Katia was lost in a world of sensation and music as she danced with Alan. As the hip-hop beat slowed, the two of them moved closer together until a sheet of paper couldn't fit between their bodies. She threw an arm around his neck and he nuzzled her neck. Beside them, Jennie, Jess and Melissa went on dancing without giving it another thought. They knew from past experience that there was nothing to do when Alan and Kat got together. You either joined them or let them do what they had to do.
Shane, however, didn't know that. He made his way over to the dancing couple and tapped Alan on the shoulder. When Kat saw her boyfriend, she realized what kind of show she'd just treated him to.
"Shane, I'd like you to meet Alan, he's a good friend of mine. We went to high school together."
"Alan."
"Alan, this is Shane. I told you about him."
"Ah yes. The new boyfriend. Hi."
"Shane," said Kat, "Alan's gay."
Shane looked at Alan then at his girlfriend and back at Alan who nodded. Shane immediately relaxed.
"Oh."
"Did I look straight?" asked Alan, his eyes brightening immediately.
"Yeah."
"You looked like a guy making a move on his girlfriend," explained Katia, "it wasn't about you or me, it was all about his ego."
Shane rolled his eyes skyward again and shrugged off his girlfriend's comments.
"So," he said with a grin, "you want to dance with me now?"
"I don't know. Can you dance?"
"Lead. I'll follow."
Katia grinned at Shane and looked up at him, pressing her body against his exactly the way she'd pressed her body to Alan's. Together, they started to move to the music. Shane wasn't completely comfortable and it showed. He moved jerkily, his eyes darting left and right to the people dancing around them.
"Shane," whispered Kat, pulling on his chin until he looked her straight in the eyes.
"What?"
"Dance with me. Think of it as vertical sex."
In this light, Shane started to move with Kat much more easily, pressing her curves to his body. She hung to him with her arm slung across his neck and he held on to her by cupping her buttocks. Kat felt like this was heaven and her eyes drifted shut as she enjoyed the music and Shane.
The McMahon heir wouldn't admit it to anyone but he was enjoying himself. There was something to dancing like this with his girlfriend that was quite enjoyable. But too soon, the music changed to a kind of music he didn't know at all.
"What is this?" he asked Kat, watching her face as she grinned.
"Kompa," she explained, "Haitian music. I'll tell you about it someday."
"And show it to me?"
"If I can manage it."
"Cousin," Gary shouted, suddenly appearing behind her, "this dance is mine."
"I'll be back," Kat whispered to Shane before spinning into Gary's arms.
From what Shane could see, Kompa was a complicated couples dance with a lot of footwork but Gary and Katia moved together well. They were definitely great dancers and one of the best couples on the dance floor.
"We should be jealous," said Sarah gently poking him in the ribs.
"Yeah."
"But they look so good together."
"True that."
The Kompa ended but then another song began, not a Kompa but one with a more tribal beat. And Jess and Jennie rushed the dance floor. Joanie and Paul joined Shane and Sarah on the dance floor, along with most of the white people.
"What is this?" asked Joanie with a grin.
"Damn if I know."
On the dance floor, the dancers were like one mass moving together but wildly. Hands were up in the air, some people jumped. But the beat was so enrapturing that it was hard not to tap along to it. Shane turned to Melissa and saw the disapproval in the eyes as she watched her sister and cousin disappear into the crowd.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
"I hate this dance," she answered.
"Why? What is it?"
"It's called RaRa. It's... difficult to explain but it's a carnival dance. The reason they're all packed together like this is because the beat is so good that you stop caring about who's with you. You just have to dance."
"It actually looks cool," said Paul, "if a person was into that kind of shit."
"Yeah, but it's dangerous too. If someone falls, they can get trampled and no one gives a damn."
Shane's eyes immediately went to the dancing mass, trying to spot his girlfriend. But she was nowhere to be seen. Melissa's words plagued his mind. What if she fell?
"Don't worry so much," said Sarah. "Gary won't let anything happen to her. He loves his little cousin."
Indeed as soon as the RaRa ended, Katia, Jess, Jennie and Gary went back to their friends.
"That was such a rush," laughed Jess. "I can't wait for carnival this summer."
