A/N – So here it is, the first chapter of Kathleen and New York City. It's going to be a story about the children of the 'Friends', I'm planning two more full-time characters, and the original 'Friends' will make periodic appearances, cause they're just amazing. There is one appearance, one reference, and one conversation between mother and daughter in this chapter, but the story will primarily focusing on Kathleen's adventures, which for the larger part involve everyone. I usually put the A/N at the end, but seeing as this is the first chapter, and you need a little background… there it is!
I have another story that I'm working on side by side with this (Small Case of Writers Block), so please Review if you want the next chapter up quicker. You don't review, I don't know your reading, and I'll take my sweet time updating. Tell me what you'd like to see, and you might be surprised ;)
Enjoy!
Kathleen and New York City
"Why are we watching this movie again?" Joey asked, sharing the recliner with Erica. It was dark, almost 8:30, and they were in Emma's apartment, two floors above Erica's.
"Because it's my favorite. If you've got anything better to do, go ahead and do it."
Erica looked up at Joey then back at Emma. Nope, they had nothing better to do. She leaned against Joey, whose hair was spiked up to keep it out of his hazel nut eyes. His good looks and childish charm were borderline irresistible, an almost perfect protégé of his now aging father. Erica had had a reasonable crush on him with they first started hanging out, as she imagined every girl did.
Emma had stepped in before anything serious could happen, and now they were just friends, destined to be nothing more.
"I have a question Ric," Joey started, and Emma rolled her eyes, trying to maintain her concentration on the movie. Now the commentary would begin, and the movie would be ruined forever by her two unappreciative friends. "Why is it that there's a whole song dedicated to pointing out how much this girl doesn't fit in?"
"I don't know Joe, it seems like the whole village is getting together to conspire against her."
"Guys, please," Emma pleaded, knowing that it only took a little to get the two of them started.
Joey got off the recliner, Erica falling into the space he'd created. "I'm going to get a beer. It might make this movie a bit more exciting. Want anything?" he asked, and Emma shook her head, absorbed in the movie.
"You can make me a Chocolate Milk, like only Joey knows how," Erica smiled sweetly.
Joey shrugged, "You sure you don't want something with a little kick?"
"Joey, after the whole Gala debacle," Erica shuddered at the recent memory, "- I'm sure."
He shrugged, heading to the kitchen and opening the fridge. "Isn't your new roommate getting here tonight?" he asked, taking out a beer and the milk, kicking the door closed with his foot.
"Yeah," Erica sighed, picking at a strand of hair. "Her name's Kathleen… something. Something with a 'D' I think. She's coming in from London."
Emma turned her attention away from the TV. "London as in, London, Britain?" she asked, her eyes wide.
"Yeah, she has the accent and everything," Erica nodded, and Joey looked up from his mixing.
"She hot?" he asked bluntly. Both Erica and Emma gave him a look, and he shrugged, placing the spoon in his mouth and grinning. Erica shook her head,
"How did she get your number?" Emma questioned suspiciously.
"Aunt Pheebs' friend is a realtor, and she gave him my number because she knew that I was looking for a roommate, and he was the one who gave it to the English lady."
"Well is she? Hot?" Joey asked again, handing the chocolate milk to Erica, giving Emma a glass of orange juice.
"I don't know, I've only talked to her over the phone."
"Did she sound hot?" Joey asked at the same time Emma asked,
"Does Monica know about the roommate plan?"
Erica decided to ignore Joey, instead shaking her head, "No, she doesn't know yet. I'm hoping her and dad will be fine with it… I'm sure my dad will be."
They all stared at the coffee table for a couple seconds; Erica wondering how her neurotic mother would react to her decision, the phone ringing a jolting noise causing them all to jump. Joey reached for it instinctively, answering it with a prompt, "Hello?"
Emma hit him in the shoulder for answering her phone, and Joey waved her off, "It's Mike."
"What does he want?" she asked. Mike was the most scatterbrained person in the world, and having him as a roommate entitled many calls at every hour of the day asking if something or another was MIA. Joey got off the couch and started pacing, a habit that had been the target of numerous jokes.
