It had been a week since then, and he had not returned.  He saw Catharine in the open air market a few times and once he had deigned to greet her with a simple polite nod…which she glared at and turned away from him.  He hadn’t realized how quiet his life was until now…and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

It bothered him that the woman was so angry at him for something he’d done (especially since he didn’t eve know what he’d done!), so he did something very unlike himself.  He bought chocolates and a card and left them with the tightrope artist for her.

“Cat, a gift from one of your admiring fans!” he gave the chocolates over to her with a sweeping bow.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Michael!  Still, it is sweet.  I’m going back to my trailer if you need me.”

“This one may be a keeper, kit-kat,” Michael smirked knowingly as she bundled up and left the heated tent.

Back in her trailer, she shed the extra layers, turned on the kettle to make some coffee and opened the card.

Catharine,

A peace offering.

Chang Wufei

P.S.—if the job offer still stands, I might not be opposed. (716-5928)

‘Sweet?’Catharine frowned.  “I take it back.”  Still, he had apologized at least.

‘Well, he’s Trowa’s friend.  I guess I can at least be civilized…and I can’t think of anyone I’d want to throw sharp, pointy objects at more than Wufei,’ she thought dryly.

She took out her star-shaped earrings and picked up the phone with an irritated sigh.

He’d been training.  It was late, and he mused on how his phone rarely rang, and when it did, it was always at the most troublesome possible moment.

“Hello?”

“Hello?  Wufei, is that you?”

The Oriental man’s eyes widened.  “Catharine?”

“For the record, I prefer dark chocolate,” the woman told him.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”  He was glad to hear from her; he didn’t know why he was glad to hear from her, but he was, regardless.  “What can I do for you?”

“Since you’re Trowa’s friend, I’ve decided to give you a second chance at behaving like a human being.  If you want the job, come by tomorrow morning.”

‘She’s still mad,’ he thought.  “Alright.  I’ll see you in the morning then.”

“Fine.”  Catharine was about to hang up.

“Catharine…”

“What?”

“…goodnight.”  In truth, he didn’t know what he was about to say to her either, but, ‘goodnight’ was enough, he knew.  For now, ‘goodnight was plenty.

“Goodnight Wufei,” Catharine sighed, and he found himself listening to the dial tone for a few long moments before making any move to separate from the woman on the other end, an image of her decked out like an Eskimo passing through his memory as he returned the phone to the receiver and realized suddenly, “I…like her.  In the way that a man likes a woman, I…how stupid, to realize something like that now.’

“Goodnight, Catharine.”