Chapter Text
Chapter One:
Thunder rumbled in the distance as the storm grew closer. Lighting streaks across the clouds, illuminating the dark sky. The wind picks up causing the trees to sway.
“Come on Yelena!”
8-Year-Old Kate races through the neighbor's backyard.
“Slow down!”
9-Year-Old Yelena tries to keep up with the brunette.
“I gotta get home, my mom is gonna kill me”
Lighting zig-zags across the clouds, and a low rumble follows. Kate stops in her tracks looking up to the sky. Yelena stumbles behind her, nearly knocking the brunette down.
“Wow, did you see that?” Kate says looking up at the sky, her blue eyes shining with the light.
Yelena watches her friend, a small smile appearing. She steps closer, she is just slightly taller than her, she elbows the brunette to get her attention.
“Well, answer the question!”
Kate rolls her eyes and continues down the path to her home.
“No.”
Yelena jogs up to Kate, stopping in front of her.
“No you won’t answer, or no you won’t marry me?”
Kate pushes past her, going towards the main road. The wind picks up and rain starts to fall, the low rumbles begin to grow louder.
“Yelena I am 8 years old, I have too much to live for!”
The skies open up and it begins to pour, lighting and thunder roaring above them. Kate makes a bee-line for the road.
“Not that way!” Yelena yells
She reaches out and grabs Kate’s hand, pulling her along as they run towards the woods. They continue running until they find a clearing. It’s almost like the world has come to a stop. The thunder is quiet, and the rain is gone. Fireflies begin to flicker around them.
“Look” Yelena points to the dozen of fireflies around them.
“Cool” Kate steps deeper into the clearing, reaching out trying to catch one, chasing the ones that fly away.
Yelena follows her lead, but with a slower pace, she's able to catch one, gently cupping it in her hands. She slowly walks over to the brunette, opening her hands a bit, the little bug lights up her palms.
“Mama says it's bio-luma-nesses” Yelena stumbles on the word a bit, watching the bug crawl around her hand.
Kate looks at the blonde, a smile growing. She steps more in front of the blonde, jutting out her chin, hands on her hips, trying to look taller.
“Why would you want to marry me anyway?”
Yelena looks up, seeing the stance the brunette has put herself in. Chuckling to herself, she lets the firefly go, stepping closer to Kate.
“So I can kiss you anytime I want”
Kate’s eyes widen a bit, a tinge of pink on her cheeks, she tries her best to hold her stance. Yelena steps even closer, beginning to lean in.
A bright flash and roll of thunder crashes into their world.
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Kate jerks awake at her desk, scattering a few papers around. She looks around, Franny and Greer are giggling at their desk. Kate tries to fight off a yawn as she stands up.
“I need coffee” she mumbles to herself, discreetly rubbing the drool off her cheek.
Kate heads to the small breakroom, glancing at the crappy choices of coffee pods and turning on the machine. Franny and Greer have gotten up and followed Kate, standing side by side with shit-eating grins on their faces.
“You know..” Greer starts leaning against the door frame “That accent of yours is a lot thicker when you’re dreaming”
“Ha ha, now why did you guys let me sleep?” Kate says the machine spits out the last of her coffee, she stirs in some cream, blowing on it before taking a sip, and she slowly turns towards the other girls.
“Oh hush it was only for a minute,” Franny says waving a hand dismissively, she leans into the room a bit, “Sooo,”
Kate looks between the two women, her eyebrows scrunched, “what did I say?”
Franny and Greer exchange a look “Just that we are getting big fat raises when you become somebody!” Greer says, the woman having a big grin as Kate rolls her eyes as she walks out of the breakroom.
Kate walks back over to her desk, fixing the strewn-about papers. Her laptop chimes with a new email. Kate pulls it over, skimming through the email, “shit,” she mutters.
“The programming for our new home security won't be ready in time,” Kate falls back into her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“So what do we present at the panel?” Franny says looking over the email
“Ahhh, well go with the kids, the security watch bands, and the protective iPad application,” Kate says, pulling her laptop close and drafting an email to the rest of her team.
“But it’s not ready yet either,” Greer says
“So we wing what we don't have done, protection of kids will always be sought after product.” Kate finishes out the email, closing her laptop and packing her bag, “Okay review the packet, let the team know, I’ll see you guys at the panel” Kate waves goodbye to Greer and Fanny.