"He wants to know what time he's meeting his date at," he stated finally and Emma stared at him blankly, the silence filled in by the chewing of Erica's carrot.
"Dude, do you have a calendar or something?" Joey asked the phone after a second, pacing into the kitchen. Obviously Emma was oblivious to Mike's daily plans.
"So what time is she getting here?" Emma asked over the guys' conversation, the Disney movie completely forgotten on mute.
"I'm not sure, she said, "Her plane was supposed to land at 8, but you never know with airlines these days…"
"You moron," Joey laughed in the background, "The store isn't spelt Shadow as in the dog, it's 'Chado'. Haven't you learned anything living with Ems? … Yeah well, I wouldn't tell her that if I were you!" he warned loudly, laughing.
"Tell me what?" Emma asked coyly, and Joey snapped his head up. His eyes darted sideways, and he turned suddenly, leaning back against the counter,
"Nah, she can't tonight, Ric's new roommate's coming in, but maybe tomorrow…"
Emma eyed Joey's back curiously, while Erica started talking, "Is living with a roommate fun?"
"Well, it's not for everyone, but I think you'll do fine. Living with Mike is a blast, even if he calls every five seconds to ask if he left something behind." She nodded thoughtfully, "It's kind of nice, having someone to be there when you get home at night. I mean, you'll have us, but…"
"- alright, talk to you later Mike. Yeah, I'll still probably be here. Cya."
"You don't have a roommate, right Joe?" Erica asked, and Joey walked over putting the phone in the receiver.
"Nope." He sat down beside Emma, taking a drink of his beer.
Erica waited for him to keep talking. "Do you think it's better or worse then having one?" she supplied.
"Both," he answered mono-toned.
Erica waited once again, but he stuck by his one worded answer. "… How so?" she asked, her voice straining.
"Well, for one, you can take girls home No Prob. But then again, there's no one to cook them breakfast… and for another, you have the whole place to yourself, you can do whatever you want! Walk around naked, watch whatever TV show you want, no one to yell at you for having a mess, nothing… but then again, you've got no one to talk to whenever, no one to watch TV with… no one the play games with… both," he finished with a nod.
Erica nodded along with him, giving him a long sideway glance, "Okay…" She slowly shifted her focus to Emma as Joey sat back into the couch, taking another sip of beer.
"So you're gonna go?" Emma asked, giving Joey an odd glance as well.
"Yeah… Wish me luck!"
"Good luck!" Joey and Emma both muttered, waving, already started on another conversation. Erica let herself out of the apartment, closing the door quietly behind her.
At least she'd always have Joe and Em if anything went wrong. Smiling confidently with new resolve, she jogged down the stairs to her level.
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Kathleen Davis had many reasons behind her first visit to New York City, but only one behind her second. She smiled into the window, looking out over the dark, vaguely familiar patchwork pattern of the buildings. She was only minutes away from her arrival at New York City, and a fresh chapter in her life as an adult.
"The Captain has turned on the Fasten Seatbelt sign. For the safety of you and your fellow passengers, please do up your seat belt as we will be arriving at New York City Airport within the next 10 minutes, our arrival time earlier then anticipated. Thank you and we will keep you updated."
The plane tipped forward, and Kathleen could feel her stomach lurch along with the motion. She was defiantly not the flying type of person, and for a second regretted her decision to pack up her life and move to the big city. She'd had a rather large and spacious flat back at London, one she shared with her best friend, Benji. He'd been behind the move wholeheartedly, reminding her time and time again that it was her life, and not her mothers.
It disheartened her how bitter and resenting her mother had been of the plan, arguing again and again about the unethically of it all. It amazing her to no end the sorts of excuses she came up with, everything from the tall buildings to the bugs. But after her first stay with her uncle, she couldn't say no to the prospect of being spontaneous and independent.
Another lurch forward and she looked out the window to see the plane's wing tipping almost surreally. White lace began to fly from the edge, marking its path in the sky.
"We are now beginning our decent. Please remain seated for the duration of the flight."
