Bonjour! You may know me from my Ryley fic After. Starting Over, however, isn't Ryley. I went onto the Kartie section on here and saw only six stories and most of them are oneshots. I am head over heels in love with Kartie (not as much as Ryley, but it's a definite OTP...Not the OTP though. That will forever and always be Ryley). I'm rambling. Anyway, for this story, I am pretending that the Tested episode never happened. I'm also going to keep Finn alive for at least most of this story, if not the whole thing.
Ships: Kartie (it's kind of a given), Ryley (of course), Brittana, Finchel, etc... I'm not to sure about Klaine lately. I may also experiment with Brake (Jake and Bree) later on. Tell me if I have the ship name wrong. This will be mainly in Kitty's point of view.
Disclaimer: I swear on everything in the world that I don't own Glee. I also will do anything in the world to make it mine. *Creepily retreats into the shadows*
I pulled opened the door to the Starbucks and stepped inside. The air conditioning swept over me, relieving me of the sticky late June heat. I walked towards the counter, pulling the little hand that was clutched in mine.
"What do you want," I asked. She shrugged, not meeting my eyes, "Honey, you have to eat something. I haven't seen you eat anything but goldfish in two days." She still didn't look up at me. "I'm getting you a cinnamon roll and a chocolate milkshake and you're going to eat it. Okay?" Slowly, she nodded. I placed the order and went to go sit down. I glanced down at my phone to check the time when a figure at a neighboring table caught my eye. When I realized who it was, I nearly dropped my phone. While I contemplated what to do, I took him in. He still had the same wheelchair and wore the same racing gloves and the same glasses. Suddenly, our eyes met and his mouth dropped open. Before I knew what to do, he was wheeling over to where I was sitting.
"Kitty," he said, sounding shocked.
"Artie," I said, cringing, "Hi."
"How are you," Artie said. He glanced at the figure sitting beside me, "Who's this little lady."
"This is Anna. She's, um," I searched for a word that described my situation, "My daughter."
"Oh," he said, sounding surprised and almost crestfallen, "Well, I have to go back to my table, but do you want to catch up sometime?"
"Um ," I hesitated, wanting to say no, but not knowing how. I was saved by Marley, who walked up to our table.
"Hi Kitty, hi Anna," she said enthusiastically. She glanced at Artie, and then at me, and then at Artie again, "Hi Artie."
"Hi Marley," Artie replied, "What brings you here."
"Oh, I babysit Anna while Kitty's at work," Marley explained, "Why are you here?"
"I am trying to convince Kitty to come to dinner with me tonight," Artie said.
"I would, but I don't have anyone to watch Anna," I said, praising myself for thinking on the spot.
"I can take her," Marley spoke up. I spoke too soon.
"You can," I asked, trying to sound relieved.
"Yeah," she replied, "It's Ryder's and my movie night, but I've been waiting for an excuse to watch Despicable Me Two."
"Great. I know this amazing restaurant down the street," he said, smiling. He gave me the address and waved goodbye, heading back to his table. Marley slid into he seat across from Anna and I.
"So," she said, "Is this the start of Kartie."
"Is this another one of those stupid nicknames," I asked. She nodded wildly.
"I just ship you guys so hard," she said, giggling. "Plus, he's a big director now and he has a lot money. And," she continued, "He stopped wearing the vests. He's pretty cute too."
"Okay, you are so adorable right now, but you're engaged." I said, shaking my head in exasperation.
"Kitty," she said in mock offense, "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"
"You are literally the biggest dork I have ever met. You and Ryder are meant for each other; I was just kidding," I said, laughing, "I have to go. I'm running late for work. Make sure she eats. Bye guys." I waved and made my way out of the restaurant, being careful to avoid Artie's table
After I drove the three blocks to Greywall Corporate Headquarters through the heavy New York traffic, and made my way up to my small office, my boss, Edward Johnson, knocked on my door.
"Come in," I replied. He opened the door and stepped inside.
"I've got another case for you," he said bluntly.
"Okay," I said, "What is it."
"LG Corp is suing GE for fifty million dollars. Julienne Alfred is here to talk to you. She's the head of the legal department at GE," he said. He stuck his head out the door and called someone in. She was wearing a navy skirt suit with matching shoes. Her brown hair was secured in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. I stood up as she entered the room.
"Hello," she said, with a hint of a French accent, "I'm Julienne Alfred."
"Katherine Wilde," I replied, shaking her hand. Edward waved and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.
"So what's the problem," I asked, somewhat stupidly.
