Beep, beep!
When the alarm clock on her bedside table went off, Kat shot up in bed with a huge grin on her face. This was the first morning in a long time where she didn't groan in response to the tiny black box ringing in her ears. Katherine (Kat) Annabel Sawyer had been waiting for this day for years now, and it was finally here. Kat shut off the alarm, hopped out of bed and did the same thing she did every morning, turn on her iPod and start her day with a song thrumming through her mind. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror she was still grinning, which was a rare thing for her to see in the morning. Kat's short dark brown hair was a mess, last night's make up was smudged around her hazel eyes, and her oversized shirt made her look homeless, but today nothing could wipe the smile off her face. Well, so she thought.
"Mommy!"
Kat turned her attention down the hall where her daughter Sophie stood in her Little Mermaid pajamas, a smile identical to her mother's across her tiny lips. Kat's grin grew as she took in the overzealous blonde hair green eyed 6 year old walking towards her. There was nothing Kat loved more in this world than her daughter, and the fact that Sophie was just as excited about today as her mother was made her heart swell. Once Sophie closed the distance between the two of them Kat scooped her daughter into her arms as they giggled simultaneously. Kat kissed her daughter on the cheek, still giggling uncontrollably.
"Good morning baby. How did you sleep?" Kat asked her daughter as she walked them back to the little girl's room.
"Okay, but the monster in my closet is still bothering me." Sophie whispered, her smile now gone.
Kat frowned. "Baby I checked and re-checked your closet before you went to bed. I promise there is nothing in your closet."
Kat set Sophie down before walking over to the pink dresser drawers looking for something for the little girl to wear. Sophie flopped down on her bed pouting.
"Grandpa John would have believed me." Sophie mumbled.
Kat set the clothes she had just retrieved on the bed then turned back around before she rolled her eyes.
"John believes a lot of things." Kat mumbled.
"Are you going to call him today? My father-daughter dance is next weekend." Sophie whined in her high pitched pleading voice.
Kat tensed at the mention of John and the annual father-daughter news. She still hadn't been able to tell Sophie the news, and she was running out of time before it would become obvious something was wrong. Kat couldn't focus on this today, she had too much to worry about and dishing out bad news to her 6 year old wasn't on the to-do list for the day. Kat turned around and forced her lips into a smile when she faced an eager Sophie.
"I promise I'll call him this week but not today. I barely have enough time to get you to school on time. Now go take a shower, we need to be gone in 15 minutes."
Sophie nodded her grin even bigger than it had been a few seconds ago before she grabbed her clothes off the bed and rushed to the bathroom. When Sophie closed the door behind her Kat slumped against the wall and let out a sigh. How was she going to break the news that this might be the first year she wouldn't have anyone to take her to her dance? It had been hard enough to beg John to come to the first two dances. There was no way Kat was going to find a suitable replacement by next Saturday.
Get through today, worry about the dance tomorrow.
Kat nodded to herself trying to push the thought out of her head for now, she had 15 minutes to look professional and she couldn't waste a second worrying about anything else. This was her big break, and bad news and tears could wait one more day. Even though she had let it wait 2 months now. Kat just hoped she could get through today and keep up her lie for just a little while longer.
Dean sat on the hood of his car waiting for his brother to pack up the car. Sam was his brother's…well, to put it bluntly, bitch boy, and Dean used it to his advantage whenever he could. Today it was having him pack the car with their bags, yesterday it was making his little brother pay for lunch, tomorrow it could be a number of things. Dean loved his kid brother, but he was always pushing his brother's "brotherly loyalty" to a breaking point. Sam was four years younger than Dean, and Dean would always hold that slight age difference against Sam.
"No its cool, I wouldn't like any help. Wouldn't want you to break a nail or anything." Sam mumbled as he shoved the last bag into the trunk.
"Aw thanks Sammy, you're a lifesaver." Dean shouted as he pushed himself off the hood of his car.
Dean and Sam were on their way to Pittsburg to work another "job". It was as if they could never get a break, but the business they were in didn't offer a lot of time off. So today was like any other day: pay the motel tab, eat a greasy breakfast at the closest fast food place, and hit the road. Life was anything but normal for the Winchester brothers, but they made it the best life they could.
"Come on, I don't have all day!" Dean shouted from the driver's seat.
Sam rolled his eyes before he slammed the trunk shut and ran around to the passenger's side of the car. Sam slammed the door behind him, making Dean cringe.
"You break it, you spend the next three years fixing it, got it?" Dean said as he turned his attention to his brother.
Sam rolled his eyes and nodded. Sam knew better than to break Dean's car, sometimes he thought Dean loved that thing more than his only brother. Sam watched as his brother blew out a breath and ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair before turning the key in the ignition. Once the car turned on, the tiny space was filled with the noise of an Ace of Base song. Dean cringed before he stabbed a random button to quickly change the station. Sam watched his brother out of the corner of his eye, waiting for Dean's reaction. Sam knew Dean had an irrational hate for the 90's pop band, but his brother never explained the reason behind his distaste. Dean let out a long breath before finding a song he could stand and putting the car into reverse.
