AUTHOR'S NOTE - Thanks to everyone who has taken an interest in this story and offered feedback, it's been very helpful and I really appreciate it! Now, I knew that having Ben move out from next door would prove to be an unpopular plot point even before I began penning this story, but I've felt strongly about my decision. We already have some really awesome FanFic being written about Ben & Kate as neighbors, so I wanted this story to be unique. I encourage you all to look at this as something a little different, which, in the end, adds variety to the numerous pieces of FanFic being written about this awesome couple around this time frame. I'm a Ben & Kate shipper like the rest of you, so in the end, we all want the same thing - with just the right amount of romance and angst mixed in, right? ;) Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to all you supportive Ben & Kate fans out there (special shout out to B.G.I.) who are open to something a little different!

Chapter 2: FATE REVISITS AN OLD CONNECTION

"You knew, didn't you?" Kate demanded, slamming her case files on the desk and coming face to face with a startled Leo.

"…that you're not a morning person..?" Leo quipped, cautiously pulling back. "Especially on a Monday morning?"

Kate stood up straight and groaned.

"That he was planning to move out of our building," she said, pointing toward Ben's empty office.

"Ben moved out from next door?" Leo asked.

Kate studied Leo's face and deduced by his genuinely surprised expression that he seemed to have no foreknowledge of the situation whatsoever.

"Yeah, he moved out this weekend," she informed him, somewhat softening.

"Seriously?" Leo asked, still in shock.

"Mm-hmm," Kate confirmed, slumping into the chair across the desk from Leo.

"Wow. How about that?" Leo mused.

A hinting smirk began to form on his lips.

"What?" Kate questioned defensively.

"Oh…nothing," Leo replied, deliberately feigning nonchalance. "It's just interesting that it seems to bother you so much that you and Ben are no longer balcony buddies."

"Wha..? Wait…that's not…no!" Kate stuttered, wagging her forefinger at Leo, whose smirk transformed into a knowing grin.

"And don't tell me it's because you're miffed that you no longer have a carpool," Leo forewarned. "I was standing right there when you pulled out," he finished, pointing to the exact spot where the conversation had taken place.

Kate glared at her assistant as he sat there with a smug grin pasted on his face and punished him by pelting a skittle in his direction.

"Ow!" he exaggerated, rubbing the spot on his chest where the piece of candy had ricocheted from a moment earlier. "So, if you're this annoyed with me...should I warn Sir Ben that he must brave a hailstorm of Skittles at the hands of the fair maiden, Kate, when he walks out of yonder elevator?"

Kate simply frowned at his goofiness and made her way into her office, slamming the door a little too hard behind her.

A few minutes later, the man of discussion walked in: suit pressed, shoes shined, tie and shirt perfectly coordinated, hair neatly gelled…just like any other workday.

"Good Morning, Leonardo," Ben's cheery voice called as he strolled toward his office. "Have a good weekend?"

Instead of responding, Leo got up from his desk and followed Ben into his office, shutting the door once they both were inside.

"Uh…what's up?" Ben asked in confusion as he set down his briefcase. "Did you do something so wild and crazy that you can only tell me about it behind closed doors?" he finished with a devilish grin.

"Why don't we talk about your weekend, hmm?" Leo asked, crossing his arms. "Are you all moved out of your apartment?"

Ben's grin began to fade as his face grew serious.

"She told you, did she?"

"Uh…yeah!" Leo exclaimed. "What the hell are you thinking, man?"

Ben began to fidget with the pens in his pen holder.

"I needed a change of scenery?" he offered without looking at Leo.

"Really?" Leo asked, unconvinced. "And it had nothing to do with a certain coworker slash neighbor of your's named 'Kate Reed'?"

Ben looked up at Leo.

"Look, it's a lot more complicated than you think, okay?"

"So...what? You're giving up?" Leo asked.

Ben opened his mouth to elaborate, but then changed his mind and sighed before speaking again.

"Like I said, Leonardo: it's a lot more complicated than you think."

Leo could tell that Ben wasn't in the mood to discuss the subject any further, so he decided to give up for the time being.

"Okay, well, I'd better get back to work," he said. "For now…" he added with emphasis.

Ben shook his head and broke into a small smile. He knew Leo well enough by now to know that he was relentless, and would rest assured be doing a follow up on this conversation in the very near future. Still, at least he'd bought himself some time for now. He needed to put aside all the personal stuff and concentrate on work. But how was he supposed to do that when only a few feet away, he knew that she was also in her office? He couldn't resist glancing through the glass wall to see what she was doing.