“Bye Kate!” they say in sync.
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The sun is just beginning to rise in New York as Kate makes her commute back to her loft. She checks her watch, there are only a few hours before the panel. The team had been pulling all-nighters for nearly the entire month to prep for the event. Accepting she won't be able to get any more sleep, Kate stops at a bakery a block away from her loft, grabbing a few treats and a fresh coffee.
Kate makes it back to her loft, opening her door with her keys, they drop to the floor with her jaw. She looks around her loft, dozens and dozens of flower bouquets are scattered around her loft. They cover the floor, the kitchen counters, in the windows, in every inch there are flowers and flower petals. Her phone rings, and without looking she answers bringing the phone to her ear.
“There’s a rose for every moment I thought of you.” Eli’s voice comes through the phone.
Kate stutters.
“You must be exhausted. Listen, knock’em dead, I’ll see you at the panel. I love you” he says
Kate finally gets her voice back, “I can’t wait to see you!”
She hangs up, pulling a flower from one of the bouquets, smelling it, she smiles to herself.
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The ballroom was packed with a crowd. Guest finding their seats discussing the new products and project start-ups they had seen earlier in the panel. Kate’s team rushes around to make final checks on the sample products, the binders for potential clients were tidied up to be passed around and the video presentation was ready.
Backstage Kate shakes out her hands, bouncing on her feet as she mutters her speech for the thousandth time to herself. She fiddles with the cufflinks as she begins to pace.
“Well isn’t the boss lady herself” a voice calls out from behind Kate.
Kate turns slightly startled, then smiles, “Tony, what are you doing here? You're my competition.”
Tony laughs, giving Kate a quick hug.
“Competition? Please, nothing is going to come between me and my protege” Tony says with a soft smile, Kate returns it, “And this is all about me after all”
Kate lightly punches his shoulder as Tony starts walking backward to leave, “by the way, love your project”
“Then why do I feel like I’m in Time Square buck naked?” Kate says with a sigh as she shakes out her nerves.
Tony stops just before he leaves backstage, “Seven years ago you left your home with barely anything in your savings and a dream,” he smiles at her, “now you're up for Forbes 30 under 30 and launching your fifth product from your own start-up company.”
“Okay get out of here” she shoos Tony away.
Kate takes another moment to collect herself, closing her eyes and taking a few breaths. Kate opens her eyes, gaining back the confidence she always had. Loud chatter and camera flashes beyond the stage catch Kate’s eye. She steps forward, peeking past the curtain.
Reports follow Eli as he walks towards his seat. Cameras flash and reporters shout questions, he kindly smiles at them as he makes his way through the crowd.
“Secretary Bradley! Do you have a movement for a few questions!”
Flash Flash Flash
“Eli are you excited about the panel!”
Flash Flash Flash
“Of course, very excited,” Eli responds with a charming smile
Greer walks up next to Kate, pulling the curtain back a bit more to watch Eli.
“Please tell me he has a flaw somewhere” Greer whispers to Kate nudging her.
“He asked me to go to Ireland for Christmas” Kate whispers
“He’s gonna ask you more than that,” Franny whispers, appearing on the other side of Kate
Kate looks between her two friends, “you think so?”
Franny and Greer exchange a look rolling their eyes.
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The audience applauds Kate as she completes her presentation. She thanks the audience, giving a few polite bows, making her way off the stage. As she exists she sees Eli at the bottom of the stairs smiling.
“Congratulations,” Eli says pulling Kate into a soft kiss
“You’re amazing, those flowers were insane” Kate giggles, she takes Eli’s arm as he guides her away from the stage.
“Well I wanted today to be perfect,” he smiles
“God what if they hate the idea” Her nerves begin to creep up again
Eli stops her, putting her hands on her shoulder, having her look at him, “Did you hear that applause, there is no way they hated your idea, Katie.”
“That’s easy for you to say, I wasn’t born with thick Bradley skin” she jokes
“No you weren’t and that is what I love about you,” he smiles and kisses her cheek, his phone chimes, taking it out to look at it, “Ah honey I’m sorry, I have a meeting in the Bronx,” he places another kiss on her cheek and starts to step away, “oh, and hey, we’ve got that thing at Lincoln Center”
Kate’s eyebrows scrunch together, “what thing?”