"I know," said Kat, putting an arm around Shane's waist. "It's going to be amazing."
"Carnival?" he asked her.
"Actually, carnivals. We are definitely hitting TO this summer."
"All right!" said Jess, high-fiving her best friend. "Come on, let's check out the second floor, "I'm in the mood for a little reggae."
"Cool. Shane, wanna come with?"
"That's all right. I think I'm a little too old for reggae."
"Hey," chuckled Kat, pecking his cheek, "I'm too old for reggae, but I don't give a damn."
"It's okay. Go, enjoy."
"If you're sure."
"I'm sure. Now go!"
Kat quickly pecked his mouth before following Jess up to the club's second floor, dragging Joanie and Jennie behind her. Gary and Sarah made their way to the bar for drinks while Paul and Shane went back to the VIP section.
"Man, do I ever feel old," sighed Paul, sitting down heavily.
"Imagine how I feel," said Shane, watching a very nubile young woman hop on the dance floor, apparently not caring that her breasts were bouncing for all to see, "I'm checking out some woman's breasts and all I can think about is that Katia's breasts are nicer."
"Aw, that's not being old. That's being in love. Being old is me. I'm looking at her breasts and thinking they're nice but it'll be too much trouble getting to them."
"That and knowing Joanie'll have your balls in a sling if you even try getting to those breasts."
"Truer words have never been spoken."
Kat stopped the car in the small parking lot in front of Jess's apartment building and hugged her friend.
"Tonight was cool."
"Tell me about it. I actually enjoyed 737."
"Enjoyed it? You girls killed the place," chuckled Paul.
"Yeah, we did. Anyhow, Kat, give me a call tomorrow."
"Will do."
"Shane, Paul, Joanie, I can't believe I met you guys. This is sooo cool! Anyhow, it was very nice to meet all of you."
"Nice meeting you too."
Jess pecked her friend's cheeks and hopped out of the car. Paul was quick to take her place.
"Hey," protested Shane, "I had dibs on riding shotgun. It's my girlfriend's car."
"My legs are longer than yours Dipshit. And I was faster."
"Unfair."
"Ask me if I give a damn."
"Oh my God," sighed Katia, "you two are like two little kids on a long trip."
"He started it," whined Shane, poking the back of Paul's head.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
Kat stopped the car abruptly and turned to Shane and Paul.
"The two of you have a choice," she said, "I can stop this car right now and force both of you out of it. Or you can promise to behave. Which is it going to be?"
"We'll behave," they said poutily.
"Good boys," she said, starting the car up again.
"So Kat," asked Joanie, "who knew you were that much of a dancer?"
"What can I say? Put on good music and I'm there."
"You were insane," said Paul.
"Well, as a kid, I wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer. This is as close as I can get."
"A Solid Gold dancer? Me too!" exclaimed Joanie.
"Oh my God! Weren't they the best?"
"I know. Which one was your favorite?"
"This is a conversation I don't want to hear about," said Shane to Paul.
Shane and Kat walked into her now quiet house after dropping off Paul and Joanie at Shane's place. The house still smelled like the feast that had been served earlier today. The young woman slid her boots off and waited for Shane at the top of the stairs.
"Did you have fun?" she asked him, untangling her hair with her fingers.
"Yeah. It was... cool."
"Why the hesitation?" she asked him.
"Well, you were different."
"Different how?"
"Wild. I think the word is. When you dance, you're like, possessed."
"I love dancing. I let go of everything. My problems, my worries, it all leaks through the dancing. That's why it's so wild. Did you mind?" she asked him, gently cupping his face.
"No. It was just strange I suppose. I've never seen you like this."
"Shane, there are so many things you don't know about me. There are so many things I don't want you to know about me just yet."
"Why isn't it simple and easy? Why are there sides of you I don't know about just yet?"
"Because I'm complex Shane. There's a lot to me. I'm an artist, I'm a dancer, I'm a writer, I'm wild, I'm reckless. But I'm also logical and responsible. And compassionate and ruthless. The list goes on and on. I'm a virgin and I'm a whore."
"That's sounds like lyrics to a song."
"It's me," she shrugged, tugging his hand as they made their way to her bedroom.
