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"So, what are you gonna do?" Bianca asked, too excited for Kate's taste.
"I don't know!" she cried out with frustration clear in her eyes.
"But you love him?" Bianca questioned.
"Noo..." she dragged out on the word, because how could she possibly know?
Bianca gave her a look before her hands went for the box Kate had dragged out before the blonde had entered her room. Kate observed as her foster sister opened the lid with great care before she gently picked up the picture on top.
"Was this the way he looked at you? The way you looked at him?" she asked and before Kate could say anything she added, "Because if it were, I'm pretty sure it's love. Your parents loved each other, you used to say it yourself! When we first met you were obsessed with finding a love like theirs, what happened?"
Kate snorted, "You know damn well what happened. I got into the business."
"Yes but... that doesn't mean that love doesn't exist," Bianca tried.
"No, but it does mean I can't have it," Kate mumbled.
"But you already have!" Bianca exclaimed.
A beep interrupted them, and when Kate looked at her phone she couldn't help but roll her eyes as she saw it was a text message from him. Bianca just simply smirked at her with knowing eyes, as if the text was proving her point. Kate picked up her phone to read the message.
"I know you said you'd text but I just want to make sure you know I miss you already. Please don't leave again. xx"
Kate sighed with frustration, because she missed him too and she had no idea why she felt the way she did! It felt empty without him. How was that even possible? Why did she feel as though he was the only one she needed? She'd been with too many men to count, and so why was he so different? What made her want him on a level she had never felt before?
"Why don't you go to him?" Bianca interrupted her thoughts.
"I can't B, you know I can't."
"But you said it yourself, you went to him yesterday because it felt more like home than it does here. Go home Kate."
She shook her head, "I can't leave."
"But you can't stay," Bianca insisted and Kate gave her a look. "You can't," her foster sister gave out a frustrated groan. "Ok, look. How about this, I cover for you for a few days and you go home to see what this is. I'm not taking no for an answer!" she added when Kate opened her mouth in protest.
There was a knock on the door and so both women froze at the realization someone else could've heard what they were talking about. Kate quickly recovered, putting the pictures of her parents inside the box before she hid it under the bed again. Her actions only took a couple seconds and once the box was safely hidden from view she told whoever was on the other side to come in. When the door opened it was none other than Margaret.
"What are you two whispering about?" she asked, almost motherly.
If it hadn't been for Kate seeing her as her boss, Margaret could've easily been taken as a mother.
"Nothing, just talking work," Bianca lied immediately, if it weren't for Kate knowing it was a lie she would've believed it herself.
"About the man who hurt you?" Margaret asked coming inside to sit down on the floor in front of the girls.
"Yeah, he's never touching any of us again," Kate said with determination in her eyes.
"Agreed, can't have my girls getting hurt," Margaret nodded.
"Mom, what would you do if one of your girls wanted out?" Bianca asked and Kate froze, staring at Bianca with wide eyes. "I might've heard someone mention it earlier and I just wonder if it's possible?" she added, so as to not give Margaret any indication that it was one of them.
Kate schooled her features before she gave herself away, not knowing if she would want her former foster mother to know Bianca was most likely talking about her.
"Who wants to leave?" Margaret immediately asked.
"I don't know, whoever said it didn't seem to want everyone to know," Bianca shrugged her shoulders.
"Well," Margaret dragged out, buying time and looking like she needed to think before she continued, "I guess I can't hold it against anyone, it's not like we took you in only for this, but let's be honest, who of you would really have a chance to get another job now? You've all been in this business from a young age and you never went to college, how would you survive if it wasn't for this job?"
Kate felt her heart shatter, because she was right, how on earth would she get another job? She couldn't exactly put up prostitute on her resumé, that would most definitely get her nowhere.
"You don't think we could make it on our own?" Bianca seemed shocked, more shocked than Kate was and she wondered how her foster sister hadn't seen it coming.
"No, I don't," Margaret said and Kate could hear the fake sorrow she tried to put on for them, the worst part was that Bianca seemed to fall for it. "And I hate to say it but if you'd leave we would probably not be able to help you when you get into trouble, which you most probable will."
