A Series Of Fortunate Events, Part 7

A Series of Fortunate Events
by Kalithanatos

CHAPTER SEVEN

Kat had a pleasant weekend and went to her first day proper at work on Monday
full of good humour. As she sat behind her desk to prepare it for customers,
she felt a pair of hands over her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the
strong smell of nicotine stained fingers and then a familiar voice said,
"Guess who?" and Kat turned around, delighted. Anne stood there in full
uniform. "Surprise!" she said, happy to see Kat's smiling, if a little
bemused, face.

"But...how?" Kat asked.

"I understand one of your staff has a bun on the oven? Guess who her
replacement is?" Anne said.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Kat cried out. "I'm so glad to see you! So this is
your little `surprise', then?"

"It sure is," Anne said as the two women finished preparing their desks for
the inevitable morning rush.

An hour and a half later, it was time for a break and a chance to catch up.
Anne and Kat grabbed their jackets and went outside.

"I take it no one here knows your little secret?" Anne asked as she lit up
her first cigarette of the break. "Don't worry; I arrived early and found a
perfect spot where no one can see you smoke."

"Ah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that," Kat replied as Anne
slipped down a small alleyway a minutes walk from the bank. Kat had finally
found the chance to tell Anne that she was most definitely not a smoker.

"Listen, Anne," she began, "the whole smoking thing - it's just not me." Anne
looked puzzled as she lowered the packet of cigarettes she had just offered
to Kat.

"What do you mean?" Anne asked. "I've seen you smoke! Three times! You were
about to smoke before our night out!"

"No, Anne, I wasn't." Kat explained what had happened and how embarrassed she
had been to turn down Anne's cigarettes.

"So you only smoked to impress me?" Anne asked, bemused.

"No, not exactly. I just found it hard to say no, that's all," Kat replied.

"What about at the bar at the hotel? You took the cigarette off of me that
time, remember?"

"Do you remember how drunk I was?" Kat replied. "I was too far gone to know
what I was doing!"

"My god," Anne said, shaking her head before lighting another cigarette with
the remains of her first, "that is the craziest thing I have ever heard. So
you really don't smoke, huh?"

"Nope, sorry," Kat replied. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to hang
around with you or anything. I don't mind that you smoke - in fact, I kind of
like it," she said, sheepishly.

"What, like Gio does?" Anne asked.

"I suppose so," Kat said, mortified she was telling Anne this. "I mean,
you're very pretty when you smoke. You're like really hot!"

Anne blushed. "Don't get any ideas, young lady!" Anne said, breaking the
tension, "I'm practically a married woman!" Kat laughed at this, and Anne
followed.

"Yeah, yeah, tease me if you want! I can't help it if I think you're sexy!"
Kat said.

"Hey, don't get the wrong idea - I'm flattered. Really. I mean that," Anne
said, reassuringly.

"...But it can't go anywhere because a) you're committed to Gio and b) you're
not gay. I understand. I wasn't trying to cause trouble, honestly. It's just
that you're the first person I know who took to me and made me feel special.
Truth be told, I don't even know if I want a relationship with a boy OR a
girl. I think I might be bisexual..." Kat was at this point thinking out
loud. She had never admitted her sexuality to anyone before, not even
herself, but the more she thought of it the more she was convinced it to be
true.

"Hey, listen, that's cool by me," Anne said. "You're the best friend I've
made in years and I don't mind if you fancy me or you're gay or bi or
whatever - to me, and I know this sounds corny as hell, it's what's inside
that matters. I'm sure you'll find someone soon who you'll fall in love with;
you've done a lot of growing up this week, and I'm sure true love will come
calling soon. Jeez, look at the time!" Anne suddenly declared. "We're due
back in two minutes. Just time for one quick smoke!" she said, lighting up
her third cigarette in little over eight minutes.

"Hey, Kat," Anne said, mischievously, "I don't mind if you watch!" She took a
deep inhale and blew the smoke gently past Kat's face.

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