"It's been a month and the both of you have not caved in yet?" Jon nearly spat his coffee.
"Hold up hold up, don't start without us." Claire sat down with her mug.
"It's been a while since all of us sat together. Either one of us is missing. Always incomplete. Feels really good to be here." Bree smiled.
"Yea, it does." Kat looked at her friends. All of them looked more seasoned now. Having gone through a lot within the past month.
The girl's restaurants and bakery was still the place to go to. They had just finished wrapping up their tv show for the Food Network.
"Now that we don't have to tape the shows anymore, we would travel less." Bree fisted her hands in the air.
"I'll have my whores right with me again. Thank God for that! It sucks just hanging with the people from office. They don't wanna go out for drinks with me." he rolled his eyes.
"We could so get into the hottest places now. After we did that tv show... people notice us more. Not to mention now that Kat is Miss Popular because of Talen." Claire giggled.
"Don't even get me started on the paparazzi you guys. You girls know how bad the situation was. There would be cameras following me EVERYWHERE! Talen gets so frustrated about it. His anxiety is already through the roof and this triggers it even more." Kat sipped her frothy cappuccino.
"Finally opening up about that topic to us. Go on if you're ready to talk more." Claire said calmly.
The gang knew about Talen's problem, but Kat never told anything more than that. She didn't reveal how the progress was going.
How truly difficult it was to get Talen back to having a good night's sleep. Even if it was just for an hour.
"Well... we've been fighting. Quite a bit. Screw that, we fight almost every other day. Mainly because he won't let me help him. He won't let me stay over even if it's just so that I can be in the next room to him." Kat tried to be strong in front of her friends.
Even though she didn't cry, her friends knew better. They saw right through her.
"I'm gonna kick his ass." Jon scrunched his eyebrows together.
"Wait, so are things rocky for you guys?" Claire asked shocked.
"It's complicated-- When we I dont bring up the situation of me not staying over, we are good. But when I do suggest I should stay the night, he gets upset. The tension rises. He doesn't shout at me and obviously doesn't hit me, but he gets really tensed. Then that results in ME yelling and storming out." Kat huffed.
"Ok, so he just doesn't appreciate that you're trying to help him." Claire stared back at Kat with clear disapproval on her face.
"He does let me help out. I help him with the activities that the shrink has given for him to practice what should actually happen in the night terrors that he has. He just doesn't let me stay over."
"So, he just doesn't want the temptation of you being around. Trust me, of course he would love to have sex with you. But Talen is the kinda guy who uses his head when coming to sensible things like this. He's just making sure that you don't get hurt. Imagine how he would feel if he actually did hurt you when experiencing one of those episodes." Bree rationalized, subsiding the anger and despair in Kat.
"Yea, I know I know. I just need him to know, he doesn't have to be alone. I could always lock the door--"
"Just stop it you sex starved girl!!" Jon pushed her gently.
"We have not kissed." Kat said frustrated, earning stares of disbelief this time from everyone at the table.
"Jesus, no wonder you're miserable." Bree said just before sipping her hot chocolate.
"You need to do what I told you to do." Jon said chiding.
"And what would that be?" Claire looked interested.
"I told her to flaunt what she's got and make the poor boy come to his senses." Jon said proudly.
"I know I'm usually the voice of reason, but I'm going to have to agree with Jon on this one. A little seducing won't hurt anyone." Bree winked, Claire said the same thing.
"Fine. At least I'll try to do that." Kat agreed reluctantly.
Kat had bought a new place in New York, seeing that she felt it would be weird for her to live in the same building as her nana.
She really wanted to learn to be independent. Sometimes, she found herself wanting to just pick up the phone and call Rosa to sort out her cluttered life. So now she lived about a half hour from the city in an older styled building that resembled architecture in Paris. There was wrought iron blaconies and the building had wild moss covering the sides. Half of the third floor was hers, so it was like a luxurious condo. Instead of the usual black and white modern styling she was accustomed to, she now had warm colors of brown and nude everywhere.
Her floors were hardwood and Persian rugs were seen in small sections of the room. The other reason why she moved out here was to severely annoy Talen. He hated that she had to drive back home alone some late nights.
Looking through her old school binder, she realized she did have a dinner scheduled with some people from the Food Network. Instead of calling and letting Talen know that she wouldn't be going over to see him, she sent him a text instead.
Stripping out of her clothes, she walked into what she considered to be a modest sized bathroom. It wasn't as big as her older place or like her condo in LA. Eventually when she did decided to come out from the tub after soaking herself in vanilla scented soap, she wandered into her walk in closet. The only other thing that she wanted to be huge.
"You could have called me you know." a deep voice said, making her scream.
"For fuck's sake Talen! You gave me a fucking heart attack." she shouted.
Talen stared at Kat's perfectly lean form which was wrapped in a fluffy dark green towel around her torso. Her skin had a slight red glow from the heat of the water and her hair fell in front of her eyes in tendrils. In other words, she looked good enough to eat.
