He was so bloody pissed he couldn't see straight. And sadly most of that was self-directed. Well some of that was directed towards the woman next to him, who seemed to be seeing red herself. Spark and fire, it was there and he admired it just as much as it frustrated him beyond belief. He couldn't belief that he had forgotten to send the damn note, and she deserved to be pissed about it, but he wished she had found him and took a bat to his head rather then slink off and be done with him. Well the hell with that. She was going to learn that he wasn't going anywhere, and neither was she. He had made that decision at the ball while either staring at her or talking to her alternative. Oh they were both staying for the long haul. And bloody pox on her for not realizing that!
She knew he was fuming as they walked back to her apartment. They didn't even contemplate apparating, seeming to know that they both needed to walk a little to cool off. How could he be so arrogant to just walk in and assume that all would be okay because he showed up finally? It was just so damn assuming, so completely royal that she hated it. The King obviously needed to be taken down a few notches in her opinion, and the problem was that he didn't even seem to realize what he was doing which made it even worse. He goes and spends a couple weeks in god knows where, comes back and gets mad that she was having adult conversation with someone else. Which reminded her that she had forgotten to get Devon's number. Hmm…probably would be odd if she called him out of the blue, and perhaps a little stalkerish too. But she would find a way after this little seen was done. And it would be done. He would be out of her head after this, she swore it.
They stayed silent all the way in the elevator up to her apartment and she was thankful for it, as it gave her to plan her argument so she knew exactly what she would say to him. He was pompous and arrogant, she thought, making a list of all the things she would call him. Stubborn too. Persistent beyond belief, which she decided may have been a little synonymous to stubborn. Butt head; yeah she liked that one too. He was being a butt.
Walking out of the elevator she decided that she would improvise, as she was known for doing and did it well. She was a doctor for goodness's sake. Taking her key out and putting it in the lock she flung the door open and stalked to the kitchen for some water. She was so not going to give him the satisfaction of pushing the door open when she closed it on his face instead of letting him in.
Harry took a look around at her apartment, taking the elevator ride to cool down and decided that she looked absolutely adorable upset. He was still mad, but the way her brow furrowed and arms crossed, made him want to do all sorts of things that had nothing to do with arguing. And the fact that he was sure that the other man at the bar had those same thoughts, made him see red all over again. How the bloody hell Kate had the ability to do that he wasn't sure. He seemed to always run hot or cold around her and it changed by the minute.
Finally Kate came out of the kitchen a minute later with a glass of water held between her two hands and looking at him expectantly.
"You wanted to talk, so you might as well go for. I have a feeling you aren't leaving till you have your say. Personally I'd like this little scene to be over as quickly as possible" She started crossly, and watched Harry's eyes narrow, and saw him take a deep breath. A calming breath he told himself, but when he got done counting to ten he realized the serenity was not going to come to him.
"Bloody hell, yes, I wanted to talk. And please forgive me if I didn't want the arse with his hands on you to be around for the bloody conversation!"
"Oh for god sakes stop being dramatic, the man never had his hands on me. Though come to think of it there was a little bit of spark and if I had wanted his hands on me then it would never be your business my good king! You may control some things but not that." She was getting into it now, and was mad. They weren't together by any means, she could have the hands of any man on her if she damned well pleased.
"Not my business is it? I don't bloody damn think so Kate! And you had better get used to that." Harry said walking even closer to her, he swore it would take all of his power not to throttle her. The woman had such a mouth on her, she seemed not to be able to stop it from running amuck.
"Oh yeah, right! We were supposed to have lunch at some point, you do remember that don't you? Didn't you have a secretary or some place you could have wrote yourself a memo? Would it have been that bloody difficult…..damn, now you even have me swearing like I'm English! Well I guess even more evidence that I spent far too much time in Europe, thank god I am back though I guess—"
"Oh bloody hell, it was lunch Kate and I am sorry I got called away. Sorrier then you'll ever know, but I'm here now. In your apartment now trying to move forward. But I am sorry."
