Disclaimer: I don't own Lost

CHAPTER ONE.

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He leaned back in the expensive leather chair beside his fathers and smirked, he hadn't seen her in two years; she was even more gorgeous than he'd remembered. Jonathon Ford read over the details on the paper in front of him and smiled warmly; he turned to his son and smiled between him and two of the representatives from the events co-ordinator company.

"I'd be delighted for you to use my hotel, Jack is a lovely young man... anything you want, don't hesitate to ask" they all stood up and shook hands, Jonathon came around from his side of the large mahogany desk and tipped his head towards the door.

Jonathon Ford was a tycoon in the Hotel Casino business; he was smart and knew what things would be successful, and in this city, being successful was everything.

"I'll show you the spaces we have and we'll talk ideas" Brad Willows of the Events Company smiled widely "Okay then, lets go..." the two older gentlemen walked out of the office and down the hall. Sawyer smirked over at the young brunette.

"Well hey Katie, last time I saw you, you just bought your first car" Kate smiled and looked down to the floor "Hi Sawyer" he extended his hand towards the door and they followed the path that the two men had taken.

"Workin' for a big company now?" Kate smiled tightly at him "Stop talking to me as if I'm a child... and yes, I'm here to observe, to learn how things work" he chuckled and tipped his head "Kay then..." Kate eyed him and smiled "You look really good Sawyer" his grin got deeper and he cocked his eyebrow.

Kate blushed and rolled her eyes; they stepped through the doors to the elevator and began the descent to the ground floor. They entered the large hall, catching up with the two men and joined them in discussion. They went over decoration arrangements, layouts and guest numbers, in detail and they stood on the stage taking in the size of the room.

"Miss Austen, will you be in charge of the event, or just one of the helpers?" Jonathon smiled warmly at her. Kate shook her head hesitantly "No, I'm meant to be helping out but you know how Jack gets, he doesn't want me working on his birthday" Jonathon nodded and Brad smiled "Kate, it's a family event, you don't have to worry about work"

Kate internally sighed with relief, this was her first important job and she hated the fact that she wouldn't be working on it as she wanted to be taken seriously and didn't want to look like a spoiled rich kid. Brad was a good boss, he was charming and was all about family, so he welcomed the idea of Kate having this event off.

"It's great doing business with you..." Brad shook his hand "Goodbye Mr Ford" and then faced Kate "Shall we?" Kate smiled and shook the older Ford's hand. She glared at Sawyer challengingly "Bye Mr Ford" with that she smiled tightly. Sawyer smirked back at her and he kissed the top of her hand "Goodbye Miss Austen"

Kate's cheeks heated up and she turned away quickly, berating herself for reacting to him and she followed Brad back to the company car. Ford Senior glanced at his son and smiled "Jamie, she is still that innocent little girl who thought the world of you, even though she's not vying for your attention anymore" his face went serious "...Just please don't do anything stupid"

Sawyer scowled and grated "I won't, okay" he looked at the door then sighed "I gotta get goin, start work in half an hour" Jonathon smiled at his son "Nice to see you getting back to work... you're lucky you have friends like Sayid, who took over without being asked"

Sawyer nodded "I know I know I should count my blessings" he rolled his eyes and headed off to his car.

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Kate was grateful to home, she threw her keys on the table and she pulled the fruit juice out of the fridge, so she could pour herself a glass. She couldn't believe Sawyer was back, she hated to admit it but she missed him terribly; although at the time he didn't know how she felt about him, he always seemed to be interested in her and make her feel special.

To call this a house would make anyone laugh; it was large enough to be called a Mansion. It was jam-packed with teenagers having a good time and getting drunk. Kate looked around and sighed, it seemed she was the youngest person there. She had been there for a while and still hadn't seen Sawyer.

It was his 18th birthday and she wanted to give him his card... well... she wanted to see him, badly. Scanning the bodies in the crowded room, Kate accidentally bumped into two people who were kissing and she blushed and apologised. The blond smiled at her warmly "Hi Katie" Kate smiled back at her "hi Sarah"

Her gaze landed on her brother and she grimaced. "Jack" he smiled tightly at her "you seen Sawyer?" he shrugged his shoulders "try the kitchen... or upstairs." Kate nodded and left the pair quickly.

Checking the kitchen was fruitless, he wasn't in there, it was only filled with a bunch of people she had never met having a drinking contest. Climbing up the spiral staircase led her to more people she didn't know.