Shane looked down at Kat's swaying backside as he watched her lead the way to her bedroom, trying to associate the image of the woman he'd seen dancing on top of a speaker a few hours ago to the proper young lady he'd introduced to his parents almost a week ago.
"I'm a puzzle Shane," she explained, drawing him into her bedroom. "Trying to figure me out is likely to warp your brain."
"I'll take your word for it."
"Good boy."
"Now, you did promise I'd get to take this top off you. Does that offer still stand?"
"You feel man enough to take up that challenge?"
"Of course I do," he said with a grin, fingering one of the strings.
"Then go for it."
Kat watched Shane, his head resting comfortably on her stomach, his body sprawled across her bed. His body and hair were still damp from their exertions but his body was completely relaxed. She ran her fingers through his hair, which was getting a bit long, and smiled. She loved him so much and she wanted to hold on to him for as long she could. Being loved by him was a special treat and she wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. Stretching her arm, she reached to the bedside table and got her watch. She pressed the INDIGLO button and realized it was already five o'clock in the morning.
Kat slid down in the bed, forcing her eyes to close and maybe catch some sleep. But then, her eyes snapped open again and she reached for her watch. It was 5.05. She wasn't going to sleep. She knew it. Why would tonight be any different?
Katia started to slide out of bed when Shane stirred back to life, holding on to her waist.
"What's wrong?" he asked groggily.
"Nothing. Go back to sleep."
"Where are you going?"
"To the bathroom," she lied, picking up her robe on the way. "I'll be right back."
"Come back," he said, "I want to play some more."
The young woman turned to her boyfriend, watching him as he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
In his dream, Shane felt Katia lick his spine. He grinned and tried reaching for her. When his fingers found nothing but air, his eyes snapped open.
"Kat?" he asked, looking around the bed for her, "Katia?" He grabbed his watch off the bedside table. He swore. It was 7.46 in the morning. Where was she? It had been around five when she'd gotten out of bed to alledgedly go to the bathroom but that had been a long time ago.
Shane pulled on his boxers and padded out of the room. He heard Katia moving through the kitchen. He found her at the kitchen sink washing some dishes.
"What the hell are you doing out of bed?" he asked her.
"I could ask you the same thing," she said, looking at him over her shoulder. "Go back to bed, you're exhausted. I'll be right there."
"Right. That's what you said two hours ago. Aren't you a wee bit tired?" he asked her.
"Not really," she lied, stifling a yawn.
"Kat, come on, let's go to bed. You must be exhausted."
"I'm not Shane, really."
"Fine, then let's go make love," he whispered.
"Once I'm done with the dishes."
"No, now," he whispered, getting her hands out of the soapy water.
"Shane."
"Come on. I'll make love to you until you're too tired to move a muscle."
"As tempting as that sounds, the dishes have to get done."
"Later. Please."
Katia allowed Shane to drag her back to her room and for the next few hours, he did tire her out until she fell asleep sprawled across the bed, flat on her back.
Shane looked at her sleep and saw the movement in her jaw. She was gnashing her teeth as she slept, he realised. Her eyes were shut tightly and she slowly curled her body into a tight little ball. What could bother her so much, he wondered. Why was she so stressed? Why was it that every time he touched her, she jerked abruptly before falling into a deep sleep?
"What bothers you so much?" he asked her.
Kat woke up feeling cold down to the tip of her toes. She jerked a blanket up to her chin and slowly opened her eyes. Shane was looking down at her, a concerned look on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
"Why?"
"Does your jaw hurt?" he asked.
"What?"
"Does your jaw hurt? For the past couple of hours I've been watching you. You've been gnashing your teeth together like crazy. Are you stressed?"
Katia absently touched her jaw, feeling the soreness there. She blinked a few times at Shane and grinned.
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not. Katia, I'm worried about you."
"Why? I'm fine."
"You are not fine. Talk to me. Why are you so worried all the time?"
"No."
"Don't tell me nothing. Don't lie to me. Please."
Katia shook her head and sat up in the bed, looking up at her boyfriend. She brought her knees up under her chin and tucked the blankets all around her body.
"A month after Mom and Dad moved back to Haiti, there was a break in."