"Well, I called you an hour ago, and you didn't pick up so I just came over. You didn't say why you weren't coming."
Kat ignored his burning gaze that seared across her skin and grabbed her bras and undies. For the fun of it, she chose a sexy deep blue lace bra and matching bottoms.
"Where do you think you're going with such sexy underwear?" Talen exclaimed.
"These are my usual underwear Talen. Or have you forgotten?" Kat rolled her eyes, pleased with his reaction. She moved in what she hoped was a graceful manor and stood in front of her dress section. She chose a playsuit that encased her tall figure perfectly. It was slightly sheer in the front, but seeing that it was black in color, she didn't mind.
"Are you just going to ignore me and not tell me where you're going?" Talen was shocked at how Kat was acting.
"I have a business dinner. With some people at the Food Network." she responded non-chalantly.
"How are you going?" he stared at her while she put on big gold chunky ear rings.
"I'll drive myself, because I am capable of doing so." she grabbed her new shade of magenta colored lipstick and formed an 'O' shape with her lips and began applying it.
"No way, no how. You're not driving. What if you decide to have a couple of drinks?" his voice got deeper, his anger building up.
"Fine, MOM.. I'll just get them to send a car over. I'm sure Michael won't have a problem doing that for me." she didn't look at him, but instead at the rows of Louboutins and Blahniks that adorned her shoe wall.
"Michael??" Talen's blood pressure was off the roof now. "Who the hell is Michael?" he still controlled it.
"Michael is the manager of the show baby. You don't listen to anything I say, do you?" Katerina knew that his brilliant green eyes were now a mucky green that resembled a dirty pond. She averted her gaze to her phone and sent a text to Michael. Her 65 year old manager, who was happily married to his wife. Something Talen had no clue about.
Putting on her spiked Louboutins, she finally looked at the irritated man she called her boyfriend. His hair was a ruffled mess-- the kind that she loved the most. "My ride is going to be here soon. Will you lock up after me, or do you want to leave now?" just as she was about to grab her Bottega knot clutch, Talen gripped her wrist and yanked her onto his lap.
"You're not looking at me, and you're avoiding me all together. What's going on." he gently turned her head to face him.
Keep it together, keep it together. Katerina reminded herself.
"I just realized that I have not gone out, had a fancy meal and looked pretty in a while. You're ruining this for me." she said in her bitch tone.
"I can see right through your fake bitchy voice Katerina. You're dumping me aren't you?" he stared at her.
Kat had not expected that reaction. She moved in closer and bit his ear gently. "Oh honey, I'm not going to dump you. Just going to show you what you're missing out on."
Standing up, she continued to get ready while he stared at her in wonder. The searing jealousy in him wouldn't go away.
"So you're not coming over tonight?" He said quietly, hating that she was about to go out and have fun.
"I thought I answered you already. Can you not see how I'm dressed?" Kat said bored.
He knew better than to stop her. Katerina really did deserve to go out and have some fun. Thinking about all the men who would have the pleasure of looking at her dressed up like that further infuriated him. Men in this city wouldn't back down even if a girl was taken.
"Baby let me come with you." He pleaded.
"Taken you've got to be kidding me. You're not dressed for a night out. If you want to stay here then do so. I'll take your house keys and stay there instead." She knew her plan was working. He was slowly but surely breaking.
"I don't want men hitting on you. You look good enough to eat right now. It's bad enough you look like that all the time, but right now..." he unconsciously licked his lip.
"You don't see me complaining about your redhead secretary do you?" Kat raised her thick but yet perfectly shaped eyebrow.
"Whoa whoa whoa, what about my shrink. That's all she ever is." Talen was alert now. He didn't realize that Kat was jealous.
"She's got all the right curves in all the right places, and I'm like a light pole."
"Are we really going through this bullshit again? I told you, I don't care for her. You're all I want." he said exasperated.
"Sure don't seem like it." Kat said smugly.
That's when Tristan stood up and stood right behind her and turned her around to face him. In her heels, they were eyes to eye. "What I would give, to have your long legs wrapped around me... your lips all over my body and mine all over yours." his raspy voice made her shiver.
Kat didn't want to be the one who caved in first, so she pretended like what he said had not affected her.
"Yea, I'm sure buster. Do you want to stay here or not? My ride just pulled up." she made sure she had all her essentials in her little clutch.
"Come over to my house after. You can sleep in my room. I'll take the one in the basement." Talen sighed.
He knew he broke his own rule of not wanting her to stay the night. But he wouldn't want a stranger dropping her all the way back out of the city.
Doing the victory dance in her mind, she kissed his cheek and did what she thought was a sexy sashay to the front door.
The soldier in him had to constantly reign him back from doing anything stupid. Talen considered his word to be gold. As he walked out onto the pavement, he watched the stretched limo drive her away into the city.
