Chapter Forty

No Guarantees

I own nothing except Melissa, Kate, and any other OC's that I create.

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The next morning, Kate drove Will to Fort Snelling in silence. Will apparently was entertaining the idea of forgiving her, but he wasn't about to reach out to her and start a conversation. Kate had thought about bringing up little things to talk about, like the weather, but decided against it.

She dropped him off and said goodbye to him. He gave a small nod and a goodbye back.

A storm was starting to brew as she drove home. She had heard on the news that it was supposed to rain, but hadn't yet started to do so.

When Kate got home, she opened the phone book. She looked in the phone book for the Minneapolis metropolitan area and looked at the pages filled with about twenty different counselors. The ads were colorful, all eager for the looker to call them.

Her eyes drifted to an ad that said "E.I.T.C. Couples Counseling". Below that, it said "Guarantees to fix your relationship in seven days!", along with a phone number and address.

Seven days, Kate thought. Just one week? Well, it does have a guarantee on it...and the sooner the better, I suppose.

Kate heard the rain start to come down. She picked up the phone and dialed the number listed.

"Hello, E.I.T.C. Couples Counseling, this is Christina," the receptionist on the other line said. Kate noticed that she had a high pitched voice.

"Hello, um..."

Kate thought, closing her eyes.

"I'd like to make an appointment for a couples' session," she continued.

Way to state the obvious!

"Alright," the receptionist, known as Christina said. "What day is best for you this week?"

"Um...tomorrow? Tuesday?" she asked.

"Alright...there's an hour-long 4:00 appointment tomorrow afternoon. Does that work fine with you?"

Kate had a photo shoot tomorrow afternoon. It would be hard to get Will at 3:20...she'd need to be in her car by 3:00 (she was taking her last frames about then – she'd have to change super fast) , and be at E.I.T.C. Couples Counseling by 3:55.

Yeah, that worked fine. No additional stress to an already nerve-wracking day.

"Yeah," Kate said. "Works fine."

"Alright...I'll need the name of you and the person you're attending this with."

"My name's Kate Sims, and my–"

Boyfriend? Could Kate call Will her boyfriend anymore?

"I mean, his name is Will Turner."

The rain was coming down heavier.

"Alright, Miss Sims, we'll pair you and your fiancé with Dr. Beckett."

Kate ignored the receptionist, who obviously had no sixth sense whatsoever (a 4:00 time? A fiancé?!) and was getting everything wrong, making her even more apprehensive to go see this doctor who probably charged too much for a session, and with no real guarantee that she and Will would be back to normal.

"So I have you and Will down for 4:00 tomorrow with an appointment with Dr. Beckett? Alright, we'll see you then! Buh-bye!"

There was a dial tone on the other end. Kate pulled the phone away from her ear. The receptionist was obviously not qualified to be something as simple as that...she was probably a blonde who was reapplying her lip plumper while Kate was sounding like an idiot.

Alright, so maybe she was taking it out on the wrong person. But Kate was not having a good week.

She sighed, hung up, and went outside, despite the fact that it was raining heavily outside. Kate seemed to hardly notice it, though. She was drifting into her own world.

Kate stood in the driveway and ran her fingers through her increasingly wet hair. Her clothes became more wet, clinging to her body.

The only way she could possibly get Will back was going to Dr. Beckett's stupid hour-long appointment. And she didn't even like counselors! Ninety percent of them didn't even listen to you!

Except Dr. Phil. Kate liked Dr. Phil. He was an exception.

Kate hoped Will realized how much she loved him. She was sacrificing her happiness to try and get him back!

There were no guarantees, though.

Melissa had thought about Jack all morning.

She thought of his kisses.

She thought of the kitchen fire that they had two weeks ago.

She thought of the storm, when they were camped out in the dark together.

She thought of her breaking up with him.

Melissa made a mistake by falling for him too soon. She had only known him for a day and they kissed! And even now, she was about to tell him that she loved him, and what did she know about him? Not much.

So why forgive him? He had done nothing to make her want to give him her forgiveness.

He did say goodnight last night, though. That's more than she would have said, if she was the one who cheated.

Speaking of cheaters...Kate still had to call. And she expected an apology.

