"Kaat…!" Johanna called from outside her office door. "I have something for you."
Katniss glanced up to see her fellow editor and best friend since college, Johanna Mason, dancing around outside her office. "What is it? I am doing my own copy work. Rue is sick."
"I know, brainless." Johanna grinned. Johanna knew everything that happened at Capitol Publishing. "I brought you a treat to keep your strength up. But first, you have to agree to go out with us tonight."
"I don't want to go out." Katniss sighed. She knew her best friend was trying to help get her out of her shell, but she really didn't have time. "I was hoping to spend a peaceful weekend at home before I go to the conference next week."
"But all of those hot lawyers will be there," Johanna protested. "Thresh, Marvel, Cato, Blight….you know that Marvel is a cutie."
Katniss grimaced. "You know how I feel about anything or anyone that comes from District One," she declared with a disapproving glare at Johanna.
"I know, I know." Johanna let out a dramatic sigh. "It's just that he is the prettiest of the group and you like pretty guys. I am definitely going to sleep with Blight. He's hot, not that scrawny kid from back home in Seven anymore," she declared with a grin.
"Pr-pretty guys?! I do not. Whatever," Katniss scoffed. "Cato is the only decent one of the bunch and he makes me nervous."
"Finnick was pretty….and so is Gale, if you think about it," Johanna said with a nervous look. "Cato IS hot. He kind of has that bad boy thing going for him. Take him for a test drive. There hasn't been anyone since Finnick and you need to open up again."
Katniss twisted the emerald ring on her finger as she pictured Finnick's green eyes and her heart dropped into her shoes. Will it ever stop hurting? she wondered.
"Cato is hot," Katniss agreed. "But he kind of scares me. He seems edgy, tough, determined…."
"Like somebody else I know….ahem, Katniss," Johanna pretended to cough.
"I do what I need to…...Fine, I will go if it will get you to be quiet. When and where?"
"8:00 at BTU, that new club based on District Three," Johanna replied.
"Fine. Now can I have my treat so I can finish my work so I CAN go out tonight? This has to get done."
Johanna tossed two cake pops on her desk. They were exquisitely decorated in her favorite green. "They are from this new bakery called the Meadow Lark. You should check it out. Right it up."
Katniss bit into the cake pop. "I will do that. This is amazing."
"And speaking of amazing, you should check out the baker. He is yummy," Johanna laughed.
"Get out of here! Let me work!" Katniss declared, throwing a paper wad at her best friend. Johanna retreated, probably to go gossip with Clove and Elektra, their fellow editors and close friends. "Thanks for the treat!"
Katniss packed up her laptop and shut off the lights in her office. She was the last one to leave Capitol Publishing on this warm Friday evening.
It was such a nice day that Katniss decided to walk home to her condo. Cato, she thought, mentally trying to prepare herself for an evening out. He IS hot and successful, she conceded, remembering the interview she did with him for the magazine. But he is so intense….almost ruthless.
Is that a bad thing? she wondered. A man who knows what he wants and goes after it? Is that really any different than how I have done things my entire career?
Johanna was right. She had not even thought about spending time with another man since Finnick. It's been 18 months, she realized. It's not like I'm looking to fall in love again….and Cato certainly isn't looking for that. Would it be so bad to have some fun?
Lost in thought, she didn't realize she had come to the new bakery. Meadow Lark, she mused. Glancing at the windows, so artfully decorated, gave her a feeling of deja vu. There is something familiar about this place.
Katniss slipped inside and was amazed at the decor. One whole wall was a painted mural of a green meadow with a brilliant orange sunset. It looks like home, she realized. Like Twelve.
"Sorry, but we're closed," said a masculine voice, interrupting her thoughts of home.
"I-I'm sorry, " she apologized, turning toward the display cases. "I had some cake pops from here today and wanted to find out more about this place….." her voice trailed off as she looked into the haunting blue eyes of the proprietor. Eyes she knew from half a lifetime ago. The eyes of the one who had saved her life all those years ago.
"Peeta? Peeta Mellark?" she squeaked in disbelief.
"Katniss? Katniss Everdeen?...Is it really you?"
Peeta rushed to her and scooped her up in his arms and spun her around until they almost lost their balance.
"Katniss Everdeen! I can't believe it. You are probably the last person I ever expected to come through my door."
"It's Katniss Odair now," she corrected, twisting the emerald ring on her finger.
"Oh," he said, giving the ring a strange look. "I didn't realize you were married."
"I-I'm not. Not anymore. I was….I am a widow," she explained, realizing it was the first time she had said those worlds aloud in all these months. "My husband died a year and a half ago. In the war."
Widow. The word hit her like a brick. "Can I sit down?"
"Oh-of course," Peeta started-pulling out one of black wrought iron chairs that sat at the tables. He studied her, eyes flicking from her face to the ring and back again. He knew that ring….he had helped his friend pick it out. Could Katniss really be the "Kitty" his commanding officer always talked about? he wondered, shaking his head in disbelief.
"What are you doing here Peeta?" Katniss asked, staring into his eyes. Does he know the truth? About Gale? About me? Are he and Gale still friends?
"I was injured in the war," he explained, gripping his lower leg. "I was captured. Lost the lower half of my leg. This is a prosthetic. I spent more than a year in rehab in Thirteen, and after that I was discharged and didn't know where to go. I didn't want to go home to Twelve. Gale suggested I come here and open a bakery with the money from my settlement from the military…." his voice trailed off, a look of pain flooding his fair features.
"Oh, Peeta, I didn't know. I am sorry," Katniss sympathized, impulsively grabbing his hand. "I really didn't know. I wish I could have been there to help you."
"You couldn't have known," Peeta said. "And it sounds like you have been through a lot lately yourself…..Maybe we can be friends again. Help each other heal."
Katniss withdrew her hand. "Peeta, I don't know about that. A lot has happened. I caused a lot of hurt to your best friend, so I don't know that you want anything to do with me. I am sure he told you what happened between us."
Peeta took her hand back again. "Katniss, I have a lot of things to tell you," he said earnestly. "And, I know the truth."