Time Rules

"I told you, James and I are done." Kat pushed the glass of wine she hadn't really wanted away from her, and moved as if to get up from the table.

Iain's hand on her arm stopped her. "You don't really mean that. You just need help. James wants to help you, surely you must see that." Though he clearly thought he was being reasonable, Iain sounded so condescending that Kat wanted to punch him in the nose. She managed to hold herself back from actually hitting him though; causing a scene at a posh London wine bar would only prove Iain right.

"I don't need James's help. I don't need help at all. Just leave me alone." She firmly removed his hand from her arm. His touch wasn't threatening so much as patronizing. Like she was an errant child. It made her angry. She liked anger. It made her feel strong, and strength was what she would need if she wanted to liberate herself from James and from her old life.

"The fact that you're so upset makes me think that James is right."

"Right about what exactly? What did he tell you?" Kat demanded. Oh God, had he had told all their friends that she was crazy? She wasn't crazy, not truly. At least she hoped not. It was a fine line sometimes.

"Nothing, nothing," he soothed. "Just that you've had some odd spells and that he's concerned about you. The fact that you broke things off with him so suddenly shows that you're not stable right now." Iain swirled the wine in his glass around.

Kat looked down at her own wine, which the candlelight had turned a glowing ruby red. It reminded Kat of blood. "He's relieved," she said softly.

"He's worried." Iain's tone was confident.

"He's not worried about me." Kat couldn't keep a bitter laugh from escaping. "He's worried about himself. His reputation. That people are talking."
"Can you blame him? You know he doesn't like things being in disorder like this."

"He's going to have to learn to live with it. Because this time I'm done with him and with the whole lot of you." This time. She'd meant it last time too, but it had only taken James a week to wear her down with his reasonability and months for her to get up her courage to leave him again. This time felt different to Kat. She'd actually filed for divorce, for one thing, which had clearly alarmed James enough to start sending in his friends to make her see the error of her ways.

"Kat, really."

"Goodbye, Iain." Before he could say or do anything further to deter her from leaving, Kat grabbed her jacket and fled as fast as she could. Screw being dignified. And if there was talk amongst the other patrons of this snooty establishment, and if it got back to James, so be it. She didn't belong here anyway, and she never had. And if she could help it, she never would again.

As she hurried down the darkened street, she felt a little spring returning to her step. It felt good. Like it was the start of a return to her old self, someone who had been buried within for way too long. Finding a way to connect to who she had once been suddenly felt very important to Kat. Once she found that person again, maybe she truly would be free.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Kat was holed up in what James would have called a thoroughly disreputable pub. She'd stumbled onto it once, long ago, during one of her long walks, but she'd never had the nerve to go in. But tonight it felt right, so she did. It was dark and cozy, and felt gave the appearance of a safe hiding place.

Kat ordered a scotch, something that felt as far from red wine as she could get, and slid onto a tall stool in the back corner of the bar. She gazed out across the dim, wood-paneled room, feeling both anonymous and strangely powerful.