Maybe she could give Jack another chance. People were allowed a second chance, right? And maybe if they gave it another try, he could prove himself worthy.

Melissa sighed and looked at the cat clock. How could it only be noon?

Kate was now fully dried and in a new change of clothes after her impulsive standing-in-the-rain session. It was several minutes before said anything before exchanging hellos.

"I made an appointment for us," Kate said. "We have an appointment tomorrow at E.I.T.C. Couples Counseling. 4:00."

"Oh," Will said. "We do, now, do we?"

"I thought you'd be happy to hear that."

Silence.

"I'm doing everything I can to make things up to you, Will. I'm making an effort to make it evident that I love you–"

"Katherine," he said, somewhat coldly. "I'd rather not talk until our appointment tomorrow."

Kate sighed. When was he going to actually want to talk with her?

Melissa was tired after a long day of work. She was spent with thinking about Jack and reliving the weekend. She was sick of thinking about Kate and wondering why they ever became friends.

Anger really could make a person exhausted.

Melissa went down the stairs and heard "Love! Welcome 'ome!"

She did nothing but go in her room and close the door behind her. She found a pair of pajamas, put them on the bed, then went to the mirror by her closet and let her hair down from her ponytail, running a hand through her blonde hair.

"Ah, that bitter, still, eh?" Jack said through the closed door. "What do ya want me t' say t' make it better? That I was wrong 'n' ye were right? I know girls love t' 'ear that."

"This isn't about who's right and wrong, this is about what's right and wrong." She took off her pants.

"Alright, then, what I did was wrong. Not sayin' that ye breakin' up with me was necessarily right, it was rash on your part."

He's playing mind games with you, she thought. Don't give in, Melissa! Don't do it!

She unbuttoned her beige shirt and flung it at the door in frustration. "It wasn't rash! What you and Kate did, Jack, that was rash. I was right by breaking up with you! I have a right to be happy!"

Melissa realized she was arguing while in her bra and underwear. She put on a pair of pink-and-white-striped shorts and sighed in frustration.

"So...you're happy with me bein' gone, then?" Jack asked.

Melissa looked at the door. Jack was on the other side of that door, probably gesturing wildly like he always does in his pirate garb, while she was on the other side, in her room, half naked. And they were having an argument in two different rooms.

Only in our relationship, she thought.

Wait...Melissa said relationship. That meant she wanted them to be together. But why? He was a cheater!

"Isn't that a personal question?" she asked.

"And ye're not givin' me a straight answer, so I'm assumin' that ya aren't."

Melissa walked to her window and closed the blinds. "You make me angry, Jack! I think that I can trust you and then you do this...stuff to me. I want to trust you, too. You just make it impossible to."

"Improbable."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you happy with me being gone?"

"That's a personal question, I thought."

"I thought that you might answer it. But since you're not giving me a straight answer, I can assume that you aren't."

There was silence between the two of them. Melissa thought about putting her shirt on.

"Aye, savvy? I'm not 'appy! There's yer answer. I'm bein' 'onest with ya. In fact..." He paused. "I have the compass. 'Olding it right now. Want t' guess where it's pointin'?"

"Mmm...Kate?"

"Oh, yes, Melissa, because the needle 'appens to be pointing straight ahead, and I just know that ye're 'iding Kate in there."

Melissa put her shirt on, then opened the door. Jack's compass was pointing straight at her.

"My mistake," he said. "Guess it wasn't pointin' t' Kate."

Kate's Blog Entry

I don't want to go to Dr. Beckett tomorrow. He will fix nothing. I guess we'll know in a week whether Will and I are meant to be or not. That's the only thing that's guarantee. I'm not scared, I just think it's pointless.

XOXO,

Kate

Melissa's Blog Entry

To forgive or not to forgive, that is the question. I mean...Jack's compass was pointing to me. And he seems like he wants me back. And if he's willing to have the compass point towards me...I mean, I know he has no control over that, but...do you think he loves me?

No. You do not love him! He cheated! Just two days ago you were furious! What is wrong with you? What do you want?

I don't know what I want. Maybe I need Jack's compass.

Love,

Melissa Rose