Chapter TWO

Kate was in the trainers room after finishing helping out the Nicole and Brianna, also known as the Bella Twins. She had on black dress pants, a black shirt with the WWE logo on it, black ankle boots with thick heels and had just taken off her lab coat. Cleaning up a bit until it was time for her to leave for the night, Kate heard a voice behind her. Paul was standing by the door when she turned around with his sleeves rolled up just like it was two weeks ago when he thought that she couldn't do as good a job as Dean could do when he came in to get his arm checked.

"If you're looking for Dean, he had the night off. He'll be back tomorrow." She told him and then turned around to continue what she was doing.

"I know but I was actually looking for you." He replied as he walked in and closed the door behind him quietly. "I just think we need to talk."

Kate turned around to face him and leaned against the small table that she was at. "You actually want to talk to me?"

Paul looked at her seriously. "I always want to talk to you. I just never know what to say and then when I do say something, you give me a hard time about it because I always say something all messed up."

"So you treat me the way that you do because you don't know what to say to me?" She asked. "I'm a normal person, an adult. Not a child for you to have to figure out how to say something to me like I won't understand."

Paul sighed. "When you and I met, I really did think that there was something between us."

"When we met three years ago I thought the same thing, you tell me that you're going through a divorce and Stephanie was so close to finding out that you and I were hanging out that you somehow stop talking to me all together." Said Kate. "And now that I'm working here, it's as if you want nothing to do with me and now all of a sudden you want to talk to me again? If you're wondering, to this day Dean does not know about that."

"Can we please just start over?" Asked Paul and received a look in return from Kate. "I'm so sorry about that. I understand my mistake and I want to have a chance to correct it. Kate, I've wondered every damn day since I saw you again a year ago what life would have been like had I not done what I did and I regret that decision that I made every time that I do."

"Paul, you've hurt me so bad when you did that and you continue to make it look like I'm not good enough for you. If only you knew what I've been through to feel what I feel about things, but I doubt that would make much of a difference." Said Kate. "I told you before that I won't put up with it from you. I'm supposed to stand here and believe you now?"

He looked at her and didn't know what to say to make it all better between the two of them. Kate saw the look in his eyes and saw how they pleaded with hers and how much he meant it when he said that he wanted to start over and that he regret what had happened on his end. She didn't want to give him another chance, seeing as how she rarely gave people second chances. But that small piece of history that they have together told her to do otherwise. Kate understood how good it felt to get a second chance at something and have the possibility of having great wonders with it.

0.0

"Does Dean know?" Asked Natalya as they sat together for dinner that night with Kaitlyn.

Kate shook her head. "No but I also thought that I'd never see Paul again in person, let alone work with him."

The girls understood. "You want to give him a chance though. I can see it in you, Kate." Said Kaitlyn.

Kate sighed. "I just try to not go through bad things more than once. I try to learn from my mistakes to not make them again. This is not the kind of job that I want to get all messed up because of this and what other job is gonna let me have this kind of experience where I get to travel all over the world and do what I love to do?"

"Anybody would be crazy to not hire you, Kate." Said Natalya. "This won't ruin your job, we're sure of it. If you feel like giving him another chance is the right thing to do, then go ahead. There's no reason to feel bad about it doing that or feeling bad about getting along with him."

Just then, Paul walked in with one of his friends from the tech team and sat a few tables away from where she was with her two looked their way and gave Kate a small smile. After he and his friend ordered their food, Paul got up and walked over to them. He asked how they were doing and then took out his hand to shake Kate's hand.

"I'm Paul. What's your name?" He asked. She knew that this was him trying to start like he had mentioned the last time that they talked.

She hesitated as thoughts ran through her head. Finally grabbing his hand and shaking it, she spoke. "My name's Katherine. But everyone calls me Kate."

"Maybe we can spend a few minutes together tomorrow." Said Paul. "Get to know each other perhaps."

Kate nodded. "Maybe we can. We'll see what we can do."

"You're tough." Said Paul.

She smiled. "Nobody said I'd be easy. I don't see why I should be for anybody." Kate stood up and stood beside him. "Don't let me down, Paul. Not again."

"I won't." He replied as he dug his hands into his pockets. "Not with you."

He watched as she, along with Natalya and Kaitlyn, paid the bill and left. His eyes wouldn't leave her until she walked out of the door of the restaurant. Paul knew that it would be a challenge with Kate but he didn't mind. He was up for the challenge and was willing to do what he could to keep the chance that she was giving him.

Over the next few days, Kate and Paul managed to be around each other without making any negative comments towards each other. He acknowledged her presence and allowed Kate to do things for him instead of wanting Dean or someone else to do it. It allowed Kate to warm up to him more and trust him enough to let him keep that chance.

But it wasn't up to Kate now on whether he kept that chance or not. It was up to Paul himself to do what he had to do to make sure that he didn't mess up that chance. It meant a lot to Paul that she did that but also knew how careful she was trying to be. Kate was still a bit quiet here and there with him and he completely understood why.

"When you said that I didn't know you," Started Paul as he walked Kate to her car. "You meant that, didn't you?"

She arched her eyebrows. "I don't see how you can remember anything about me after three years. My personality doesn't really get me noticed around here in case you haven't realized."

"If anything about you hasn't changed, your favorite color is red. You love going to diners. This is what you always thought you'd be."

Kate turned around after putting her things in the trunk and looked at him. She wondered how he remembered that about her and then turned down such thoughts. "You still don't know everything about me."

Paul sighed. "Can you cut me some slack, Kate? I'm showing that I still remember something about you. I'm trying. Damn it, I know I messed up with you in the past all those years ago but I'm trying to take this opportunity to get somewhere with you. No sex, no hooking up...none of that. Just a better type of relationship with you because the type of relationship that you and I have at this moment is mainly you still hating me."

"I've never hated you, Paul." She said a little too quickly. "I was pissed at you for what you did, but I never hated you. After seeing that nothing was going to change, I got over it and moved on. The things I've been through in my life keep me from getting close enough to people because I don't want to get hurt, yet it happens anyways. Take the time out to understand me, Paul! Not just what I tell you."

"You won't let me, Katherine!" Exclaimed Paul. "So tell me how I'm supposed to do that when you have these walls built up all because you don't want to get hurt anymore. Nobody wants to get hurt, Kate. Ever. But if you let the fear of getting hurt cripple you and not allow you to have what you feel you deserve, you won't get what it is that you feel you deserve. You're already letting 'fear' win. You have people that care about you a lot. And then you have someone who wants to care about you, and who wants to understand and you won't even allow it to happen. So then why bother, Kate?"

She watched as he walked away to his car. Kate didn't want to be wrong. She felt like she had a reason for her to try to protect herself and she, as a result, not realize how much more difficult it makes it for others to try and show her that there are decent people out there in this world who won't cause harm. If Kate was going to give Paul a chance, she knew that she had to stick by her word just like she always does. But when that means a possibility of getting hurt again like she always had happen to her, throughout her whole life, her mind shuts down, not wanting to go through it again.

But what's keeping her moving forward with this is that her heart is telling her to go on and to stay strong. There are times when one has to pass through the storm before finding a sunny day and Kate knew that it was something that she had do to. Taking her walls down would not be an easy thing for her, but she swore to herself on more than one occasion that if the right person ever came along, she would do such thing and so she wondered.

Was Paul the right person to do such thing for? Was she doing the right thing?