"Jesus Christ! Where have you been?" Ugly was enveloped in a pair of unexpected arms. Kinea had greeted her at the door of her apartment. Ugly stood stiffly, somewhat baffled. "Sybil," Kinea ordered, motioning to a girl lurking behind her, "send someone out to find Spot, we've found her." Ugly felt completely confused as Kinea pulled her toward the couch. "We were so worried!" She was saying.
"Worried about what?" Ugly found her voice.
Kinea sat her down on the couch. "Well, it was in the evening edition, dear; Roan escaping, holding you hostage," she explained. "Spot was…well, he's pretty upset. I told him not to worry but, you know."
"Where is he?"
"Why, he's looking for you, of course," Kinea responded. Ugly felt as if she'd stepped through the looking glass. She was sure she hated Kinea, but whenever she was around her she was so nice and polite. She had just been on her way to tell Spot to stay away from her and now they were talking as she poured them drinks. She handed Ugly a glass. "Let me just tell you, that boy thinks the world of you," Kinea was saying. "I've never seen someone more devoted." Kinea sat down across from her.
"Where's Katie?" Ugly asked. Katie usually followed behind Kinea like a lapdog.
Kinea shrugged. "She's disappeared again. She does that sometimes. She'll just drop off the face of the earth for a few days," Kinea took a sip of her drink. "Her nickname is "Vanishing Kate". Because of that and, of course, what happened to her husband."
"What happened to her husband?" Ugly's curiosity was piqued.
Kinea took another sip of her drink for dramatic effect. Then she said, with relish, "he disappeared."
XXX
Roan had a fantastic idea. He was walking to the Brooklyn Bridge. His plan was to jump off…and see what happened. The scary thing was, he was completely sober. This was his logical thought process without drugs. It was late at night, but he still bowed his head to keep himself from being recognized on the streets. He didn't want to go back to the asylum; he wanted to jump off the bridge.
But when he got there, he saw that he would have to wait his turn. The bridge was deserted except for one sole person. It was a girl in a dark dress. She was perched on the railing, one frail arm grasping a cable, teetering on the edge. Roan sped up; he wanted to talk to her. Obviously, they had something in common.
"Hold on a second," he called out. The girl turned around to face him. Her face was sad but oddly tearless. He recognized her; it was Kinea's friend Katie.
"Hiya," she said, stepping down onto the sidewalk like she'd been doing something perfectly normal. "I thought you were in the nuthouse," she continued, folding her arms across her chest like she was cold. She looked so small and fragile.
"Yeah," Roan replied. "It was fun but…I got bored." Katie fumbled for a cigarette, her hands were shaking. Roan watched her. He couldn't help feeling bad for her. She seemed pretty fucked up.
"It's pot," she said about the toque. "Do you want one?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," Roan replied.
XXX
"He disappeared?" Ugly asked, incredulously. She couldn't help but be entranced by this dirty piece of gossip. Kinea nodded, wide eyed.
"Nobody knows what happened to him. He was working for the shipping business, and one day he went to do a job and he never came back," Kinea finished.
Ugly felt a sudden dip in her stomach. "I haven't seen Kyro since that night they left together," she said.
Kinea leaned back in her chair. "I'm not suggesting Katie killed her husband," she said, distastefully. "She doesn't go to work with him. She's still pretty messed up about it, though."
"Do you have any idea where Kyro might have gone?" Ugly asked. She missed him.
Kinea shrugged. "He's your friend, not mine. Kyro doesn't like me."
"Why not?"
"Because of what happened with Roan," Kinea said. Ugly took a sip of her drink. Even though she hated Kinea, she had to admit, it was nice to have a conversation with someone.
"What did happen with Roan?" Ugly asked.
Kinea looked as if she didn't really want to talk about it, but she did anyway. "I don't know…we dated and…Listen, don't hold this against me, okay?" Kinea asked.
"Of course I won't, Ugly said. "Trust me, I know all about doing things you regret."
Kinea took a deep breath. "I used to be a whore and Roan didn't know. So we started dating, and I…well, I kept doing it behind his back and, eventually he, umm…he found out. So you can probably guess the rest…" Ugly nodded. "So anyway, we broke up and I ran off to Greece with this other guy and that's it." Ugly had never seen Kinea seem so human.
"Did you love him?" Ugly asked. It was sort of weird to think about someone being in love with Roan.
Kinea shrugged. "I guess as much as a person like me can ever hope to love someone," her eyes were shiny and Ugly felt bad for having asked. She took another sip of her drink. She couldn't suppress a wicked feeling of joy at Kinea's being unhappy.
XXX
"I just don't understand," Katie was mumbling. "Why can't I just have fun all the time?" She was lying back on top of Roan, with her head on his chest. They were still on the bridge, looking up at the naked night sky. Roan's chin was on her head. They were both so high that it felt as if their bodies had melded together. It felt nice.
"I know, really. You should be able to, baby. You should just have a fucking good time all the time, you know?" Roan mumbled back, taking another hit.
"I just…" Katie drifted off for a second. "I just feel so sad sometimes. I feel like it's chasing me, and I have to get away. I'll do anything to get away." Roan felt a tug in his heart. He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him.
"I know, baby, I know," he whispered back. He kissed her head. "But I feel better with you here. Do you feel better?"
She snuggled in deeper. She could feel his heart beating beneath her, inside her. "I feel so much better," she said.
XXX
Spot burst into the room and looked around for a moment in panic until his eyes rested on Ugly. He ran to her and wrapped his arms around her. Ugly felt her heart surge with joy as his body pressed against hers.
"Jesus! You stupid little girl," he said, sweetly. He kissed her ear. "I was so worried about you." He held her in his arms and Ugly had never felt so loved in all her life.
Finally, he pulled away and looked into her eyes. "Are you okay? Is everything okay?" he scanned her body like he was looking for missing limbs or bullet holes. He saw the mark on her neck. He rubbed his finger across it, gently. "What happened? Did he do that to you?" He demanded, eyes flashing.
Ugly's hand flew up to her neck. "Don't worry, I'm fine," she said, softly. "I'm so fine." She looked into his eyes and she felt so happy. So giddy and perfect and so…she couldn't even explain. She wanted to feel like this forever and ever and ever.
He stared back and all the worry and anger was swept away by the overwhelming love he felt. He kissed her, because he couldn't do anything else. She sunk into his kisses and wondered how she could ever be unhappy about anything when she had a boy like him.
XXX
Kinea let herself out. The joyful reunion really made her sick. And, she had to admit, jealous. But mostly sick. She also realized that she would without a doubt have to change plans if she wanted to make her deadline. Not that it would be a problem. She played her best when the pressure was on.
XXX
A/N: Awww…what a romantic chapter! So, hmm…where is this all going? We shall see…
So, Roan and Katie? Kind of random (let's here it for hooking up with randoms!) Will it last? Do we want it to? Is Katie evil or does she just have weird friends? Either way, Roan is a murderous criminal so I guess it doesn't much matter…
And where is Kyro? Did Katie make him "disappear" or is it just a strange coincidence?
And then there's Spot and Ugly, who make me jealous. How could you ever complain with the gorgeous Spot as your devoted boyfriend?
And, of course, Kinea. Do you feel bad for her at all? Me neither…you reap what you sow after all. Anyways, what is she up to and how does it involve our characters? Anyway, the "deadline" is approaching so I guess we shall see…