The message was repeated in several languages, one of which she loosely translated as French. The aircraft flew through the clouds, the shapes and varieties amazing her. It was straight out of a picture, the distinct objects the clouds created, shooting out of their own. But the magical ride ended abruptly; ground quickly coming up to greet the hunk of metal.
"Don't worry about it, metal belongs on the ground, and it's not going to screw it up."
Gently hands pried her fingers away from the armrest she was gripping, and it took her a second to realize she'd been holding it in a death grip. A questioning look to the man beside her resulted in a nod to the flight attendant, who was staring at her with a rather prudent look.
"Funny," Kathleen replied ducking her head behind the seat, laughing nervously as they hit a bout of turbulence, "I was told the opposite thing on the way up." The man nodded appreciatively, and she guessed he was a native of New York. "Do you live in the city?" she asked and the plane lurched again.
"I used to. I lived there for… 13 years if I remember correctly. My wife and I had twins, and we moved away from the city to raise them." He was much older then her, probably the age of her father, the tips of his hair starting to gray. "You visiting family?" he asked. It was a creepy question, though he made it smooth, and didn't have a creepy person vibe, so she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"No, actually. I'm moving to New York."
The man peered at her from behind his designer glasses. "Work?" he guessed.
She shook her head.
"Husband," he nodded confidently.
"No," she smiled.
He paused for a second, and she enjoyed watching his thought process. "Are you on a mission to assassin some high powered co-operate executive for millions of dollars?"
She grinned at the question, the ridiculousness of it. "No!" she said laughing.
"So you're just moving half way across the world for the hell of it? Your 'new thing' for the day?" Kathleen shrugged and nodded. "So you have no idea where you're going to get a job, or an apartment, or anything?"
"I have an apartment," Kathleen muttered, turning her attention to the tray in front of her. Why was she moving to New York? She didn't have a job, she didn't have any family, and she didn't even have an idea of the layout of the city! Was she going completely bonkers?
A small bump indicated the landing of the plan, most of the passengers beginning a clap, a customary ceremony for the safe flight, but she barely noticed. Why did she have to have her mid-life crisis when she arrived here? Why didn't it come before?
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for the question to upset you. I was trying to get your mind off the landing of the plane." The man seemed in full panic for a second, but it faded when Kathleen began to talk,
"No," she muttered, "It's alright. I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going. I'm such an idiot!" she chastised herself. How was a stranger able to send her on a rampage of doubts and fears, when her own mother couldn't convince her what she was doing was foolish?
"How so?" the man asked, and she looked at him, begging him for some reassurance, wondering why this hadn't been a problem before.
The reassurance wasn't coming, and she dissolved into a blubbering stream of gibberish. "How so? How so? Well, first of all, I left all my family and friends behind, as well as a job, as well as a home, as well as a dog, and my mum, and my dad, and my brother, and my-"
"Uh, miss?"
Kathleen glanced at him, wondering what could be more important then her mini-melt down. "What?" she snapped irritated.
"As much as I'm enjoying watching you flip out about your life; you're crushing my fingers…" he looked down at her hand, which was tightened around three of his fingers.
"Wha-" she quickly removed them, wondering how long and how hard they'd been there for. "I'm so sorry!" she started but the man held up a hand to stop her.
"You're going through a tough time. Don't worry. Look, I'm not too good with the advice… my wife's actually forbidden me from divulging my life's wisdom-" he got up and reached into the overhead compartment in one fluid motion, "But about all that life-crisis stuff, leaving everything behind, yada, yada, who cares! It's your life, and now," he pulled out a small leather suitcase, "at least you can be an entrepreneur. Life's no fun if you don't take chances. And chances aren't that fun if there's no risk involved."
He was gone before she could say 'What?', and she dejectedly got off her seat. She was in New York, and there was no going back home until she was successful.
At least she knew where she was headed towards; she thought as she took out her bag and waited patiently in the aisle. At least she had a place to go, even if it wasn't called home.
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Erica lounged on the couch, a book in her hands. Her eyes skimmed the same sentence over and over, but she couldn't comprehend the words that were written, or the story they were trying to tell. It was quarter to nine, her new roommate was supposed to arrive any second now, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something would go wrong.