“The fundraiser thing,” he says as he starts to walk backward
“Oh right, the thing, with your mother…” Kate tries to hold back her annoyance
“I’ll see you tonight, congratulations honey,” Eli waves goodbye
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A sleek black SUV drives through the streets of New York, the city lights reflecting off the windows as the sun has dipped behind the building. Kate sits in the back seat, she wears a black dress with long sleeves, and a low neckline, and her long hair is down with soft curls. She tries her best to not constantly check in with her team about the project, or think about how the critics are reviewing it.
The SUV slows to a stop, after a few moments Kate finally notices and looks up from her phone.
“His meeting is running a bit late,” the driver says, stepping out of the vehicle and walking to the back door, he opens up Kate’s door, “he told me to take you inside so you wouldn’t have to wait” he helps Kate out of the SUV.
Kate is led through a backdoor, and down a long corridor, her confusion growing as it seems the maze of hallways will never end. They stop at a set of double doors, Eli opens one of them with a smile, “Thank you, Scott,” Kate takes his arm as he guides her even further through another corridor.
“So…have you made a decision?” he asks
“About what?” Kate looks around the hallways they are walking through
“Ireland,”
“Ireland? Honey that’s five months away,” the two finally come to a stop at another set of double doors, “Eli, what’s going on, where are we?”
Eli opens the door, walking Kate into a dark room, stopping in the middle. On cue, the lights turn on all around them. Rows and rows of jewelry cases surround them, lights shining off the glass and diamonds.
Kate looks around the room, shocked, and speechless, she turns back to Eli, he has a soft smile on his face, reaching for her hand, slowly lowering down onto one knee.
“Kathrine Barton, will you marry me?”
“Are you sure? I mean a-a-are you sure?” Kate stutters, overwhelmed, “Because if you’re not sure, we could just go back to the car,” turns to point towards the exit, starting to step back, pulling her hand away “I mean it's only been 8 months”
“You know I never do anything rash,” Eli stands, “And I usually never ask a question I don’t already know the answer to…” he takes Kate's hands, “so…for the sake of being rejected twice, I’m gonna ask you again,” he looks into Kate’s eyes, she gives a small nod.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Kate pulls Eli closer, kissing him.
“Pick one,” Eli says, jewlers step behind the cases pulling out small boxes with rows of rings.
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The Lincoln Center is packed, similar to a red-carpet event, reporters line the area, stopping a few of the sponsors for photos and questions. A tinted black SUV pulls up to the entrance, reporters crowd the vehicle. An older woman steps out from the back seat, the cameras start flashing and reporters start shouting questions.
“Mayor, just one shot! One shot!”
“Can you comment on the Watson bill?”
“Over here, Mayor, please! Over here!”
The Mayor gives a polite smile, beginning to walk down the carpet, her assistant joining her.
“Where is he?” she angrily whispers to her assistant
“He’s running late,” he says
“No doubt thanks to that Barren girl,” she says
“Barton…upcoming tech designer, from Ohio,” he reminds her
“Right, whatever” she waves a dismissing hand
More reports approach the Mayor, one pushes her way through the crowd, pointing her microphone toward her
“Your Honor, how do you answer those who are opposed to the street-improvement project you put before the city council today?” she ask, pushing the other reports to the side so her cameraman can get his shot.
“I suggest they take a drive on some of the streets in Brooklyn. Maybe they'll disappear into a pothole,” she says with a chuckle, starting to walk down the carpet again, the report stops her
“Your son's relationship with Kathrine Barton, sources say they're engaged. Do you have a comment?” she asked, pushing her microphone closer to the Mayor
“Trust me, if my son were engaged, I'd have a comment.” she waves off the reporter
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The SUV cuts through the New York streets, headed towards the Lincoln Center. Kate and Eli sit in the back, she scatters kisses all across Eli’s face.
“I thought you were tired,” he chuckles
“Scott, can you excuse us for a second?” she smiles sweetly
The driver nods, pressing the button to roll up the privacy glass.
“I've been planning this for weeks. I knew your panel would be great, and tonight is perfect,” Kate holds out her hand, admiring the ring she chose, “Oh, God, I can't wait to see the look on my mother's face” he laughs, grabbing Kate’s hand, kissing the back of it, “we should call your parents”
“No!” Kate shouts a bit too loudly, “I mean, not right now” Eli gives her a curious look, “ What I mean is, uh…” she turns towards Eli, “Honey, would you mind terribly, if we just kept this to ourselves for a few days?” she asks with a worried look.
