The building was dark and cold, located in a dodgy area of the city. He looked around, only to find that no one seemed to be there. He shrugged, he wasn't scared at all, he had been there before. Brian took a deep breath as he found himself in front of Catherine's apartment door, the place where she'd go whenever she felt down and didn't want her children to see her crying. He knew she was there, her car was parked outside, but he stopped to wonder if seeing her again would be the right thing. What would he gain from this encounter? Absolutely nothing, but he felt the urge to talk to her, especially when they both had stopped talking in such strange circumstances.
Brian knocked on the door, and waited for Catherine to answer. She opened it almost immediately, furrowing her eyebrows as soon as she saw him.
"What — what are you doing here?", she questioned, sounding as confused as she could.
"I can leave if you don't want me to be here", he answered, putting his hands inside his jacket pockets and directing his gaze towards the pavement.
"That's not what I asked", Catherine uttered in a low voice, crossing her arms by her chest. "Come in".
Brian entered the small flat, sitting on a small stool next to a window. The room was dark save for a small night light illuminating it, making Brian come to the conclusion Kate was probably planning on spending the night there.
"Are you planning on sleeping here?", he asked as he closed the door. "I can see that you've brought some food".
"No, this area is too dangerous", she responded as she sat in front of him, her emerald green eyes dilating at the lack of clear lighting. "I suppose you're here to talk about something".
Brian sniggered, shaking his head in denial.
"I understand why you'd think I'm here to talk about something important but I really don't have anything to say", he stated, chuckling at his unexpected response. "I just.. wanted to say hello".
"Just tell me whatever you want to tell me, Brian", she insisted, making fierce eye contact with him. "Why would a man with a baby daughter and a stable partner drive all the way here just to tell me nothing? You've been out of the radar for such a long time. I thought your job as an astrophysicist caused you to get lost into the freaking void and disappear the way you did".
Brian laughed at Catherine's witticism.
"I'm not lying, I really don't have anything to say", he uttered. "I took a chance and decided to see if you were here. I wanted to check up on you because you're going through a divorce. That's all".
Kate gulped, lowering her eyes.
"Thank you, I guess".
"How do you feel about it?", Brian asked, folding his hands together. Her answer was most likely to be a predictable one, but he still wanted her to talk about her feelings with him.
"You know I've been fearing this for a really long time", she confessed, avoiding to look at him again. "When you don't want something to happen you spend so much effort trying to avoid it, so when it finally happens.. You don't have any more energy to invest on it. I'm numb right now, really. I'm sad Roger filed for divorce, but at the same time I don't care anymore because I know there's nothing I can do to change his mind. It's over. We're a lost cause".
Brian narrowed his eyes, surprised by Catherine's indifferent statement. She used to talk about her divorce with such immense fear and rage, and now she just boringly chuntered about it, as if it had never signified a problem to her. Brian stood silent for a moment, licking his lips to renew their moisture, not knowing what to say.
"How did he bring it up?".
"That piece of crap never brought it up, never", Catherine jeered. "I got served with the divorce papers a few days ago. He does not talk to me. I don't even know — I don't even know how the hell we're going to ever finalize this divorce. I have no idea what's going inside his mind".
"I'm sorry, a divorce is a divorce no matter what. I can only hope for the best outcome not only for you but for your children as well".
"Thank you", she said as she looked at the curly-haired man again. "You know, I think that I need to give this flat a makeover so I can stay here longer. I don't want to, but now that I think about it, it will be the only place where I'll be out of the paparazzis' lenses. I know the scrunity will be heavy".
"I don't think you should be worried about that. You have been in the public eye for years. You should know how to deal with them by now. It's nothing new to you".
"Well, you might be right", Catherine responded as she leaned against the wall. "But I'd do anything to keep them out of my way, just remember when I came up with the story that the woman you were kissing wasn't me, back when those candid pictures of us in the car park were released".
"Needless to say, no one believed it".
Kate looked at him with a surprised expression on her face, her lips slightly parted as if she felt attacked by his words. However, she decided not to let her annoyance be shown.
"Well, I have learnt that no matter how bad your lies are, there will always be someone who is willing to believe your rubbish".
Brian chuckled, taking a deep heavy breath caused by her cynical attitude.
"And well, Brian, it's been a year since we had our last one-on-one conversation. I guess a lot has happened since then", Catherine stated as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "And I'm not wrong. You have a daughter now. You went back to your old girlfriend. Does it suck to know that a baby brought you back to the person that's hurt you a thousand times?".