Sighing, she turned back to her book, attempting to get excited over the story. It was no use, and she found herself thinking about the apartment. She'd been living alone for a year or so now, which wasn't as bad as it seemed.
She'd met up with one of her mum's old friend's son, who, as confusing as that was, literally meant Joey. He lived a couple doors down the hall, so she had someone to talk to and eat dinner with when she got lonely. Emma lived two floors above her, and Jack, her twin brother, lived in a building just across the street, so he was just a small walk away when she got homesick. Work took up most of her days, but she decided she'd be happy to have a roommate- the costs would be split, and maybe she could take some more time off… Maybe buy that couch she always stopped by the Pottery Barn to stare at…
Someone knocked on the door, and she welcomed the distraction from wallowing in her life, taking her feet off the furniture and walking through the kitchen. Looking at the clock, she realized her new roommate was late, although she was coming in from overseas, so the tardiness could be overlooked.
Erica opened the door a split second after the second knock, a harsher, more urgent one. Standing in the doorway was a short girl, maybe 5'5", light black hair and deep dark brown eyes. "Hello?" Erica asked, wondering who the girl was. She had a foreign air about her, and Erica had definitely never seen her around before.
"I'm looking for Erica Bing, would you happen to know where her flat is located? I have a sheet of paper with her addresses, but it got a tad bit wet, so… Are you aright?"
Erica shook her head, the lucid English accent of the girl mesmerizing. "Sorry," she muttered, moving aside to let the British girl in, "I'm Erica… you must be Kathleen? Come in! Take a look around the place. Help yourself to whatever you want until you get settled."
Kathleen nodded her head, smiling brightly, "Thank you. It's nice to finally meet you Erica Bing," she extended a hand, which Erica gladly took. "You're not at all how I imagined you'd look," she admitted, pulling in her oversized suitcase behind her as she looked around.
It was a rather large apartment, and Erica prided herself with being able to afford living in it. "Did you know the walls were purple? And that the cabinets were light blue?" Kathleen asked, walking through the kitchen and then up to the bathroom. She looked around it, but didn't step inside.
"What did you think I'd look like?" Erica asked a bit defensively, ignoring the color comments. She was maybe an inch or so taller then her new roommate, curly dark brown hair, with a high cheek bone and her mothers build. Her father always said that she had her mums light blue eyes, which she later found out wasn't possible.
"This door is green, did you notice that?" Kathleen asked, pointing to the very green door. Erica stared at it for a second, wondering if she really ever had noticed that it was painted green… or the spare room was painted pink… come to think of it, the whole apartment looked as if it was straight from a circus or something, her room the only room that housed a normal color.
"You have a very nice home," Kathleen commented, looking around with a smile.
Erica grunted, shaking the colors from her head. "What did you mean by, 'not how I imagined you'd look?'?" she persisted. Was she not pretty enough to be this British lady's roommate?
Kathleen turned around and gasped horrified at Erica. "No, oh God, no, I didn't mean to offend you. Only, over the phone, you seemed rather… Manish. It must have been the connection, but I was imagining you maybe a bit taller, bigger… I'm sorry Erica Bing; I should stop talking before I embarrass myself more…" She put her handbag on the table. "You're very beautiful, did you know that?" she added, seemingly wanting to make amends.
"Uh, thanks…" Erica couldn't find the words to reply.
Kathleen apparently noticed Erica's discomfort, biting her lip. "Should we try this again?" she asked, and Erica shook her head. The girl seemed to be in distress, and Erica didn't want to give her a hard time. She gave her a small smile,
"No, it's alright… just; I've never met someone from England before."
Kathleen gave a small laugh, relieved there were no hard feelings, "Well, this is my second time in America, and I have to say, I don't know what got into me- wanting to move all the way here, it's completely insane. I've so very glad you decided to offer me a place here… which room will be mine?" she asked, thinking it best to put an end to the evening as quickly as possible. Maybe once she unpacked a little and had a good nights rest, she'd be able to talk straight, and not at all like a crazy person.
Erica led the way to the room on the right, giving Kathleen side glances along the way. "That's it right there," she pointed, and Kathleen nodded contently.
