Chapter Seven

Times Have Changed

This may seem really long and boring so far, but there is going to be a twist (not for a long time, though, sorry!). Thank you all for reading so far. And thank you to my beautiful reviewers! Jack or Will cookies for reviews!

Kate searched through her father's closet for a set of clothes. She racked through the jeans and t-shirts, but found nothing that would fit Will. Since her father had lost weight, he hadn't bothered to give away his old clothes yet. Most of the ones he did take were with him in New York.

"Honestly, it's summer!" Kate said to herself from inside the walk-in closet. "He won't need pants in New York!"

"What are you doing?" Will asked, looking around at all the clothes.

Kate looked up from her search. "Looking for clothes for you to wear. You and my dad look to be about the same size. He went on a weight loss for his New Year's resolution."

He frowned. "But that doesn't really answer as to why you're searching through these clothes."

"Oh. Sorry." She smiled and pulled the white strap of her pajama tank top up onto her delicate shoulder. "We're going out grocery shopping. It's a place where people can buy their food. And since I'm not too sure about what you like, you're coming with. And people don't dress like you anymore. They have jeans and t-shirts, and tank tops and shorts."

Will frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

"These are jeans," Kate said, taking a pair off the shelf. She examined them. "Actually, I think they fit you. Hold on to these for me." She handed him the jeans and searched through for a clean t-shirt, then handed him a white one.

"These are...unusual," Will said to himself.

"You'll grow to love them," she said. "They're much more comfortable than those stiff clothes of your's. Here, follow me."

She walked across the hall to the guest bedroom. "You can change in here. I'll be in my room getting dressed, too, if you need me for anything."

She closed the door behind her looked through her closet for something to wear. She pulled out a blue and white thin-striped cami, with dark low rise skinny jeans and brown flip flops. She pulled back her messy, unbrushed hair into an equally messy bun. The benefit of being a model was that you could pull of the slightly disheveled look, as long as you had something to balance it out, like a laid-back outfit. Plus, she had her posture and height on her side, which helped a lot.

Kate thought about what Will would be used to fashion-wise, only so that he wouldn't be shocked. Of course she wasn't going to wear a dress grocery shopping, no matter how casual. But she wouldn't scare him by wearing a short skirt, so she decided to settle on jeans, something that didn't show her ankles (which was considered indecent back then).

She walked out and picked up the credit card on the kitchen table that her parents had left behind for groceries and anything else that they normally would have bought while they were gone and put it in her purse. Just because that Kate was an adult didn't mean that she had money. In fact, money for her was as thin as she was. She had everything bought for her her whole life. Filling the cliche of the only child, Kate indeed was a very spoiled child. She just hoped that she wasn't bratty towards others like when she was younger.

Kate heard Will's door open and his footsteps as he walked towards the kitchen and presented himself. "Are you sure these are alright?" he asked.

She nodded. "You look fine." She picked up her purse and slung it around her shoulder.

"Um...Miss Sims, shouldn't you be wearing a dress? I can see your arms. And you're wearing men's pants. What are you thinking?" Will asked.

Kate bit her tongue as she felt a smile coming on. "Will, girls don't wear dresses all the time. Only for formal occasions, like a wedding or a cocktail party. This is the most common attire nowadays. What women can and can't do – as well as wear – have changed drastically. I'll explain it later. It's sort of long."

"Well, couldn't you explain it to while we're walking to the store?"

"We're not walking. We're taking a car. It's sort of like a carriage, only it doesn't involve horses."

"But then how does one get to their destination?"

Kate was on the verge of breaking out into laughter. "It has a motor. You use a key and...how about I show you? We should get going anyway." She headed for the stairs.

"Miss Sims?"

She turned around.

"Will people look at me oddly?"

She shook her head. "No. They won't give you a second glance. And Will?"

"Yes?"

"It's Kate."

The look on Will's confused face was priceless as he walked into the grocery store. He stopped to look at all the new people, and the atmosphere of a communal indoor shopping area.

"Miss Sims...what does one do when grocery shopping?" Will asked.

Kate pulled a red cart out of the entrance and pushed it. "I thought I explained it. You just buy food. And please, just call me Kate."

"But you're a lady. You should be addressed as one," he replied.

"Even ladies don't go by formalities." She walked with Will to the fruit and vegetable area and picked out some apples. "You like apples, don't you?"

"Yes," he said absently, looking at all the people walking by. "Doesn't it bother you that people are so overly exposed here?"

Kate looked up from twisting a white protection tie onto the bag and looked at people walking in shorts, capris, and pants, as well as tanks and t-shirts. Kate felt like she was missing something, like she was the only person that didn't understand the joke.

"This is normal, Will," she said. "Remember how I explained it to you at home that people dress differently nowadays?"

She felt like she was almost speaking to a child, with the way she had to be so exact and repeat things. It didn't annoy her that much, she just got to play the job of teacher that she never really wanted to play.

"Right," he said to himself. "I apologize."

"No," she smiled. "It's okay. Don't worry."

After picking up a few more things in the following aisles, Will broke the silence that was collecting between them like the dust that collected on an undusted bookshelf. "You're tall," he said.

She looked at him oddly. "I beg your pardon?"

"No, I didn't mean that as a bad thing, Miss Sims. It's just...you're tall."

Kate sighed. "I am tall, and I will forever be tall. I take after my dad's side of the family. It's okay, though. Being tall has it's perks. You can always spot a lost kid in a crowd," she joked.

"Elizabeth was tall, as well..."

How much was he going to talk about Elizabeth while he was here? And how long exactly was here? Was it only a few weeks until he could find a house? Or was it for...she didn't want to think about how long. It would only be a week until she could get by without having her parents find out about Will. She knew they would kill her when they found him. She could just imagine her dad accusing her of ludicrous things that he thought she did with him.

They went into the coffee aisle. "We need coffee. We're all out."

"What's coffee?" Will asked.

Hearing that made Kate want to cry. Not literally, since Kate hardly cried, but how could someone not be exposed to coffee?!

"Only the best drink ever!" she exclaimed. "You can try some tomorrow morning. Now, lets see, where's the brand we get?" She found it and stood up on her tiptoes to get it since it was at the very top shelf. As she turned around to put it back in the cart, she bumped into Will. "Sorry," she smiled, touching his arm and putting the can of coffee in the cart.

Kate and Will moved the bags of groceries from the trunk of her car to the kitchen. Kate started putting the groceries away, while Will insisted that he do the lifting. She could only smile as she thought of how she was going to tell him how much things had changed.

When Will was done putting all the groceries inside and while Kate was still putting them in the refrigerator and cabinets, she noticed an uneasy silence between the two of them. She saw Will was sitting down at the table, looking uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked, putting away a box of spaghetti noodles. "You look kind of..."

"Miss Sims, this isn't entirely proper," Will said, finding the light brown wood of the table suddenly more interesting that Kate.

She sat next to him. "Elaborate."

He slowly met her eyes. "Well, a man and a woman...alone...in a house...this isn't proper. What if someone sees us together? Wouldn't they..."

"Will, trust me, this is entirely proper. My parents are away for a week in New York. They'd actually be thankfully that someone could keep me company. They wouldn't get mad." She leaned forward. "Times have changed, Mr. Turner. Looks like you aren't going to, though."

Kate's Blog Entry

Will went grocery shopping with me. He didn't know much of the foods there, so I picked for him. It's actually quite funny, trying to see him find his footing in the new world. He has this confused look everywhere he turns...I think I may have taken him out too soon.

XOXO,
Kate

I promise next chapter will have Jack in it!! So sorry to make you Jack lovers wait!