better sounding board for my numerous complaints about Gage."
"I always told you, you could do better..." Kate said while taking a bite out of her sandwich.
"Do you know that for sure? Do you know if I'm going to end up getting married to Gage?" Julie questioned her with a wide-eyed look.
Kate almost spit out her sandwich. After a slight coughing fit, she regained her composure and was able to swallow. "Oh Julie, it doesn't work like that. I don't see the future, only the past."
"Damn, you know how awesome it would be to have a friend who could know the outcome of everything and steer you clear of every bad decision? Oh well, guess I'll just have to settle for you," Julie said with a smile.
"We're ok, then? You forgive me?"
"You know I'm terrible at holding grudges. I tried to figure out why you didn't tell anyone and I think I understand a little better. Half the people don't believe you and the other half likely want something from you."
Kate nodded. Julie was typically easily dismissed because she was obsessed with shopping and had a reputation for being the life of the party. However, she had a cunning insight that never failed to surprise Kate.
"I wish I hadn't kept the psychic thing from you or my mom. It was even harder because I don't control what I see. A few of my visions involved my parents fighting about me. They were terrified over the possibility I woke up from the coma with this strange gift. I thought at the time it would be best to pretend it only happened the one time in the hospital," Kate said, keeping her hazel eyes lowered.
"Have you ever seen me?" Julie didn't sound freaked, merely curious.
"Yes, a couple of times. One of the visions was when you first met Gage at a frat party and he tried to impress you with his dynamo beer pong skills. Another involved a time when you snuck around the back of the middle school and had your first kiss with Jeff Daniels."
Julie clapped her hands together and laughed. "That's super cool."
"It's not going to change anything? Mess up our friendship?" she asked warily.
"No way! It only means you know me better than anyone else and we're extra special best friends." Kate felt some of the stress she'd been experiencing leave her body after receiving these assurances from Julie. Julie chewed on her thumbnail thoughtfully. "Anyway, what's going on with the whole Preston thing? How did you end up working on that?"
"Remember the mystery guy on the doorstep? He came here asking for my help," she explained. Bringing up Jared was grueling, especially since she hadn't heard from him. Her mother had a brief message from him yesterday explaining no new developments were made on Cori's case.
"The cop?"
"Yeah, he's a detective and the girl missing is his girlfriend's sister. He heard the story about Matt and I guess figured he'd see if I could help."
"No luck though?"
"I was able to create a sketch of the car and what the kidnapper looked like. They still haven't found anything yet though. It's very frustrating to not simply reach into the guy's brain and pull out an address." She gave her friend a forlorn expression. "I feel like I'm letting everyone down—Cori, her family, Jared..."
"Jared?"
"Yes, the detective." Kate gave her an uncertain look and decided she better hold up her end of the bargain and divulge everything to Julie. "I kind of had a thing for him."
"I knew it! As soon as you saw him, I could tell you were madly in love. What happened?" Julie leaned forward expectantly.
"We hung out a lot—working on the case and stuff. He was the one I called for a ride home the night we went out to the bar. Although he has a girlfriend, it didn't stop drunken Kate from trying to seduce him."
"You slut!" Julie cackled.
Kate placed her head down on the kitchen table. "Ugh, don't rub it in. I'm embarrassed enough. Clearly, he decided to pass on the make-out session. Guess drunk and desperate girls aren't his bag." She took another bite of her sandwich before continuing. "Anyway, I ended up in hysterics and have kept my distance ever since."
"Aww Kate, that's shitty. Sorry it didn't work out. His loss," Julie told her loyally.
"Thanks, Julie, it's amazing to finally be able to have someone to confide in." They finished up their meals and Kate began clearing their plates.
"Any plans to leave the house this decade?"
"Yes, not by choice though. My cousin's wedding is this weekend. My mother told me in no uncertain terms I am to put on a dress, lipstick and my best smile and forget about everything shitty about my life right now."
"It could end up being fun! Have a few drinks, catch the bouquet, do some dirty dancing with dudes from the groom's side," Julie suggested.
"Maybe," she hedged, and twirled a strand of her light brown hair in her fingers. Weddings could be entertaining and maybe her family would even pretend to have amnesia for the night and not bring up her latest scandal. It could also be amusing to do a baby-bump check on her cousin and guess how far along she could possibly be.
"To further cement our friendship, I'll let you borrow the Jimmy Choos for longer."
"Ah, now I know the real reason you came over here. You weren't worried about our friendship, you just wanted to make sure your shoes were ok," Kate joked. "Thanks for everything, Julie."
"No need to thank me. If you want to return the favor, feel free to share any visions you have of Gage. I have a sneaking suspicion something happened between him and the redhead who was staying next door to him in the Hamptons last summer." Julie gave her a long hug and Kate had the urge to cry. It was such a relief to know being honest and revealing her true self didn't mean she was going to lose her best friend.