Okay, I'm mega pleased with myself coz I'm got actual Croatian names in my story. Go me! For those who might not know, Tata is Croatian for father, or dad. And Dusan who you'll meet is in honour of the bestest kitty cat in the whole widest world. I call him Patch; you can call him Your Majesty. Thanks. Ps, if you haven't noticed I'm going a lidle bit loopy. Bibble.

Luka had finally relented and had let Emma arranged dinner with one of her friends. Of course she and Dmitri would be there as well, Luka had insisted.

It was June, and exceptionally hot. Luka dressed in the thinnest shirt he had, hoping that the restaurant was by the sea, so what little breeze there was could get in. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to do this. He kept telling himself that he'd get over Abby. He'd left the country, started a new life with out her, and he was fine.

He heard a mewling noise behind him, a turned to see a small black and white cat standing in the open double doors, leading out into the garden.

'So you're back are you?' Luka asked it, looking down at it. In reply, it walked forward and wound itself around his legs, purring loudly. One of his parent's friend's cats had had kittens, and one needed a home. Luka had offered to take it when it was old enough, and if he was honest with himself, he really liked it. It was good to have something to care for again.

'If you're hungry you're gonna have to wait 'til I get back Dusan.' The cat meowed again as he walked into the kitchen. He filled up a bowl of water and put it on the floor, along with a spoonful of tuna to keep him happy.

Dmitri and Emma arrived at eight outside his house and he followed them in his car into town. It would probably be a bad idea if he had too much to drink, because he'd have to walk back into town to collect it. But it had air conditioning, and on a night as hot as this it was a godsend.

As he drove, he tried to push thoughts of Abby out of his head. He was going to enjoy tonight.

They pulled up outside a restaurant in the town, and as Luka had hoped it was near the sea. He was walking over to a slightly nervous looking woman around his age, flanked by Dmitri and Emma, when a TV screen in one of the neighbouring restaurants caught his eye. On the whole, he didn't like Croatian TV, and the programme he was looking at was one of the million soaps, where everything from the actors to the sets is made out of cardboard. But it was what was going on in the scene that had caught his attention. It was one of those emotional moments as the man walks away from the crying woman, who at the last moment calls him back and confesses her undying love for him.

Something made him stop. He stared hard at the pavement as thoughts went whirring through his head.

'Luka?' He looked up and saw his brother stand a few metres away, looking back at him. He looked from the screen to the floor and then up at his brother, a small grin starting to appear on his face.

'Um, look, I've gotta go, there's something I've got to do. Can you do me a favour and get Tata to feed Dusan over the next few days?'

'Yeah,' said Dmitri, frowning slightly.

'I'll call you soon.' He called moving back quickly to the car.

Dmitri joined Emma and Adrijana over by the restaurant as they watched Luka go speeding off down the road.

'I wonder where he'd going?' Dmitri frowned.

'Back to Chicago to get the woman that he loves and confess that she's the most important thing in the world to him and that he can't imagine life without her.' Said Emma matter-of-factly.

'How d'you know?' Dmitri asked, looking confusedly at his wife.

'It's what you did.'