She sighed and entered his parents' bedroom and waited outside the bathroom because it wasn't vacant. The door swung open and it was Sawyer. His eyes raked over her and he smiled widely "Well hey there sweat pea" Kate bit her lip and grinned shyly "Hi... uh, here's your card"

She handed him the envelope and smiled. He smiled back at her warmly "thanks" he opened it and read over it before leaning down and kissing her on her cheek, just mere millimetres away from her mouth but she didn't mind. Her stomach fluttered and she suppressed a giggle.

Sawyer swayed over to the bed and sat down on the edge, bringing Kate along with him. She stood in between his legs and his hands brushed lightly up and down her sides. "Havin a good time?" Kate nodded "yeah, I am" he gave her a sloppy grin as he was obviously drunk.

"Bet ya, you can't wait till your sixteenth so ya can drive" Kate smiled widely and nodded, she loved learning to drive and couldn't wait to get her licence, but she had to wait until the middle of next year to get it. Sawyer licked his bottom lip and grinned "Knew it"

He stood up and wrapped his arms around her; Kate's arms slid around his waist and pulled him closer, enjoying his warmth and scent. "Well I better make and appearance downstairs before people think am gone"

Kate nodded, reluctantly pulling her arms from his body and she watched him swagger out of the room and out of site. She grinned like a mad man; he always made her feel amazing; she entered the bathroom and locked the door.

Kate sighed sadly, but looked up as Jack came in and grinned at her "So... how did everything go?" She took another sip of the juice and smiled a bit too brightly "Good, the place looks nice" he sat down opposite her and smiled "Cool... did Johnny boy say anything?"

She cocked her eyebrow at him "Jonathon said he'll give us anything we want" nodding with a grin Jack added "really? Well, what about strippers?" Kate's face went blank "No... I know it's your birthday, but that's a bit tacky"

Jack rolled his eyes "Was worth a shot though" Kate rolled her eyes playfully "Who's exactly coming?" Jack shrugged "College people, family, guys from work, from the gym... basically everyone I know" Kate nodded and looked to the table.

"Sawyers back" Jack glanced at her and then went into the fridge "Yeah... he's been back for a week or two"

Kate frowned "Why didn't you tell me?" he shrugged and drank some milk.

"Didn't think you'd want to know, also I thought someone else would have told you" Kate looked at him sadly and nodded. She didn't know why she cared so much about him being back, he was a dick, she didn't want to see him...

But she knew her old feelings for him would always mess with her head, the hate she harboured over the past two years for him wasn't real, she wanted to hate him, but she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried.

She stood up and looked at Jack sadly "I'll see you in the morning, I'm beat" she grabbed her purse and headed to her bedroom.

--

Jack leaned back in the chair in Sawyers apartment and took a swig of the beer that was placed in front of him "So you're back?" Sawyer sat down heavily and sighed "Yeah... I am" Jack nodded and pursed his lips together. "Thought you were just going to clear your head... a week or two away"

Sawyer sighed again and drank some of the whiskey "Yeah, I cleared my head but then I wanted to keep travelin', it was a change, I was free, I didn't have to worry about how I was acting in front of people and it got me away from the stress of livin' in Vegas" he gave a wry smile and cocked his eyebrow. Jack laughed silently "Yeah... Kate said you were at the meeting with your father about my party"

Sawyer fixed his gaze on the younger of the pair and jokingly said "Yeah, I better be gettin a damn invite" Jack rolled his eyes "Course you are, you're my best friend" Sawyer sarcastically put his hand over his heart "I'm touched" this cause another roll of the eyes. "An Kate looks good, all grown up I see"

Jack nodded "Quite surprised you two had an actual conversation" Sawyer frowned and took another drink "What's that supposed to mean?" the brunette shrugged "Just seems that before you left you two didn't talk very well and Kate was upset with you, calling you all names under the sun"

Sawyer drank down the rest of his whiskey and slammed the glass onto the table in front of them. Why in the hell would she be pissed off at him, he didn't do anything to her. It was good to see her again; he thought he sounded silly when he said he began to miss her.

Things were good between them back then were they not? He sighed and smiled at her brother, he missed Vegas, but the time he spent away gave him time to think about things and think about the two of them. Maybe it was time for them to have a talk.

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