His house was different tonight, without the sound of Kat's voice bossing him around to practice his therapy learnings. His basement was his little playground. The usual manly man cave every man dreamt of.
Moments after he had finally settled on the couch with some popcorn, his house phone rang. Only one person ever called him on that line. His mother.
Unlike Katerina, his relationship with his parents were fine. They had supported him in everything he did, and they talked occasionally.
"Hiya ma. It's been a while." he prepared himself for a long lecture about how family should always be a priority and that it was a while since he's talked to her.
"You know what? I'm not going to bother lecturing you with all the usual things I say. I know you've been busy with everything. Katerina has been such a good girlfriend to you." she said stunning him.
He didn't think that anyone else knew that he was suffering form severe PTSD. "How much do you know exactly?" he said filled with regret.
"Honey, she told me everything. You know, I understand you didn't want me to worry about you, but it's always better to share. Most girls won't do what she does for you, you know? Where is she tonight? She usually calls me after she's done with you."
Talen felt the guilt build through him as he explained what happened to his mother. It never really hit him, that other than the shrink he was going to, Kat was the only other person helping him deal with it. Everything he whined about like a baby, she carried on her shoulder.
No wonder she didn't want him following her out tonight.
"You take care of her now Talen. She's been through enough that girl. Your father and I raised you to be a good man. At least we hope we did that right." she sighed.
"Yes mom.." they talked a while longer and when he hung up, he heard the main door shut. The clock on the wall showed it was only half past ten. Most people would still be out, not her. The click of her high heels verberated through the hardwood floor.
Knowing that she was headed for the kitchen, he lightly treaded up the stairs and leaned against the door frame. She was reaching for what seemed to be chips in one of the cupboards, and then for a cup. Usually people would have to tip toe to reach stuff in his house. But Kat did it with ease, because of her height.
She filled the glass cup with water and leaned a hip against the counter, staring out into his back yard. Talen creeped behind her carefully and quietly as he could and wrapped his arms around her slender waist and kissed her bare shoulder.
"I knew you were there." Kat said calmly, not turning around but still enjoying his warmth.
"Have I told you that I loved you today?" he whispered and leaned his head against hers.
"Mmm it's been a while since you did." she joked.
"I really do. I really do love you. I've been such a prick." he sighed.
"Glad you realised it babe." Kat laughed and washed her cup, shrugging off his attempts in trying to reconcile with her.
"Wait, why are you mad at me?" he picks up on her vibe.
"Who me?" she acts like she isn't.
"Is there anyone else in here?" Talen rolls his eyes.
"I'm not. Listen, I'm gonna get to bed. I've got to be up and about early tomorrow. Stock checks and baking. I'll be gone as early as 4 in the morning. I won't make too much noise when I leave." she turned around and walked up the steps and into his room, not caring for his shocked expression.
She didn't know what had come over her. Dinner was bad without him. She missed hanging out with him, and missed just being normal. She always felt like she was tip toeing around him, hoping he didn't have an episode.
Kat was facing the terms that she was near her breaking point. Her love for Talen was still there, but she was struggling with the fact that there wasn't much intimacy between them, and he was keeping her at arms length.
Pulling a large t-shirt from his drawer, she stripped out of her clothes and put it on and turned around to find him watching her. The look on his face said it all. They were about to have a fight... that probably wasn't going to end well, and with her leaving.
Bracing herself, she asked "What is it?" calmly as she could.
"I'm trying my best to get better." he said.
"Are you really? Are you Talen? You barely let me help you. I practically have to come baby sit you at night so that you do what the shrink tells you to." Kat snapped and realised she shouldn't have said that.
"I'm sorry you think you have to baby sit me. But I told you, I'm fine on my own. I don't need anyone's help!"
"You don't? Fine, be stubborn. I don't see what the point is if I come over everytime since you don't need it. Actually, am I your girlfriend or what? Feels like I'm your helper or something." Kat grabbed her clutch and walked rushed past him, still in his t-shirt only.
"Where do you think you're going?" he trailed her.
"I am fucking going home Talen. That's what I'm doing. Yes I'm just in a t-shirt but guess what? I don't give a fuck. Anywhere but here is better. Till you realise and let me in completely, you're not going to get better." at this point, a mixture of rage and sadness sweeped over Kat and she didn't realise the her face was wet from tears that were streaming down her face.
Talen felt like someone had shot him with his own gun, seeing his beautiful girl cry. Worst, he was the reason for those tears. Reaching out to touch her, she held up a hand. "I will always love you. That's my weakness. But never in my life have I felt so unloved. You've pushed me so far away. My actions have showed that I was more than willing to make you better. But I just--- I just can't Talen. No more."
Her phone buzzed, indicating that the UBER cab she had ordered was in front of his house. "I hope you get better. I really hope you do. You're the only one who can help yourself." she opened the door and shut it in his face.
While he just stood there, hating himself even more, because he just lost the only pereson he loved.