Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Pulse
Chapter 21
Both Sides Now
December 5th, 2007
Kimberly's house
6:00pm
"Mom, I'm home!" Annie called out, dragging her bag behind her. Kimberly appeared from her bedroom minutes later.
"Hey. I didn't even hear you come in," Kim said as Annie passed her with her bag, dropping it off into her room.
"Yeah, dad just dropped me off," she explained.
Kimberly rolled her eyes. Tommy was clearly still mad at her.
"How was your weekend?" Kim asked, sitting on the edge of Annie's bed as she unpacked.
"It was fun. I saw Dancing with Love at the cineplex," Annie stated casually, shoving her laundry into her hamper.
Kimberly smirked. "Your dad and Jason actually took you to see Dancing with Love?" She mused, laughing as she stood up and helped Annie sort her clothes.
Annie bit her lip and smiled, looking away from her mom. "Actually dad and his friend took me to see it," she corrected slyly.
Kim gave Annie a pleased look. "Oh! Who's his friend?" she asked, collecting the remaining laundry from Annie and starting for the door as Annie followed.
"Katherine," Annie said casually, striding brightly past her mom and down the hall to the pantry.
Kimberly's face dropped, along with the hamper she was holding. Annie stopped dead in her tracks, held back a satisfied grin and turned to face her mother.
"You okay?" Annie asked innocently.
Kim cleared her throat and looked at her daughter. "I'm fine. Let's do this laundry before it gets too late," Kimberly lied sweetly.
Annie turned around and continued toward the pantry, taking the hamper from Kim as her mother found her voice again.
"So, who's Katherine?" Kimberly asked with feigned intrigue. Annie played along, giving her mom a confused look.
"Dad said you knew her," Annie said. Kimberly again, feigned surprise. Smacking her forehead with an exaggerated clap, she gave her daughter a bashful grin.
"Oh! That Katherine! How silly of me! How could I forget Katherine?! Or Kat, as we called her. Did you know that we called her Kat? Yep . . . that was her nickname . . . Kat . . . " Kimberly rambled pathetically.
"Dad suggested we go see the movie cause Kat's a dancer. Or was a dancer . . . I don't remember," Annie said wryly.
"Did everyone enjoy the movie?" Kim asked cheerfully, aggressively swatting the dirty clothes into the washer.
Annie stifled a giggle before answering. "Well, to be honest . . . not really," Annie said simply.
Kimberly gave her daughter a hopeful glance as Annie continued.
"Dad and Kat were laughing and whispering to each other through the whole thing. It was kind of hard to concentrate."
Kimberly clenched her jaw and slammed the washer lid. Annie winced at the sound as she desperately tried to hide her smile.
With a swift flick of the wrist, Kimberly started the machine and sighed.
"Well, I'm sorry they ruined the movie for you," Kimberly said tightly, giving Annie's shoulder a squeeze.
"Oh, they didn't really. Dinner was way worse," Annie said quickly.
Kimberly inhaled a sharp breath before releasing Annie's shoulder and moving back into the hall.
"She had dinner with you?" Kimberly asked nonchalantly, entering the kitchen with Annie close behind.
"Yeah . . . dad invited her back to the house. Kat's really nice but her and dad just kept talking! And they had all these jokes between each other, and I didn't get a lot of their conversation. She seems really cool though, and dad seemed happy so, whatever," Annie explained flippantly, grabbing a glass out of the cabinet and filling it with tap water.
"Where was Jason during all of this?" Kimberly asked suspiciously as she began wiping down the counter. Kim had developed a nervous habit of cleaning when she was mad, Annie had noticed.
"Oh, Uncle Jay's the one who called her to come visit in the first place," Annie said casually. She had been given specific instructions from Jason to say exactly that phrase.
"Did he?" Kimberly asked sharply, tossing the rag into the sink and running warm water over it. Annie watched as her mom silently fumed, shutting the water with an aggressive thud and wringing the dishcloth as if it was somebody's neck.
"Yeah. He said he got an email from Uncle Bill who mentioned he was back in California and so was Kat. Uncle Jay thought it'd be nice to catch up," Annie said.
