So this is chapter two! It's not as long as the first one obviously, but since you guys were absolutely AMAZING with your lovely, lovely reviews, I will try and update Thursday evening or Friday evening with an extra long, and sweet chapter. I really like this story, it's fun to write!
"So…" Jack mused aloud, a hand resting easily atop the steering wheel while he looked over at Kate in the passenger seat.
She was staring steadily out the window. The light rain that had turned the L.A. skies to grey was slowly progressing into a steady shower. Her fingers traced a raindrop rolling down the window outside.
"Where to?" Jack tried again, eyeing Kate. She shrugged.
"Well there're the groceries, and the Laundromat…" Kate smirked, watching Jack's face change.
"Is this what you do every Saturday? Drag helpless guys like me around to do your bidding?" He teased, making Kate laugh.
"If only I got that lucky every Saturday."
Jack chuckled lightly, eyes settling on the road.
"Got any music?" Kate chirped, sitting up straighter and eyeing the radio.
"What do you like to listen to?"
She shrugged. "I like everything."
"Even country music?"
She rolled her eyes. "There's the occasional country song, yeah…"
Jack quirked an eyebrow teasingly. "Really? I didn't have you pegged for a country girl."
Kate blushed, averting her eyes toward the window.
"That's where I'm from actually. A farm in Iowa." She trailed, voice softening and gaining a hint of something Jack couldn't place: nostalgia, regret, or fondness, he couldn't quite tell.
"Iowa, huh?"
"What about you?" Kate asked quickly, obviously steering the inquiries away from her. Jack overlooked it. For now.
"L.A. born and bred."
Kate shook her head ruefully, but playfully. "I should have known. You fit in with all the suits last night."
Jack didn't laugh at her jab, only turning to look at her cautiously. "I hope I didn't fit in too much last night. I'm not sure I'd want to."
Kate bit her lip, thoughtful a moment, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I bet you were the only guy in there who cared about the help."
Jack ducked his head, somehow embarrassed at her use of the words 'the help.'
"How long have you been working at the club, anyway?"
She sighed, seeming to count out the days in her mind. "About five months. I work the nights during the week, then mornings during the weekend.'
Jack's eyebrows rose. "You work a lot, then."
She snorted. "Yeah, I work a lot."
"So what do you do when you're not working?"
Kate sighed. "Well, I have another job that I work during the day, three times a week, and then I spend the rest of my time trying to get guys like you to act as personal chauffer."
He lips quirked, but he moved right along, proffering another question.
"And you're living…"
"In a little apartment in Highland Park. I share the place with my roommate. You may have heard her yelling at me last night from the car."
Jack laughed. "Yeah, I caught that."
Kate smiled, falling quiet, enjoying the silence and the comfortable seats in Jack's car, not even realizing she'd fallen asleep until a gentle hand grazed her shoulder, stirring her awake.
"Kate, wake up." She heard, eyes snapping open to find Jack's face hovering over her, a lopsided grin on his face.
"I thought we'd go grocery shopping first. We're at the Whole Foods in West Hollywood."
Kate sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes and inspecting her surroundings.
"We're here?" She mumbled, voice groggy. "How long have I been out?"
"Not long." Jack said softly, watching her with a mix of curiosity and tenderness in his eyes that made Kate sit up a little straighter, snapping back to waking life a little faster.
"Okay. Let's do it."
The grocery shopping went quickly, but Jack noticed how Kate seemed to beeline straight to the sale items or the faceless store brands. She spent an extended five-minute stop in front of a beauty display of shampoos.
Jack eyed her, saying nothing, but she turned, blushing and ducking her head.
"Shampoo. It's my one splurge item."
Jack laughed and shrugged, silently telling her he wasn't judging. She held a few bottle to his nose, allowing him to test the scent of each shampoo. Finally, they agreed on the lilac brand and Jack tried to bite back his grin at how proud she seemed placing the bottle on the checkout counter.
Now they were rolling through the hills of Los Angeles, Kate directing Jack through the side streets en route to her apartment. Where, she said, they'd pick up her laundry and then head to Laundromat, which—she promised—she'd make a lot more fun than it sounded.
"Hang on a sec, I'll run up and grab the laundry and come right back." Kate said quickly when they arrived in front of a ramshackle but endearing apartment complex. Kate made to exit the car but Jack shut off the engine.
"I'll come in, help you carry your stuff down."
Kate got a wary look in her eye, and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.
"No, it's okay. I do it every week. I'll be fast."
Jack laughed, oblivious to her discomfort and exited the car, rounding it and opening her door for her.
"It's alright. Maybe I can meet your roommate, anyway. Put a face to the shrill scream I heard the other night."