Thinking she was a mother was the worst mistake Bianca would do. Kate knew from the moment she got here she couldn't trust her foster parents, but Bianca had been here since she was six and Kate couldn't blame her for thinking as a daughter. Hell, if Kate had gotten here earlier in her life she would've probably thought the same! Margaret and Tom had only given it about a month or two before they introduced Kate to her new world. Shattering her life into a million pieces. Margaret raised from the floor, kissing their cheeks good night before she walked out the door.
"Go home," Bianca whispered into the comfort of silence.
"Wh... you heard her! She won't let any of us leave," Kate hissed as quiet as she could, fearing she might scream it if she let go of control.
"Maybe she doesn't want us to leave but I have a hard time thinking she'd force us to stay," Bianca replied confident.
Kate snorted, of course she'd force them to stay. Kate knew well of how secure the basement was. Bianca might not have seen it because she was too brainwashed to, but Kate knew how soundproof it was and she didn't think the two foster parents would think twice before using it.
"Go home, Kate."
"I can't."
She couldn't stop the way she was choking on her words. Because it would feel so great to go to him but... it felt like she was yearning for something she couldn't have. It would be better off if she didn't give into her longing, the more she met with him or talked with him the more she started to believe something was actually there, something she could have.
"Yes, you can and you will. You remember how we used to sneak out of here when you first got here? How we used to climb down from the roof? If they find out you're gone I'll cover for you, say you got a client or something, just go."
Before Kate knew what happened Bianca had pulled her up from the floor and pushed her towards the window.
Rick felt a small panic, and even though she had told him she would come back it didn't ease the fear from leaving his body. He kept wandering around in his apartment, thinking he should probably write but somehow he couldn't find peace enough within him to sit down in his office. He had to keep reminding himself she had said 'Not tonight' but still reassured him with a simple 'Yes' when he'd asked if she was coming back. So she was coming back, and he wouldn't let his mind say otherwise... or tried not to let it. What if she didn't come back? What if she got in trouble? What if...? No, stop. Stopping his writer's mind from going to the dark corner wasn't easy, but it would only make it worse. He kept thinking thatmaybe, just maybe, he could find out where she lived. He had friends in powerful places, friends who could easily track her phone if everything else failed. A constant reminder was that he didn't know her last name, otherwise it would've been easy to just search for her on the internet to see if he could find something there. A sudden knock on the door had his heart stopping, and he almost ran to the door in hope that it was her, coming over even though she'd told him 'Not tonight'.
"Hello darling," his mother was standing in the door opening and he let go of a frustrated groan.
What the hell was she doing here?
"That's not a very pleasant welcome now is it?" she immediately scolded him and he gave her an apologizing look.
"I'm sorry mother, I just thought someone else might come over tonight," he told her, moving to invite her inside because, let's face it, she's not coming over tonight.
When the redheaded woman had gotten into the loft she hung up her coat and turned to her son.
"Someone else? Someone else as in someone else?" she questioned with surprised eyes.
Of course she immediately thought it was her he was talking about. Because she had forced him into telling her what was wrong only a few days after she left after finding him with red puffy eyes in his bed at 3 in the afternoon.
"Mother, what are you doing here this late? It's," he checked the time on his phone and shrieked, "10pm!"
"Oh shush, I had a play and I wanted to make sure you were okay," she waved in dismissal.
"I'm perfectly fine!" Rick exclaimed in frustration. Why couldn't she leave him alone?!
"You and I both know that's not true, not since whoever this woman is came into your life," his mother said with a pained accusation in her voice.
"She's not just any woman," he immediately defended her, and his mother looked quite proud.
He clenched his eyes shut, seeing the trap she put out for him, a trap he so easily and stupidly fell into.
"I knew it!" she triumphed. "You're in love with her!" she pointed to him with a sneaky grin and narrowed eyes.
"Mother!" he groaned, wiping his hands down his face.
"What? Just stating the facts," she shrugged her shoulders with a wink.