"What?"
"A thief broke into our house. He thought the house was empty for some reason. I heard him. I woke up, called 9-1-1. By the time he made it to this room, I was waiting for him with a baseball bat."
"Were you hurt?"
"No, not really. But I was so scared. He opened the door and he saw me before I could do anything. He shoved me out of the way. He dropped his loot and escaped out the window."
"Oh my God, Katia, you could have been so hurt."
"I know. I haven't been able to sleep right ever since that time. It's like I'm always afraid someone else is in the house. Scares me to death."
"Do your parents know?"
"No! If they did, they'd insist on moving back home. That's the last thing I want. I can manage on my own."
"Honey, the house almost got robbed. You could have been seriously hurt."
"But I wasn't. I'm fine."
"You're not fine. Kat, you can't sleep. Hell, I'm willing to bet that this is the first time you actually slept since the New Year's Eve party."
"..."
"Baby," whispered Shane, wrapping his arms around her, "I hate to tell you this, but you're not fine. You need help."
"I do not!"
"You do too. Katia, that was traumatic, it was scary and you have to deal with it. You have to sleep. Full nights. Not just a few naps here and there. And you have to see somebody, a therapist."
"I don't know."
"Katia, sometime soon, I'm going to have to go on the road for extended periods. I don't want to have to worry about whether or not you get enough sleep."
"Who says you have to worry about me? I've done well enough so far on my own."
"Not good enough. Baby, please be careful and take care of yourself. I beg of you, take care of yourself."
Katia shook her head and looked at Shane, saw the worry in his eyes. "You care," she said, stroking the side of his face. "You really care."
"I really care. I want you to take care of yourself. And I want you to sleep."
"Wow! I'd forgotten what it was like," she whispered, closing her eyes.
"Well," he said, lying down next to her, "I'll make you remember."
Shane kissed Katia one last time and held her at arm's length, looking into her eyes.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm not an invalid Shane."
"I know. But I don't know. We spent the last two weeks together, pretty much joined at the hip. I'm going to miss not having you around."
"You'll be fine."
"Of course I will. But Kat, I'm going to be gone for three months. And unless you finally make up your mind to come down and see some shows, we're not going to see each other. With the new plans for the website and the storylines..."
"I know, I know," she interrupted him, "you won't have the time to come down for visits. I'm going to miss you, but I'll strive to survive."
"Don't be so sarcastic, it doesn't."
"BOARDING FOR FLIGHT 134 TO LA GUARDIA AIRPORT, NEW YORK CITY AT GATE 15. BOARDING FOR FLIGHT 134..."
"Too soon," sighed Shane as they started walking to the gate. "Way too soon. Listen, I can get you and Jess backstage passes to Wrestlemania, you guys would love it."
"I don't know babe. I'll see."
"Okay. And promise me you'll sleep at my place until you see that therapist."
"If I can't sleep."
"You can't sleep in that place. You're always so jittery."
"Shane, I can manage on my own."
"All right, all right. I don't want to argue with you."
"Good boy. You'll call me when you get in?"
"Yes. And you'll call me tonight, right?"
"Right."
Shane wrapped his arms around Katia and squeezed her tight.
"I could stay here you know," he whispered into the crook of her neck.
"Please," she said, hugging him back, "you're about to bounce off the walls here. You need the action of your job. It's okay, I understand."
"I'll call you at work," he whispered, gently kissing the hollow behind her ear.
"Cool. I'll pretend it's work-related."
"It might be."
"If it is, I'll pretend it's personal."
"FINAL CALL FOR FLIGHT 134 TO LA GUARDIA AIRPORT, NEW YORK CITY."
"That's me. Damn it!"
"It's all right. Be good," she Kat, gently pushing a curl off his forehead.
"You too. No dancing on speakers unless I'm around."
"Fine. And you... no flirting with cute fans. And if you meet anyone named Carm or Sherrie, back away slowly and call me. I'll want to talk to them. Don't trust them. they're insane!"
"I'm not even going to ask how you know those crazy fans."
"Good. And if anyone calls you an assmunch, a biatch or something equally insulting, tell BritBrit I said hello. And then duck."
"Duck?"
