Title: Katie goes Topless - Parts 7, 8 and 9
Author: Tarabeth
Characters: Katie, TJ, Syd, Verge, Jamie and Leo
Implements: Hand
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**Katie**
I sat for a while before I called TJ back; I wasn’t in the mood for a lecture, or any cyber discipline. I really just wanted to go to bed. But, I knew if I waited much longer to call that I would have someone on the doorstep checking up on me. I promptly fell asleep on the couch while I was debating my options.
I awoke to the sound of the doorbell. FUCK!
I was pulling myself up off of the couch, when the knocking began.
“Hold your panties on. I’m coming,” I shouted.
I opened the door to find a very irate Syd. “Are you okay?” She asked.
I gave her an exasperated reply, “I’m fine.”
Syd walked into the house and applied a very, did I say very, firm swat to my butt.
“Owe,” I said rubbing at the sting. “You aren’t allowed to do that anymore.”
Syd smiled, “Oops, I forgot.”
I gave her a scowl.
“Call TJ, please, and let her know you are all right,” Syd directed.
“I’ll call her later,” I told her. “You don’t get to boss me around any more. I’ll get to it later.”
Syd took a deep breath, “It is midnight in Boston, and your FIANCE is worried about you. I think that the respectful thing to do would be to call her, but if you aren’t going to, I will. I told her I would come check on you and let her know what I found. So, are you going to call her?”
“Later,” I said.
Syd took out her cell phone and dialed. “Hello…yes I am at the house…she says she is ‘fine’ and will call you later,” Syd stopped talking into the phone and turned to me. “TJ would like it if you would please talk to her now, she has an early lecture in the morning.”
“I will call her after you leave,” I told Syd.
Syd resumed speaking into the phone, “You heard…yes other than the attitude she seems okay. I’m going to go…love you too…goodbye.” Syd hung up the phone and turned to me, “I’m going to go, I would appreciate if you would call me in the morning.”
“If I have time,” I told her.
Syd took a deep breath and walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. She spoke softly and kindly into my ear, “Katie, I love you. You are very important to me. That has not and will not change, because discipline isn’t part of our relationship any more. I miss you, and I worry about you. I would love to talk to you in the morning.” She kissed me on the cheek and said, “Good night, baby, please take care of yourself.” She let herself out as she saw me pick up the phone to call TJ.
TJ wasn’t very pleased with my attitude or the fact that she had been unable to get a hold of me. The conversation consisted of a lot of, “I’m sorry”…”yes it was rude”…”I will apologize”…and various promises to eat better, get more sleep and check in on a regular basis. All in all I got off lucky.
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Tuesday Continued
**Verge**
I had Wednesday off from the clinic, and sense Chris was away Jamie and Leo invited me to have dinner and spend the night at their place.
I really like Leo; he is a lovely balance to Jamie. Where Jamie is all lines with sharp angles--he seems to always stand at attention and is ever vigilant--Leo is soft and relaxed, making everyone around him feel welcome and comfortable.
I arrived a bit before I was expected; Jamie wasn’t home yet. Leo greeted me with a hug, he ushered me into the kitchen and quickly made me feel at home by sitting me at the table with a bowl and a pile of string beans. “Prep those for me, will you hon?” Leo asked.
Leo and I quickly fell into cheerful banter. We were giggling and gossiping about Syd and Samantha when Jamie arrived. He entered the kitchen through the back door. He stopped behind my chair, put a hand on my shoulder and kissed the top of my head; “Hi handsome, I am so glad you could join us for dinner.”
I placed my hand on top of his and said, “Thank you for inviting me; I love spending time over here.”
Leo turned from the stove; he was bent at the waist and his lips were puckered. Jamie let out a soft warm laugh and scooped Leo into his arms, swinging Leo around as they greeted each other with kisses. Jamie set Leo back on the floor, “I’m going to go change and then I will be out to set the table.”
As soon as Jamie had left the room, Leo rushed over, pulled a chair close next to me and started to whisper, “Oh my god, I can’t believe I didn’t tell you! Jamie wrote Katie a ticket yesterday…for going 85 in a 50.”
My mouth fell open.
“I know,” Leo said.
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**Katie**
Wednesday
I vowed that Wednesday was going to be a much better day. I ate breakfast at home—yogurt, bran cereal and fruit. I stopped at Starbucks for an iced tea, and was at the office on time. I spent the morning replying to e-mail and catching up on my filing.
At noon I left the office to pick up Verge for his birthday lunch. I arrived at the Victorian and no Verge. He had told me he would be home as close to noon as possible, but it all depended on the traffic coming home from Jamie and Leo’s.
