Rebound (5 page)

That nut was going to be harder to crack
.

Or I could just crack his nuts for real, that would teach him. 

What is my deal with kicking people in the balls? 

Might need to stop taking kick boxing classes. I am getting violent. 

She figured that after Ellenor left, he would have to speak to her because there would be no one else. He would be forced to defer to Katrine. If not, she guessed there was always email or Morse code.

Finally it was Friday! And it was bittersweet. A night out with her best girl friends, but on the other hand Teddy was leaving. He was released early since it was the last day of school. So Katrine spent her lunch break making sure he had everything he needed and giving him a multitude of hugs and kisses. She was going to be late getting back to the office, but she would stay later to make it up. She wanted to spend every possible second with her baby boy.

Her time with him was over much too quickly. She gave his bag a final zip and carried it to the front door. Teddy was following close behind with his pillow clutched in front of his body. He seemed a little nervous about the prospect of saying good bye, but once he saw the ocean waves, she knew he would be fine.

Her former in-laws stood in the doorway with warm smiles on their faces. They both gave Katrine a big hug and assured her that they had the situation well in hand. 

“Please don’t worry about a thing. We will take good care of your precious boy. And I will do my very best not to spoil him too badly. But that might be a promise I can’t keep,” Gran said.

They still loved her, and to say they were angry with David about the divorce was an understatement of gargantuan proportions.

“Thanks again to both of you for having him. I know he’s in capable hands.” Katrine said.

“Teddy, be polite and kind. Clean up after yourself please, I beg of you. I’ll miss you so much and call me everyday! Oh, and wear sunscreen and drink plenty of water. It’s important to stay hydrated. Be careful in the ocean, those waves can be rough, and…”

“Mom, don’t worry, I know. I’ll be okay. Gran and grandpa will take good care of me.”

“Okay, okay. I know. I just have to cover the bases, you know. I love, love, love you my sweet boy.” She held him and squeezed him tightly.

“I love you, momma and I will miss you. Take care of yourself too.”

“I will be fine Teddy, Ted, or whatever your name is.” They both smiled.

They embraced a little bit longer by the car and she knew prolonging the inevitable would not help, plus she had to get back to Mr. Personality. She said her final goodbyes and Katrine shut the car door. She waved until she could no longer see them. 

Um, car is long gone,
why am I still waving?

If someone came out right now, they would see a woman sobbing and waving at nothing. They would think she was having a schizophrenic moment. She wiped her eyes as went back inside to freshen up her makeup and compose herself. She would need to change at the office, now that she had to work late to make up for the long lunch. There were definite draw backs of being back in the workforce. She got a bag together and headed out the door. 

The rest of the afternoon passed in a depressing fog. She was still upset about Teddy and to add insult to injury Ellenor would be leaving after today. What a crappy afternoon. A night out was just what she needed.

“Ellenor, please don’t leave me. What am I going to do without you next week?” Katrine said sadly. She had grown close to this gentle woman in the past week. “I’ll miss you. I know it might seem sudden, but I tend to bond quickly,” she said with a smile.

“You will do fine and you have my number, please do not hesitate to phone me at any time. And the feeling is mutual, my dear.” 

Katrine was not sure if Ellenor was a hugger, she was British after all. But people hugged in these parts, so Katrine took a chance. Ellenor returned her hug and meant it.

Next week it was just her and he who shall not be named. 

Great, it should be excruciating with just a pinch of verbal abuse
.  

She could not wait.

Katrine went into Mr. Abbot’s office for the first time that week to tell him good evening.

“Mr. Abbot, if it’s alright I was going to head out for the evening. Ellenor thinks that I am more than prepared to take over next week.”

Nothing.What is with this guy? 

“Okay, well then, have a pleasant weekend and I will see you on Monday.” Katrine was trying.

“Yes, see you on Monday.” 

He finally spoke.

Its’ alive, ALIVE
!!!!!! 

Too bad he didn’t even look up. 