"She hates being called that."
"Honey, how do you know all the crazy people?"
"They're nautally attracted to me."
"That's scary baby. Really scary."
While they'd talked, Kat and Shane had made their way to the gate.
"Come with me," he said suddenly, tugging on her hand, "I'll buy you clothes and everything. It'll be so much fun."
"Ha ha ha... no. I have a job here."
"You hate your job."
"And a home."
"You can't sleep in your bed."
"Shane."
"Sorry, sorry. You can handle it."
"Good. Now go."
"I love you," he said, quickly kissing her lips.
"I love you too," she whispered, waving at his retreating back.
"What are we going to do about these results?" asked her director of operations.
"What's wrong with them?" asked Katia, looking at the numbers on the spreadsheet.
"They could be higher."
"What's the point? They want 100 incoming calls an hour, we're handling 150. We're over goal."
"But we could do better."
"Sam, we're handling their overflow. What do you want to do, take over all of it?"
"Yes."
Kat looked at Melanie and then back at Sam and sighed, shaking her head. Melanie and her both knew that Shane didn't want to make the Montreal-based company their main call center.
"Sam, the WWF is not looking to make our company their main call center. They already have a call center."
"But we could do better."
Katia had to force herself not to scream. She hated this, she hated the position she was currently in. She'd known Sam for four years now. She'd been his boss, his coach. She'd even briefly dated his best friend. When he'd first walked into this company, he'd been a shy young man with braces up the wazoo. And she'd befriended him, or at least she'd thought so. They had some of the same friends, hung out in the some of the same places.
But there was a problem, an intriguing situation actually. Sam was Maroccan, Jewish Maroccan to be precise, just like the company owners. And Sam's father just happened to be best friends with one of the company's owners.
And now, Sam, who'd taken a year off work to travel around the world on his father's dime, a year during which his braces had disappeared, was now Katia's boss, and a very annoying one at that.
"Your employees need to pick up the pace here Katia. We can't have slackers on this campaign."
"My employees are not slackers! Yes, they're young and maybe they're not as mature as the rest of the employees working here but they love wrestling and they love their job. But what's more, they know their business. Ask them who the number contender is for the Intercontinental Championship and they'll know it."
"Yeah but they're so irresponsible."
"They're seventeen year old boys Sam. Tell me how responsible you were at seventeen?"
By then, Katia was standing up, looking Sam, who'd stood through the meeting, right in the eye. Melanie saw the tension and the frustration emanating from both of them right away.
"All right, all right," she said, getting up, "Sam, Katia and I will look into and see what we can do about it. I'll give you an outline on our plans."
Sam sat back down with Katia still glaring down at him. The young woman grabbed her folder and her pen before rushing out of the small office.
"Breathe," said Melanie, closing the door to Sam's office behind her.
"I don't know if I remember how."
"Come to my office. Drop your stuff off there and we'll go to Second Cup for a cup of coffee."
"I'm not even going to think about turning down that offer. Let me get my jacket and purse."
Five minutes later, Katia and Melanie were sitting in a far off corner of the café, nursing hot cups of coffee.
"Katia, you have to relax a bit more around Sam, he is your boss."
"He happens to be an ass."
"Katia."
"It's true and you know it. We get 150 when the call center's packed.
And that only happens on PPV weekends because people want to know about the matches. You and I know that."
"I know."
"And we explained that to him ten thousand times."
"I know."
"So?"
"He's your boss."
Katia sighed and took a long sip of her coffee. She stared out to the café's entrance and shook her head.
"He's a brown-nosing pipsqueak and you know it."
"You know it, I know it and he probably knows it too."
"Melanie, there isn't one single person working in that company that does not know how Sam got his job. And it's insulting to those of us who know his job better than he does."
"I know."
"Some of my TSRs know his job better than he does."
"Katia," said Melanie reproachfully.
"Sorry... it's just that... aaaaaaarghh!"
Katia felt trapped. She loved her job. She loved that she got to work closely with young people who often came to her for guidance and help. She loved her new project. She adored the people she worked with. But she hated her bosses, well, most of them anyway. They were pompous asses who needed road maps to their asses.
