She awoke in a soft embrace and immediately knew it was Jack. His hand rested upon her stomach and his breath tickled her ear as he held her, so protectively. She opened her eyes after a moment of bliss to find that they were nestled upon Will's couch, covered in a heavy blanket. His lips touched her earlobe, and she giggled a bit as his kisses covered her face.
"Oh, Karebear, I love waking up with you." He nuzzled her ear and she smiled, finding his baby blue eyes with her own.
"How did we both end up on the couch, honey?" She sat up and took a deep breath, wishing her body would awaken more quickly. She had never been a morning person.
"Well, you were looking kind of down so I stayed over here with you instead of going home." She poured herself a glass of orange juice, not even bothering to put vodka in it at the moment. For some reason, alcohol wasn't as fun as it used to be.
"Aw, that's sweet, but you could have just left." He walked over to where she stood and she gave him a sip of her juice.
"No vodka?" She rolled her eyes.
"I don't feel much like spiking my orange juice."
"Can I ask you a question?" She nodded and he smiled a bit, maybe hoping to ease her mind. "How are you, since Stan's gone, really?"
"Actually, honey, I'm fine. I feel kind of like he died a long time ago."
"That's so morbid, Kare. Maybe you need to get laid."
"Is that your answer for everything?" She laughed as Will emerged from the bathroom, having just taken a shower.
"Well, it solves my problems." Jack shrugged and pecked her lips before heading to the bathroom. Will smiled his good morning toward Karen and began to prepare breakfast, eggs, toast and bacon.
She walked into the kitchen and sat on the counter next to the sink, watching him cook. There was no doubt that he was very skilled in the kitchen. His hands seemed to move so meticulously that she could tell he was a master in his art. And his results proved her right.
"Will, did you ever take any cooking classes?" His eyes met hers as he turned around to face her, stunned for a moment. It wasn't often that she asked questions that had no hidden agenda. After a moment of shock, he shook his head and grabbed the bottle of orange juice. He refilled her glass from which she had been drinking and answered her question.
"The nanny when I was a kid used to be our maid too. She insisted that if I ever wanted to get married then I would need to help around the house sometimes. If she only knew…" He laughed and continued cooking, but all she could do was continue to watch the way his hands moved across the counter, so sensually.
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She bit her lip and contemplated her life, if only for a moment. She wasn't certain about anything anymore. The future, the past, the present, nothing at all could be predicted, and, if she had to be honest, she was a bit afraid. Life was moving on, but she was stuck. She wanted to feel different, freer even.
She sighed heavily before standing and walking to the overstuffed chair next to the coffee maker. Grace was at lunch so she didn't think she would be disturbed. She sat backwards in the chair and threw her feet over the headrest, allowing her head to lie on the footstool. She knew that she probably looked foolish, as if she were doing some strange sort of ritual, but she just needed to look at her feelings differently. She didn't like the way she was thinking at her desk, so she switched it up a bit.
It wasn't as if she could just say she wanted something particular and decided to work for it, there was nothing. She felt empty and useless. Why was it that all the men in her life left her, cheated on her? Was she that undesirable? Was she unremarkable? The questions would have to be answered by someone else because she thought change in her life was unnecessary.
"Karen, are you dead?" Grace walked into her office and stopped quickly. Her assistant had been doing such strange things lately, but it surprised her to see Karen in such a classless position. She could see the skin of her thighs over the lace of her stockings.
"I wish." She rolled her eyes and walked to her crowded desk, but Karen remained.
"If you're going to be strange, why don't you just go home? What if a client walked in and saw you like that?"
"Grace no one has been here today. We should just close." She rolled off the chair and stood, straightening out her skirt with her palms.
"I'm going to make a suggestion to you." She stopped and faced her friend, realizing how serious she was. She nodded and tilted her head to the side. "Okay, I know you've been really down for a while, and I think maybe you should see your shrink."
She immediately felt insulted. How dare Grace suggest that she needed help? Her eyes narrowed and she scoffed, offended. It wasn't until she stormed out of the office with her purse on her shoulder that she realized that perhaps Grace was right. Maybe she did need to talk to someone, but it wasn't going to be a shrink.
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"Its not that I'm lonely, necessarily, I just don't know where to go from here. I mean, I don't have any skills, or family, but I do have my friends. I guess that's good for something. Oh, but, honey, they are so young still. I feel like I can't keep up. Take Jack, for example, he's a feisty little queen. Always going out to bars and having sex with men, and I just can't do that. I just…"
"Mrs. Walker, I don't mean to sound as if I don't care, but why don't you talk to your friends about this?" She scoffed and pushed her glass across the bar.
"Because, Smitty, you aren't selfish like they are. You listen to me when I speak, whether you want to or not." He nodded and poured her another martini. As she took a sip, he watched her eyes. He had been around a lot of people over the years, drinking different emotions away and such, but there was something different about her. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was definitely something so desolate that she couldn't even describe it to him.
"You mean to tell me that you don't have one friend who will listen to your problems?" He leaned against the bar and her hazel eyes met his gently. She looked tired.
It had always been jokes with the bartender. She never wanted any kind of friendship with him, never expected one, but he had been a constant in her life for so long that she began to think he knew some things about her. She gave him a small smile and shrugged.
"Maybe you're the only one, honey."
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He walked into a bar she frequented most and looked around. It was dark, yet empty, and he couldn't see where she was. Jack walked into the bar behind him and coughed a bit at the smell of smoke.
"So, what exactly did Smitty say when he called?" Will rolled his eyes and continued to look.
"First, his name is not Smitty. And second, he said that she seemed way more real than usual. I think it freaked him out a little." Jack pointed to the barstool in a corner where Karen was sitting. Her arms were crossed upon the bar and she was asleep, her head down. "There she is."
They walked over to her, but the bartender made certain they were the friends he had phoned almost twenty minutes before. When she passed out he took it upon himself to take her phone from the place next to her and find the name of one of her mentioned friends. He couldn't just allow her to leave alone.
Will began to shake her, but she didn't budge. He said her name, patting the pale skin of her upper arm with his hand. Jack found a waiter who he thought was cute, so he followed the employee to the other side of the bar for a moment. Smitty watched the scene unfold before him, saddened by the idea that she felt so lost, he could tell.
"Will? What the hell are you doing here?" She awoke and pushed him away. He was a little too close for her liking.
"You're passed out on the bar. We're here to take you back to my apartment."
"Get away from me. I'm going home." She tried to stand, but her legs buckled beneath her and she stumbled. Luckily for her, Will wrapped his arms around her waist and saved her from her fall. She ran a hand through her hair and stopped her mask from rising and showing anger.
"Please come with me and Jack." She nodded, and Jack gathered her belongings while Will walked her towards the door. Before they could leave, though, she turned for one last look at the bartender.
"Thanks, Smitty." He nodded and waved goodbye as her friends helped her to the limo, which they took to Will's apartment.