Discovering Kate

Chapter 3

"Of course you can join us. That's so nice of you." Caroline answers. I'm so thankful she did, because I am speechless. 

"I'll go find us a table." I mutter and walk away swiftly. 

"Here, I got you a water." Caroline says placing the cup in front of me. Will is right behind her carrying the long stick that holds the number of our order. 

Caroline pulls out the chair beside me and takes a seat. Will sits down in the chair across from me. I can feel my pulse quickening as I watch the smile on his face grow. "Thanks for paying for lunch. I can't believe I forgot Caroline's card at home." I say to Will.

"Absolutely. No problem!" He smiles again. Why does he smile so damn much?

"Kate tells me that you go to Wake Forest." Caroline chirps.

Will nods his head and oddly enough he's not wearing a smile.

"What are you majoring in?" She questions.

"Business and enterprise management. I actually have a huge accounting project that I should be doing right now."

Did he just say accounting? Immediately my skin feels hot, my stomach churns, and excess saliva builds up in my mouth. I'm going to be sick. Caroline reaches over and places her hand on my leg urging me to calm down. She picks up on triggers so easily now. Ever since I've moved in with her she's been learning how to tell when I'm about to go into one of my episodes. They always start off with something simple like the mention of accounting...Collin's major. Or it could even be as stupid as me seeing a car that looks exactly like his. The mere thought of him makes me so angry, nervous, and heartbroken. All of these emotions combining at once make me nauseous. I hate that he still has so much power over me. I left him, but he still haunts me in the most annoying little ways. The last thing I want to do right now is vomit all over this table. I know that if I just go for a walk I will be able to calm myself down. I decided to do just that. 

"Sorry, you just reminded me that one of my assignments is due in an hour and I haven't even started it." I lie as I stand from my seat. "I hate to leave, but I really have to go." I'm walking away at this point and I turn back to see Caroline nodding her head at me. She knows as well as I do that this is the best thing for me to do right now. As badly as I wanted to sit and have lunch with my best friend and that cute guy that was kind enough to buy us lunch, I need to get out of here. 

I count each step I take as I walk back to the loft. It distracts me from my impending thoughts of Collin. My skin is still hot, but now it's from the sun instead of the blood boiling inside of me. Once I've finally made it up to our apartment I grab Caroline's card off the counter and walk right back out the door. I need to keep distracting myself and grocery shopping will hopefully do the trick. I take the elevator down to the lobby and I walk out the front door of the factory lofts to the parking lot. I start the ignition of my 97 Mercury station wagon and pull out onto the street. I don't dare turn on the radio in case a song comes on that reminds me of Collin. Instead, I read street signs allowed to myself and spell them out. I sound like an absolute lunatic, but I'll do whatever I can to keep that asshole off of my mind. 

As I push the cart through Whole Foods I come up with a plan to make a nice dinner for Caroline tonight. I can only imagine how awkward it was for her to have to sit through lunch with Will. Making dinner for her will be my apology for leaving her like that. She's had to put up with way too much of my shit. Chicken Carbonara, that's what I'll make. She tried it one time when I made it for my Culinary class at the Career center in high school. I'm pretty sure she loved it and it's not difficult to cook at all. I throw some bacon in the cart along with angel hair pasta, organic spinach, boneless chicken breast, and other ingredients. Of course we need milk for my cereal addiction and some other things so we won't have to get take out for every single meal. I don't care about the total; I just swipe the card. The cashier hands me my receipt and I make my way towards the car, my arms being weighed down by all the bags. 

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I do my best to clean up the apartment and I even do some of Caroline's laundry. I feel so guilty for leaving her today. The bacon is cooked, the chicken is in the oven, and I've already started making the carbonara sauce. After I've pulled the clothes from the dryer and folded them, I pad to the living room to turn on the TV. We don't have cable so I'm stuck scrolling through the numerous titles on Netflix that we've already watched. American Horror Story is something I never get sick of so I turn on episode 1 of season 3. I sit down on my favorite sofa which is adjacent to Caroline's and I immediately get sucked into Coven. I nearly jump from the sound of my phone vibrating on the coffee table. 

*How's the assignment going?* 

It's from Will. I'm unsure if I should respond or not. What happened at lunch? Did she tell him that I was lying? She wouldn't do that.

*I submitted it just in time*

I respond to his text and head to the kitchen to start boiling the pasta. Caroline should be getting off work about now and I want dinner to be ready when she gets home. I clean up the mess that I've made and set out two plates and silverware at the bar. We normally don't eat here, but it'll be nice to talk over a meal instead of watching Netflix like we do every other night. I turn off the TV and set my iPod on the dock in the kitchen. I press play on George Ezra's album "Wanted On Voyage," we've been listening to him a lot lately. I pull out my phone again. I'm anxious to see if Will has responded.

*Submitted? Is it an online class?*

*Yea, all of my classes are online*

I hear Caroline's key in the door and wonder how long I've been standing there smiling at my phone. I slide it in my back pocket and return to stirring the pasta. 

"Hey, Kate. Feeling any better?" I hear her say before she makes it out of the entryway. 

"I do. I'm so sorry for leaving you alone with Will."

"Oh, it's no problem. He's a pretty cool guy." her words send a pang of jealousy through me.

"You think so?" I try my best to not be mad at her. Of course she likes him, he's gorgeous. 

"Totally, and he wouldn't stop asking about you." she smiles and drops her backpack next to the coffee table. 

"What? What about me?" I turn off the stove and drain the pasta.