To everyone that has read the other version of this story, don't spoil anything for the people that hasn't. I'm quoting Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird when I say put yourself in everyone else's skin and walk around in it. Imagine how it would feel to have the story spoiled for you.
Keep that in mind.
My phone starts to beep and I look down, sighing in relief when I see it's my alarm telling me it's six and I'm off of work. A grin spreads across my lips as I shut down my computer, tug my coat over my long sleeve t-shirt, stuff my phone in my pocket, grab my purse, lock the filing cabinet and walk down the hall to the elevator.
"Bye Katniss!" Olivia waves from her cubicle and I wave back as I press the down button with my other hand.
"Bye Olivia! Have a great day!" She just smiles. I walk onto the elevator and let is soar down to the lobby.
"Katniss!" Linda, the secretary grins. "Have a nice day!" she waves.
"You too Linda!" I smile back at her as I push my way out into the bitter winter air. It's in the negatives here in New York City and everything is slippery.
I grew up in Kentucky in a poor house with my poor parents and my little sister, so Daddy had to hunt for our food. He taught me, so I'm pretty stealthy. It's not hard to stay standing. I walk to my blood red mini cooper and get inside. I turn the heat on high and wait till it's warmed up my car to start driving.
I have to admit I miss my family. I haven't seen them since Christmas and Thanksgiving just passed. It's been almost a year. My sister is only sixteen years old, while I am twenty two, six years older.
We are polar opposites, Prim (my sister) and I. She's rude and disrespectful to everyone and me…I'm quiet and I don't like any male. I can't trust them. They're all dogs. The only males I trust are the ones in my family and my best friend in the whole world, Finnick Bradley Odair. I keep to myself and I'm nice, apparently too nice, to everyone. Sure, I'm sarcastic and everything and I'm rude about it but I do things without being told, my manners are perfect, I don't wear short clothing and I am respectful to everyone. And as my cousin Johanna says, my favorite word is sorry. While Prim listens to 'screamo' as she calls it, I listen to Taylor Swift. Oh, and Prim's language is horrendous, her grammar is horrible and almost every sentence involves profanity, but my speech is perfect and I only swear when I'm really angry.
I don't understand how one can call 'screamo' music, when all it is a ton of loud earsplitting music with a lead 'singer' screaming.
I shake the thought from my mind and focus on my driving. I always go ton Starbucks twice a day, and on days I have off I go sometimes the whole day. The only reason I spend so much time there is because that is where Finnick works.
I can't get a parking spot because there isn't parking lots in New York City, you just sort of parallel park on the side of the road. I have to drive probably like two miles down the street and park down the hill. I get out, grab my keys and purse and lock my car. I tuck my hands in my jacket pocket as it starts to snow lightly and walk up the street.
The Starbucks here in New York City that Finn works at is high up compared to the one back home. It's a crumpling old building that doesn't sell my usual, while the one here sells every single drink they have to offer and it has a bar and a TV the size of the entire wall with plush velvet couches. The building itself is the size of our grocery store back home in Kentucky. I walk up the street the two miles and open the door.
"Kitty!" Finnick shouts across the store. He can basically be as loud as he wants. His friends Jake and Kate work here and they're just as bad as he is.
Jake is okay to me but I will never tell him any secrets.
I guess it's because I was raped back in high school by my ex-boyfriend, Cato Harris. The only reason Finnick is not on my watch list is because he found me there. He bathed me and dressed me and held me while I cried. He didn't leave my side one time. Even now, six years later, he doesn't like the thought of me being alone.
"Hello? Earth to Kitty!" he snaps his fingers in front of my face.
"Sorry." I frown.
"JAKE I'M GOING ON BREAK!" he shrieks. Then he makes my coffee, lets me pay after insisting I can have it free, and then he sits down and makes me sit with him. He looks bubbling with excitement.
"What?" I laugh. He starts bouncing up and down in his chair with excitement and I smile and take a sip of the hot Caramel Apple Spice coffee. It drizzles down my throat and into my stomach, and I'm so cold I can feel it.
"I met this girl named Annie Cresta and she's insanely beautiful and I want to marry her!" he says so loudly that everyone shoots him irritated looks.
"When did you meet her?" I ask.
"Five minutes ago!" he exclaims.
"Finn…" I bite my lip. "How could you know you want to marry her when you meet her?"
"Oh fuck off Kitty! Just because you don't believe in love at first sight doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I just know I love her. Her smile and her laugh and that way her eyes sparkle like you're shining a flashlight in them. She's so beautiful and she doesn't wear makeup and she has perfect manners. She said I was cute and I'm in love with her."
"Finn you just met her."
"You watch Kitty, one day you'll run into someone and you'll look into his eyes. You'll get a warm feeling and tingling. When your skin meets you'll feel like someone stabbed you with a pencil but instead of pain it's like a hand orgasm and he'll make you smile-"
"I'm never going to date anybody again, and there is no way I'm getting married."
"You won't say that when you meet him Katniss." He says. And I know he's serious because he says Katniss instead of Kitty.
"Right," I stand up. "Well, I have to go; my couch is waiting for me."
"Yeah, yeah, have fun with your vibrator." He says.
"Finn!" I laugh. "You're so crazy."
"I love you too." He kisses my cheek and pulls me into a bone crushing hug. A guy is staring at me from across the store. His eyes are brown and his hair is dark.
"Yeah, yeah, love you." I mumble. I release him and head for the door.
"Hey wait!" the guy says loudly. Finnick stares from the other side of the counter, watching. The family wants me to stop dwelling in the past. I look at him and stand by the door, ready to run. "Hey, what's your name?" he asks.