Kate looked at him considering, while he prayed she wouldn't ask him the one question that he couldn't answer. Being that she was a female though, he expected it when it came out.
"You're sorry and that's supposed to make everything okay and sure har we'll move forward? That's your thinking? Okay, I'm not impossible, but what kept you away? What was so important that you couldn't pen a quick note? Tell me and we'll discuss it"
Damn, he knew it. She was looking at him with her arms still crossed after putting the water glass on the table, and looking inquisitive. Not unapproachable though, and God he hoped it stayed that way.
"I can't say," right then he saw her eyes darken and knew that this may not end well. "I wish I could but I can't." She would choose the one question that he wouldn't answer.
"You can't or you won't Harry? Lord why did you bother coming here and insisting on talking? This isn't talking! This is me being mad and you telling me to get over it and move forward. Isn't going to happen, hon! You take off for more then a week, and are rumored to spent it on a boat of some sort with a brunette of some sort, and you want to stand there and tell me sorry babe, no can do?"
Lord she was frustrating. Didn't she see that his job required that he not talk to people about issues. He didn't even share most of the story with Blaise, though Adrian knew since he was there on assignment but otherwise he wasn't talking. Why the hell couldn't she see that she just had to accept when he was on government related time, and that it had nothing to do with her or them? He separated the two completely. None of the other women he dated had a problem with not talking about meetings and such. They knew that he only talked to a certain group of people and most of those people he had known since childhood, so he would never let his fancy get to his brain. Government matter imply were not a girlfriends matter, period.
"Look I told you it had to do with a government issue. Which has nothing to do with you and me. The two are separate. I came here as a man talking to the girl he is interested in, and when I say I was doing something for the crown then that's it! End of story! Those things don't get shared with anyone! Especially not women I date!" the last coming out as a roar.
Harry was breathing hard in agitation, in what Kate could only assume was annoyance at being question. He was never questioned she guessed, and she would never not question. Square peg in a round hole. Neither able to transform, neither willing to give.
When she finally spoke a minute later it was quiet, and calm.
"Yes, well I can guess with that attitude that your relationships have been short lived. Here's the thing though Harry, you obviously like to separate your life and how you do it I'm not particularly sure, but I am sure that whatever in your mind can be classified as a relationship is not one in my book. Secrets don't work for me. They never did. I won't ever involve myself with someone that starts a relationship with secrets. More over I won't be that female who watches the guy she is involved with go off for weeks at a time with no word, and hears the rumors of whom he was with. Been there done that. I won't. Government business, or whatever you want to call it is going to remain your business only because we won't see each other after tonight." She was proud of herself for the strength in her voice and the facade of determination, but she was cracking and she knew it. How did he not see that relationships were about talking to the other person about what you did with your life?
The facts were true though. You could never build a relationship of lies or secrets. Cliché as it sounded she would stand beside the man she was with, not behind. And with this man standing in front of her, well he would always be in front. And he was arrogant to believe that, that was alright. He was dead wrong.
"So let me see if I understand this correctly" Harry started, his eyes narrow on her, "your upset that my role in life means I have to refrain from talking about my days activities, because like some other dunderhead you have obviously dated, it means I'm hiding something? Not that I simply don't care to talk about it and that my days have nothing to do with our relationship."
He said it with such sarcasm that she wanted to slap him. She really ached to do it, to just lay it on. She had pride though, and she swore she was going to walk away with at least some of it intact.
"Lord, you don't get it. The word couple generally means together! Do you get that? Together! You can't be trusted, whether its in your activities or in your life. And you're absolutely wrong about what you call your job. You are the person and the job, its who you are. And separating your life so efficiently cuts you out of the whole couple thing. I won't have that, so you might as well leave. And I sure as hell won't be a laughing joke, waiting for a letter while you're off with someone else. Other society couples may work that way, but I don't. Look at the society pages you hate so much, full of women who let secrets get the best of their relationships and then found themselves staring at a photo of the man they thought loved them and a woman they don't know. Well, sorry, but I sure as hell have no intention of ending up on page one Your Majesty."