Kate mentally kicked herself at being caught staring. She couldn't help but offer him a sheepish smile, hoping to God that he couldn't see her blushing red from across the distance. She decided that being caught had been worth it just to get a glance of his face. In any case, he had been looking into her office too, right?

She was so fixated on watching him position himself at his desk that Leo's knock on her door startled her.

"Come in," she said, drawing her eyes away from him as he sat down at his desk.

Leo popped in a second later.

"Your nine-fifteens are here. I just seated them in the Conference Room," he informed her. "But judging by the not-so-friendly expressions on their faces, I'd say the sooner you get in there and do your mediating thing, the better."

Kate nodded and started to make her way in that direction when Leo stopped her.

"And let me just say…" he added. "That chick in there? HOT!" he exclaimed, fanning himself with the case file in his hand to emphasize his point.

Kate simply shook her head as she accepted the file from him and lightly rapped him on the head with it.

"Ow! What's with all the violence today?" he joked. "You know, you really should take it all out on Ben!"

Kate rolled her eyes. Although he had been speaking in different context, Leo was right: the sooner she immersed herself in this case, the better.

Kate walked in to find both parties already seated on opposite sides along the length of the conference table. To say that the tension in the room was palpable would be an understatement.

She first turned to address the woman sitting alone on one side of the table. The slender, hazel-eyed brunette looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. She wore a form fitting sleeveless black dress, her sleek brown hair cascading past her shoulders to her mid-back, her face delicately airbrushed with just the right blend of makeup to perfectly accentuate her features. Kate had to agree with Leo: the woman was strikingly beautiful.

"You must be Jenna," Kate said, walking over and extending her hand. "Kate Reed."

"It's nice to meet you," the woman said, taking Kate's hand and mustering a small smile.

Kate turned her attention to the two men sitting on the other side of the table. The older of the two got up and introduced himself.

"Grant Whitman," he said, shaking Kate's hand. "And this is my client, Brandon Parker."

Upon introduction, the younger blonde-haired, blue-eyed man, who appeared to be in his early thirties, stood up and shook Kate's hand as well. And for the second time within a few seconds, Kate couldn't help but notice the attractiveness of another member in the room – save for the older, sweaty, and overweight bald attorney in the room.

Of course when she put it all together, Brandon Parker's good looks weren't all that surprising. He and Jenna had previously been married, and it made perfect sense that a woman as pretty as Jenna had a partner as good looking as Brandon.

Now that the formalities and superficial deductions were out of the way, it was time to get to the more serious matters at hand. Kate took her seat at the head of the table and stepped into her role as mediator.

"Jenna, will your attorney be joining us?" she asked.

"Uh, no," Jenna began. "I'll be representing myself."

Brandon scoffed at the statement, earning a stern glare from his ex-wife. Kate cleared her throat and chose to ignore the exchange.

"Right, then. Let's get started," she began, opening her case file and clicking her pen.

Ben stepped out of the courtroom and glanced at his watch. It was 11:52, and he could officially add another case to his win column. After being sincerely thanked by his client and client's spouse, he made for the parking garage. On the way to his car, he debated whether to grab an early lunch before heading back to the office, or heading back to the office first, getting some paperwork done, and then heading out to lunch. Something almost intuitive told him to go with the latter.

Twenty minutes later he walked out of the elevator and through the doors of Reed & Reed, only to see Leo sitting at his desk, head propped lazily on one hand, staring blankly at the computer screen in front of him.

"Exciting day at the office?" Ben asked.

Leo sighed.

"You could say that," he replied. "If by 'exciting' you're referring to being so bored out of my mind that I'm actually trying to entertain myself with an online crossword puzzle. What's a five letter synonym for 'smart'; third letter 'f'?"

Ben pondered the question for a few seconds before shaking his head and giving up.

"I dunno," he said with a shrug. "The only five letter word on my mind is 'lunch,'" he finished.

"Mmm. Lunch sounds good right about now," Leo agreed.

"Are you in the mood for tacos?" Ben asked.

"Depends," Leo replied, quirking an eyebrow. "You buying?"

"Depends," Ben countered. "You gonna bug me about a certain little brunette I'd rather not discuss?"

Leo pondered the question.

"During lunch? Hell no. Afterwards? Maybe so," he said with a grin.

Ben considered the conditions.

"Deal," he accepted.

"Let me just let she-who-shall-not-be-named-until-after-tacos know," Leo joked.

Ben couldn't help but chuckle at the comment.

