Chapter 5

(Thanks everybody for the reviews so far. Glad to see that you guys are enjoying reading this story as much as I am writing it.)

Kate's dream continues

Kate and Boone were still sitting inside the quiet and dark living room.

"Okay, now what?" she asked. At this point she was saddened by the scene she had just witnessed.

Boone reached over and took her hand. "You've got some more to see." He told her as he pulled her up off the couch and led her back out into the hallway.

"Where are we going?" Kate pulled back on his hand a bit as if stalling, not sure she wanted to see anything else.

"Further into the future…a few months at least." With that he pulled Kate through the wall of the apartment in front of them. This time Kate found herself in an office with several desks and files. A couple of men were sitting at the desks one on the phone and the other talking to a young couple.

"What is this place?" she asked looking around.

"Sid's Auto Palace." He replied.

"And why are we here?"

"You'll see in a moment." Boone smiled before gesturing with his chin towards the man talking to the couple.

"Let me see what my boss says about cutting the price down a bit more." The young man got up and disappeared into an office in the back. A couple of minutes later he came out followed by…Sawyer.

Kate looked at the man surprised to see him there…in a suit. "What's he doing here?" she asked but Boone remained silent.

"Julie, Howard I'd like you to meet my boss, Sid." The young man said.

Sawyer flashed that dimpled smile that Kate knew so well and extended his hand to Howard then Julie. "Nice to meet you two. I'm Sid and I'm the proprietor of this place. "he said somehow making his southern drawl even more heavy. "Carter tells me that you're interested in that beauty of a Monte Carlo that we've got out there. Beauty isn't she?"

Howard nodded his head the cleared his throat. "It's a little more than we wanted to spend." He said softly as his wife nodded.

"Is that so?" Sawyer said trying to act surprised. "Well, you know, quality does come at a price and that piece of machinery is quality. Good ol' American quality."

"Sid, "Carter spoke up. "I was hoping you'd be up to cutting the price a bit and helping out this couple. They're newlyweds."

This time Sawyer turned and looked at Julie and smiled again. "Is that so?" he exclaimed. "Newlyweds, huh? Well, ain't that sweet?" he reached up with his hand and stroked his beard. "Well, seeing how I'm a family man myself I think I can see about doing the deal. "

"Really?" Julie asked and smiled warmly. "That would be great."

"We're married?" Kate asked Boone who shook his head.

"No, he's just trying to make them feel like he's giving them a break. The car is about $3000 more than it should be so cutting the price still gives him a profit.

"Oh." Kate replied softly. What made her think that she and Sawyer would have gotten married at this point. Sawyer knew a fish when he saw one and was just using whatever he could to reel them in. She should have known – he was calling himself Sid after all.

As Carter and Sawyer continued hammering out the deal, Kate looked over at Boone. "What's with the name Sid?"

"The guy that owns this lot hired Sawyer and told him he had carte blanche to bring in sales. Thought by calling himself the owner it would give the customers more confidence in thinking they're dealing with the 'owner'"

Kate nodded and looked back at Sawyer. "So he went legitimate?"

"Hardly. He and Sid have a scam going selling cars to certain people who then report the vehicle stolen and get the insurance payoff. Sid's got a chop shop where he cuts up the parts, sells them and gives Sawyer a percentage for the paperwork and moving the car through the lot." Boone explained.

The young lady took a deep breath and shook her head. "And what am I doing?"

"You still work at the bar."

"No wedding plans?" she asked shyly.

Boone shook his head. "Kind of hard to get married when you can't apply for a license in your real name. Sawyer one time suggested getting married under one of your alias but you refused. And now, well…it's not a topic that's really brought up anymore. Just like the topic of children." He added.

Kate turned sharply and looked at the young man when he mentioned children. "We talked about having kids?"

"Technically, you did. Sawyer doesn't want kids."

"He doesn't?" she sounded surprised at that statement. During the time on the island she had spent with Sawyer he never mentioned anything about wanting to have kids or not. But then again they never discussed the future – they lived in the present.

"I'm sure you know Sawyer's got some issues with his father. He basically told you that he didn't think he'd make a good father and didn't want to disappoint a kid the way he was disappointed."

"But…"Kate started to protest. "He'd probably make a good dad."

"He doesn't believe that. That's why he had a vasectomy several years ago." Boone replied.

"He what?" Kate was taken totally by surprise with that statement. "But he never said…I mean we used protection…"Suddenly she became aware of what she was saying and stopped talking the color coming into her cheeks. "So ahum… how did the future me take that?"

"You've come to accept it…kind of like you've done with a lot of things in your life."

Before Kate could say anything more her attention was drawn to a young lady who came into the office. Tall with long wavy blonde hair, breasts that were definitely purchased and a hint of too much mascara and red lipstick she walked over towards Sawyer clicking her heels on the tile floor.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite gal Friday. "Sawyer greeted. "Got some paperwork for me to look over."

"Sure do, Sid." She smiled flirtatiously at him. "Got some time for me?"

Nodding Sawyer turned towards Carter. "Go ahead and get the paperwork done so Howard and Julie can take a nice midnight ride in their Monte Carlo tonight." He flashed his dimples at the couple and then turned towards the young lady. Putting his hand behind her back he guided her to his office in the back. "I'll be in a meeting." He announced.