He didn't understand what she wanted. Well no actually he got it perfectly. She wanted him to beg or something, to spill out his entire life before her, like a blubbering idiot and that just wasn't him. And this game she was playing was over. Lord why he had come he wasn't sure. Obviously it was a major mistake on his part. Cute, no she was a person needing to be in control every second.
He walked to the door, while she stood head down and arms crossed, her classic defensive posture. Opening it he looked back one more time and couldn't stop the harsh words from coming out.
"Ice queen." He said it so quietly at first she wasn't certain he had gone that far, "It had been said but I wasn't sure until tonight. You go on and live in you fairytale land but we both know I'm right. " With that he slammed the door, and she was certain walking out of her life forever.
Furiously she wiped at the tears that she couldn't stop from falling and groaned willing herself to stop being upset. If the man couldn't accept that a relationship meant building trust then it was good to stop now. Her mind was strong on that part, organ in her chest, not so much.
Hours later she laid in bed in the dark, staring up at the charmed star ceiling wondering how she could possibly feel so pissed off and sad at the same moment. Finally she closed her eyes determined that tonight would be that last night she thought of that mans stubborn ass.
Ari watched her wonderful cousin playing billiards, with more energy then she had ever seen him play before, and smiled. The man had been a menace for the past week and a half, scaring workers in meetings and basically being a bear. In fact she had wished him into hibernation a few times herself, had had silently threatened to hex him even more times. The only thing that stopped her was knowing that there was a reason for the behavior. King calm didn't behave this way with out a reason. It had taken some digging and a little thought searching but she had the jist of the argument that had occurred. Was amazing what a little polyjuice potion and the mind reading genetics could get you.
In this case though as sad as she felt for her almost brother and father, he was being such a idiot. Men though, they never seemed to change through out all the centuries. She was not willing to let Harry do this to himself any longer though, and with an unconcerned attitude walked into the billiards room as Harry struck a ball hard enough that she was surprised it didn't split.
Harry looked up from the cue to see the blond imp walking in. And sit beside where he was standing on the actual table.
"Hi, nice shot. Do you realize that that is probably going to be the only compliment you get this week from anyone.? And I do believe Jon Paul mentioned that assassination attempts on you are likely to triple soon and most likely to be from people you know. Or did know." Her eyebrows shot up and she smirked a little. "Surprising eh?"
Harry merely looked up for a split second and then started setting up his next shot. With a smack he sent the ball flying, off one side, and into the opposite pocket. She guessed she was going to have to start on a different approach, not worrying since she had a whole bag of them.
"Well in other news, did you hear the Martins are getting a divorce?" At this Harry did glance up. They were a good family of Italian decent. Proper, young, good looking. Marian and Cade had been a favorite at parties. Letting this sink in for a moment Ari then continued.
"Yes, well Marian finally got fed up with the affairs. Only came out recently that all the business trips Cade was taking happened to be more on the pleasure side of things. His mistresses were draining some of their funds, and well, Marian decided she was done. I felt horrid for her though. Here she thought she was being decent by not inquiring to much into Cade's business affairs, figuring he didn't want to talk about it and all the while it was true that their wasn't much business to talk about." With that Ari snickered as if it was terribly funny and watched as her favorite person stopped setting up his next shot and instead walked to the window of the room, giant floor to ceiling arches that looked out over the lake.
"And the reason you find this terribly amusing would be?" Harry spoke softly, not even glancing her way. Tough one Ari decided, what tone to use in this response, but opted for nonchalance and the "this is just obvious" one.
"Come on cousin. You know as well as I do that when men, or women, but more likely to happen with the male sex, when all of a sudden they start working or disappearing from a woman's life there is usually a reason. Especially in society marriages. Just the way it seems to be for a lot of people. And odds say that reason in someone else."
"And being away just doesn't mean that Cade was separating his life be-"
"Because marriage is a partnership obviously. Relationships are a partnership. I may be terribly young but if you don't have that and trust then you have nothing."
