Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own neither Sawyer, nor Kate, nor anything having to do with LOST. 'Nuff said.
A/N: Yes, a one-shot, I know, but after finally finishing my other story, I was in the mood for writing, and came up with this. Ladies and gentlemen, LOST, Sawyer, and Kate lovers alike, may I welcome you to...
"Martini and a
Massage"
"Damn fine place." Sawyer murmured approvingly as he stepped into his hotel room. Big, roomy, a TV you could get lost in, a dream-like view of an isolated Hawaii beach, and, of course, a king-sized bed. Just like he liked it!
Nonchalantly, he tossed his bags to the side, kicked off his shoes, and suavely sat on the bed, testing its springs by bouncing a little. "Damn fine." He emphasized, finally flopping back.
"Well, America; good to be home." He grinned at the ceiling and closed his eyes, drifting into a shallow sleep.
He could remember the way she looked at him when he told her he had a life to live…a life that didn't involve her.
"What do you mean, James?" Her big eyes looked wide and innocent, but he knew they weren't.
"Woman, it's Sawyer now! And you know exactly what I mean. I'm finally gonna get to live a life away from the people I've been stuck with for…who knows how long!" He spat maliciously, and her eyes filled with tears.
"James…Sawyer, I don't…I thought we talked about this. I want to be with you." She pleaded imploringly, holding out her hands.
He wanted more than anything to take those hands, but…
No.
"Kate," his voice was low and venomous, "we did talk about this. And when we talked about this, you said you and Jack were meant to be, so I'm letting you have your space now. I'm letting you have your way! Isn't that what you always wanted? Well, isn't it?"
"I thought we were past this! I thought this is what you wanted too!"
Her voice was wracked with sobs, now, and he was responsible. Swears tore from his throat, and he kicked over a chair, cursing her and every connection to her that he'd ever had.
Sawyer awoke with a start, and he looked around angrily for Kate's tear-streaked face.
…Then he realized it was just a dream. The same dream, the same memories he'd been having since their last fight. Since their last night together.
"Time to hit the bar."
-
Sawyer stalked into the bar and ran his fingers through his hair, still not completely rid of his memories of the woman he loved.
"Martini." He hissed at the bartender, knowing the drink would calm him down.
When the drink came to him, he ran his fingers over the glass. It was almost a way to reminisce over Kate, knowing that it was so much like her. The glass was just that - glass: fragile, unbalanced, but perfect and flawless. It was transparent enough to let you see just what it contained, but unless you'd tasted what was inside, you had no idea what to expect.
He took a sip of the drink, swirling it in his mouth and relishing the flavor. Complex, subtle, intoxicating and like no other. Unanticipated on the outside, vulnerably predictable on the inside and yet…just as addictive as if it were for the first time. Yes, if Kate was a beverage, she'd be a martini.
Sawyer smiled at the thought, drained the glass, and set it down along with his payment. While it didn't rid his mind of Kate, it momentarily relieved him from his nightmarish memories.
On his way out of the bar, Sawyer looked at a flyer someone had posted on a light pole just outside the door.
"Free massage for first customers!" It raved, "Every time after just 39.99!" It was handwritten, with the multiple exclamation marks and flirty handwriting implying that it was a female-run business.
"Better be, anyway." Sawyer muttered, "'cause ain't no way I'm gettin' a massage from a man."
Despite his negative thoughts, he had to admit that a free massage sounded like the perfect way to relax, particularly in Hawaii, where the women were sure to be dark and exotic. The address on the flyer wasn't too far from the bar, so he walked.
When he got to the front of the building, he was impressed. It was white-walled and modern, with art that was rich and easy on the eyes. The receptionist at the front desk looked like a tradition Hawaiian businesswoman: raven hair pulled up in a bun with Oriental fasteners through it, black-edged glasses framing dark, oval eyes, white suit, deep purple blouse…and beautiful.
Very beautiful.
Beautiful enough, in fact, that Sawyer's mind was momentarily tugged from his thoughts of Kate.
He walked in smugly, his saunter renewed with fresh confidence. "Excuse me, miss," he said, his bass voice resonating in the tiled room, "but would you mind educating me a little on your policies? This is my first visit."
The receptionist looked up in surprise and immediately couldn't take her eyes off of Sawyer. She smiled a little and bit her lip. "If this is your first time, you get a free massage…and all I can do is show you to the room you'll be in. If you'd take off your clothes and put on this towel…"
She held out a clean, white towel and he glanced at it expectantly.
"…Not right here, I presume?"
"Oh!" She turned crimson and daintily threw the towel at him. "Let me show you your room."
She clicked down the hall in her high heels, and Sawyer followed, smiling his usual cocky grin. If his masseuse was anything like the receptionist, this would be fun.
She dropped him off in his room, telling him to change into the towel and then get on the bed and his masseuse would be in shortly. She closed the door after herself very slowly, as if she was hoping to get a glimpse of him with his shirt off. Unfortunately for her, he waited until the door was completely shut before he changed.
By the time the door opened again, Sawyer was on the table wearing only a towel and a smirk, with his face buried in a pillow and his eyes closed.
"Hello, sir. I'll be your masseuse today." The voice behind him was definitely female, and the tone was low and alluring.
"Mmmm." Sawyer mumbled; despite the fact that normally he would love to have a masseuse that sounded sexy, he wasn't really listening because she almost sounded like Kate. It brought back too many memories.
"What's your name?" He finally brought himself to ask without opening his eyes.
"Kakalina, sir." Hawaiian.
"Good." He rumbled, settling himself to his pillow as she poured hot oil onto his bare back. "Very good."
Kakalina rubbed the oil over his skin, admiring his golden tan. Her fingers were lithe and nimble, and they danced expertly, kneading at his neck first and making her way down. She rubbed gentle circles into the small of his back and was fascinated by the way his muscles rippled when he curved into her touch.