"It's splendid!" she commented, dragging her suitcase inside the room with her. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then," Kathleen nodded, smiling at Erica once again. "Thank you, again, for helping me do this."
She shut the door, and Erica stood in front of it for a moment, taking in the fifteen minutes of life with a roommate. She'd have to ask her friends how they standed living with roommates, because her first impression of Kathleen had left her a little overwhelmed.
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It was three in the morning, and Kathleen woke up with a headache. It took her a second to get her bearings straight, and stop freaking out about the newness of her bedroom. It was pink, but that was something she didn't mind too much, obviously its previous occupant had been a girly girl, or perhaps one of those gay men you heard about all the time.
Shaking her head to rid the thoughts, she regretted the motion almost instantly, a wave of pain shooting through it. Sighing, she got up, deciding that a glass of water would help ease her suffering.
She opened the door to find Erica watching television half-heartedly with a blanket wound tightly around her. Erica's head snapped up to greet Emma, offering a half smile after the initial panic of, 'Oh my GOD, there's someone in my house!' She hadn't had the time to get used the new girl yet.
"Hello," Kathleen muttered, standing in the doorway nervously. Their first introduction hadn't gone very smoothly, and this more then a little awkward.
"Hey," Erica replied softly. She looked back at the TV, and then moved over on the couch. "You can join me if you want," she offered.
Kathleen walked towards her, "I actually just got up for a quick drink; I've got a headache the size of the English Channel."
Erica laughed weakly, watching Kathleen go past her and to the kitchen. "Mind getting me some?" she asked after a second's hesitation.
"No problem," Kathleen filled up two glasses and paused before sitting down beside Erica. This wasn't that bad, she thought as Erica rearranged herself and the blanket on the couch to accommodate for her. "I know why I'm up, but what are you doing at three in the morning?" Kathleen asked, taking the blanket thankfully.
Erica looked back at the TV. "Couldn't sleep," she said shortly, an underlying cause present.
Kathleen looked at the TV, noticing that there was a documentary of some kind on. "When I was little, whenever I couldn't sleep I'd run into my Mum and Dads room and curl up beside them."
Erica laughed, her attention remaining on the TV, "I used to do the same thing- only I have a twin brother, so I'd be the two of us, huddled together in our parents bed… his name's Jack, you'll have to meet him sometime," she added. Talking with Kathleen was turning out to be not at all awkward and strange, the blanket drawing them slowly closer.
"I've only got one brother, a younger one. What are your parents like?" she asked.
Erica thought for a moment, "Well, my Mom's kind of neurotic; she has the tendency to overreact at the small things. She's a clean freak, and my Dad always makes fun of her for it. He jokes around a lot… you should've heard him when I started driving, 'You know, you should start thinking about braking about now, unless you want to go bungee jumping in a hunk of metal… Okay, so if you like hitting pedestrians keep driving like you are, but I suggest you slow down just a tad for that intersection…' He's pretty chill like that."
"How did they meet?"
Erica bit her lip, trying to remember the exact details. "Well, I know that they were friends for a long time before they actually started 'dating', so to speak. I'm not really sure, but I think it happened overseas, somewhere in Europe maybe… Once we went camping, and all the adults got drunk, and what I got from it was that Uncle Ross was marrying someone in London, and that's when my Mom and Dad got together. I'll have to ask them for the story sometime…"
"Are they in love?" Kathleen asked quietly, looking down at the ground.
It struck her as an odd question, but she nodded anyways, "Yeah, even now they're head over heels in love with each other. It makes me wonder if sometimes I'll ever find a person I love that much." Kathleen made no move to interrupt, so she kept going. For a long time she wanted to get these feelings out, and now seemed like the perfect time. It wouldn't make her seem shallow, but it was nothing too personal.
"My Dad, he's so -completely obsessed with her it's scary sometimes. He takes horrible, horrible pictures, right? I mean, it looks like he's trying to give birth or something… But there's this one picture, and it's of him and Mom on their wedding day. And they both look so happy and so content with each other, and he has the biggest smile on his face, like he was waiting his whole life for that one moment. It really makes me wonder if I'll ever be like that…"
"I'm sure you will be," Kathleen said after a second. "Everyone's got that one person they belong with; it just might take a while to find them. If it helps, sometimes I feel that way- that I'm going to die alone."
