THE COFFEE PARK
DISCLAIMER:I don't own the characters, except maybe for Christopher Woodward. Katie, Jessie, Grace, Tad and Joanna are still owned by ABC and Once & Again and yet to be auctioned but I'm keeping my hopes up. If ever they get to be sold at e-bay, I'm probably bidding and do my best to at least get Katie and Jessie. I wouldn't mind owning Ira David Wood IV, Mischa Barton and Evan Rachel Wood, but I don't own any of them either. Casey Whitney Vanderbilt Farrell is owned by Dylan Carreiro, the lead character in her Evan-Mischa Series, Rebel High.
SYNOPSIS:Katie is the gorgeous painter who so happens to be a philandering idiot and shares a penthouse apartment with her friend Grace. Imagine when Grace's conservative and reserved stepsister Jessie moves in with them. Jessie is the definitely straight ER intern who doesn't only have a quietly sexy smile, she also has the most beautiful pair of crystal blue eyes Katie had ever seen, and those pair of eyes just wouldn't leave her dreams.
PART 1FROM MANHATTAN TO LONDON
"Zoe, get your butt down here now or you'll miss your airplane!" Grace screamed at the top of her lungs as she commanded her youngest sister to move faster. It was 9 o'clock at an early Saturday morning. Zoe is about to leave for London to continue her graduate studies at the prestigious Cambridge University through scholarship, and Katie and Grace will be taking her to the airport.
GRACE BROOKS MANNING, 27 years old, an entrepreneur who co-owns the number one coffee shop in Manhattan just across Central Park, THE COFFEE PARK. She manages the business with co-owning friends, Ira, and her boyfriend, Tad. She's also Jessie's prying stepsister, and Katie's friend from higschool. She thinks she knows Jessie more than Jessie knows herself, and guess what, she could be right.
Meanwhile, at Zoe's bedroom, she was all set. Her luggage was packed and they have already called the hotel service to bring all of it to Katie's SUV. Katie was sitting on the bed while watching Zoe fret on her clothes. Katie smiled upon hearing Grace's screams from downstairs.
"I think you better hurry up before your sister releases her inner monster." Katie joked and chuckled.
"You mean there's an inner monster aside from the monster that she is? That's a surprise." Zoe laughed and Katie laughed with her. "Do I look okay?" Zoe turned around in front of her full-length mirror.
"Zo, you look great. I've said that a hundred times already." Katie replied without taking a look at Zoe's outfit.
"Well forgive me 'coz I need to make a really good first impression." Zoe stopped turning around to look at her friend.
"I still can't believe you're leaving." Katie looked seriously at Zoe.
"Don't turn all mopey on me, you dork. I know you'll miss me and I'll miss you too. But it's not like we're not gonna see each other again." Zoe hugged Katie.
"Okay."
"Now get up there before Grace decides to kick our freakin' asses." Zoe grinned.
KATHERINE SINGER, a.k.a. Katie, the talented artist. She paints and has her own displays at a friend's gallery in Manhattan and New York City. She's an absolute dead-ringer, gorgeous, charming, kind: she's everything a guy could ever dream of. There's only one catch though, she's openly gay. She's Tad's bestfriend and they have been since they were toddlers, and even when they were still studying highschool at Upton Sinclair in Evanston, Illinois. She shares with a Grace a lavish penthouse apartment in Manhattan overlooking Central Park.
The two were practically flying down the stairs and joined the irritated Grace in seconds. The hotel service had already picked up Zoe's luggage and went ahead with Katie's key to put it in her SUV. Grace brought her lap top computer with her and sat at the back of the vehicle while Zoe sat with Katie in the front seat. On their way to the airport, Grace busied herself typing something on her lap top. Zoe couldn't help but notice her from the rear view mirror. She turned to be able to look at her sister.
"Is that more important than me?" Zoe mocked Grace. She wasn't really serious with the question. But seeing her sister buried in her lap top when this might be the last time they'd be seeing each other in years is a little offending on her part.
"I'm really sorry Zo, it's just that I need to go over these proposals that Ira sent me about THE COFFEE PARK'S marketing strategy. It's not like we need more of this marketing shit, but he wouldn't stop pestering me about it until I'm able to give him a comment or something." Grace looked up apologetically at Zoe.
"Yeah, well, he could be a real pain in the ass, huh?" Zoe grinned at Grace.
"You know what? Screw this. I'm the manager, and I'm going to comment on those proposals when I'm done reading it." Grace smiled and turned her lap top off. She saw Katie smiled from the rear view mirror.
"That's more like it." Zoe turned her back on Grace again and focused her attention on the road.
"We'll miss you Zoe." Grace said thoughtfully.
"I'll miss you guys too."
"Jessie was sorry she couldn't come. She really wanted to say goodbye before you fly halfway around the world, but you know her crazy schedule."
