May We Never Part Again (Sequel to Until We Meet Again)

The Event (Part 1)

Nick's POV

I turned onto Katherine's street, and kept driving 'til I reached her house. I then proceeded to get out of the car, and ring her doorbell. 

She answered after a moment. 'Oh, hi Nick. Come in, I'm just getting some stuff to take and then we can go.' 

My jaw dropped as I took in Katherine's appearance. She looked absolutely beautiful in a short blue dress, her hair was lightly curled to perfection. I followed her inside, still staring, 'til she turned around and caught my eye. 'You okay there?' She raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk on her gorgeous face; she'd clearly caught me checking her out.

'Erm, y-yeah.' I stuttered. God, the woman made me so nervous.

She rolled her eyes at my response. 'Would you like a drink or something while I get my stuff?' 

'No thanks, I'm driving.' I said idiotically, even though she didn't even imply alcohol. 

'Okay then, though I have got coffee and tea, you know.' 

'Really, I'm cool, thanks for offering.' I said. 

She shrugged. 'Well, make yourself at home, I'll only be a few minutes.' Then she left the room. 

I sat down, looking around the place. She really did have an eye for interior design. The living room was very uncrowded but not enough to be cold and bare; it was cosy, with white fluffy throws on each couch, a cream fluffy rug taking up most of the floor, some warm plant-life dotted around the room, and a solid wood coffee table in the middle of the room holding a variety of candles and a couple of books. Modernistic canvasses hung on the walls. 

I wanted to ask Katherine out tonight, like on a date, but I still needed to psych myself up to actually do it. I didn't even know what to say to her yet. I knew it would be difficult because of our past, but I still had feelings for her, and I hoped she felt the same way. Maybe that was extremely wishful thinking. There was also the issue of me being her boss now. We weren't at university anymore; I didn't want to risk overstepping professional boundaries and getting us both into trouble. 

Katherine's POV 

I finally put my phone, keys, purse and portable charger in my bag and gave myself a quick spray of perfume before slipping my maroon heels on, and going downstairs. Nick was sat in the living room, looking deep in thought. 

'Penny for your thoughts?' I said, making him jump slightly. 

'Don't mind me, I was just zoned out.' He chuckled. 'You ready?' 

'No, I still need to do my hair and get dressed up.' I said sarcastically. 'Of course I am. Let's go.' 

He shook his head at my use of sarcasm, and we left the house. It was a warm night, so I wasn't too worried about getting cold. 

It was a quiet drive. The radio was on quietly, playing love songs, and I couldn't think of a topic of conversation to bring up with Nick. I didn't know why, but it was a bit awkward. Probably because we hadn't done anything like this before in ages. I mean, true, he invited me over for Christmas a couple years back, but it wasn't just us two, alone. 

And now it was. I shifted my hair over my right shoulder to hide my face. I couldn't believe the rush of emotion pulsing through me - just because he'd happened to want to spend time with me alone for the first time in a half a dozen months. I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. It was pathetic. More than pathetic, it was unhealthy.

We soon arrived at the college. 'Bloody hell, it hasn't changed much.' Nick commented as we got out of the car. 

I raised an eyebrow. 'Apart from the huge building extension on the left?' 

'Was that there before?' He frowned. 'I can't actually remember.' 

'Well, I don't remember seeing it back then.' 

'You must have a good memory then.' He grinned. 

'Usually.' I smiled and we walked in together. I tried to ignore how Nick placed his hand on my lower back as he guided us inside. 

The main hall was filled with people. It was decked out in silver and gold, and string lights hung from the ceiling. 'It's like some sort of crappy school musical.' I smirked. 

Nick cracked up. 'Yeah, and someone's going to break into song any moment.' 

'Nick Clarke and Katherine Calvin?'

We turned. A familiar man had approached us, looking a lot older now, his hair was grey and eyes lines with wrinkles.

'Mr Varner?' Nick raised his eyebrows. 'Hi! How are you?' 

'I'm good thank you, yourselves?' He asked. 

'Yes thank you, good.' Nick nodded. 

'So, what do you both do now?' Mr Varner asked. 

'As CEO, I run the scientific institute, Calimov Systems. Katherine works underneath me in the engineering department. It used to be the other way around, but then the board intervened because Katherine's predecessor was causing trouble, which wasn't Katherine's fault.' Nick explained. 

Yeah, thanks Nick, for practically undermining my leadership skills.

Mr Varner totally disregarded this though. 'Wow, so you've both run a company single-handedly then!' He said, impressed. 'I always knew you two would go far.' 

'Thank you.' I nodded. 'It's certainly stressful being CEO though, as Nick has experienced first-hand.' 

'Yeah, I bet it is.' Mr Varner said. 'Are you two still...' 

We realised what he was implying by his expression and I shook my head. 'Oh no, it's not like that anymore. Me and Nick just have a professional working relationship.' I explained. 

'And we're friends outside of work.' Nick added. I stared at him. Since when did we establish we were friends again? 

'Forgive me.' Mr Varner chuckled. 'I was merely curious.' He said, turning as someone called his name. 'Excuse me you two.' 

'He's still alive?' I commented. 

'Well this is weird.' Nick said. 'It's like being back at college again. Hey, remember when you hinted about me meeting robots in the future that time?' 

'Not really.' I frowned slightly. 

'You don't remember?' 

'You must have a good memory.' I grinned. 'Enlighten me.'

He smiled. 'Touché, touché. So we were in science and I mentioned I wanted to meet real robots in the future, I think?' 

'I think I remember.' I narrowed my eyes. 

'It's just ironic, since I now have a robot niece.' He laughed. 

'Two, if you're counting KT.' I smiled.