"I don't know why I'm still working there," sighed Katia. "Maybe I should quit and hook up with my boyfriend. I'd be happier than by staying here."
Melanie felt like the chair had just disappeared out from under her. She loved working with Katia. The of them worked together so perfectly. If the company lost her, they'd lose one hell of an asset.
"Don't say that," chided Melanie.
"It's true and I know it. I give everything I have to this company and what do I get in return? Grief."
Just then, Kat's cell phone rang. She made her face when she recognized Sam's number on her caller display.
"Yes?"
"Where the hell are you? How can you expect your campaigns to work when you're not even on the floor?"
"Well, I'm taking a coffee break. Is anything wrong on the floor?"
"You're not there, that's what wrong."
"I think my team can handle itself for a few minutes."
"A few minutes? You've been off the floor for over an hour."
"Sam, I needed to take a break. I'll be up in five minutes."
"Get up here now!" Sam said before hanging up the phone.
"It's not worth it," said Katia, blinking away the tears that threatened to flood her eyes.
"What's wrong?" asked Melanie watching Katia put on her jacket.
"My boss wants me back upstairs. Apparently, I don't need breaks."
Katia stalked up the three flights of stairs and steeled herself before opening the door to the large room where her campaign was taking place. Everything was, as she'd suspected, fine. Except in the small corner where she'd set up her temporary offices. Sam was there with Ryan, her coach and the younger man looked so unnerved that she was immediately alarmed. She walked over to them, repeating to herself to remain calm.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I was simply explaining to Ryan what our goals should be on this campaign."
"I'll talk to him," said Katia. "Anything else?"
The look Katia gave him made Sam feel as small and unknowledgeable as he'd been on his first day.
"No," he said quickly, "that'll be all."
"You know Katia," said Ryan once Sam had left the room, "I know why you're my boss. You're smart and you know your shit. How does that asshole get to be a boss?"
"That asshole just happens to have the right kind of father. What did he tell you? Anything important?"
Ryan scoffed and went back to some of the papers he'd been looking over.
"So how did the meeting go?" he asked her.
"Awful. Sam wants to increase our numbers to 200. We have a conference call tomorrow with the manager of the WWF call center in Stamford. We'll see what she has to say."
"What do you think he'll say?"
"What you, Melanie and I already know. That 150 is our max and that hoping for more is ridiculous."
"And what will Sam say?"
"Do you think I care?"
The conference call with the WWF call center manager, a pleasant woman named Lucy went exactly as Melanie, Ryan and Katia had planned. She confirmed that at this time, with their team, 150 was the maximum she could give them. Sam walked out of the conference halfway through it, when he realized he'd been beaten by fact.
For the following month, Katia pretty much enjoyed her job. Her results were good and her team was slowly building up some team spirit. Melanie, account manager extraordinaire that she was, had managed to bleed money off the company owners, for a night out for the employees to congratulate them on a job well done.
Melanie had made special arrangements with Lucy for the Stamford team to take up all the slack with the calls while the Montreal team enjoyed a night out on the town. The plan was for everyone to work from three to seven and then they'd go to a nearby restaurant and enjoy a fancy buffet.
"All right guys," said Katia, "I need you guys to be extra focused about what you're doing online. So far, our complaint ratio is extremely low but I want to make sure it stays that way. I know you're all looking forward to tonight but we have to stay on top of things. And I mean you especially Mark."
As she spoke, Katia realised her team's attention was drifting away from her. She looked over her shoulder and she had to stop herself from reacting with anything but a shy smile.
"Guys," said Melanie, grinning broadly, "I have a special treat for you tonight. Every once in a while, the Stamford team gets to work with real live WWF superstars and tonight, you guys are going to get one hell of a treat. You are all going to get to work with Hunter Hearst Helmsley and the Ninth Wonder of the World, Chyna, not to mention the heir to the WWF himself, Shane McMahon."
The applause was deafening and Katia grinned broadly. She looked at Shane, at the smile on his face and fell in love with him all over again. She wanted to throw herself at him but couldn't. She held back and gave the floor to Shane as he explained what him and his cohorts would be doing tonight. The shift started without any problems and if it hadn't been for Ryan, who knew about her and Shane, shocking her back to reality every once in a while, she would have spent the whole evening staring at her loverboy.