"Oh, don't worry, we talked on the phone last night. We cried." Zoe chuckled at the memory of her and stepsister Jessie crying their hearts out on the phone. It was funny. Grace chuckled. Katie frowned, she has no idea who Jessie is.
"Who's Jessie?" Katie finally asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"You don't remember her?" Zoe asked in astonishment. Though Katie hadn't really met Jess in person as of yet, she was sure she had mentioned Jessie's name to her quite a lot of times.
"Am I supposed to?" Katie tried to recall who Zoe and Grace were talking about but she couldn't really remember anyone named Jessie.
"You know, my sister, the one that I really used to hate in highschool." Grace said.
"I haven't really met her." Katie said flatly. She and Grace weren't really close back then but she knew Grace had a stepsister that she couldn't get along with. When they were in college, this Jessie girl hasn't really come over to visit or anything.
"I practically babble about her all the time. You weren't listening to me at all, were you?" Grace narrowed her eyes on Katie. Katie looked back at the rear view mirror. "My sister who wants to become a pediatric surgeon, the one who went to Harvard and living in Boston. Still doesn't ring a bell?"
"Oh, yeah. So Jessie is her name?" Katie smiled, pretending to remember. But of course, she doesn't.
"Yeah, that's her name. She's moving to New York for her internship and I hope you wouldn't mind having her with us. She'll be taking Zoe's room." Grace wasn't really asking Katie's approval, she was just telling her what's going to happen.
"Nope, not at all." Katie mentally smacked herself in the head for implicating herself. It's not like she doesn't like listening to Grace's stories, but she kept on talking and telling her about how proud she is with this brilliant sister of hers. And to be honest, she doesn't have much thought about this Jessie girl. From what she's heard, she had already created a mental picture of her in her head: a typical, socially withdrawn dorky girl from Harvard. Not too interesting, and definitely not worth remembering. Or at least she thought. Katie jumped out of her reverie as the loud ringing of Grace's annoying celphone broke through her thoughts.
"Hi honey." Grace's eyes shined upon hearing Tad's voice on the other end of the line.
"Hi. In the airport already?" Tad smiled.
THADDEUS PINCUS, 27, a.k.a. Tad, the goofy but hunky entrepreneur, and takes care of the financial aspect of THE COFFEE PARK. Boyfriend to Grace and bestfriend to Katie. Katie didn't really understand how Tad became so popular in highschool. Well, he's good at football alright, but he's lanky and disgusting sometimes and has a lame sense of humor that she couldn't see why girls actually pined over her bestfriend back then. Well, Katie learned to accept that reality and realized that maybe she was too gay to appreciate what Tad really has, though she doubt it.
"No, Katie's still driving." Grace threw a brief glance at Katie and saw both of the facial expressions of her and Zoe: mock disgust. Somehow, they find it funny seeing Grace and Tad dating, when back in highschool, they wouldn't even give each other the time of the day.
Zoe rolled her eyes at Grace as Grace chatted with her boyfriend on their way to the airport.
"They are really in love with each other, aren't they?" Zoe shook her head smiling.
"What's love?" Katie joked, and it earned her a slap on the shoulder from Zoe. "Ouch! Hey, can't you see I'm driving? Don't do that again." Katie glared at Zoe mockingly.
"You philandering idiot." It was Zoe's mock retort, but she meant it.
"A gorgeous philandering idiot." Katie corrected and laughed. Zoe slapped her on the shoulder again.
"Whatever, you're still an idiot. You know, one of these days, you're gonna find that one person who will make you realize that you actually have a heart afterall." Zoe said seriously.
"Really? I wonder when that would be." Katie was still in joke-mode.
"I have a hunch." Zoe said knowingly and flashed her winning smile that made Katie frown.
"What hunch?" Grace finally joined the conversation.
Meanwhile, at THE COFFEE PARK across Central Park, Tad just hung up after talking with Grace on his celphone. He was inside Grace's small office when Ira knocked and opened the door.
"So, have you talked to her?" Ira said.
IRA DAVID WOOD IV, 28, the moody chef. He co-owns THE COFFEE PARK with Grace and Tad, and obviously, he's in-charge of the food. He's a typical young professional who parties a lot. He goes out on dates but doesn't really seem interested to find someone.
"Yeah." Tad answered with a sigh. He knew where this conversation is heading.
"What did she say?" Ira asked expectantly.
"She'll give you her comment when she has it." Tad replied.
"But I gave that file to her a week ago." Ira said in disbelief.
"Dude, relax, and don't worry. So far, we're still the number one coffee shop in Manhattan, and that's a big deal. You have great marketing proposals, but right now, Grace is still perusing it and you're gonna have to wait until she's done."
"Fine." Ira answered with a sigh. Tad examined his friend's face for a while. Ira seemed tired.
"Is something wrong?" Tad inquired.