"We've talked about you playing with my radio. Don't touch it man, I'm not in the mood for crap music this early in the morning." Dean said between gritted teeth while he pulled out of the motel parking lot.
"Dude…I didn't touch your radio. Paranoid much?" Sam grumbled, turning his attention to the map in his lap.
Dean wasn't in the mood to argue with his brother so he let the subject go, too busy trying to get the memories connected to that song out of his mind. Though Dean had turned the channel after only a few seconds of the song playing, his mind was now miles away, 7 years in the past. Dean tried focusing on the road, but he had a feeling his head would be too busy remembering summer nights that still haunted him.
Kat hit the door out of breath, three bags in one hand, a cup of coffee that miraculously hadn't spilt in another, and a folder between her teeth. Of course she was late, she was late to everything, her high school chemistry teacher told her the day of her graduation she'd probably be late to her own funeral. Honestly, Kat completely agreed with that statement, she had an issue with being on time. Before she could try and juggle the things in her arms Ashley, Kat's assistant, pulled the door open, smiling down at Kat, her eagerness written across her face.
"Morning Kat! Don't worry I lied about what time we opened so you'd be on time." Ashley said, grabbing some of the bags from her boss.
Kat sighed in relief and smiled as she sat the rest of her stuff down on the counter that stood in the back of the store. Sometimes Ashley could be a little too cheery in the morning, but Kat and her business were both hopeless without her exuberant assistant to help them both stay afloat.
"Ash, remind me to give you a raise when I can afford it. I'd be lost without you." Kat said as she spread the contents of the bags across the counter.
Ashley let out a small laugh, pushed her long brown hair behind her ear, and adjusted her glasses out of nervous habit. Ashley didn't take compliments well, it was one of the only things to make Kat's chatty employee speechless. Kat had been telling Ashley she would be lost without her for years, and still every time she gave the girl a compliment her face turned as red as a tomato.
Kat looked around the store in awe, still shocked that the day had finally come. Kat had wanted to start her own clothing line since…well, almost forever, and after much saving, hard work, and planning, today was the day K Vicious, the first store to sell Kat's clothes, would officially be open. Nothing in Kat's life had ever come anything close to easy, she struggled for everything she had, but all her hard work had finally paid off. Kat leaned against the counter and just stared at her dream coming true, pride swelling inside her as the minutes ticked by.
"We did it Ash, we finally have everything done and…" Kat looked up at the clock, "Whenever you decided we open, we'll finally have achieved our dream."
Ashley's grin grew as she stood next to her boss and took in her surroundings. "I think we make a great team. And I think you've earned all of it, so congratulations."
Kat wrapped her arms around Ashley. "No, we've earned this. Thanks for everything."
"Of course, I'm glad to be a part of all this. Oh, and we open in 5 minutes."
Kat released Ashley and started picking up her papers. "Of course, I made it on time and I'm still going to be late on my first day."
"Remind me next time we do a job like this to wear something other than my favorite jacket." Dean said as he pulled his blood stained tee-shirt over his head.
"I think it's sad you're a grown man with a favorite jacket." Sam replied, wiping a chunk of…something off his cheek.
Dean rolled his eyes as he pulled another shirt from the trunk and threw it over his head. "The only reason you don't have a good jacket is because you buy all your clothes from The Gap. We all can't be lame enough to dress like a soccer dad."
Sam threw his black tee shirt at his brother before pulling an identical shirt over his head. "I bought all my clothes from Target, smart ass. You're the one who spent $80 on a jacket all because you think it helps you 'pick up chicks'. Now who's lame?"
"You have to spend money to make connections. Get it?" Dean said as he nudged his brother.
"I don't understand half the time how we could possibly be brothers."
Dean passed Sam the keys before sitting in the passenger's seat, ready to pass out. Sam shook his head, too tired to participate in another long conversation with his brother. Once they both took their seats in the car Sam turned towards Dean who was a few quiet minutes away from falling asleep.
"What now, you want me to find another job or you ready to take a few days off?" Sam asked, hoping his brother was as exhausted as he was.
Dean opened one eye and smirked at his brother. "Find us someplace nice to vacation Sammy, possibly somewhere with bikinis and sunshine."
Sam rolled his eyes and put the car in drive. "Oh yeah, in the middle of September, that's so easy."
"Don't worry Sam, I believe in you. If you fail you'll just be sleeping outside while I spread my god given talents to the beautiful women of whatever back water town we end up in."
"Oh, can't wait, as if that's not the outcome if I do find us someplace with half naked women."
"You have a point there Sam. That's why you're the brains, and I'm the good looks in the family."
Sam just shook his head and drove north, there had to be something exciting to do within a day's drive of Pittsburg, right?