"Katniss…" I confirm.
"You're really quite beautiful." He compliments. I flush red.
"Thanks…" I mumble. Finn is clearly gesturing for me to let him in but I ignore him.
"Are you single?" he asks.
I think for a moment. "No." I lie.
"Oh." His face falls. "Well, it was nice talking to you." he walks out of the store.
"Kitty!" Finn whines.
"Bye!" I walk out of the store with my coffee in my hand and run. It's snowing harder now.
I crash right into someone, and I was running so hard that my coffee cup explodes on the person's chest and sends both of us so the frozen sidewalk. I hit my head, but it wasn't hard.
"Oh my goodness!" the guy stands up and offers a hand. I give in and take it, and it feels incredible when our skin makes contact. He pulls me to my feet, and I'm shocked when he starts checking me for injuries. He looks into my eyes. "I am so sorry; I seriously didn't mean to do that!"
"I was the one that ran into our, it's okay." I frown.
Only crap. He is wearing a long sleeve white shirt and a tan jacket. His hair is ashy blond and it curls at the tips. His eyes make my body light on fire and a sensation that almost like I'm floating takes over my senses. The heat turns into a tingling feeling. My coffee must be hot. His white shirt is clinging to his stomach, which is tan, with a major six pack. His pecks are large but not like boob large like a fat man, they're large like he works out every day. And steam is coming off of him. I pick up my coffee cup and toss it in the garbage. "I…I am so sorry. So, so sorry; I can't believe I did that! I'm sorry! I was running because my friend was gonna yell at me because this guy asked if I was single and I lied and said yes and I guess I wasn't paying attention…I'm sorry. I am so sorry, sorry, I feel I…I-I sorry."
"You really like to say sorry." And then he grins. I realize i
I've just opened up about lying to that guy.
This is another guy and I'm actually talking to him. "I'm sorry." I blurt. "You must be freezing…"
"Oh I'll be fine, listen-"
"You have to let me buy you a new shirt." I blurt. He frowns.
"I'll be fine." He insists.
"No, you have to let me buy you a new one." I'm insisting because I feel bad, and because I have the overwhelming urge to see him without his shirt on.
No Katniss! This is a boy and all boys are animals! What the fuck are you doing! He's going to rape you just like Cato did!
But something in the more reasonable side of my brain tells me that I'm wrong. This man, whatever the heck his name is, will not do anything to hurt me. Something tells me that so strongly that I find myself believing it.
"Um…" he looks around.
"There's a t-shirt store up the street that way a little bit." I blurt, pointing up the road. He follows me finger.
"Um…okay. I guess…let's go then." He says. He walks alongside me, close enough that if he wanted to do something to me he could, but he doesn't. His hands remain in his pockets. "What's your name?" he asks.
"Katniss Joy Everdeen." I say.
"That's a pretty name." he smiles. "I'm Peeta…Ryan Mellark." He says. "And before you ask, yes, Peeta like the bread; my parents own a bakery." He explains. I frown.
"What is Peeta bread?" I ask. He raises his eyebrows.
"You've never had any?" he asks.
"Um…no…I'm not very skilled in the kitchen. I can't make anything without burning it."
"Oh it can't be that bad." He smiles again and grabs my hand all of the sudden to pull me across the street. The heat appears and just before it gets so incredibly amazing, his hand drops from mine.
"Oh trust me," I laugh at myself. "It is. I set the fire alarm off when I made toast this morning."
He starts laughing, and the warmth reappears. I reach for the door of the store but his hand shoots out and opens it before I can, and he holds it for me and gestures for me to enter first. "Ladies first." he smiles.
"Pick anything. I don't care if it's a million dollars. I destroyed your shirt."
He looks around and grabs almost the exact same shirt that he already has on; it's fifteen dollars. "I can pay for it Katniss Joy, really." He says.
"You know that my first name is Katniss and not Katniss Joy, right?" I ask.
"Yes, but Katniss Joy is a beautiful name. I will never wear it out because it is impossible to wear out such a flawless name for such a flawless person."
My face feels like it's on fire and I must look like a total idiot standing here bright red. "Thanks…" I mumble, looking down at my boots. I pay without a word. Peeta…Ryan, Peeta Ryan looks around.
"Is there a dressing room here?" he asks.
"No. You can just change here." The man says. "You two are a cute couple." He compliments.
"We're not um…" Peeta trails off. I shake my head.
"We're not…like that." I look down again and bite my lip.
"My apologizes." He says.
"It's okay sir." I reply.
As I said, I have a lot of respect for people older than me. He looks surprised and he smiles.
I fight the urge to look at Peeta when he takes his shirt off.
If girls could get boners I would have my front pressed up against the counter right now. I want so badly to look at him but I don't because I feel as if I am pressing into his personal space.
Heck, I only met this beautiful man ten minutes ago.
As we exit the store, I feel myself getting upset. He stands in front of me outside awkwardly for a minute. "Let me buy you a new coffee." He says.
"Oh, that won't be necessary, I go there every day-"
"Please? You bought me a new shirt. It's only fair I buy you a new coffee." He insists.
"I was almost done with it anyways." I say. He laughs and leans against the side of the store.
"Katniss Joy, that was an awful lot of coffee to be almost done with, now wasn't it?" he grins.
Gosh he is so breathtakingly amazing. I bite my lip. "Yes." I say.
"So let me buy you a new coffee." He says.
"I don't know…" I trail off.
"If you don't like being around me Katniss, I understand, but I can assure you I am a very likable person, so…" he trails off.
"Alright, alright, you can buy me a new coffee, but I have to be home in an hour!" I give in.