He groaned again, because... well, because! Why would she always go digging into his life? Didn't she have enough drama in her life filled with... well, drama? He was just about to scold her when there was a small knock on his door, only one quick, almost not loud enough to hear, tap. Almost as if the person regretted it the second the hand connected with the door. Why would someone...
"Wait!" he yelled out as he sprinted off to the door, feeling his mother's confused look on his back.
He pretty much tore up the door and there she was, standing with her back towards him as if she had been about to walk away. Her body was as frozen and he carefully took a step out the door to gently put a hand on her shoulder.
"Kate, you came back," he whispered, "tonight."
When his hand landed on her shoulder it was like all the tension left her body. Kate let go of a breath she'd been holding since Bianca practically threw her out of the window. When she turned around and saw his worried eyes, she immediately ducked into his chest, arms wrapping around him as she buried her nose in his shirt. She took a deep breath of his scent and she couldn't stop the hum of approval when his arms pulled her closer. They stood like that for a while, and Kate felt as though she was being pulled back together, as though the pieces that had broken since Tom called earlier that evening were finally mending together again.
"Is that her?"
The voice of a woman had Kate's eyes popping wide open in shock as she immediately pushed away from him, only she didn't get far because his hands stopped her by grabbing her arms.
"Don't be scared," he whispered, giving her a pleading look before he turned his head slightly and when Kate looked over his shoulder she saw an elderly redheaded woman stand only a couple feet away from them.
The woman looked genuinely excited about something and Kate felt a fear go down her spine. What was happening? Who was...
"Kate, this is," Rick sighed, "my mother. And mother, this is Kate."
His mother?!
"Nice to finally meet you, darling," the redheaded woman, his mother, said with a smile set on her lips.
"I-uh, likewise?" Kate said uncertainly, eyes darting between the two.
"Oh you don't have to be scared of me, dear, I'm not going to bite," his mother said, winking at her before she turned around and walked towards the kitchen.
Kate followed the woman with her eyes, not believing what she was witnessing.
"Don't leave, please," Rick whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear.
He closed the distance between them, his lips feathering a kiss to her forehead and it sent shockwaves into her skin. She wanted, so badly, to stay, the only thing that made her heart beat faster was the thought of staying with him, but she was so damn scared. Her whole body frozen with fear of the unknown.
"Can I... can I stay here for a few days?" she asked, not knowing where her strength came from.
"Of course! I'd love that!" he said with an excited voice which should be terrifying her even more but it only evoked an excitement of her own in her body.
Carefully Rick took her hands and pulled her inside the loft, closing the door with his foot before he guided her towards the couch, figuring she wouldn't really feel comfortable by the counter in the kitchen where his mother stood, pouring three glasses of wine, how did she even find that bottle? He thought he'd hidden that bottle so well this time. Kate let him pull her down in the couch when they got there, and she couldn't help but wonder how close she could sit to him without being too embarrassed of his mother watching them.
"Don't be nervous," he mumbled into her hair as she leaned her head onto his shoulder.
"Why would I be nervous about meeting the mother of my former client?" she grunted quietly and jumped at the sound of the elderly woman coming closer to them.
"So, Katherine, what a beautiful name you have! Do you know what it means?"
When the woman turned around the couch she put down one wine glass on the table before she reached out one each towards Kate and Rick. Rick immediately took one of the glasses from his mother and Kate hesitated for a few seconds before she accepted hers.
"Uhm, no," Kate answered, an uncertainty creeping around her body.
"It means pure," she said with a glimpse in her eyes as she sat down in an armchair across from the couch.
"It does?" Kate felt shock and by the looks the redhead got it was on display in her face.
"Why don't act so surprised, dear, beautiful name to a beautiful woman," she said with a dramatic wave of her hands.
"Mother..." Rick said in a warning tone.
"Oh shush," his mother said taking a sip of her wine.
Kate looked at Rick and managed to catch the eye roll he made before his eye met hers. He raised his glass towards her and before she knew it they were clinking glasses, drinking wine and chatting with his mother.