"Katia," he finally said, snap out of it. "Mary and Kalif are going at it again."
"What's wrong now?" asked Katia, getting up and looking over to where Mary and Kalif were sitting.
"I don't know. But they've been bickering for the part ten minutes and they're getting loud."
"I'll take care of it."
Katia walked over to Mary and Kalif, both of whom were waiting for calls, while whispering to each other furiously.
"Turn your headsets off," she said, crouching down between them.
"What's up?" asked Mary.
"Please," said Katia, rolling her eyes. "You know exactly what this is about. The two of you, bickering. I want it to stop. We have extremely important clients here tonight. The last thing I want is for the two of you to get into a shouting match, is that clear?"
"Katia," said Kalif, "if she's going to start calling me names, I'm not going to let her get away with it."
"That's right. And I don't expect you to. I want you to come to me and I'll deal with her, all right?"
"But Katia..."
"No Kalif, I'm serious about this. I want you to come to me. I'll deal with Mary. Is that clear?"
"Fine," he snapped, glaring at Mary.
"As for you Mary, I've warned you about the language you use on the phone too often. The next complaint I get for you means an immediate suspension, is that clear?"
"But Katia, he's such an..."
"Watch your mouth. I can write you up faster than you can think of that word."
"Fine."
Katia got up and met Paul's amused glance from across the aisle. She raised a inquisitive eyebrow in his direction and grinned when he mouthed You are a bad ass!
Fifteen minutes later, Ryan and Katia were putting in the hours when they heard the raised voices.
"What the hell..." muttered Katia before turning around and seeing Kalif get up furiously and yell at Mary. "Damn it!" Katia ran to her employees, murder in her eyes. "Both of you! Not one word," she spat out. "Turn off your headsets and follow me."
"He started..." began Mary.
"Not one word. Turn off your headsets and follow me."
Katia stalked off to a small office in the back of the room which was used to give monitoring feedback. She ushered Kalif and Mary and slammed the door shut.
"Sit down," she said pointing to chairs on opposite sides of the desk.
"The two of you. I swear to God, I don't know what to say. I'm in shock. We have clients here and today of all days, you two chose to have this fight. How... mature."
"Katia," said Mary, "it's not my fault."
"Really? So that wasn't you arguing with Kalif just now?"
"Yes but..."
"Then how is it not your fault?"
"..."
"That's what I thought. So which one of you can tell me exactly what happened?"
"She called me a name I took offense to."
"I see. Mary, why did you call him that name?"
"Because he's an ass."
"Mary, I warned you about your language. You just got yourself a two-day suspension."
"Damn it Katia! It's not my fault. I just got angry."
"Well, you're going to have to be careful about that. You were warned too many times. Now, about how you tell me, without swearing, why you called him that?"
"He kept making comments about my not being a proper Arab woman, about not having a Muslim name and all that sh... stuff."
"Yes? And?"
"He kept on bumping his chair into mine. So I called him a bastard!"
"Don't call me that!" growled Kalif, as he shot out of his chair and grabbed it by the armrests, shaking it over Katia's and Mary's head.
Katia quickly shoved Mary out of the way and stood up up to him, ignoring his height and weight advantage, not to mention the chair he was wielding in front of his body.
"Put down that chair Kalif. I will not allow you to physically threaten or arm any member of this team. Do I make myself clear?"
"Come on Katia, I wasn't going to hurt you. I just don't want anyone calling me those names."
"That's fine. I can understand that. And Mary will be properly disciplined for that. Now, you stay in here and wait for me. Mary, come with me."
Katia led Mary out of the small room and shook her head at Melanie when she came her way. She pretty much dragged Mary out into the hallway and to the bathroom.
"Are you okay?" she asked, locking the bathroom door.
"Katia, when he picked up that chair... I thought he was really going to hurt me."
"I know," said Katia, opening her arms to a trembling Mary, "I know."
Five minutes later, Katia walked back into the office where Kalif was waiting for her.