I did notice that Syd’s car was in the driveway. Damn it, I didn’t call her this morning. So now I needed to decide if I was going to hide out in the Jeep and wait for Verge, or to go in and visit with Syd while I waited for him to arrive. I was still debating my choices, but leaning strongly towards going inside, when I heard a knock on the window. It was Syd.
I opened the door and got out of Jeep. I shut the door, placed my hands in my pockets, and leaned up against the side of the car. “Hi,” I said.
“Hello, honey, are you waiting for Virgil?” She asked.
I nodded.
“Would you like to come in the house and visit while you wait?” She asked.
I really wanted to say yes. I wanted to go in and apologize and have her hug me and hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay, but then I saw the Verge’s Beetle turning the corner and coming down the street. “Um, there’s Verge,” I said. “I’m on my lunch, so we kind of have to be going.”
Syd placed her hand on my shoulder and kissed my cheek. “Okay baby,” she said, “have a good lunch. I love you.”
I couldn’t raise my eyes to look at her, “Thanks, I love you too.”
I heard his car door close and then his jolly pronouncement, “The Birthday Boy has arrived! Let the showering of attention and presents begin!”
I managed to look up at her, and we both gave each other awkward smiles before we began our walk over to Virgil.
Syd pulled Verge into a big bear hug, “Happy Birthday Honey.”
“Thanks,” he said.
“I’m going to head back in the house and let you two get going,” Syd told us. She gave a wave and was gone.
Verge did a little clap and said, “Katie Katheryn where are my prezzies?”
I smiled, “Oh, I was planning on bringing them to your birthday dinner on Friday,” I said.
Verge crossed his arms and gave me a very dirty look. “My birthday is not on Friday, it is today, and I want my prezzies today!”
“Oh, well I guess I do have a little something for you today,” I teased him.
“Little isn’t acceptable. I want BIG!”
“I am not going to give you anything in the driveway, so maybe we should get a move on,” I informed him. I climbed into the passenger side of the Beetle.
Verge got in and off we went. “What was that all about with Syd?” He asked.
“What?” I replied.
“Things were a little uncomfortable when I got here,” he said.
“Oh, that,” I said, “It’s nothing.”
Verge blew a raspberry, “I don’t believe that for one minute, now spill.”
I took a deep breath. “You know about the late report?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
“And the ticket?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“Jamie has a big fricken’ mouth,” I complained.
“Leo told me,” Verge said.
“As previously stated, Jamie has a big fricken’ mouth.”
Verge laughed. “So what’s up with Syd?”
I took another breath. “She came over to check on me last night and I was a little bit rude.”
Verge laughed again. “I bet that is the tame version.”
“Yeah,” I answered.
We arrived at lunch, and I gave Verge his presents: a rubber ducky to float in the hot tub and record the temperature, Buffy Season 6 DVD set, and a gift certificate to Banana Republic.
We ordered our food and then I filled him in about the flash back, missing therapy, and my run in with Syd.
Verge was kind and sweet, listened attentively, gave me lots of compassion as I told the story, and when the story was finished he said, “You are in so much trouble.”
I snorted, “You think.” I began to cry.
Verge moved from his side of the booth over to mine. He pulled me into a warm embrace and whispered sweet and kind reassurances, while I quietly cried on his shoulder. I eventually calmed down, and Verge continued to rub my back.
“Katie, baby, you have to tell TJ,” he said.
“She’ll come home,” I mumbled to him.
“Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that what you need?” He asked.
“No, she needs to know I am okay without her,” I told him.
“I don’t think that’s true,” Verge said.
I scowled at him.
“I think you want to be okay without her, but why? Why do you need that?” He asked.
“Because,” was all I could answer before I began to cry again.
He began to coo at me again, and then quietly spoke into my ear, “If she makes you complete, if you function better because of her, if you love more, if you live more when she is with you, why should you have to be able to live without her?”
“I have to know I can, because what if I were to lose her, what would I do then?” I asked him.
“Baby, how can you live always planning for the worst? You have joy. TJ and you, you have joy. Katie, don’t anticipate the worst; it will make you live in that pain, and that will engulf and destroy you,” he told me. “You need to live in the joy and happiness you two share. In order to do that, you must be honest with her. Baby, you have to tell her of your pain in order to get your joy back.”
“She’ll be so angry, so disappointed,” I continued to cry onto his shoulder.
Verge lifted my head, so he could see me, “You’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
I blushed.
“She will punish you,” he said.
I winced.
“She will love you. She will forgive you, and you will again bring each other joy,” he said. “But first you have to tell her.”
“I’ll try,” I told him.
He rolled his eyes at me.
“I promise. I will try,” I said.
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Copyright TBL 2008