Erica smiled at her words, glad that they had something in common. "What are your parents like?" she asked.
Kathleen, like Erica, took a moment to figure out how to sum up her parents in a paragraph. And to decide how much she wanted to share with a person she'd just met the night prior.
"My Moms… interesting. Her and Dad don't seem in love to me… She wants the best for me, but she's always working, late into the night. I moved out when I turned 19, went to live with an old friend, Benji. Lived with him up until I moved here. My Dad's pretty much a complete arse though, he- he likes his liquor… He and my Mum don't talk all that much, they've got an odd relationship going… I was happy to start living on my own."
Erica glanced at her quickly, wondering what she would do if her Mom and Dad hadn't been in love. If she hadn't had the childhood she'd had, and if they'd broken up… there were a lot of tears on her moving day, and she had loved living with her parents, though at times they were overbearing.
"You're going to love living here," Erica said after a couple minutes of silence. Kathleen nodded without turning away from the TV. Erica's eyes were barely holding up, and she saw Kathleen reach for to mute the television from the corner of her eye. The subtitles became blurrier and blurrier, and the last thing Erica heard before she closed her eyes was Kathleen's soft laughter.
The show ended, and Kathleen shut off the TV after spending a reasonable amount of time looking for the correct button on the remote. She smiled as she lifted Erica's feet off her lap gently, she had somehow managed to stretch out across the couch, her head nuzzled into a pillow; things would be fine between them after all.
Their talk hadn't been deep or meaningful, but it was a start. She'd learned about her family, and Erica had learned about hers. It was noting too intense, but it felt like the start of something. She covered Erica with a blanket, taking the two half full glasses of water and placing them in the sink before walking back to her room.
"Night Erica Bing," she whispered as she shut the door, "It was nice meeting you."
She crawled into bed and was asleep in an instance.
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Kathleen woke up, and voices she didn't recognize muddled together, the sound making her groan. Was it morning already?
Thin light flooded into her bedroom, and she yawned. It was the start of a new day, her first day here in New York City…
Unless of course, the late night conversation she'd had with Erica was considered 'today', in which case it was the start of a later day, at a more reasonable hour in the morning.
The voices were progressively getting louder, and she heard the name 'Erica' somewhere in the conversation, so she assumed that it wasn't anything to worry about. Deciding on simple jeans and a random logo t-shirt, she pinned her hair up and opened the door.
It was a lot brighter out in the main living area then it had been in her bedroom, and her hands automatically shot up to her eyes, protecting them from the light.
"Morning Kathleen," she heard Erica say, and she forced herself to attempt opening her eyes again.
"Cheers," Kathleen replied sarcastically. She wasn't a morning person, and when she opened her eyes, she noticed that she wasn't the only one who had the same problem. There was a pretty girl sitting at the table, her hair in a messy bun, chin placed firmly on palm, making an effort not to fall in her grilled cheese.
"Wow, she does have an accent!" a black haired boy exclaimed, Erica promptly kicking him in the shin. Kathleen shot him a look, but immediately reclaimed it, seeing who she was glaring at clearly.
"Hello," she smiled shyly at the boy. He looked young, younger then her by at least five years, but he was cute. His hair was untampered with, a boyish smile greeting her, his tight t-shirt stretched stylishly across his chest.
"That's Joey," Erica introduced, her tone a warning to him. She pointed to the tired girl on her left, "And that's Emma… They come over for breakfast occasionally," she explained.
Joey laughed into his orange juice. "If by occasionally you mean every day."
"Do you want to make your own food?" Erica threatened, and Joey shook his head, taking a bite out of his own grilled cheese.
Emma gave a half-wave, yawning loudly. "Mo-mornin'," she stuttered as she stretched her arms out.
Kathleen couldn't contain her giggle, "Morning." She walked across the kitchen and got herself a glass, feeling the stares of all three people on her back.