Kimberly released a laugh. "So, Jason invited Billy and Kat together?" she asked for clarification.
"Well, not together like, Uncle Bill and Kat are together. But Uncle Bill said they were both in town, so Uncle Jay wanted to see both of them. Uncle Bill couldn't make it, but Kat did," Annie explained happily.
Kimberly gave her a weak smile. "Well, I'm glad Kat could make it," she muttered.
"Dad invited her back for the holidays!" Annie added.
Kim tossed the rag into the sink and glared at her daughter. "He did what?" she asked incredulously.
Annie gave her a mom a confused look and shrugged. "What? She's your friend too. You'd get to see her," Annie defended.
Kim spun back to stare into the sink, trying to control her temper. "Why would I want to see Kat?" she asked more to herself than Annie.
"Maybe dad could invite all your friends for the holidays! Or at least, New years! That'd be cool! I haven't seen Aunt Isha and Uncle Zack in forever!" Annie pressed on.
"New Years . . . " Kimberly muttered sadly, still staring at the metal basin in front of her.
Annie settled down, Kim's silence beginning to worry her. Her mother was visibly affected by the mention of this woman.
"Mom, are you okay?" Annie asked, breaking Kim of her thoughts.
"Did you know that they dated, after your dad and I broke up?" Kim asked quietly.
Annie nodded. "Uncle Jay told me," she answered equally as soft.
Kimberly snickered. "Of course he did," she said bitterly.
"So you don't like Kat because her and dad dated?" Annie dared to ask.
"No. I like Kat. I just . . . you know what? Forget it. This is stupid. Why do I care? Why am I sitting here, complaining to my daughter?" Kimberly asked rhetorically.
Annie bit her lip as she watched her mother talk to herself for a moment, rationalizing her paranoia and jealousy much like Tommy had.
"I mean, I have Mason, right? And just because you're Tommy's daughter doesn't mean I have to be with Tommy, right? I mean, he's an adult, Katherine's an old friend . . . it's not unheard of for old friends to see each other again . . . date again . . . whatever . . . right?" She continued, her voice growing more agitated by the second.
Annie nodded, although Kimberly wouldn't have noticed it anyway, she had begun wiping down the counter top . . . again. Kim kept referring to Annie as she spoke, ostensibly including her in the conversation. But at the rate Kimberly was speaking, Annie was doubtful she'd get a word in edgewise anyway.
"I mean, just because we have a responsibility to you, doesn't mean we necessarily have a responsibility to each other, right? It's not like we have to tell each other when we're seeing other people. I mean, I wouldn't do that. I didn't do that. I shouldn't have to, am I right? And it's not like Tommy cheated on me with Kat, we were already broken up. Of course, she totally liked him when we were still dating . . . and he definitely thought she was cute . . . but that doesn't even matter anymore. Listen to me . . . acting like I care . . . I mean I saw how jealous Tommy was of Mason, and I just kept thinking . . . wow. Why would he be jealous? Well, I guess he's not too worried about me anymore, huh? Guess he's not mad about us not staying with him over Christmas anymore! Well good. I'm glad Kat could come back and distract him. Gets him off my ass, right? I'm happy. I really am. I'm happy for him, Kat's a nice girl . . . a little too . . . blonde, for my taste . . . but nice. That's just what he needs. A nice, blonde girl . . . " Kimberly rambled maniacally, practically scrubbing the linoleum off the counter as she continued to wipe the same spot.
Annie just sat amazed. Her mother was jealous. Finally and undoubtedly jealous. Jason's plan had worked. The question now was . . . how would Jason and Annie get Tommy and Kim to admit their jealousy to each other without incriminating themselves?
Because of course, there was no email from Billy. Katherine had never actually come into town, seen a movie, or had dinner at the house. Jason had made the whole thing up, directing Annie on what to do and what to say.
And Annie had delivered the script beautifully. Kim was definitely jealous, and so was Tommy.
Although Tommy had a substantially more valid reason to be. At least Kimberly's paramour actually existed.
