A Thorne's Bite

Old memories, same people

Shopping was never much the intriguing experience for Katherine, but today she decided to try. She walked around a bunch of clothing shops, denying help from several saleswomen. She tried to break the habit of just picking up something that fits her and leaving, and convinced herself to stay for a bit longer and try out some new styles.
After two hours of strolling and purchasing clothes she didn’t really have need in, she had enough and decided to head home.
While walking outside the mall, she recalled some things she did need- milk and some toothpaste. She decided to take a detour in order to pass through a supermarket.
Since it was Wednesday evening, the supermarket wasn’t as full as she used to seeing it. Relatively empty.
Katherine walked through the vast aisles, each holding some sales that tempted her, but she didn’t bite. She walked towards the eight aisle, passing by a family with a screaming child that wanted some candy.
She picked up her favorite brand of a whitening toothpaste, as she heard a familiar bass voice behind her saying: "Kat?"
 
Randomly meeting people while she was out was quite shameful for katherine.
She's usually tired and anxious to get home, so these idle small talks bored her.
 It's not that she didn’t want to say hi, but those conversations were usually awkward for her to handle, so she preferred to give up on them. She usually used an excuse like "I have to go" or "I'm just leaving". But this time, it was inevitable.
She turned around with a small smile and said: "hey, Charlie."
 
She found the way feelings work odd.
Charlie and her, just weren’t good for each other a year and a half ago, and that’s okay. But when she saw him now, like this, something awoke in her.
Maybe it was just old memories, but she couldn’t resist it. His freshly cut chestnut hair and round, smiley eyes made her…sad. He was always so kind to her. The shape of eyes and the way they closed shut every time they laughed together, made her laugh even harder. The time they had together was…pleasant. If she had to pick a color to describe their relationship, it would be yellow, like a warm ray of sunshine.
"What are you up to these days?" he asked.
"Umm, you know, working. Adulting." She took out a fake giggle.
"Sure. Same as me, I guess. Did you stay at the same company you did your internship in? What was it called…Golden something?" he questioned.
"Yes, I did actually. "Gold&Bloom." She answered.
"It’s a good company. Listen, do you want to talk? Like, in private?" he suggested while looking at her seriously.
 
The two sat side by side on Katherine's couch, each holding his red wine glass.
They got there using Charlie's white Mazda, and Katherine began to think she was the only one in her age group without a car. Well, it was her decision not to have one, so she didn’t dread it. She just didn’t feel the need to have one.
She sipped her wine nervously, wondering what he wanted to talk about.
"So, how about you? Where did you end up working?" she asked.
"Well, after I got the internship at some medium sized firm, I used my uncle's connections to get to "Mayer". Isn't it awesome?"
"Mayer?" she thought. It's one of the biggest firms in the country.
"Wow, that’s…big. Good for you." She hesitantly said. She was never a fan of nepotism.
"Right? They have all of the biggest players of the business world- Source Media, Jenckings inc…" he boasted.
She suddenly felt embarrassed telling him about her working at a medium sized firm.
Charlie felt her change of spirit, and changed the topic:
"I saw Maggie's pregnant with her first kid! Congratulations!"
"Thanks. Wait, how did you know?"
"Obviously on social media. I swear you're the only young person these days that doesn't have any social media."
"Oh, there."
"I can't believe it's been three years since Michael and she got married. You remember we went to their wedding together?"
Oh, she remembered. That day, she was so confident with every bone in her body that she was going to marry Charlie.
"Yeah. You wore that cute bow-tied tuxedo." She laughed.
"And you wore that gorgeous light-blue dress. You were so beautiful that day." He said with a voice that sounded pained.
He paused. He just looked at her.
He slowly leaned into her, looking at her lips.
Katherine felt confused. She could tell what he's going to do, but she asked herself: did she want it?
Their lips met. He began kissing her, but she quickly got to her senses, and gently pushed him away.
"No, Charlie."
"I still want you. I miss you." He seemed sincere to her, but she didn’t feel it anymore. That kiss made it clear to her that they don’t have passion for each other, and they never did.
She opened the door for him. "Please leave. I'm sorry."
He sighed with sad eyes. "Fine" he said, and hurried outside the room.
She quietly closed the door, and walked over to where they were sitting. She lifted the glasses and drank the remaining wine in them, and laid them in the sink. "I'll do the dishes later" she procrastinated.
 
The amount of steam on the bathroom window signaled Katherine it was time to get out. The hot bath has managed to set her thoughts in order, like always, and she made the decision not to do anything on Charlies matter. Leaving it alone will resolve it. Reaching out to him and apologizing would just give him false hope. She wore her white shower robe and got out, using one hand to constantly message her wet hair with a towel.
After getting into bed with Tammy comfortably, Katherine quickly fell asleep.
 
She checked her phone, and saw it was 3:08 am. Katherine felt joyous when she realized she had much more time to sleep, but when she tried, she couldn’t go back.
She angrily sat up in her bed, and opened her laptop.
Not having the mood to watch anything at the moment, she decided to check on her "work" email-the email she uses to contact the dungeon she hosts at, and the clients themselves. She only gave her real number to only few regulars- like Carl. This was a good opportunity for her to get things done.
After scanning through a pile of junk mail, Kathrine caught a surprise- a message titled "I'd like to see you again."
Eyes wide open, she clicked on it. The email was from the user "loveless6".
Who could that be?
"Hello, mistress Evelynn.
I've enjoyed our latest session, and would love to schedule another one. Are you free this Saturday evening? Please inform me.
Your humble servant, tom Brooke."
Tom Brooke? The name didn’t ring a bell to Katherine at first, but then she recalled.
Those emerald eyes. It was his name. She felt…weird. After running away last time, she never thought he would want to see her ever again. And suddenly, almost two weeks later, he just comes back? He's definitely an odd ball, but she went along.
He…intrigued her. She felt gravitated to him in a way she couldn’t comprehend.
She drafted a quick reply to him, inviting him to come on Saturday.