Brian raised his eyebrow slightly, gawking at Catherine in pure disbelief that she had actually decided to start criticising his weak emotional life when he was just there to help her. But it was Catherine Taylor, he knew very well who she was and what she was capable of doing — there was nothing to be offended about, this was her signature behavior.
"Beatrice and I have had our fair share of rocky stages in our relationship but getting back together was never something that never truly bothered me. She's given me a gorgeous and healthy baby daughter. She will hopefully grow up having her parents together and that's what I care about".
"I think it's great that you care about your daughter's emotional development, but the question I'm asking is that if you are happy with the fact that you rekindled your romance with her only because she was pregnant".
"Yes, I mean, at the end of the day I see that she has not really changed some of the things that I don't like about her", he stated, internally referring to their argument earlier that day. "And I don't do friends with benefits. If she got pregnant with my child it's because I love her. It's not like I've known her for months, I've known her for years".
"Ouch, that hurt", she pouted. "Was that a reference to your best friend Belle?".
"No", he nervously laughed. "I'll admit I never expected Belle to get pregnant at 22, but look at her now, she's married and living a healthy pregnancy. She says that she is not afraid of becoming a mother anymore. She's living the best life under her circumstances".
"Of course she's gonna say that", Kate retorted. "She's not under the same circumstances as other women around her age who are pregnant too. First of all, I know you would rather not think about the business end of your fantastic best friend, but that baby will make her richer once she divorces Rami. Number two, she should be thankful that her child will never live a day in the broke real world".
"Well, that's true. The real world is too stressful".
"What do you know about it? You've lived in a somewhat privileged position for most of your life".
"Not anymore. My parents dislike me now".
"You shouldn't have a problem with that. You're not under their obligation anymore".
"I know, and that's why I've never complained about it. I know I can support my girlfriend and my daughter myself and that somehow makes me feel better".
"Your girlfriend?", she said. "I keep forgetting you aren't married to her. I don't mean to be nosy, but why haven't you proposed to her?".
Brian sighed, hoping his answer wouldn't be too disappointing, not for Catherine, but for Beatrice. She had kept bringing up the subject of marriage for a while now, and Brian kept dismissing it, using money and time as his excuses And they were partially true — but there was another reason, and Brian confessed it to Kate.
"I don't really believe in marriage", he stated, raising a hand to brush a few curls out of his eyes. "I don't think a piece of paper is necessary to prove you love someone. I'm happy with the way things are working right now. You know, we are together, but at the same time I like to live with the idea that I could break free anytime I'd like. Why would I want to change that?".
"I'm sorry for what I'm about to say, but I believe you haven't met the right woman yet", she confessed, showing no discomfort. "When you're with the right person, you don't feel any of that. You suddenly believe in marriage. You don't even think you will ever break up with them, even if you have already done it".
"Well, that's clearly no true. Because if you can only marry the right person, you obviously wouldn't be divorcing Roger now".
Catherine flushed with anger, gaping at him in exasperation. In an ideal world, she would have yelled at him while she rudely asked him to get out of her flat. But that wasn't going to happen, because she liked the way Brian had reacted.
Kate rose to her feet, walking a few steps as the hardwood floor made cracking sounds. She stopped as soon as she got to be in front of Brian, leering at him. Brian still wasn't sure what her intentions were, so he decided not to react, looking up to her lascivious gesture in silence.
"I liked that", she murmured.
Catherine suddenly brought her leg around Brian, sitting on his lap, planting a kiss on his lips and neck. Brian's eyes moved so fast to the point where they might have given her whiplash just from looking at them. He was confused, his mind debating on pushing her off or taking hold of her hips and guiding them down to his. He chose the former. What was she doing? He had visited her to comfort her, not to make out with her.
"This is wrong", Brian said as he grabbed Kate by her shoulders and carefully pulled her aside. "Kate, I didn't come here to do this".
"You're just so annoying", she rolled her eyes. "If you weren't cute I would have already added you to my imaginary black book, with your name written in red next to Daisy's".
Brian frowned as he fixed his shirt's collar.
"What has Daisy even done to you?".
"I'm surprised your best friend hasn't told you", she said while sounding irritated. "But she told Roger some things she shouldn't have. I'm planning on getting my revenge".
Brian grimaced, confused about whatever she was planning on doing. Belle had indeed told him about Daisy doing a kiss-and-tell on Catherine, but he had thought it was merely an excuse Roger had created to get back with Belle.
"I don't understand what's going on".
"You don't have to", Kate said as she glowered at him, looking at Brian up and down. "You can leave now".