"That's…wonderful." Sawyer breathed, inadvertently arching the muscles she was so deftly caressing.
Her hands traveled up his sides to finally reach up to his neck, where she made a disapproving noise.
"What?" Sawyer whispered, his breath almost taken away.
"You're so tense. Do you mind if I rub a little harder?"
He shook his head and then bit back a moan of satisfaction as his muscles relaxed under her expert touch. "Baby, you're the best masseuse I've ever had." He murmured, sinking into bliss.
Kakalina smiled but made no response, focusing on kneading his neck, then his upper back, then his shoulders. "If you don't mind flipping over now, sir."
Sawyer was in such a relaxed state that he didn't even open his eyes as he turned, baring his chest but making sure his towel remained securely fastened around his waist. "Sure thing, baby."
She poured oil onto his collarbone, and he finally let out a moan at the sensation. "What is that stuff?"
"It's a more stimulating relaxant than normal oils, sir." Kakalina said calmly, rubbing it softly into his chest. "We make it here in Hawaii - no where else."
They were silent for several minutes, save for the shallow breathing of Sawyer, until she reached his stomach and started gently caressing the tense muscles. Her client arched and tilted his head back, letting out another moan and grabbing her wrist at the same time.
"Sir?"
"I have to see your face." Sawyer finally opened his eyes and scanned the woman standing before him.
"I knew it was you." He said grimly, releasing her but not bringing himself to sit up.
"And I knew it was you, even though the receptionist hadn't gotten your name." Kate took a towel and wiped the oil off of her hands very carefully and very methodically.
"Yeah, well, you lied about yours." Sawyer spat disgustedly, finally sitting up and throwing his legs over the side of the table.
"Did not!" She retorted, throwing the towel at him.
"Did so!" He yelled, throwing it back.
Kate caught it deftly and glared. "That's real mature."
"You lied about your name! To me!" Sawyer sputtered, appearing very put out over the technicality.
"I didn't," she resisted the urge to stamp her foot, "Kakalina is the Hawaiian version of Katherine, James."
"It's not James, Kate! It's Sawyer!"
"And you're yelling at me for "lying" about my name?" Kate rolled her eyes and threw the towel at the wall.
Both of them fumed without looking at each other; Kate in her spotless masseuse uniform and Sawyer in his towel, his chest and back still gleaming with oil. After an eternity of seconds passed, Sawyer finally muttered, "So, you work here, or are you just playing for a con?"
"Some of us make respectable work, James." She stubbornly used his real name but still wouldn't look at him. Finally, he raised his eyes to look at her.
Yeah, she looked like a Martini, dressed up in a crisp white blouse and a tight white skirt. Her dark hair was beginning to fall down from the bun she had it in - the style identical to the one the receptionist sported. She looked so fragile, so easily broken and tainted, but her eyes - olive colored, Sawyer noted with a hint of irony - flaunted a formidable display of fearsome strength.
Even her hands, a masseuse's hands…wait. Why wasn't…
Kate's eyes met his. "What are you looking at?"
"Your hands, sweetcheeks. Where's the rock the doc gave you after we split our ways?"
"If you're referring to my ring," Kate gave him a smoldering glare, "Jack and I broke off the engagement. Things weren't working."
The news came as a surprise to Sawyer, and he repositioned himself so he could look Kate directly in the eyes. "Why not?"
"Is that any of your business?"
"Hell yes."
Kate sighed and tucked a strand of falling hair. Sawyer had seen her do that a lot; she did it when she was nervous or the situation was about to get awkward. "It wasn't working because…because I was still too centered on you, and Jack wasn't prepared to give me time to work around it. He kept saying he could fix me; that he could fix us, but he finally got fed up and he left."
"Doesn't sound like the doc." Sawyer mused, taking her left hand in both of his and softly stroking the area of skin where a ring would be.
Kate looked away. "I might've thrown the ring back at him just before he made up his mind."
He smiled and kissed her fingers. "The truth comes out, Freckles. Always does."
The sound of him calling her by the name he always used when they were on the island caused a memories to flood Kate's mind, and tears to flood her eyes. "Oh, Sawyer, I can't help it anymore!" Before Sawyer knew what was happening, she had thrown her arms around his oil-slicked neck, and she was sobbing on his shoulder.
"I still…I still…I still…"
She tried to hiccup out a sobbing would-be sentence before he silenced her by taking down her hair and running his fingers through it. His free arm circled around her waist in a close embrace, and he whispered softly in her ear, "I know. I love you too, Kate."
Kate slipped her hands down his back, rubbing slow circles as her hot tears slid down his shoulder, and Sawyer kissed her neck. "It's gonna be okay, Freckles; it really will. Ain't nothin' needs fixin' with the two of us, and we both know it."
There was silence for a moment before Kate lifted her face from his shoulder and enveloped his mouth with her own. It was intense, needy, and her lips felt like fire, but Sawyer relished the sensation.
"Hell, Katie." Sawyer breathed as soon as their mouths parted, not even noticing his own alteration of her name.
But she noticed.
"I like that," she smiled, mascara beginning to run with her tears, "and I have an idea."
Sawyer looked into her face: it was tear-streaked like it always was in his nightmares, but this time she was smiling and in his arms to stay. "What's your idea, Freckles?" He whispered, his hand coming out of her hair and gently stroking her stomach.
"Let's run away together."
She looked into his eyes expectantly and bit the corner of her lip - an action that she knew would make Sawyer bend to her wishes.
And of course, she was right. Sawyer placed light kisses along the inside of her neck before responding in a sultry tone.
"Only if I get a taste of my Martini on the way out."
- fin -