Okay, so I tweaked the prologue as some changes were needed. I found a bio on Kate Macer online, so I'm using it to help me with her character. Her family history will be made up, though, since they don't mention sibling names etc in the bio. I've gone over this chapter a thousand times making sure it's right, so I hope you guys enjoy it.
Thank you, GreenEyedSam, for your wonderful review! I hope you like this chapter just as much :)
2013
Lee opened his eyes to stare at his ceiling. For a moment, he had forgotten, but then it all came back.
I don't love you anymore.
He pressed his fingers into his eyes, wondering just what had happened that made Lacy fall out of love with him. She knew about his job. She had said it didn't change anything. Then suddenly, she's done. He didn't understand.
It's not you, it's me.
What the hell did that even mean anyway?
His phone chirped, making him turn his head to look at it. If it was Barney, he didn't think he was in the right frame of mind for a mission. It chirped again, though, making him groan and grab it. He had to answer the guy at least. He looked at the messages, a small smile forming on his face.
Sorry if I woke you. I never know where you are in the world. Just thought I'd check in and say hey. It's been a while.
Lee always appreciated her checking in. Her friendship meant a lot to him. He read her second message then.
How's wedding planning going?
He snorted. She had no idea. To be fair, though, the last time they had talked he and Lacy had been doing great.
Hard to plan a wedding with no bride, he wrote back. In seconds, he had a reply.
What?! She left?! Are you serious?
As a heart attack.
I'm sorry, Lee.
All good. Better now than after the wedding.
If you need to talk, I'm here.
Thanks.
Lee set his phone down then, knowing she would leave it at that and not push. He loved that about her. When he had met Kate Macer a few years ago at a bar in England, she had been visiting relatives, and he had been wandering Europe a bit trying to deal with thoughts of who he was and if he was doing the right thing. He had been quite taken by her at first, and not a day went by where he kicked himself for sticking to his stupid rule of no one night stands. He wondered if things would be different right now. Lee thought of her frequently, and he knew he shouldn't have since he was with someone else, but she would pop into his brain randomly and quickly that he never had the chance to stop them. He had never seen her again, but they kept in touch through texting. Barney used to tease him about his mystery girl. Lacy had been jealous and annoyed, so Lee had stopped talking to Kate as much. Kate had understood. She had gotten married herself anyway. To this day, her getting married still surprised him. His name was Evan, and he didn't like Kate talking to Lee either. Lee assumed as much anyway. It explained the longer distances between talks.
His phone went off again. This time it was Barney.
Need a pal? Something to stab? Tool's got a new dart board up.
Lee hovered his fingers over the keys, debating on how to respond. He really just wanted to be alone right now. He had told Barney the night before that Lacy had left. His friend had given him the space he had wanted. Lee appreciated that Barney was there for him, but he also knew Barney had never liked Lacy to begin with. The "I told you so" on his tongue must be driving him nuts.
Rain check.
All right. I'm here.
Lee set his phone down again and walked out to get something to eat. He hoped that eventually, the knife in his chest would be removed and he would feel better.
...
Kate reread the message from Lee.
Hard to plan a wedding with no bride.
Something hummed in the back of her brain at this. So Lee was single again. Why did that matter so much to her anyway? They had had a chance all those years ago, and they hadn't gone through with it. Yes, sometimes she regretted not insisting despite his no one night stand rule, but then again, would they have the same kind of friendship now if they had? Granted, he was a bit older than her (that was disclosed via texting), but that didn't bother her that much. She caught herself thinking about him at the most random of times too. Her sister, Emma, claimed she was secretly in love with him, but Kate argued she wasn't. After all, she was married to Evan, who she had met at the FBI and had just started dating right before meeting Lee. Her mind went back to the bar that night after Lee had left.
"I do not know what you see in him," Emma had said, wrinkling her nose. "He looks rough."
"He's very good looking. What are you talking about?" Kate had asked.
"Please," Emma had snorted. "You're blind."
"Maybe it's you who is blind," Kate had suggested, changing the subject then. Her sister had heard about Lee all the time after that, which led her to believe Kate was nuts about him, much to her distaste. They were just friends. She talked about her friends with other people. That was normal. She did think of Lee a lot, though. Maybe too much. Probably too much for a married woman.
"Earth to Kate," Reggie said, snapping his fingers in her face. "Let's go. We got a perp to deal with."
"Yup. Coming," Kate said, slipping her phone into her back pocket and following Reggie. There couldn't be any distractions in this job. She loved working for the FBI. She couldn't imagine doing anything different.
...
"Your guy is single?!" Emma exclaimed. Kate winced on the phone. Her sister had a very loud voice. Their other sister, Grace, on the other hand, was more mellow and quiet. Kate and Grace didn't talk very much since Grace was doing relief work with Red Cross around the world for victims of natural disasters. They saw each other maybe once a year. Emma, however, was back in England with her Mum and Dad, Oliver and Leah. They had moved back there over eight years ago. After the Incident.
"First of all, he's not my 'guy.' And secondly, what would you like me to do?" Kate countered. "He was engaged, Emma. He's not ready for a relationship. And did you forget that I'm married?!"