"No, nothing." Ira sat on the chair opposite Tad. He paused in thought for a while and Tad's eyes remained on him. Tad's used to Ira's usually somber behavior. Ira's a good guy, and a good friend really. It's just that there's something about him that stops him from being truly happy. He couldn't find the reason for this behavior, but Tad was sure there was something about Ira's life that he wasn't telling anyone. As much as he wanted to ask, Tad doesn't want to pry. If Ira needs their help, he would ask them for it. And when he does, they'll help him, no hesitations. "I won't be around tomorrow." Ira finally looked up to meet Tad's gaze.
"Where exactly are you going?' Tad asked. He has no problem about Ira leaving "coz it doesn't happen too often. He needs time to unwind and relax. If Ira wants to go, he could.
"My father died. When he left my mom, he moved to Ithaca, so I guess I'm going there." Ira said flatly.
"I'm sorry." Tad replied sympathetically.
"That's okay, you know, we're not really close. I'm going there out of responsibility as his son. Nothing more." Ira said bitterly, memories of the strained relationship with his late father flashing through his mind. Ira let out a deep sigh again.
Meanwhile, Katie and Grace were still at the airport. It was hard watching Zoe leave and it actually made the three of them cry. They watched as Zoe walked out of their sight. After Grace's sobbing was over, she pulled Katie to the restroom but Katie said she doesn't feel the need to so she stayed behind. While waiting for Grace to come back, Katie sat on a chair and watched the inflow and outflow of people in the busy airport. Zoe hadn't even been gone for thirty minutes and she missed her already.
Katie was practically staring at the tiled floor when some invisible force made her look up. And when she did, a pair of stunning blue eyes met hers, and suddenly, she felt like her heart dropped on the floor. The lady with long blond hair, crystal blue eyes smiled at her, and her face automatically plastered one of her own.
It was weird, really, just seeing that beautiful stranger. Katie felt a sudden rush of complete happiness and contentment just looking at those eyes, and realized she must have gone crazy. Until more people started pouring in and their eye contact was broken. The blond girl started walking away and threw one last look at Katie and then smiled. Katie snapped back to her senses and almost jumped out of her seat. She has to know her name!
So, Katie raced through the thick crowd of people, looking everywhere for that familiar blond hair that she was pretty sure smells really good. But after turning to see every blond girl in the airport, she couldn't find the one she was looking for. And she knew she lost her. Katie's shoulders practically fell. The unbelievably happy feeling that she had a while ago vanished completely. And she wondered what exactly happened. And she jumped when a hand tapped her shoulder.
"I thought you left me." Grace said, obviously annoyed at Katie's sudden disappearance.
"Sorry, I thought I saw…" Katie trailed off, and continued upon seeing Grace looking at her expectantly. "Never mind. But actually, I really have to go." Katie glanced at her watch, emphasizing her point.
"And may I know exactly why?" Grace asked disappointedly.
"Joanna called. We're having lunch at the Waldorf Astoria." Katie lied. Joanna, her most recent conquest didn't really call, 'coz the truth is, she is presently doing some serious touring in the United States for her recent stage play. But she knew she needed to go now, to find that blond girl she saw a while ago. She wasn't really sure why she had this urgent need to find that stranger, but if she doesn't do anything, she'll never stop thinking about her, and she was sure she'll just drive herself crazy. No doubt about that.
"But my stepsister called and said she's here already! She tried to catch up with Zoe but obviously, she failed miserably. I guess she's moving in early."
"Well, tell Josie I'm sorry, but I guess you're just gonna have to take a cab." Katie started walking away from Grace.
"Her name is JESSIE!" Grace yelled in annoyance. If Katie hadn't walked away so fast, she would have hit her hard in the head. Katie couldn't even remember a simple name. The thought of Katie calling her sister Josie instead of JESSIE was definitely horrifying for her. It seemed rude.
"Whatever, say hi to her for me, and I promise, I'll make it up next time! See you later!" And Katie ran really fast before Grace could grab her and strangle her to death. She made a mental note that she had to perfectly remember Jessie's name, if she wants to live longer. Katie laughed to herself.
Katie had already disappeared from the crown when Grace heard somebody calling her name. When she turned, a tall blond girl gave her a warm hug.
"Jessie!" Grace exclaimed in excitement.
JESSIE ELIZABETH SAMMLER, 26, the ER Intern who's on her way to becoming a pediatric surgeon. She's Grace and Zoe's stepsister. Brilliant, smart, blue-eyed, blond hair, and with a quietly sexy smile, yet reserved and conservative. She's very organized and always thinks about the long-term effects before making a decision.
"Hi Grace!" Jessie smiled at her.
"Hi. You look great." Grace grinned while hugging her stepsister. She started pulling Jessie out of the airport.
"You too." As the two walked out of the airport, a cab was already waiting for the two of them.