"Sit down and have a bite with us," Erica invited, and Kathleen looked around the small table,
"There isn't anywhere to sit…"
Joey looked up at the comment and backed his chair out slightly, "There's a seat on my lap if you'd be willing to take it," he offered with a wink, and Kathleen stared.
Was he doing what she thought he was doing?
"Oh, shut-up Joe. Don't listen to him," Erica advised, disappearing to the green door for a moment.
Kathleen took her seat, helping herself to an apple that was on the table,
"So, your names Kathleen, right?" Emma asked with another yawn.
Kathleen smiled at her, yawning right after hers finished. "Yes, Kathleen Davis… Your own?"
"Emma Geller-Greene… well," she paused, thinking for a second. "I guess just Emma Greene, because my Mom and Dad eventually got married… Would it, Joey?"
"Joey Tribbiani Junior the third," Joey answered with a grin, and Emma rolled her eyes. It was too early in the morning to be trying to correcting Joey. Kathleen laughed at the misunderstanding,
"And you're all friends of Erica's?" They both nodded, and Erica came to the table with an extra chair. "Guess I should keep out an extra chair from now on," she laughed, and Kathleen nodded.
Joey finished off his orange juice and got up to put the empty glass in the sink. "So is it strictly Kathleen, or do you answer to anything else?"
"Depends what it is," Kathleen answered, already having a general idea of what Joey was made of. She laughed at the face Joey pulled.
"Hey! I don't mean dirty or anything! I meant like… Kate or Katie…" Kathleen screwed up her face. No one had ever referred to her as any of those names- maybe a boyfriend or two calling her Katie, but other then that…
"How about Kato?" Emma asked, placing her dirty dishes in the sink as well. Unlike Joey, she came back and sat down. "Can we call you that?"
Kathleen shrugged, "If you want."
"Sounds good," Emma nodded. The phone started ringing and Joey automatically picked it up, answering with a prompt,
"Hello?"
"Joey!" Erica whined, and he waved her off.
"Yeah, I'm doing good Auntie Mon, how 'bout yourself?..."
"It's my Mom," Erica explained to Kathleen, who was watching the interaction,
"And Joey always answers the phone, and then walks away with it… Sometimes it gets annoying; we're trying to kick the habit, but…"
Kathleen smiled as Joey indeed walked away with the phone, heading into her room. She stood up, watching as he walked through the door way, the sound of the bed springs being compressed drifting to the table. "Should I be worried?" she asked nervously.
"Nah, either he has no idea where he's going, and he'll come out in a couple seconds like a mad man, or he likes you and already feels like your big brother."
They all looked at the door, and Kathleen slowly sat down, Joey having been there for several minutes.
"I better get him off the phone with my Mom before he asks her to marry him or something…" Erica muttered, heading towards Kathleen's room. "You don't mind, do you Kato?" she asked halfway there, and Kathleen smiled, shaking her head.
"So what are you up to today?" Emma asked, and Kathleen turned away from the bedroom, where random voices and thumps could be heard.
"Well, I'm planning to unpack- get settled, I have a interview tomorrow at one of the museums somewhere around here, though I don't know exactly where it is... are you alright?" she asked, Emma gawking at her with wide eyes and a open mouth.
"Are you a paleontologist?"
"Well, technically yes, but my main area of expertise is paleozoology, with a specialty in invertebrate paleontology. Why do you ask?"
Emma brushed her bangs out of her eyes, taking a closer look at Kathleen. "But your… pretty," she stated, not believing what she was hearing.
"T-Thank you?"
Emma shook her head. It was early in the morning, but that still wasn't an excuse to be incoherent, no matter what Joey said. "It's just, my Dad's a paleontologist, and all the woman that work with him are all creepy and old and… weird. You seem pretty normal, and you're really pretty…"
"Does your Dad specialize in anything?" Kathleen asked, instantly interested.