Finally Harry turned around clearly exasperated.
"Oh please Ari. I would never expect such foolishness from you. State and government business is just that. Your partner in life may know what type of stuff fills your days, but please don't tell me you divulge information. You are a part of this family, relationships are possible without giving up the discretion this family requires. Have you any idea the secrets that could get out? The damage a partner could do if they disagreed on any issue?"
Arianna blinked a few times, almost in shock. She had thought they were headed in this direction but this was going a little far down the road. Yeah, she definitely understood what had caused this argument. Hopping down from her place on the pool table she took a cue and set up a shot, took it, and then looked up a Harry in all seriousness.
"Please Harry, if you ever see me in such a relationship with someone I profess to love and want to marry please send me to Azkaban or forbid the union. Union. I won't have anything less. A life partner. That one person who makes this life I was born into easier, who not only makes my stomach go in knots at a smile, but makes me think, someone that I can talk about my days with. Share opinions with, without getting upset when our views are different. That's what I want. Trust. Harry if I don't have that first and foremost with a man, then it is ridiculous to continue. The same trust that makes a person certain the other most go astray, is the same to know that with a disagreement they aren't going running to the press. The day that trust isn't there, give up and go home."
"Impossible" was all she heard whispered from Harry's direction.
"Well then you had better tell Grandfather and Grandmother that their life is a lie. I want that blending of two people. Are you telling me you never saw the wariness when his days were hard melt away after time with Grandmother? You never saw the united front they showed, the real one, because she knew the issues, knew what was going on and respected grandfathers opinions even if they were not her own. A couple. Two halves of a whole. He was stronger for it, not weaker. You only have to ask him, and he will admit she is his closest advisor." She glanced at the table and then at Harry, who seemed to be deciding to remain silent, and decided she had done all she could for now. Harry would make the right choice for him, as he always did.
But she couldn't leave without getting one last thought off her chest.
"I haven't met the man I want yet Har. The one that makes me feel what I want in a partner, but you can be certain that when I do nothing will stop me from making it work. Do you remember long ago during that disastrous stay at Hogwarts, you told me that adventures were supposed to be taken no matter the outcome. I realized that I couldn't trust the whole world or even a good portion. But sometimes we get lucky and meet the people we are destined to meet, destined to trust and share our lives with." Ari then contemplated the last reason she had come into the room, she hadn't been sure she would give it too him, but now she was. Reaching into her back pocket she pulled out the society pages from a little under two years before hand and Harry saw her unfold it and place it on the billiards table.
"Some people don't find that trust in a person, and the next person's or even people after it are going to have to prove more because of it." She turned and slipped out of the door, closing it softly behind her.
Harry took his time walk over to where the paper had been placed, and noticed the date before he noticed the pictures. Kate. She was younger but it was she. It was she obviously at some meeting and next to it was a picture of some bloke enjoying a cozy moment with some other chit. Snogging would be a mild term, but as the wizarding photo allowed movement and a flash, the two broke apart and the bloke looked embarrassed, looking for a way out. The headline was almost expected, "Benington's Charmer Been Charming Elsewhere." Harry leaned up against the table reading for the next few minutes about Aiden Charm and his sudden ended relationship with Kate. Dating for a year and it came out that for nearly half of that he had been cozied up to another women. It had been rumored that the two of them had been heard discussing a wedding. He wanted to kill the man as he looked at the picture, and wasn't even sure why. From the sounds of it the photographers had decided to let Kate in on the affair as she was answering some questions for the subject matter of the meeting. In one picture devistation was written all over her face, and just as quickly gone, covering the anguish a façade he knew well. He wore it enough times himself. What she must have gone through.
Hell, was all he could think, his mind seemingly choosing random bits of their previous heated arguments. Trust. Trips. Some accusations. Shit! The newspaper quickly crumbled and with enormous force landed in the ox-roasting fireplace, quickly dissolving amongst the flames. Dissolving almost as fast as it seemed his new relationship had.