Chapter 2 – Fortress Around Your Heart (Sting)

Before leaving work for the night Katniss cut a large piece of the chocolate cake and wrapped it in foil. Prim will like this she thought and maybe I can have just a little bit more. She put the remainder of the cake into the break room refrigerator.

When she arrived the next morning, the cake was already devoured. Everyone was raving about it. At the staff meeting, Haymitch told all the reps that Mellark Bakery should go to the top of their list as a dessert supplier.

"You might want to use them for that record store opening, sweetheart," Haymitch said, looking at Katniss. "Maybe they could design some kind of specialty cookies that look like little records."

Katniss nodded. Another chance to meet up with Peeta would be great. She should call him today.

But her day got busier and busier and she forgot she had to leave early. Gale was taking her to his work dinner tonight. I'll call him Monday, she thought as she rode the elevator down to the parking garage.

She wasn't exactly sure what to wear to the dinner, so she put on a pale blue dress with a sweetheart neckline and puffy sleeves that looked a bit dressy. She brushed her long hair so it hung down her back. Prim took a curling iron and made tiny ringlets along the ends of her hair.

"You look nice," Prim said when she was done.

When Gale arrived though, he frowned. "Don't you have something a little, well… sexier? You look like someone's grandma in that outfit."

He opened the closet that Katniss and Prim shared and began going quickly through the hanging dresses. "What about this?" He held out a red dress with a low-cut neckline.

"That was my Halloween costume last year," Prim called out.

"What were you?" Gale asked.

"You don't want to know," Katniss answered. "Gale, are you sure you want your wife to look sexy? If your bank president is really conservative, wouldn't you want your wife to look kind of demure?"

Gale thought for a moment. "You're probably right," he admitted. "I guess that's why you're a public relations professional."

"And you're a typical guy," Prim added.

"Oh, I forgot, wear this." Gale pulled a gold band out of his pocket. He handed it to Katniss who placed it on the ring finger of her left hand.

Prim got up from her chair to look at the ring. "No diamonds, Gale? Kind of a cheap husband aren't you?"

"I'm on budget," he said. "But who knows with a new wife, maybe I'll get a raise."

"You should give me a cut then," Katniss joked as they left the apartment.

In the car ride to the dinner, Gale went over the details of their fake relationship. He told her what he already said to the others at work and they agreed on a few general answers to questions they might receive from Gale's co-workers.

The more they talked, however, the more worried Katniss grew. This had started out as a joke in her mind to help her friend. But what if it backfired? What if she ran into someone from work or a former client? How would she explain a fake marriage?

"Chances are it won't happen. Los Angeles is a big city." Gale said. "But you're in P.R. You know how to lie. You'll do fine."

The dinner was held in a private dining room at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. A woman sat at a small check-in desk at the entrance to the dining room.

"Oh you must be Katniss," she bubbled when Gale and Katniss approached. "Congratulations."

"This is Delly Cartwright, the president's secretary," Gale introduced her.

Katniss nodded. "So nice to meet you."

"You'll be seated at table number five," she told them. "Very close to President Snow."

Gale nodded. He put his arm behind Katniss and guided her into the room. He leaned down to whisper to her. "This is great. I'll have the ear of the president."

Katniss smiled, but her stomach was getting queasy. This was mistake. How in the world was Gale going to get away with this? She should have never agreed to help him.

The guests stood around mingling before going to their assigned seats. Gale introduced Katniss to several people, so many that they all seemed to blur together. Fortunately no one asked anything specific from her. They simply congratulated her on her marriage. Gale kept his arm loosely draped over her shoulder, eventually steering her to the bar set up in one corner of the room.

He asked for a glass of red wine for himself. Katniss ordered Perrier with lemon. She needed her wits about her if she was going to get through this evening successfully. Eventually, the guests went to their seats. Waiters brought out salads on trays, then later the main course, which was prime rib.

Katniss was seated next to Gale on one side and Clove Ableman on the other. Clove spent most of the meal describing for Katniss every last detail of her wedding, the color of her bridesmaid's dresses, her old boyfriend who crashed the party, even Cato standing on the train of her dress and tearing it. Katniss was relieved when Gale tapped her elbow and turned her attention to the other side of the table. Gale was deep in conversation with President Snow and his wife.

"What do you do?" Mrs. Snow, a middle-age woman with frosted brown hair, asked Katniss, as her husband continued to talk with Gale.

"I work in public relations," Katniss said. She didn't want to give away too much information about herself.

"That sounds like fun. I was a teacher," Mrs. Snow replied. "But of course I quit as soon as the babies arrived."

Katniss nodded. She couldn't imagine giving up her job for any reason. And she couldn't imagine having a baby. It would only be another responsibility. Even though Prim was nineteen, Katniss still worried about her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Katniss noticed that Snow was listening in to the conversation she was having with his wife. As soon as there was a break, he burst in.

"Where do you work?'

Katniss bit her lip. She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to tell him the truth, but she didn't want to lie either. Anyway, she wasn't a very good liar, contrary to Gale's belief that all P.R. professionals were liars. The truth won out and she admitted. "I work at Abernathy, Inc.," she said softly.

"Old Haymitch's firm. We go way back."

Her face grew warm. This is going to be a problem, she thought. She wanted to punch Gale but she couldn't very well do that. They were supposed to be happy newlyweds. Instead she kicked his foot under the table.

He looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Something wrong?" he whispered.