Kate shot him a look, however playful, and led him up the five floors to her apartment. By the time they reached her door, Jack was breathing a little heavy.
Playfully, she patted his stomach. "Little out of shape?" She teased, fumbling with her keys.
"Me?" Jack panted, making her giggle.
"You got any water in there?" Jack asked, exaggerating and making her laugh a little harder.
"That's the real test for all my dates. If they can make the five floor walk-up, then they're off to a good start." She said, unlocking the door, opening it, and stepping through.
"I thought you said this wasn't a date." Jack said, eyes narrowing playfully.
Kate smiled and clucked her tongue. "I didn't say what it was."
While Kate moved around the apartment, then into her bedroom to retrieve her laundry, Jack took in the apartment. Though it was small, and a little dingy, there was the unmistakable sense that it was really being lived in and loved, a feeling Jack knew his own apartment was missing.
The walls were covered in pictures of Kate, and presumably her roommate, a pretty blonde girl that looked at least five years younger than Kate. The couch was worn but shabby-chic, and there was a mismatch of pillows and throw rugs about—little odds and ends decorating all the free surfaces. A quick walk across the living room—which doubled as a dining room, apparently—and Jack ended up in the kitchen, tiny and basic—only a stove, microwave, and refrigerator Jack was sure was made sometime in the 1970's.
A picture, colors muted, grainy, and wrinkled at the corner, caught his eye on the fridge. It was of a woman with light brown hair and big wide eyes sitting on a porch, a little girl, no more than four, with a head full of dark curls perched on her lap and hands hovering midair, as if the photo was snapped while she was doing a sing-song imitation of the Itsy Bitter Spider. The older woman in the photo was smiling, eyes fixed on the little girl.
Kate came out of her bedroom, a clumpy mesh bag full of laundry slung over her shoulder.
"Ready?" She huffed, then froze when she saw what Jack had been inspecting.
"Is this your mom and you?" He asked innocently, peering closer. "It looks like you, anyway, big head of curls." Jack said teasingly, grinning.
But when he looked at Kate's face, serious and eyes somewhere else, his smile slid away.
"What's wrong?" He asked, walking towards her.
She shook her head, pasting a smile on her face. "Nothing. Yeah, that's my mom and me. A long time ago."
He relaxed, gently taking the laundry bag off of her shoulder and hauling it onto his own.
"You were cute. Are cute." He corrected, blushing and touching her elbow gently.
She smiled wide, shuffling her feet and then turning and walking towards the door.
"C'mon. I've know a magazine at the Laundromat with your name on it."
The Laundromat wasn't anything special. A hole in the wall somewhere, only a few other patrons milling around waiting for their garments.
Kate didn't seem impatient, settling down into one of the uninviting, orange, sticky, plastic chairs near the door. Jack sat down too, reluctantly, and looked around nervously, unsure of what to do next.
She looked at him and smiled. "Have you ever been to one of these places?"
Jack's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked offended. "Of course I have."
Kate snorted. "When?"
He froze, looking guilty. "Okay, I haven't been to one per se."
Kate laughed, hand unconsciously touching his knee and making him jolt. But she didn't seem to notice.
"What am I going to do with you…" She mused to herself, leaning back in her chair and looking up at the ceiling.
Jack smiled to himself, feeling good and at peace for the first time in months.
"So I was thinking," Jack started, licking his lips, "after we're done with your laundry, I want to take you out on a real date. Tomorrow night. We could go to dinner or something, make this experience official."
Kate looked at his skeptically. "A date?"
"Yeah, you know…dinner, a movie, wine, candles. The whole thing."
Kate leaned forward, fingers tracing an invisible pattern on her jeans.
"Jack, you seem like a really nice guy…"
"I am a really nice guy."
She shot him a look, continuing, "But I just don't think I can see anyone right now. I'm really busy working."
"But you had time to go out with me today." Jack tried, feeling the hope drain out of his voice.
Kate sighed laboriously. "Honestly? I just, I think we should be friends. Do you really see this thing," she motioned between them, "going anywhere? You're a doctor. I'm a waitress at your family's country club."
Jack shook his head. "Why should that matter?" He argued.
"It shouldn't matter. But it does."
He eyed her, not sure if he was willing to give up. But her eyes looked so desperate for him to be okay with this arrangement, and even though all he wanted to do was kiss her, he bit his lip and shut his mouth.
"Okay. Friends."
Don't get too disappointed just yet, I'm sure you can imagine that things are looking up. Next up: the potential of crossing the FRIENDS LINE, finding out more about Kate's backstory (and Jack's) and perhaps a first kiss? Or a potential fight? Who knows! Please review, they were wonderfully encouraging last time! adios