A short chapter but will hopefully post a longer one later today
She was pregnant. Two little words that Jo had uttered yesterday came to her mind. It wasn't food poisoning that she was suffering from but morning sickness. It would make sense as Josh hadn't been ill at all.
There was also the ill advised one night stand that she had told no one about and had tried to forget happened. It had been in the shower the morning after as she cleaned between her thighs that she had realised that she had been stupid enough not to use any protection. She had intended to go to the chemist to get the morning after pill but had been distracted by a phone call from Mark informing her that Josh had injured himself during a game of football. Kate had joined them both in the emergency department to wait whilst the doctors had assessed her son.
Thankfully it was just a bad sprained ankle and not a fracture, but it had kept Kate from her task. By the time she remembered, too long had passed for the pill to be effective. She hadn't been too concerned though as she would be terribly unlucky to get pregnant after having sex once, and it had taken her a little while to get pregnant when she had been trying with Mark. That casual attitude was definitely coming back to haunt her now!
Her encounter had happened the night of her impromptu leaving drinks when she left AC-12. She always thought that if she did leave anti-corruption it would be a good send off. As it turned out, she left under a bit of a dark cloud. Ted Hastings hadn't taken her transfer well and had not made his disappointment in her leaving a secret. Kate knew his bad mood was because he knew that he was partly to blame for her decision. As a result, it wasn't a big send off, just a few drinks in the local pub for anyone that wanted to come. Ted had avoided the event.
Steve might have done well to do the same thing. He had been there in body but not in spirit. It was an emotional party for Kate as she had been with AC-12 for so long that they felt like family, and she had really needed his moral support. She remembered looking across the room to see him sat in the corner of the room, by himself, staring morosely into his pint.
As the evening wore on, she had gotten increasingly angry at him for his unsociable behaviour. He hadn't spoken to anyone including her and finally she had had enough. Excusing herself from a group of colleagues she had been speaking to, she had made her way over to where he was sat.
"You obviously don't want to be here, Steve. Why don't you just go home?" She had said, upset.
Steve had looked angry at her suggestion and Kate had thought briefly that he would argue against her idea, but in the end he'd simply said "Ok," with a casual shrug of his shoulders before getting up and making his way towards the exit.
Kate thought he was teasing her at first, but realised he was actually walking away from her when he left and didn't return. Incredulous, she had rushed after him, catching up with him in the car park. "Where are you going?" She shouted after him.
Steve stopped and turned around. "Home," he replied simply. "Doing as you asked. Like I always do," he continued before turning on his heel and walking off again.
"Is this how you want our partnership to end?" Kate shouted after him. This time Steve didn't stop but just kept on walking. "Eight years and you're leaving without so much as a goodbye?" she continued, getting upset now. Steve just kept on walking away. "Go to hell, Steve!" She yelled, as she watched him disappear as he turned a corner.
Spying a low wall nearby, Kate went over and sank onto it, completely heart broken. She had been worrying about saying good bye to her best friend ever since her transfer had been accepted. Wondering how she would ever be able to convey exactly how much he meant to her. That every time she realised that transferring out would mean not working with him, she didn't want to go. Hell, there were even moments where she thought about biting the bullet and suggesting they might try continuing their friendship as something more. Never in her worst dreams did she envisage them having an argument and falling out.
He'd done some stupid things in the time she'd known him, but to do this at her leaving do really was something else. Fuck him! She thought. She would not let him ruin her night.
Drying her eyes with her arm she stood and headed back in to the pub, keen to continue the drinks. She headed to the bar and on catching the bartender's attention ordered herself a large glass of wine. Her mind drifting back to moments earlier despite her best efforts.
"Cheer up. Might never happen," a man to her right said who had obviously seen she was unhappy at something.
"It just did," she replied sadly.
"Break up?".
"Sort of," Kate answered.
"The man's an idiot," the stranger confided.
"I know," Kate agreed.
"Name?".
"Steve,".
"Nice to meet you Steve. I'm Greg," the man introduced himself. Kate smiled.
"See you're over him already!" He said, encouraged by her smile.
"Kate," Kate introduced herself and turned to shake hands with the man beside her.
