Very late to the game, I know :blush:

But for those who, like me, loved James & Katie and how their personal relationship was evolving :up: :hot: before the show was cancelled :shrug: :( , here is what I imagined happening to them and between them :D

Hope you enjoy it :hi:


More than just a friend - Part 1

Katie looked at her watch, for the umpteenth time in the last fifteen minutes. Nearly four o’clock. The wedding would start in half an hour.

She could still make it. She just had to go to her bedroom, take the new pink dress from her wardrobe, apply some makeup and call a taxi.

She sipped her coffee.

What had James said? “We’ve danced around this for too long”.

If only he had known. That dance, it had been by far the best thing that had happened to her over the last few months. No, over the last several years.

When did it all start? She couldn’t remember. She had always liked working with him. And at a certain point, she had started to cherish it, and the idea of working with him had become more exciting than the job she was doing. Her job, her achievements, made her feel proud and fulfilled. But the thought that he would be there to share them with her gave her a smile when she woke up in the morning, and a thrill when she entered the AmeriMart building.

Adrenaline due to the way their two brains clicked together, quickly reacting to each other’s ideas and instincts, excitement for the successes they had had together. This is how she had tried to pacify her feelings of guilt. He was a married man, and a father.

But now he was not married anymore.

And although she had been sorry for him at the very beginning, seeing how hurt he was, almost feeling the sense of collapse he was going through, now she could watch him go by her door, or sit across from her during a meeting, and not feel guilty anymore if she found herself staring at his hand, thinking of his hands. Or finding his smile brighter than all the lamps in the room.

It had become easier. And it had become more difficult.

Because if the feelings of guilt had gone, the sensation, the belief that this would go nowhere, that she would only end up being hurt and let down, had not disappeared.

That’s where Oliver had come in. That’s why. She had tried. She had focused. Let James continue to be the adrenaline part of her job. She would have filled her emptiness in a different way, like she had always done before. Unsuccessfully. And this time, his mingling with her affair had resulted in her spilling it all out. The truth had slipped out of her before she knew what she was about to say, and he had kissed her.

The warmth of that kiss was still with her. It would always be with her. But rationally, she knew what it had been: a rushed action she had lead him to with her words, with her pain, with her loneliness. She had fished for it and she felt ashamed for that. She didn’t want his pity, or his sympathy. Not in that way.

And what she had told him when he had come to her office with his invitation was true, in a way. She believed, she feared that they were steering towards each other only because they were both lonely now. Trying to export their perfect professional relationship to the personal sphere, and hope that it would work there.

Hope. Was hope enough for her?

And how long would the warmth last? Would the cold be even worse, after?

“Not the first time you will end up out in the cold, girl”.

She stood up and put the empty cup in the sink, letting some water from the tap fill it and leaving it there.

The brother thing had not been a good lie. He had spotted it right away. He was a friend, a good friend, and a handsome man. Hence, the warmth.

Yes?

She clenched her fists in frustration. Come on, Katie. A decision. Go, or stay. As simple as that. You make more complex decisions every day.

“It doesn’t necessarily imply anything big”.

That was the small push she needed to tilt the balance of her indecision.
She headed towards her bedroom.

She needed a pink lipstick to match that dress.

End of part 1