"How do you know he's not ready? And come on, I never liked Evan anyway. You and I both know he's cheating on you."
"Yes, you made that abundantly clear, and no, he isn't."
"He's a weasel."
"He's my husband."
"He'll be gone within the year, two at most," Emma predicted.
"Do you mind not talking like that?" Kate asked, annoyed. Something inside of her was beginning to crack.
"So if Lee showed up on your doorstep, you'd do nothing?" Emma asked.
"Emma, drop it," Kate ordered. She was cooking dinner with the phone in the crook of her neck. An unlit cigarette was dangling from her lips. She really wanted a smoke after talking to Emma. She loved her sister, but she could be a bit much sometimes.
"No, I won't drop it. You still like this guy! God only knows why," Emma added.
"I'm married, Em, so no, I don't like Lee that way," Kate argued. "And what is your deal with Lee anyway? You're always taking shots at him."
There was silence for a moment.
"Emma?" Kate prompted.
"He's too much like Liam," Emma finally said. "Even his name is similar. Lee. Liam. See what I mean?"
"I don't," Kate huffed, putting down the pot and grabbing the cigarette out of her mouth to stare at the wall across from her.
"He was SAS, like Liam."
"Emma..." Kate warned.
"He even squints his eyes the same."
"You're delusional," Kate said, annoyed.
"You have a complex."
"I do not!"
"How else can you explain why you're attracted to a guy who reminds you of Liam?"
"Stop it!" Kate shouted. "I'm married, and I do not have a complex. That's ridiculous. Lee does not remind me of Liam!" Emma was silent again, and Kate was shaking. She hated when Emma did this, compared Lee to Liam. It wasn't true at all.
"I should go," Emma said quietly. "The dogs."
"Yup. Bye," Kate responded, hanging up without another word. She looked over at the photo of her, Emma, Grace, and Liam the day he left to fight in the war. He had moved to England after high school because he wanted to be back where he came from, according to him. He had joined the SAS just before 2001. He died in 2005. She swallowed hard, calming her heart slowly and breathing in deeply. Then she went outside and lit her cigarette.
A Few Days Later
Lee was smiling down at his phone, which made Barney know exactly who he was talking to. He sucked on his cigar as he kept one hand on the wheel of the plane. They were heading out for work, so the others were in the back. Toll was enlightening them about some new thing he had learned in his therapy while Gunner and Caesar groaned in unison.
"Is that Mystery Girl?" Barney asked, not looking at Lee. He knew it was Kate. He just liked to tease Lee about it. He had heard all about the missed opportunity. It was why he knew Lee and Lacy would never work out. Lee was still hung up on Kate, not that he would admit it.
"She's not a mystery when you know who she is," Lee retorted. "And yes, it is. Not that it's any of your business."
"You should go see her," Barney suggested.
"No," Lee shook his head.
"Why not?"
"I just got out of a relationship. And she's married."
"I meant see her as a friend, but good to know where your head is at," Barney chuckled. Lee gave him an exasperated look.
"Stop trying to wordplay me."
"I'm not!"
Lee just snorted and looked out the window, feeling his phone vibrate again. He and Kate were talking about her recent job. She shared minimal information of course; it was more about how she was feeling about it. Without looking at Barney to know there was a dumb look on it, he checked the message.
"Oh yea," Barney said in the background as he saw Lee's face. "You're so hooked."
And of course, he was right, not that Lee would ever admit it. He had fallen for Kate back in 2008, but things never worked out. He had met Lacy not long after that, and she had married Evan. It wasn't wise to see her even as a friend. The texting would have to suffice. At least he could talk to her. He'd have to settle for that much.
...
"Who are you talking to?" Evan asked, irritated. Kate looked up from her phone.
"Reggie," she lied. She knew Evan did not like her talking to Lee. He had made it clear he found it wrong from the start. She had crafted a good lie to explain why she was even talking to him to start with since Evan had no idea how she really met Lee.
"He tell a good joke or something?" Evan questioned.
"Sort of. Why?"
"Your face is all goofy looking."
"I'm sorry my face is bothering you."
"Come on," Evan sighed. "Not now."
"Fine," Kate shot back. She and Evan were having problems. They had been having problems for the last couple of months. Kate knew they needed to work on things if they wanted their marriage to work. They'd only been married a year and a half for crying out loud, but they'd been together for five years in total. She wondered if he knew that she thought about Lee and regretted not seeing how things went with Lee. Maybe he somehow knew that Kate had almost cheated on him in the beginning of their relationship without her telling him. Maybe he knew that Kate wasn't 100 percent in the relationship. Evan wasn't so innocent himself either. Emma had been right in that there was a chance Evan had been or still was cheating on her, but she didn't have the proof. She did know what he did with his buddies, though. She had seen the lip gloss stains on the collar of his shirt, the dollar bills in his coat pocket. She had even followed him once and saw him going there. It irked Kate that he went to strip clubs and felt the need to lie about it, but she never brought it up. She didn't know how. Instead, she focused on her work.
"You coming to bed or what?" Evan asked from the doorway of their bedroom.
"Yup," she answered, shutting her phone off. Sometimes she wondered what she was doing with her life. She felt she wasn't in the right direction, but she didn't know how to change it.
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