"Yes there is… I'll be back in few minutes." She didn't know what to do so she followed her first instinct, which was to get out of there as fast as she could. Many people were already done eating so her exit looked perfectly normal. She left the dining room and headed in the direction of the ladies room she had noticed when she and Gale had first arrived.

The hallway outside the dining room was the staging area for the desserts that were to be served next. Katniss got a sinking sensation in her stomach when saw the trays filled with plates each holding a slice of chocolate cake filled with ganache and decorated with white chocolate shavings.

Suddenly a voice called out, "Katniss, funny seeing you here."

She turned around. It was Peeta. He was dressed in white and had a baker's apron on. He was smiling. "Are you working this event, too?"

"Sort of," Katniss said weakly. She was trapped, but her survival instincts kicked in quickly. She reminded herself that Peeta didn't know anything about Gale. He was only here because he supplied the dessert. There was no reason to be alarmed.

"So this is your first corporate job?" She tried to sound professional.

"Yeah. My friend Delly works for the president of the bank and she put in a good word for me."

Katniss smiled outwardly, but inwardly she was growing more worried. "That's great."

She quickly changed the subject. "Everyone at Abernathy, Inc., loved your cake. Haymitch was interested in using you for a store opening we're doing. I can call you Monday with more information."

"I'll look forward to it." Then Peeta's expression changed. He looked like he suddenly had a wonderful idea. "Hey, maybe we could talk about it over lunch. I'll pick you up at noon."

"Okay…that would work." From the dining room, Katniss could hear the sound of a gavel. The dining room grew silent. "I better get back," she said, excusing herself. "See you Monday."

She went back into the dining room and sat down next to Gale. President Snow was standing at a podium located at one end of the dining hall. He thanked everyone for coming and praised the group for their hard work to make the merger happen.

"Now I'd like to recognize one of my own L.A. Federal employees who was recently married. Out of the corner of her eye, Katniss saw Peeta wheel in a cart that held a small two-tier wedding cake. He pushed the cart next to Snow, and then stepped to the side.

Clove nodded at Cato and both began to stand, but quickly sat down when Snow called out "Gale Hawthorne, bring your lovely wife Katniss up here with you."

Katniss was staring at Peeta when Snow made his announcement. A look of shock, followed by a flash of anger appeared on his face. But he quickly regained his compose. His face bore a tight smile. Katniss wanted to put her head down on the table and cry. Why did she ever agree to do this? But Gale was pulling at her arm and she slowly stood up. He put his hand on her back and guided her to the front of the room.

"This happy couple eloped just a couple of weeks ago. Since none of us were there to see it, I thought it would be fitting to celebrate with a cake." He looked at the two of them. "Why don't you cut it?"

The guests clapped. A few 'whoops' were heard. Katniss glanced at Gale. His face was flushed He seemed to be enjoying the attention. How many glasses of wine had he consumed this evening? She scowled.

Snow looked at Peeta. "Do you have a knife?"

Peeta pulled a large knife off the cart and handed it to Gale before stepping away. Gale grabbed Katniss' arm and pulled her to the side of the cake. He cut a small piece and held it up to feed her.

Katniss shook her head. "No Gale," she mouthed.

"Oh come on Catnip," he muttered. He put the cake up to her lips. Quickly she opened her mouth and took a bite.

More cheers from the crowd. Gale then handed Katniss the knife and she cut a piece of cake. Gale opened his mouth wide to take a bite. Katniss aimed for his mouth, then at the last second, smashed the cake into the side of his face. The guests went wild with laughter.

"You've got a fiery one there Gale," President Snow laughed.

Gale face grew red. Katniss saw the anger flash across it.

But then everyone was banging their spoons against their water glasses. The banging continued. Katniss knew that sound. It meant the group wanted them to kiss. Great! She closed her eyes as Gale cupped the side of her face with his hands. His lips crashed into hers. He held his lips flush against her closed lips for almost 10 seconds before pulling back. The only emotion Katniss experienced was embarrassment. Kissing Gale's was the same as if she had kissed her own arm. There was nothing there.

Snow handed her a gift wrapped in silver paper. "Open it," he encouraged her.

It was a toaster. Loud laughter was heard throughout the room. Katniss was puzzled. What was so funny about a toaster?

Gale leaned in close. "It's a joke gift. Banks used to give out a toaster when you opened a new account."

Peeta was gone by the time the event ended. Gale was tipsy, and Katniss insisted on driving his car.

"This was a big mistake," she told him. "President Snow is friends with Haymitch. If this fake marriage gets back to him I don't know what I'll do."

"It will enhance your reputation, Catnip. You don't want everyone to think you're some frigid, career woman. That kiss was pretty pathetic."

"It's a good thing you're drunk Gale because otherwise I'd stop this car and punch you."

"Don't be such a grouch. You got a toaster, didn't you?"

She didn't complain to Gale about Peeta. It was kind of silly after all. She barely knew Peeta. But he had seemed interested. It had been a long time since she'd been interested in someone who appeared to return the feeling. And now that was over before it had even started. Plus she'd still have to work with Peeta. Oh no, what about lunch on Monday?

Author's Note: I used the last name of `Ableman' for Cato and his wife Clove. I first read this in Knot Your Fingers Through Mine by monroeslittle. I'm not sure if it's her invention or if she borrowed it from another writer, however I like it and want to give my thanks to whoever came up with it.