"LG Corp is suing us for fifty million dollars. They say we copied one of their dishwasher designs, even though I am one hundred percent positive we didn't," she said. I nodded, taking notes on my iPad, "We wanted to come to you because with such a large sum of money on the line, we want someone who has a lot of experience with cases like this."
"Let me confirm this with you. Do you want to get them to drop the case or do you want to go to court and try to get them to lose?"
"Whichever way is the most logical pour vous," she replied, and then caught herself, "For you. Sorry, I just got back from visiting my family in Nice. I may do it again, so forgive me."
"Oh, it's okay," I said, smiling, "To continue, I recommend forcing them to drop the case. All you need to do is find a way to convince them that they aren't the same design."
For the entire eight hours I was at the office, Julienne and I discussed the case. At exactly four, I said goodbye to Edward and went back to my apartment. I was meeting Artie at the restaurant at six, which gave me two hours to get ready. I stood in my work clothes in my closet, trying to decide what to wear. I scoured the entirety of my closet until I found what I was looking for: an above the knee cream colored sleeveless dress with a cream Peter Pan collar and thin vertical peach colored stripes running up and down the fabric, peach colored ankle strap heels, huge gold hoop earrings, and a big peach bag. I laid the entire ensemble across my bed. I looked in over, nodding with approval.
After I took a shower and got dressed, I curled the ends of my hair. I stood in my full length mirror, taking in my reflection.
"It's not a date Kitty," I reprimanded myself, "Why are you trying this hard for a guy that broke your heart?"
I shook my head, getting myself out of the stupor and walked to Anna's room. I pulled a pink bag out of her closet and filled it with things she might need. As I was searching her room, I began talking to myself, finding it somewhat comforting.
"Should I pack her a toothbrush? How late will I get back? Probably around nine. Her bedtime is at eight, but they're going to watch a movie. She'll probably fall asleep during it though," I said absentmindedly. I had never had to do this before. I ended up throwing a pair of pajamas, her ducky and blankie, socks, underwear, a sweatshirt and a hairbrush into the bag. I hurried out of the apartment, grabbing my bag and sweater on the way. As I walked down the long flight of stairs I checked my phone for the time; it was five thirty. I had half an hour to drop of Anna's stuff at Marley and Ryder's apartment and backtrack to get to the apartment through New York's traffic.
I knocked on the door of Marley and Ryder's apartment. Moments later, Ryder pulled it open.
"Hi Kitty," he said cheerfully, "Come on in." I entered the small apartment and saw Anna and Marley at the kitchen counter making pizza bagels.
"Hi," I replied.
Marley wiped the flour and tomato sauce off of her hands and came over to me, "Are you excited for your date," she said quietly.
"It's not a date," I said defensively, glancing at Anna, who was making a face on her bagel out of pepperoni, "He just said we should catch up."
"Yeah, sure."
I rolled my eyes, "Anyway, I have some stuff for Anna because I'm not really sure what time I'm coming back here, so if she falls asleep I have pajamas and other stuff. I'm pretty sure I've already told you this, but her bedtime is at eight. If you're going to watch a movie like you said, she'll probably fall asleep during it, so you can start it whenever you want," I said quickly, trying to get all my thoughts out at once.
"I know," Marley said, "She'll be fine. Enjoy your catching up with Artie."
"We'll see," I replied sarcastically, "Bye Anna. Be good. Bye Ryder. Thanks again Marley. I'll probably be home around nine or nine thirty.
"Bye," she replied, smiling.
I arrived at the restaurant at the same time as Artie.
"Hi Kitty," he said, smiling, "You look nice."
"Thanks," I replied, "So do you."
After we ordered our food, we began our conversations.
"So where have you been," I asked.
"Well, you know I came here for college and I graduated when I was twenty two. When I was twenty four, I was offered a job at Faircrest Film Studios and three years after that I was asked to co-directed the latest Avengers movie," he said.
"That's great," I said, feeling oddly proud of him, "I always knew you would be a great director."
"Thanks," he replied, "Now how about the elusive Kitty Wilde. Where have you been all these years." I inwardly groaned. My life has always been complicated and it seemed to get worse after high school.
"You don't want to know about me," I said, avoiding the question.
"Yes, I do," he said persuasively.
"It's just such a long story," I said.
"I've got time," he replied, leaning back in his wheelchair. I shook my head, laughing.
"You are so freaking clichéd."
"Did it work," he asked hopefully. I sighed.
"Yes," I finally gave in.
If you didn't like this chapter, please keep reading because it's going to take me a little bit of time get used to writing this. I also didn't know if Kitty was a nickname or her actual name, but I made her real name Katherine in this because it sounds more professional. Updates: Every Monday.