Roommates | Kate & Ana

Chapter 21- Our Future

Water from the shower splashes down on my face, and I close my eyes, letting it wash over me. The past few days have been so eventful for both Kate and I. It's nice to finally get a few minutes of relaxation for myself. After Jack assaulted me at work, Kate immediately went to work on her plan to ruin his career. She wrote an article for The Seattle Times, exposing Jack for what he did and it had blown up in the media by the next day. Apparently, I wasn't Jack's only victim, multiple other woman had lined up to tell their story after Kate's article, but now I'll certainly be the last. Jack resigned immediately after, knowing if he hadn't Kate would've made sure to get him fired. All the success that came with Kate's article got her promoted to one of the head writers at The Seattle Times. Then when I returned at work, worried that I would no longer be needed with no Jack Hyde to assist, HR offered me a position as his temporary replacement. That day I called Kate as soon as I found out to tell her the news, then that evening we celebrated my promotion by going out for dinner and then having drinks back at the apartment. We still haven't celebrated all of Kate's accomplishments yet. I'm still trying to think of a way to repay her for everything she's done to help me with my situation with Jack. I just haven't come up with something good enough yet. I hop out of the shower, dry off, and get dressed, still brainstorming ideas of something I can do for Kate.

As I'm towel-drying my hair, my phone rings, and I drop my towel to answer it. "Hello?" I answer quizzically, a little off guard. I wasn't prepared for a phone call right now. "Hey, Annie!" Ray's voice instantly brings a smile to my face. "Dad! I'm so happy you called! I've missed you." He laughs on the other end, not at all surprised by my emotional outburst. I say the same thing every time he calls, and I always mean it. Ray is the only person I'm truly close with other than Kate and my mother. "I know, I know. I've missed you too, Annie. I should've called sooner." He pauses for a moment, and I get the feeling this wasn't just a random phone call. "I heard about what happened at work." Of course he has. "Who hasn't?" It's been all over the news since Kate exposed him. "You know if I were there I'd have kicked his ass." I smile at his over-protectiveness. I've missed him so much. "I know you would've. But you don't have to worry about that......Kate kinda already beat you to it." I say, glancing towards the closed bathroom door. Kate's probably right behind it, eavesdropping on my conversation as usual. Kate can be extremely nosy. It's quite annoying most of the time, but sometimes helpful. He laughs, probably picturing Kate stomping into my office and kicking Jack's ass. "So, Aside from work. How are you doing? Meet anyone special? A boyfriend or something?" I crinkle up my nose at the word 'boyfriend.' "Um....Yeah. Something like that..." I mumble, looking down at my feet. The nail polish Kate put on my toenails last week has faded into little splotches of hot pink at the centers of my toenails. It's almost unrecognizable as nail polish at this point. "Who's the lucky guy?" Ray asks, curiously and I have to focus on the paint splotches on my toenails to keep from getting dizzy. Ray has always been the person I could tell anything to and not be afraid of judgement. So, why is it so hard for me to tell him this? The silence on the other end reminds me that he's waiting for me to respond. We'll.....Here it goes. "It's...um..actually not a guy." I bite my lip, waiting for his response, but there's nothing but silence on the other end. After a few more seconds of silence I realize I'll have to be the one to break it. I take a deep breath, calming myself. "It's a girl..... I'm with a girl. I'm with Kate." He still doesn't say anything. "My roommate, Kate." I add, to clarify. There's no more secrets now. Everything's out on the table. "That's great, Annie." I breathe a sigh of relief, finally feeling myself relax. He's not mad. "Kate's a wonderful young woman. I know she'll take great care of you." I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. "So, you're not like...upset or anything?" For a moment he's quiet on the other end, thinking about it before he speaks. "I mean I'm a little disappointed you didn't end up with Josè. I had bet good money on that with Mr.Rodriguez. But if you're happy I'm happy." I smile, relived to have his approval. "Sorry to disappoint, but Jose' s just not really my type." We both laugh. "I can see that now. I'll talk to you later, Annie. I've got some things I need to take care of and I'm sure you want to get back to the rest of your evening. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Ray says, and I smile. "I'm okay. Trust me, I'm in good hands. I'll talk to you later, dad. I love you." We end our conversation and I feel weightless as I nearly skip into Kate and I's bedroom and jump onto the bed. Kate wraps her arms around me, as I curl up next to her and lay my head on her chest, still smiling hugely from my conversation with Ray. "So, I take it your conversation with Ray went well?" She smiles down at me. "I knew you were listening!" I smack her arm playfully and she pretends to be hurt. "Only to some of it!" She defends. "So, tell me the rest of it?" She looks at me, eyebrows raised. "I told him about us.....He approves." I glance up at her. "He's a little disappointed I didn't end up with Jose though." I giggle, trying to imagine myself with Jose. "But other than that He's happy for me, for us." I peek up at her expression and see that she's smiling. "That's great! I'm so happy for you, baby." She breaks into an even bigger smile, then grabs my face and pulls me in for a quick kiss.

I stare up at the ceiling, as Kate holds me in her arms, deep in thought. "What're you thinking about?" Kate asks, running her fingers through my hair in a slow kneading pattern. "I was thinking......about us." I answer, after a long pause. "What about us?" I look up at Kate, my eyelids getting heavier by the second. "I was just wondering what our future would be like together. I'd never thought about it before I guess." Her fingers run through my hair again and again. "What do you want it to be like?" I think over her question for a minute, unsure of my answer. "I want to have kids." I answer honestly, keeping my eyes on anything but Kate. I know a long time ago Kate mentioned wanting the same thing, but she hadn't said when or with whom. "So do I." Kate smiles at me. "So....who would have the kids then?" I stutter out my question, kinda feeling stupid for even asking. "Either of us, both. We could take turns." I giggle at her suggestion, although it's not a bad idea at all. "What about getting married?" Kate asks. "I want to get married." I'd always planned on it, but I'd never thought I'd be looking at the possibility of marrying Kate. "So, does Miss Steele want to be Mrs. Kavanaugh, someday?" She glances at me, her expression hopeful. "I would love to be Mrs. Kavanaugh, someday." I smile up at her, then close my eyes, starting to fall asleep. Truthfully, I'd never thought about our future before because I was too busy trying to hide our relationship from the rest of the world, but now I don't feel so much pressure to do that anymore. Of course Ray was only a part of the problem. I've still got my mom to deal with. But someday I hope that Kate and I can have all these things, everything we've ever dreamed of, together.

Authors Note; So, I've been thinking about maybe writing a sequel to this after it's over? I don't know if you guys would want that or not and I have no idea what the title would be.......