NORMAL POV

“Don’t ever, ever run away again Pinkly. I don’t know how I would’ve explained that to Brian.” Kate said to Pinkly as they walked down Val’s driveway.

Val was standing on the porch, pacing up and down. Kate raised her eyebrow and smiled slightly.

“There you are! I was two seconds away from calling the cops!” Val shouted. Kate laughed and rolled her eyes.

“Sorry Val. Pinkly ran away.” She said as she walked up the steps.

Val let out a huge breath and sank into a chair.

“Thank God you found her.” Val said. Kate nodded and sat down in the chair next to Val.

“Yeah, she just ran up to this guy and jumped into his lap.” Kate said. Val shook her head.

“But she hates everyone!” She shouted. Kate giggled and nodded.

“I know! But I found her in this guys lap, snuggling all up to him.” Kate said.

Val raised her eyebrow at Kate and sat on the edge of her chair.

“What did this guy look like?” She asked. Kate smiled a little and looked away.

“Tall, blonde, green eyes,” Kate said. Val smirked and started to laugh.

“He was hot, wasn’t he?” She said. Kate sighed and laughed.

“Yeah, he was.” Kate and Val both laughed and looked down at Pinkly.

“No wonder why Pinkly went up to him. She thought he was hot too!” Val said. The girls laughed again and then turned their heads to the driveway when they heard a car coming down it.

It was Leana. She was driving Jimmy’s black Dodge Charger with a giant Death Bat on the hood. Val flinched when she saw the car pull up. Kate flashed her a look and she straightened up. She and Val stood and went to meet Leana at her car.

“Hey honey!” Val said as she through her arms around Leana’s neck.

Lea smiled and hugged her back.

“Hey Val, hi Kate.” She said to them both. Kate waved and Val took a step back.

“I’m really glad you decided to come Lea.” Val said. She nodded and took a bag out of the backseat.

“Well you were right, I need to get out of that house for the night.” She said.

Kate could hear the tightness in her voice when she spoke. She couldn’t imagine what Leana must be going through every day in that house. It had to be like living in her own private Hell. Val reached out and took Leana’s hand and led her into the house, with Kate on her heels.

Both girls had agreed not to talk about Matt or Brian while Leana was in the house so not to upset her. Kate’s eyebrows went up to the ceiling when she saw the living room. Val had pushed the coffee table out of the way so that the floor was completely open and she had piled mountains of blankets down.

“I thought we’d have an old fashion sleep over party.” Val said with a huge smile. Kate laughed and Leana just smiled.

Kate glanced at the clock and noticed that it was almost seven. The guys would be going on soon. She pulled out her phone and noticed that Brian still hadn’t texted her back. Again she sent the message and tucked the phone away.

“Okay, so let’s get into our pajama’s and start this party!” Val shouted. Kate giggled and the girls went to change.

The party went off without a hitch. The girls ordered pizza and ate so much junk food, Kate thought she would burst! Around ten, Kate went out to have a cigarette. Val was sleeping and Leana was watching TV. Kate took her phone out, to see if Brian had texted her yet. Still, he hadn’t. The show had to be over by now. Kate sighed in frustration.

She pulled up a new text message and plugged in Zacky’s number.

‘Hey Zac, um what’s up with Brian. He hasn’t texted me all day’ She pressed send and went to put her phone away.

A few seconds later, her phone buzzed with a phone call.

“Hello?” She said.

“Hi Kate, it’s Chase from earlier. Don’t like think I’m stalking you or something.” Chase said with a chuckle.

“How exactly did you get my number?” Kate questioned. Chase chuckled again.

“It was on the dog’s tag. I wrote it down in case no one came looking for her.” He said.

Kate smacked her forehead with her palm. Duh. Brian had put her name and number on it just before he left since she was going to be in charge of her.

“So anyway, I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow.” He asked calmly.

Kate blushed and started pacing.

“Well, I don’t really know yet. Why?” She said.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to have lunch with me.” He said.

Kate froze. She was in a committed relationship. Saying no was the right thing to do! It was the only thing to do right?

“I might be able to work something out.”

The words just spilled out of her mouth before she could stop them. Chase smiled on the other end of the line.

“Great, I’ll meet you on that bench where you found me today, say around noon?” He said.

“Sure, I’ll see you then.” Kate said and then she hung up.

“Oh shit.” She said to herself.

Kate looked down at her phone and saw she had a text from Zacky.

‘sorry kate, he’s sleepin. I’ll tell him to text ya in the morn.’

Kate sighed and went back inside to go to sleep.

In the morning, Leana woke everyone up early and left for work. Val made she and Kate some breakfast.

“What or our plans for today?” Val asked Kate.

Kate swallowed hard and looked down.

“I have to meet someone for lunch.” She said. Val raised her eyebrow.

“Who?” She asked. Kate avoided her gaze.

“A client.” Kate said.

Kate was still doing some photography work every once in a while, so Val didn’t question it. When they were finished, Kate went to shower and get ready to meet her ‘client’.

She put on skinny jeans and a red, blue, and white plaid blouse and black flats. She added some mousse to her hair and left it curly. She threw on a little makeup and went downstairs to wait.

Val was lying on the couch with her hand on her stomach.

“Are you okay?” Kate asked nervously. Val smiled and nodded.

“I think I’ve settled on a name..for a boy anyway.” She said.

Kate smiled and sat down.

“What did you pick?” She asked.

“Elijah, after my father and James after Jimmy.” She said.

Kate beamed at her.

“Oh Val, Matt will love it.” Kate said. Val nodded.

“I know. I’m gonna tell him today.” She said.

Kate nodded and glanced up at the clock. She had about 10 minutes before her ‘meeting’. She told Val goodbye and started walking to the bench.

Chase was sitting on the bench, wearing a black v-neck and white cargo shorts. He was talking to an old man that was sitting beside him. Kate could see they were talking about something very serious because the old man was waving his arms wildly in the air.

“That’s the problem with the country.” Kate heard the man say. Chase casted her a smile and a sly wink.

Kate smiled back and soon a bus pulled up in front of them. Chase stood up and helped the man up and onto the bus.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Alfred. Same time, same place.” Chase said.

Alfred nodded and made his way to a seat. Chase pulled out some money for the fare and got off the bus. When the bus was gone, Chase turned to Kate.

“That was nice of you. Talking to him and paying for his ride.” Kate told him. Chase smiled and watched the bus go down the street.

“Yeah well, he’s my grandfather. He has Alzheimer’s and he doesn’t remember me anymore. But every day he comes to this bench and waits for the bus. One day I found him here and he didn’t have money for the ride, so I paid for him. Ever since I come here and talk to him. Sometimes I bring him breakfast, but usually we just talk. Even if he doesn’t remember me as his grandson, he knows me as the kid at the bus stop.” Chase said with a smile.

Kate couldn’t help but smile back. Chase rubbed the back of his neck.

“So, I can’t believe you actually showed.” He said with a grin.

Kate rolled her eyes.

“Neither can I.” She said. Chase laughed and gently put his hand on the small of her back.

“Come on, I know this great little diner up here.” He said.

Kate blushed at his touch and let him lead the way.