Boone gestured to Kate to followed him as he walked behind Sawyer and the blonde. Once they entered the locked office they found Sawyer's arms wrapped around the blonde and kissing her neck.

"That son of bitch!" Kate spit out angrily as he watched the blonde running her hands all over Sawyer's body.

"What took you so long?" Sawyer asked as he continued kissing her neck. "I was getting a little anxious there." He commented as he started to unbutton her blouse.

"He's cheating on me?" Kate started to walked towards the grouping couple but Boone grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?"

"Making him pay." She replied trying to get out of Boone's grasp.

"Kate, he can't see you and you can't touch him. If you try to hit him nothing will happen."

Kate stopped struggling and watched as Sawyer removed the girl's blouse and started working on her skirt while she had unbuttoned his shirt and was pushing it off his shoulders. "We're not going to watch this are we?"

Boone looked over at the young woman's face and saw a look of sadness and anger mixed in. "No, we've actually got another place to be." He pushed her thru the wall of Sawyer's office leaving the couple on his desk and found themselves back in the living room of the apartment. Future Kate was sitting on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She looked alone and vulnerable. Not at all what Kate wanted to feel.

"Does she know?" Kate asked about her future counterpart. "About Sawyer cheating?"

"Yeah." Boone simply said.

"And she doesn't leave? Why?" Kate couldn't believe that she wouldn't have already packed up and left. Present Kate would have done that in a heartbeat.

"She's scared. There's a part of her that would rather be here then running by herself. She doesn't think that she'll ever find anyone else that can accept her knowing what she did. "

"But that's not true. Jack did." Kate said before she could catch herself. "I mean the others on the island…"

Boone shrugged his shoulders but didn't reply to her comment. He knew that there were things that Kate would have to work out for herself.

Future Kate took a deep breath and turned to the telephone and picked it up. Dialing a number she waited for it to pick up then spoke.

"Claire? Hi, it's Kate." She said softly.

"Kate! Oh my gosh, it's so good to hear from you. "The young lady on the other line greeted.

"I'm not catching you at a bad time, am I?" Future Kate asked hoping she hadn't.

"No, actually Aaron is on a play date and I'm was just putting away some things in the nursery for the new baby." She explained referring to the baby she and Charlie were expecting in 3 months. "How are you Kate?

"Okay." She replied trying to sound convincing. "I was just sitting here thinking about stuff and got to thinking about you and Charlie and thought I'd check in."

"That's great. Sawyer doing okay?"

"Oh yeah, "Future Kate replied. "He's got a job working as a manager of a car dealership."

"Really? So, you two have any wedding plans in the future?"

"No." she replied a bit more sharply then she intended.

"No?" Claire questioned. "Why not?"

"Things are good as they are." Future Kate lied. "Why rock the boat?"

"I guess. Not pregnant, are you?" Claire teased.

"No. But maybe soon. "she lied again. A part of her ached to tell Claire everything that was going on.

Claire being Claire caught the tone in Kate's voice. She didn't sound like herself. "Kate what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing." Future Kate replied.

"Doesn't sound like nothing. You sound like the weight of the world on your shoulders. Why don't you tell me? That's why you called isn't it?

Tired and on the verge of tears Future Kate took a deep breath and decided to confide in Claire making her promise not to tell Charlie anything before she started her story. After Claire swore to keep her secrets Future Kate started her story and didn't stop until she had told Claire everything. She told her about being tired of running, tired of not having roots, explained about her dead end job, the cramp and dreary apartment, Sawyer's cheating ways and her overall feeling of loneliness.

"Oh Kate, "Claire replied when the young woman was done. "I am so sorry. I wish there was something I could do."

"You did do something. You listened." She replied sniffing back the tears.

"Maybe you could come to Los Angeles and see us. I know Charlie would love that and Aaron he still remembers you."

Future Kate smiled. "Maybe I can. We don't have a lot of money right now but maybe I can get some together and go see you guys for a few days."

Claire's tone raised as she got excited about the idea of seeing her friend again. "It would be great. And you could see Hurley, he lives a few miles away. He and Charlie are thick as thieves. And Sayid stayed in L.A. too. He finally found Nadia and the two are talking about getting married. We see them about once a month. And Jack comes over all the time."

At the mention of Jack's name Future Kate smiled weakly. "He does, huh?"

"He's not married, Kate." Claire disclosed. "Not even seeing anyone serious."

"He's not?" she replied.

"He says it's because he's too busy with work, but I think it's just that none of the women he's met are you." Claire chatted.

Future Kate didn't say anything for a moment thinking about Claire's statement. Finally she spoke, "I have to go Claire."

"I didn't mean to scare you off." Claire replied quickly. "I just get my tongue going when I get excited. Charlie tells me that all the time. 'there you go Claire rattling along' "

"You didn't scare me off. I just need to go to work. "she stated.

"Oh, okay. Well, think seriously about coming out here. It'll do you some good. And it's not like you have to see anyone you don't want to." She added.

"I'll think about it." Future Kate replied. "I'll call you again soon."

"Do, Kate. Anytime you want to talk."

Future Kate hung up the phone and went into the bedroom to go get ready for work leaving Kate and Boone in the living room.

"Can we leave?" Kate asked feeling her throat start to welt up with emotion. "I'm done here."

"Not quite." Boone said. "You need to see this out."