The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 13

They finished their dinner, cleaned up, and went their respective ways, Conner and Brent leaving for their bi-weekly grocery store dumpster dives to retrieve the barely expired food they lived on and provided to their local homeless shelters, Andy heading to the lake in the cover of the night with a backpack and a scouring board to wash clothes, unwilling to waste the water, and Emma already snoring cozily in the bottom bunk, her perpetual enthusiasm only buffeted by her perpetual sleepiness. Kat was curled in the twin bed across from her, reading by candle light, when Jack, who'd already made his bed on the couch for that evening, popped his head into the room.

"Hey," he said quietly, not bothering to whisper as they both knew an earthquake would be hard pressed to wake a deeply sleeping Emma. "Do you have a second?" he asked, using his chin to point back towards the living room.

Kat nodded slowly, dog earring the corner of her book and setting it on the bed beside her before following him from the room. He closed the door uncharacteristically, pointlessly due to Emma's sleep-induced deafness, and looked around, awkwardly shoving his hands in his pockets. Kat was just as nervous and avoided his gaze similarly, the two of them looking at anything except each other.

"I just wanted to say good job," Jack said finally, and she realized that he was blushing. It was a cooler, less noticeable rose than her embarrassment's vibrant red, but for some reason the sight calmed her a bit, made the playing ground feel more level.

"Thank you," she said with more confidence than she felt, looking at him directly now. He looked down at her, his eyes dark in the scarcely lit room, and took a step towards her, a hand reaching towards her face. He stopped.

"I don't," he said, clearing his throat. "I don't exactly know how to talk to you. I'm not good at talking." He looked down. "You're really good at it, I know you're really smart. I just wanted to say that, I guess. That I think you're really smart. And I think you're really," he paused, searching for the word. "I love how much you care. You care so much about the earth, about everybody. About us." He said, the double entendre hanging in the air just a second longer than it should've. "All of us, I mean." He corrected softly. "I just. Yea, I just wanted to tell you that."

Kat nodded, too stunned at the amount of words that had just left Jack's mouth to speak, and before she realized what she was doing she grabbed his hand, feeling the comforting warmth of his palm. His smile grew and her's grew to match it, then he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, his lips brushing her skin softly.

"Maybe we could go somewhere?" He asked hopefully. "Just you and me?"

Kat nodded, still looking up at him, and he nodded with her, the silliness of their sudden amplified awkwardness around each other making her want to giggle.

"Friday?" he asked and she nodded again, tapped the back of his finger in lieu of goodbye, and slipped back into the bedroom, reclosing the door behind her as she went. She all but ran to the bed and threw herself into her pillow face first, holding back a scream. Jack had just asked her out? After everything else that had happened today another impossibility didn't seem out of place, and she touched her cheek lightly where he'd kissed her, the closest they've ever been to each other. She was far too amped up for more reading and the nerves and tiredness of the day began to catch up to her despite her racing mind. Already showered and in her usual nightly garb, she crawled under the covers and blew out the candle closest to her, the small flame by the door the only remaining glow of light in the otherwise pitch black room. She pulled the covers up to her chin and waited for sleep, the image of Jack's face approaching hers still in her mind.

Kat opened her eyes to darkness, a dark field, a dark, starless sky. She pushed herself up, feeling the pinpricks of the short blades of deep green grass on her hands and bare legs, and swiped her hands down her body to discover she was wearing a short frilly black dress, a fluffy ballerina-esque style she wouldn't be caught dead in.