Have a nice weekend sir. Hope you get gonorrhea…

Katrine walked out. She did not want to give him the opportunity to change his mind, or piss her off.  Now it was time to get into her going out and maybe chatting up cute guys clothes. Trip to the bathroom and ta-da, hottie ready for a night on the town. Katrine donned a one shouldered black mini dress with gorgeous black high heeled shoes not the hooker kind, but tasteful, as tasteful as five inch heels could be. She actually looked tall. Hair up, with gold chandelier earrings and gold bracelet, fab-u-lous. 

Girl, you look good. 

You had to give yourself compliments because sometimes they were the only ones you were going to get. She was waiting for the elevator. This time of evening it always took forever, especially when you were anxious to meet up with friends. Or maybe she was anxious because half of her skin was showing. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed someone walking up from the direction of the office.
Oh no.

So unless Ellenor had put a man’s suit on, it was...of course it was.

 And Katrine was dressed like, well like she was dressed. She could not catch a break today.  She just needed to get a f-ing drink and end this day! Just then the elevator dinged. 

Oh god, I have to ride down in the elevator with him. Maybe I could take those fifteen flights of stairs, I could take off my shoes. Or I could use my blouse as a parachute and jump off of the roof...

“After you,” he said and used the hand gesture that went with that phrase.

She had a hand gesture for him, but she kept it to herself.

Katrine just put one foot in front of the other and picked a corner. He selected G1, the garage level where his parking spot was located, and L1, where the visitor’s parked.

“Where are you off to dressed like
that
.” It did not sound complimentary. He was eyeing her in a judgmental fashion.

“I’m meeting a group of my friends for dinner and possibly dancing. There’s this great restaurant around the corner with amazing food and even more amazing margaritas.” 

 Stop talking for the love of god! I’m sure he didn’t want details.

“You people are really into margaritas around here.”

“Yes, it kind of goes along with the whole Tex-Mex thing we’re all really into.” 

Okay, that sounded just a tad bit sarcastic.

“Well you ladies have fun. I am sure it will be a very fruitful evening.” The fruitful sounded very snarky.

“Thank you kindly, Mr. Abbot. I a
m
sure it will be.” 

She gave him her biggest smile and walked out as the door opened into the lobby.

That’s right. Check out my legs, as I walk away you pompous wind bag....

Drink please. Need an adult beverage, stat, for the love of god!!!!!!!! 

He watched her as she walked away and a small smile formed on his lips. She was a spirited little thing wasn’t she.

Katrine got into her car feeling very tense. ‘No Money’ by Kings of Leon came on right off the bat. She cranked up the volume and she let the upbeat notes drift over her. Her shoulders began to loosen. Good music always had that affect on her. She put on her sunglasses, put the top down, and cranked up the a/c, a must in this heat, even with the top down. Katrine was pulling out of the lot as a black motorcycle came out of the garage. 

The rider nodded his head in way of a greeting or goodbye in this case, and took off.

That’s just perfect. 

Of course he rides a Ducati...

Katrine had a thing for motorcycles. She thought they were sexy. All of that vibrating machinery between your legs. Not that she had ever been on one or anything. But that is how she imagined it would be.

Chapter 7

 Katrine pulled up to the restaurant and scoped out the parking situation. She arrived too late to find a parking spot, so she had to valet. It seemed a little ridiculous to pay them to drive her car two feet, but she would rather pay for valet then hoof it. Especially when you were wearing heels this high. It was just one of those things.

Katrine scanned the restaurant for her crew. They had a large round table which was perfect when you wanted to talk to everyone. The salsa music filled the air and she could not wait to get her hands on a frozen margarita, with salt, the salt was essential in her opinion. 

“Hey friends, sorry I’m late!” Katrine hollered. 