Over in the Conference Room, Kate sat with her elbows on the table, cradling her head in her hands, mentally wearing out by the minute. She tried to pinpoint the exact moment when she'd lost control of her mediation only for it to unravel to its present state.

"That's bull, and you know it!" Jenna said angrily to Brandon.

"Oh really? Well, guess what? You can't prove anything!" Brandon shot back.

Next to Brandon, Grant Whitman was on his cell phone, discussing another case, all the while trying to talk over the feuding ex-spouses.

After having listened to the two sides argue for an inanely large amount of time, Kate knew she had to put an end to the back and forth once and for all. This wasn't like her: she typically didn't allow things to escalate as far as they had. Maybe if her head weren't so muddled up with other thoughts, she'd have had a better grip of this situation. It was obvious by now that the mediation had spiraled out of control and would no longer be settled out of court, but she'd be damned if she didn't restore a sense of decorum back into her Conference Room. Just as she was preparing to speak up, there was a knock on the door and Leo appeared. 'Good old, Leo,' Kate thought, as everyone momentarily stopped yelling to glance at the person who had just entered the room.

Kate seized this opportunity to divert their attention, even though her attempt proved to be nothing short of a pathetic attempt.

"Everyone, this is my assistant, Leo," Kate said, scurrying over to a slightly overwhelmed Leo and dragging him into the room. "Leo, this is…everyone."

Leo earned three half-hearted 'hello's, before Jenna and Brandon redirected their attention to each other and continued their heated argument.

Kate sighed wearily.

"Damn! Even when she's mad as hell, she's hot!" Leo remarked softly.

Kate looked over at her assistant, and as expected, his eyes were glued on Jenna.

"I don't really know what she's arguing with that dude about, and I don't even know if she's right or wrong; but I swear on my dead hamster's grave, if that woman asked me for his head on a platter, I just might do it," Leo said, still entranced by the fiery brunette.

Kate rolled her eyes. Typical guy. Something told Kate that Jenna was used to having men fawn over her beauty.

"How the hell did it come to this?" Kate asked, watching the scene unfold in front her as she stood next to Leo.

"You mean, when did this go from a potential out of court settlement to a typical courtroom arena?" Leo questioned.

"Uh huh. I, for one, have no idea," Kate said, shaking her head.

All she knew is that from the information she had gathered during this so-called "mediation," she felt more compelled to side with Jenna than with Brandon. And although both spouses were equally engaged in their argument, she could tell that Brandon was a difficult man to deal with, and that Jenna was trying her hardest to hold her ground against her arrogant, entitled ex-husband.

Ben looked down the hallway to see if Leo was on his way back from informing Kate about their offsite lunch. Upon seeing no sign of Leo, Ben considered going over the Conference Room himself to see what was delaying him. Not only that, but he hadn't seen more than a few seconds of Kate all morning, which gave him even more incentive to casually stroll in there with a legitimate excuse.

Kate and Leo stood helplessly rooted in their spots. Kate, still trying to figure out how to diffuse the situation; and Leo, still every bit as enamored by Jenna Parker.

"I can't believe that after everything we've been through together, you'd treat me like I'm some good-for-nothing con-artist who's trying to usurp your entire estate," Jenna said, a mixture of hurt and anger welling up in her eyes.

"Oh come on! Don't try and make me the bad guy here," Brandon warned. "It took two people to ruin this relationship, and I'm just trying to hold on to what's rightfully mine!"

"Fine!" Jenna retorted. "You want a courtroom fight? You've got one!"

Kate secretly applauded Jenna's sheer determination in standing her ground against a glorified bully.

"I hope you find yourself a damn good lawyer, because you're sure as hell gonna need one!" Brandon spat out venomously.

Just then the door to the Conference Room opened, and Ben Grogan walked in so perfectly on cue, that he might as well have been an answer to a prayer.

For some reason, at that moment, Kate recalled their first meeting at the bar and their brief exchange about "fate." She recalled bitterly referring to it as a "fickle bitch" on that God awful day, and now, she couldn't help feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. It's as though said "bitch" had entered the room with him, only this time, Kate realized that she played no part in the present story.

"Ben?" Jenna exclaimed in astonishment, her lips curving into a genuine smile for the first time. There was an unmistakable sparkle in her eyes. "Hi," she said softly.

"Jenna," Ben breathed. "Hey."

Kate's eyes travelled from Ben's surprised face, to Jenna's happy one, and back to Ben's in time to see his mouth melt into a warm smile. Something about the profound looks she witnessed being exchanged told her that these two shared a deep-seeded connection with quite a bit of history, and honestly, she didn't like it one bit.