"Uh… he used to teach at the University?" Kathleen was cool, but this conversation was dragging her into the deep end. Why couldn't the stupid old dinosaurs all wear stylish parkas… she could just imagine the 'T-Rex' line of expandable tie straps…
"What are you doing tonight?" Emma asked shaking the thoughts of Jurassic Park animals prancing around in Gucci and Prada. Kathleen bit her lip, thinking,
"Uh… nothing, I think…"
Emma nodded, "Well, we were all planning to watch a movie at my place, you want to come along? My Dad's going to drop by, and maybe he can get you some connections- get a job at the university he works at or the museum or something…"
"Yeah, that'd be really cool," Kathleen smiled.
"What's cool?" Joey asked, coming from her bedroom, the door slamming behind him. He winced from the noise, and kneeled down on the couch, hanging off the edge.
"Kate's going to come over and watch a movie with us tonight," Emma explained, getting up and heading to the door. "I got to get to work, but tell Erica thanks for the food, alright?"
Kathleen nodded, waving to her as she left. She didn't know yet whether to consider Emma a friend or not, but she was certainly one less person she didn't know in the world. Putting the dishes in the sink, she started the water, waiting for it to get hot.
"What're you doing?" Joey asked from the couch, and Kathleen turned around,
"I'm going to get a start on the dishes… Why, want to help?"
"Nah," Joey replied instantly. "Why don't you come and join me?" he ventured, and Kathleen shrugged,
"Why not."
She sat down on the couch beside Joey, and he picked up the remote and put his arm around her shoulders. Kathleen looked up at him questioningly, and Joey laughed.
"Don't worry; I know you're off limits. Already got an earful from Erica… Doesn't mean I won't say no to holding a beautiful woman when I get the chance," he smiled.
Kathleen laughed, "You've got some good lines, you know that?" she asked, and Joey nodded smugly.
"I've got a million of 'em. How do you think I get so many women?" he asked, and he turned on the TV, putting his feet up on the coffee table.
"Well, I thought it was your natural charm, since you seem to have it in abundance," Kathleen replied, enjoying the playful banter.
Joey laughed and shook his head, Kathleen leaning her head on his chest. "Are you okay with this though?" he asked her seriously.
"If I am will it make me a slut?" she asked.
Joey shook his head, "You're heart's too big to be a slut."
Kathleen nodded, "Then it's fine as long as you know it isn't leading to anything…" she paused. "How do you know how big my heart is?" she asked, and Joey laughed.
"When I was in your room, I saw three things. Your bra, your pants, and a picture of three people. You, a gay guy, and an old man in a wheelchair. If the first thing you unpacked is that photo, I'm betting good bucks that you're a good person."
"How did you know Benji was gay?"
Joey patted her arm, "Let's just call it a talent and leave it at that."
As the sitcom of choice progressed in its plot, Kathleen slowly moved from under Joey's arm to her feet on his lap, her head twisted to maintain her view of the television.
Joey was turning out to be more of a puzzle then she'd originally thought, the things he said constantly contradicting the things he did and what he meant.
Erica came from the bedroom nearing the end of the plot, and didn't give Kathleen and Joey a second look as she stormed in front of the TV and to her own room.
Kathleen watched her as she slammed the door, and looked over to Joey. "Should we go see what's wrong?" she asked, and Joey shook her head.
"Give her a bit of time. Usually five minutes is good, she'll be calmed down by then, and if you insist on staying with her, she'll agree," he answered, arms still folded, attention focused on the television.
"Oh…" was all Kathleen could say. The show ended, and Joey slid out from Kathleen's feet.
"I'm going to go talk to her," he explained, and Kathleen nodded, knowing that she didn't know nearly enough about Erica to help her through whatever she was going through.
She sighed as she got off the couch and walked to the kitchen, starting the water for the dishes.
New York had so far proven to be alright, and Erica's friends seemed to accept her as the new roommate. She started the doing the dishes, letting the warm water run down her hands.
Emma and Joey seemed pretty cool, and she knew she could be friends with them if they gave her a chance. This afternoon would be interesting, meeting Emma's Dad and spending a couple hours with people she didn't know.
She could hear Joey talking to Erica in a low, calming voice, and that together with the rhythmic flow of the water seemed to calm all and any jitters about the move.
It'd only been a day, but it was starting to feel like home already.
Kathleen and New York City
-Cohen101-
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