“Katie, it’s gonna come out sooner or later,” he pulls her closer
“No, I know, I know, but, um it's just,” Kate gets more nervous, “I haven't seen my folks in a few years,” she rubs her hands together, nervously twisting her new ring, “and I just feel like I should probably tell them in person.”
“Of course,” he smiles, bringing her hands to his lips and kissing them
“And um, I think I should do it alone,” she smiles at him awkwardly
“Katie, I’m gonna have to meet them eventually,” he says dropping her hands
“I know, I know, and they will love you…eventually,” she says with a grimace
Eli looks at her, seeing how nervous she has become, he reaches over, rubbing her hands down her arms in a soothing motion.
“Okay, mum’s the word,” he takes Kate’s hand and twists her ring until only the band is exposed, “no one will know,” he smiles at her, and Kate leans over to kiss him.
The vehicle comes to a stop. Scott walks over to open the back door, and Eli steps out first, reaching out his hand for Kate to take.
Cameras flash and reportors shout as Eli and Kate make their way down the carpet, where they approach the Mayor.
“Sorry we’re late,” Eli says stepping toward his mother and placing a kiss on her cheek
“That shade of lipstick does nothing for you,” she says whipping at Eli’s face, “What kept you?” she asks side-eyeing Kate
“Oh, it's none of your business,” he says through his teeth, trying to smile for the cameras
“Ah, you know I hate surprises. What's going on?” she presses, eyeing her son suspiciously, stepping over to Kate, trying to be cordial “Kathrine darling” she fakes a smile
“Hi, your honor,” Kate greets her with a matching fake smile
“So good to see you. Look at you... always the belle of the ball” the Mayor says with a grimace, “I hear very good things about your product,” she approaches Kate, unsure if she should attempt a hug or a handshake
“Oh yeah, thanks,” Kate makes the choice and sticks out her hand
“Elijah” the Mayor's eyes grow wide, still having a hold on Kate’s hand
Kate laughs awkwardly trying to tug her hand away, the Mayor tightens her hold.
“It seems Kathrine is wearing a ring on a very important finger” She stares down Kate
“Um, your Honor, I’d like to keep it-”
The Mayor twists around the ring, exposing the diamond, “YOU’RE ENGAGED!”
“Quiet..” Kate sighs
Reports swarm in, cameras flash all around them.
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A few days have passed, and Kate finds herself driving down a long two-lane highway, in her sleek black Audi A3, with one hand on the wheel, she fiddles with her ring on the other.
“What the hell Kate, we are your first New York friends and we find out about it with a million other people!” Franny shouts through the phone
“Sorry, honey, she just grabbed my hand. What was I supposed to do?” Kate chuckles
“We know…it looked like her eyes were about to pop out of her head!” Greer laughs
“So did you cry?” Franny coos, wanting to know all the details
“Wouldn’t you,” Kate smiles looking at her ring
“One man for the rest of my life? I'd bawl my fucking eyes out.” Greer jokes, and Kate laughs rolling her eyes
“So why don't you meet us? We're just around the corner from your place,” Franny ask
“Can’t,” Kate sighs, “I’m in Ohio,”
“Oh...my...god,” Greer and Franny say in sync
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Kate follows the gravel driveway down to the small house. It’s a single-story farmhouse painted in a soft, earthy green with a welcoming front porch that stretches across the width of the house. There's a small lake on the property with a dock, just off the lake is a small old shed. Next to the house is a beat-up blue and white pickup parked out front, with a motorcycle right beside it.
Kate stares at the house for a moment, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She readies herself, takes her ring off, safely places it in her bag, and pulls out a file of papers. She steps out of her car and approaches the home.
A large white Akita comes around the porch stopping at the top of the stairs, barking at the intruder.
“She's loud, but she don't bite,” a voice comes from inside the house.
A blonde woman bumps the screen door with her hip walking out. She's wearing cargo pants and a tank top, both covered in truck grease. She has a rag in her hand cleaning a truck part, and her hair is up in a braid.
The Akita continues to bark, the blonde shushes her with a muttered command, and the pup lays down quietly on the stairs.
“Now, how can I help you,” she smiles at her guest,
“Well,” Kate takes off her sunglasses stepping closer to the house, “for starters, you can get your stubborn ass down here and give me a divorce!”