Various greetings zinged back her way, they were all very excited to see her, that much was apparent. Yes, just what she needed. She felt better already. These ladies were her core group of friends. They were all unique in their own way, but they had one thing in common, they all loved each other. They were the kind of friends that would help you move, the kind that always remembered your birthday, and the kind that let you ugly cry on their shoulder, the snot running down the face, snorting kind. Those type of people you keep around.

She had met them during various stages of her life, but these were friendships that had endured into her progressing adulthood. She weeded out the less desirables by her thirties. Katrine grabbed her seat and ordered that much needed drink. 

Directly across from Katrine sat Paige. She was the youngest of the group at age thirty and was a stay at home mom. Her blonde hair fell to her shoulders. She was more conservative in her speech than some of the other ladies present. (Conservative meant she didn’t curse as much as the others). 

Charlie sat to the right of Paige. She was the eldest of the group, having turned 40 this past year. She was thin and on the tall side, with a reddish brown, inverted bob. There was nothing conservative about her, speech or otherwise.

Next to Charlie was Jane. She owned her own business and lived in the city with her husband. Jane was short and curvy, with long black hair and striking blue eyes.

Then on the other side of Katrine sat Isabelle, went by Izzie. She had a slim build, ample boobs, wavy blonde hair and light brown eyes. She had a no nonsense type of personality, very successful. As the only single person, she was who they all vicariously had sex through. But Katrine guesses she would join those ranks too, now divorced. If she ever had sex again...

“Katrine, you look great!” Jane chirped. 

Good friends mean it when they give a compliment. Not like the people who work in retail compliments. The ones that tell every customer how cute their kid is, or that plaid palazzo pants look slimming. 

“You do. How much weight have you lost?” asked Paige.

“About 200 pounds of asshole, would be my guess,” Charlie said.

That made Katrine and every one else laugh.

“Thank you, and yes I have lost that and ten more.”

“Like you needed to loose any, what are you like a size zero now?” Izzie teased grabbing a tortilla chip.

“No, Iz. Zero is not a size anyway. They added that to make runway models and women with eating disorders feel like part of the gang. I’m a two, perfect for my shrimpy stature.”

“5’3 isn’t that shrimpy. And besides, the shorter you are, the more men you have to choose from. Anyone who isn’t a jockey or a dwarf is fair game. And by the way I used to wear a size zero thank you very much, and I am neither anorexic, nor a super model.” Paige added, scrunching her lightly-freckled nose.

“Anyway, good to see you out and about, we missed you! And more importantly, mazel on your new job!” Jane cheered. 

Everyone else lifted their glasses to salute Katrine.

“Thank you, thank you. It is good to be out and after the day I had, I really needed it!” 

“We want to hear all about the new job.” Jane insisted. 

All eyes turned to Katrine and she tried to decide where to start. When in doubt the beginning is always best.

“Well, you all know my friend Joanna, who’s a member of my women’s charity group? Well, her husband knows some people in high places and got me a job working for a company called AG Industries.”

“Katrine, that is one of the biggest conglomerates in the US!” Izzie said. She seemed impressed.

 “Yes, that’s true, so it’s a pretty big deal that I was even considered. I’m the assistant to Alexander Abbot Jr. and it is short term and pays very well.” Katrine took a sip of her drink and then continued. “It’s going to be a great experience, but I’m not sure about my boss. He’s really condescending and frankly downright rude at times. I’m hoping that will change once he gets to know me. But, I’m going to try my best to not let it bother me. I am going to just get in there and kick a little keister.”

“Don’t take it personally, Katrine. Those old-timer CEO types are like that sometimes. They are accustomed to calling the shots and getting their way. Sometimes when you have that much control it skews your ability to deal with the little people,” Izzie said. She was relishing the fact that we were talking about business and not toddlers or soccer games.

“That’s the thing, he isn’t old. He’s around my age, I think.”

“Is he good looking at least?” Paige asked.

“You sound like Maddie. Yes, he is easy on the eyes, but his personality lessens the effect his looks have on me. No danger of crossing that line, trust me. You know how I am. No assholes!” Katrine raised her drink in mock proclamation.