Camera Obscura-Katrick, Rated K+ for crude language and sensuality.
AN: I won't get to the last chapter until mid-week. Stay tuned.
21
The weekend passed into Monday morning without a single text message or e-mail from Patrick. It was almost like the date had never happened. Perhaps she could chalk it up as a figment of her fevered imagination and move on. But then she got to school and saw him sauntering at the far end of the hall, and he stopped to lean near her locker with his perpetual smirk. "Didn't you wear that on Friday?" Patrick pretended to look down his nose at her purple sweater and it almost made her laugh.
"I'm so touched that you'd notice," Kat exclaimed in a golly gee voice. She looked at his hands and added, "Just like those fingers never picked up a phone or sent a text."
Patrick moved around to face her. "About that, I thought you might want a break."
"Is that all? I was so worried." She deliberately changed her voice to sound like bubble-headed Suzanne.
"Speaking of that, you were right," he said in a more serious tone.
"Of course I was. About what?" Kat asked flippantly.
"The thing with Suzanne was completely orchestrated by Chastity."
"Naturally." The she-devil passed them by with a scathing glance and they shared a quiet laugh at her expense.
"But this video is like a ticking bomb on my hard drive, and the three other places I backed it up to." Kat held her palms out and continued, "Suppose someone with itchy fingers just happens to upload it somewhere."
Patrick threw her one of his cutest smiles and she looked away before she could melt into a puddle of goo. "All hell would break loose, and you'd lose your leverage over her."
"Exactly my thought. So I must restrain myself."
"Any thoughts on how you'll use your leverage?" He resumed his leaning and was doing a particularly fine job showing off his long, well-muscled body.
Kat ignored the ogling girls that passed them and said, "I'll help my sister wherever I can. It's the least I can do after the hell that girl has put her through."
"You didn't tell her about this, did you?" Patrick's voice cautioned her and she saw Bianca approaching them.
"Are you insane? She thinks Chastity walks on water."
"What's this about Chastity?" Bianca's chipmunk voice interrupted their tête-à-tête.
"She was looking for you," Kat said with a fake smile.
"Thanks. Maybe she's changed her mind about putting me on the squad."
"I'll bet she has," Kat hissed after her sister was out of earshot.
"If not, I'll make sure she sees the errors of her ways."
"So you're not mad about Suzanne?" Patrick asked quietly. The question threw her for a loop and she mentally scurried to come up with a reasonable response.
"Mad? Not anymore."
"Good." Patrick touched her shoulder and ran his fingers lightly down her arm, only stopping when he reached her hand, where he swirled his finger around her palm. The fine hairs on her neck were at attention and her mouth dried as he leaned closer and murmured, "I guess I'll see you later."
Kat could barely form coherent words, so all she did was nod and turn back to her locker.
*****
Patrick had gone to school with the best intentions. They would talk about their date and maybe set up another one and he would keep his hands to himself. Only, Kat looked incredibly sexy and she was looking at him as if in a daze. And yet, even as he touched her, he knew they had issues to resolve, which is why he decided to ride to the Wild Animal Park on his own. And if he was lucky, he would get her to join him.
He waited on the hood of her car after school and was cheered by the sight of her smile. "Hey, so tomorrow is the big trip to the Wild Animal Park. I thought maybe we could ride together."
Kat looked slightly crestfallen. "Sorry, I promised Mandella I'd ride on the bus with her. Apparently, she changed her mind about the zoo and decided to come with us."
Fabulous. Now he had two difficult women to contend with, and one that thought he was a cannibal.
"I guess I'll see you there then." Patrick thought about kissing her but stopped when Bianca appeared with Chastity.
"OK."
*****
Bianca had plenty of thoughts about Patrick Verona. "Doesn't look like the date was a flop."
Kat was tired of her sister's theories. "OK, so maybe it went better than I thought. So what?"
"Why do you get so defensive? I think it's great."
"Of course you do. Not out of the goodness of your heart, because I think you left that in San Francisco, but because you get to keep dating." Kat jerked the wheel to avoid hitting a rock and gnawed at her lip pensively.
"Why can't you just accept something for what it is instead of trying to psychoanalyze everything? Some things are what they appear and nothing more."
"You're saying I should take Patrick at face value?"
"Maybe."
"Are you kidding? He treats women like pieces of meat."
"Is that how he treated you the other night?" Bianca queried.
No, he had treated her like a princess.
"No, but why should I be any different from the other girls?"
"Because maybe you're the one."
"The one?" Kat echoed derisively.
"You actually believe this crap?"
"Yes, I believe there is one special person for everyone. Look at Mom and Dad." Even worse than Bianca's theories were the discussions that focused on their dead mother.
"They were the exception."
"I don't believe that, and maybe if you stopped playing Xena for two seconds, you'd see what was right in front of you."
Kat brought the car to a stop and waited for Bianca to exit before she pounded the steering wheel in frustration. As much as she argued with her sister, Bianca was her safe haven and she could completely let down her hair with her. And since she was being honest, she wanted to find a guy who could accept her wholeheartedly with no reservations. Was Patrick that guy, or was she merely deluding herself?
*****
Patrick worked at the kitchen table instead of up in his loft, needing the comforting presence of his aunt close at hand. He had problems focusing on his English assignment and finally tossed his pencil down in frustration. "Why does it have to be so complicated?" he said as if to himself.
Rachel picked up on his question and looked over her reading glasses at him. "Nothing that's worth anything is ever easy."
"Did you steal that from your book of quotations?" Patrick asked lightly.
"Only from the book of life. Do you think Pete was a saint? I almost gave up on him."
His uncle had cheated on Rachel and taken drugs, yet she kept forgiving him. As time went on, he became the man she had sensed through all the walls he kept throwing up. "I know."
"So why is it so difficult?"
"I'm always afraid that I'll say the wrong thing. And then there's the whole sex thing." Patrick put his hands behind his head and stretched. "It's only a big deal if you make it a big deal."
Rachel whipped off her glasses and pierced him with her probing stare. "It is a big deal, Pat. Especially when you care about the other person. You've been around the block a few times, but you've never felt like this about anyone."
He peered at her from under his curly bangs. "OK, maybe you're right."
She shook her mane of hair over her shoulders. "No maybe about it. You need to let her take the lead in this."
"But how do I tell her that without putting my foot in my mouth?"
"Find the right moment, and don't dance around it. Tell her you'll give her all the time she needs."
"What if I can't wait that long?" Patrick asked as he twisted his fingers together.
Rachel smiled. "You're from a long line of stubborn Irish folk. If the girl is worth it, you'll wait."
******