Jason had merely suggested the one person that fueled all of Kimberly's insecurities about men. Everything else was Kimberly's own ego. For years, Kimberly had always been the one that boys had crushes on. Then, when Trini blossomed, boys started crushing on her too. But with Trini it was different. They never attracted the same men, nor did they pursue the same type either. So when Katherine came along and was immediately attracted to Tommy . . . Kimberly became guarded. Add that to the fact that Tommy undeniably found Katherine attractive as well, and Kimberly instantly felt threatened.
When Kimberly broke up with Tommy, the last thing on her mind was whether or not Tommy would find someone else. But he did, with Katherine. Of course, Tommy would have never even given Katherine a second glance if he had remained with Kim. Regardless of how attractive he found her to be.
It had always been an awkward subject. Even at Trini's funeral, where Katherine had seemed unusually attached to Billy. The brief moments Kim had stolen in Tommy's direction and seen him talking to Kat, seeing how close they had remained, it broke her heart.
Annie had to keep Kimberly from talking directly to Tommy. She knew her dad well enough now to know that as long as he remained annoyed, he'd avoid contact with Kim until he was over it. But Kim . . . her mom would definitely shoot her mouth off to Tommy, just so he knew her disapproval.
"I'm gonna go put the clothes in the dryer," Annie said quickly as the washer sounded its completion.
Kimberly looked up, startled. She had been so engrossed with her thoughts, she had forgotten Annie was there.
"Okay," she mumbled, finally giving up the cleaning and folding the dishcloth over the edge of the sink.
As Annie was loading up the dryer, Kim walked in and leaned against the doorway.
"How did she look?" Kim asked sadly.
Annie shot her mom a surprised look. She hadn't thought about what Katherine would look like, seeing as she hadn't really reappeared.
"Umm . . . you know . . . blonde, tall . . . " Annie stuttered.
Kimberly gave a laugh in spite of herself. "Did she look good?"
Annie swallowed hard. Kim was asking her questions she hadn't planned for. What should she say? Telling her mom that Katherine looked great would only send her reeling. And they were running out of things to clean. But if she told her that Katherine looked bad, it could negate the entire plan.
"Umm, she looked the same," Annie finally said. Kim gave a curious look as Annie amended her statement.
"I mean, from what I remember of her," she said, smiling with a shrug.
Kim nodded and gave Annie a sad smile. "Yeah . . . " Kimberly breathed, thinking to herself.
There was more to Kimberly's jealousy than she could explain to Annie. Kimberly had always felt replaced by Kat. Not that any of this was Katherine's fault. But Kimberly couldn't help but feel like a second fiddle.
Katherine had the body Kimberly never had; tall, curvy. Katherine had the looks Kimberly never had; crystal blue eyes and long, blonde hair. She had a gloriously appealing voice, with her Australian lilt that made everything sound like honey. Katherine took her place as a Ranger, and then of course . . . she took her place as Tommy's girlfriend.
All of her own admirable qualities suddenly felt cheap and arbitrary in comparison to Kat. The blonde amazon had been abroad, studying dance and accomplishing a life long dream. Kimberly had left everything behind for the Pan Globals and never even got to compete.
There were a lot of things Kimberly had overcome, mistakes she had finally come to terms with . . . but the idea of Katherine always left Kimberly feeling sad and guilty. Most likely because, Katherine was a nice girl. She was a friend, who hadn't done anything wrong. But Kimberly's pride was just simply too mighty to forget.
"Well, I better get back to grading papers for tomorrow," Kimberly said finally, giving Annie a kiss on the forehead before padding back to her room.
Annie gave her mom a weak smile and watched her mom close the door behind her. Once Kimberly was out of sight, Annie shut the dryer door and ran to her room, grabbing the phone and locking the door.
After a couple of rings, a man's voice answered on the other end.
Annie's eyes lit up. "Uncle Jay? She bought it."
AN: AGH! I'm evil, evil, evil. Well, here was a slightly sadder chapter, but it had some funny moments. Especially hearing Kimberly's cattiness. Anyway, what happens now as the holidays draw closer and closer??? Find out next time! Please Review! Catch ya on the flip side!