Chapter I
No Promises
Katie? Katie? … KATIE?!
Katherine snapped out of it and stopped swirling the dregs of her tea around to look up at the plump woman standing near her.
"I asked if you wanted another piece of cake. There's plenty here--"
"Oh, uhm, no thank you, Sheila. I'm just fine…" she said in a quiet voice distractedly to the stocky, blond haired woman in front of her. She offered a polite but pasted on smile to her and sipped her tea once more as Sheila closed the cake box.
"I know somethin' is distracting you Katie-Bop…" she said in a thick Manhattan accent as she turned back to her pile of unwashed dishes, "Now are you gonna tell me or will I have to push it outta you?"
Katherine considered for a moment telling Sheila her problems and spilling everything to her…after all she loved the woman like an aunt and surely she'd understand…Katherine knew the consequences of telling everything…Maybe everything would be okay…
"No, I'm okay, Sheila…really, I pro--"
She almost said 'I promise.' The one tiny word she swore she'd never say again. The only promise she would ever make again is the promise not to promise anything again…After Him, she knew she couldn't make promises anymore…promises she knew she could never keep.
"I mean, I am…you know…okay?"
Sheila looked upon the skinny British girl in her kitchen in worry and suspicion, "Yeah…yeah of course…"
Sheila had an odd sense that she could trust the girl the day she met her.
She was, I guess you could say, somehow drawn to the pretty nomad with a worn sorrow about her that was wandering the streets in a ragged black robe mumbling to herself and crying. Sheila was good-hearted and kind so she took her in and got her a job as a bartender at a local pizza-and-pub joint. After a while the girl had made enough money to rent herself an apartment near Sheila.
She barely knew anything about the girl apart from her nationality and name. Once she had asked her.
"So what's your story, child?" she questioned timidly.
"What do you mean?" Katherine had responded, eyes searching the woman's face for suspicion.
"I mean what is a Brit like you doing across the ocean in NYC?"
Three words from the girl, "I ran away…"
"Well what was you runnin' from?" when she didn't answer, Sheila asked, "Your parents? Was they hurtin to ya?"
Quietly Katherine said, "No," as she spoke Sheila could see small tears in her eyes, "they were never bad to me..."
Sheila thought for a moment and then suggested, "Was it a boyfriend that wasn't treatin you good?"
Katherine was even quieter after that, "No, any man I've ever had has been nothing but gold to me."
Katherine could see then that Sheila's curiosity wanted an answer badly so she said, "I guess I just needed a change is all…" she sighed and went on, "I guess I ran away from myself…I miss England sometimes but never enough to make me want to go back. I just needed a change of scenery I suppose."
Sheila had then reached across the table to Katherine's hand and took it in her own, smiling serenely, "No lies then?"
Katherine averted her eyes and said softly, "…I cant promise anything…"