"I'm suspending you," she said, sliding a sheet across the desk to him, "for your behavior today. Not for what happened on the floor, you were justified. I'm suspending you for what you just did in here. For picking up that chair and almost throwing it at Mary and me. By all rights, I should fire you. But I won't. Mary provoked you. But read the condition at the bottom of the sheet, you step out of line once, come in late,
call in sick, whatever, I reserve myself the right to fire you. Is that clear?"
"Yes," he muttered, signing the sheet.
"Your suspension is effective as of tonight. Go pick up your stuff."
Katia stepped out of the room after Kalif and nodded to Ryan to accompany Kalif to his desk. In the meantime, Melanie had made her way over to her.
"What the hell happened?"
"My employees are idiots. I'm suspending them both."
"Good. Uh, Katia, did I see right? Did he almost..."
"Throw a chair at me and Mary? Yes. That's what I'm suspending him for."
"You should fire him."
"You forget. I have all the responsibilities of a supervisor but until this company makes up its mind to pay for my salary and promote me, I can't fire anybody."
"That's dumb."
"It's my life."
Just then Kalif passed by Katia and Melanie. "I'm really sorry about this," he said.
"Good. Watch your temper Kalif," said Katia, "it's not just about your job here. It's about your life in general."
Kalif nodded and walked away. As soon as he cleared the door, Katia heaved a relieved sigh.
"Ryan, do me a favor and get Mary out of the women's bathroom. I want to speak to her now."
"Shouldn't I go?" asked Melanie, "Ryan could pass for girl with make-up but."
"Fine Melanie," said Katia with a grin, "just go get her already, okay?"
By the time Melanie ushered Mary into the office, the young woman's eyes were brimming with tears.
"Katia, he could have hurt us both," she sobbed. "Why did you move in front of me? He would have hurt you first. It was my fault."
"I don't know," whispered Katia, patting Mary's hand. "I was scared too. But I couldn't let him hurt you. I like you, you little freak from hell."
"But if he'd hurt you, I think I would have killed him."
"Thanks."
"No problem. I like you too, you big fucking freak."
"Now, about your suspension."
"I know. but Kat, it's so annoying. Every time I meet an Arab man, they expect me to be a proper little Muslim woman. I'll never be that."
"I know. But you can't call people names on the floor, no matter how annoying they get. Is that clear?"
"Yes."
"The next time I might not be around to save your skinny ass."
"But I'll still love you," said Mary, lunging across the table to hug her friend.
"Me too."
Shane, Kat, Paul and Joanie sat in the restarant, watching Ryan leave with his girlfriend.
"How a guy so tall could go out with such a small little girl girl is frightening," said Paul, observing the height difference between the 6'2" Ryan and his 4'9" girlfriend.
"I actually set them up," said Katia proudly.
"That's evil. I mean, his neck must hurt from kissing her."
"Hey, they're in love. That's all that matters."
"Right," said Shane, "like you and me."
"Right."
"Now darling, how about you tell me what happened in that office?"
"Nothing anymore different than usual."
"Katia," said Joanie, "that guy almost threw a chair at your head."
"But he didn't."
"Why did you get in the little bitch's way anyhow?" asked Paul. "She started it."
"So I could get fired? I don't think so. Anyway, Kalif wouldn't have dared throwing that chair at me. He knew I would have thrown it right back in his face."
"That I would have wanted to see," chuckled Joanie.
"I would have busted his ass too."
"Isn't my sweetie a bad ass?" said Shane, hugging Katia to him.
"But I'll probably be in trouble tomorrow," said the young woman, gently rubbing Shane's leg.
"What for?"
"For not stopping the situation before it got out of hand. Specially with clients around. The shit is going to hit the fan tomorrow morning."
"Why don't you just quit?" asked Paul, "no job is worth the aggravation."
"Well, there are the groceries, the electricity, the phone bills, the Internet, my cell phone, my book club and my tuition when I go back to school in September. Not to mention, I got to have clothes. And shoes."
"The little things," said Shane with a smile, "Kat taught me all about that."
"Yeah right, you know these things. But yet, he won't go down the aisle with the tampons and pads at the grocery store."
Paul and Shane shuddered at the same time while Joanie and Katia laughed.
"I still don't understand," said Joanie to while Paul and Shane talked more quietly, "you're great at this job but you're not getting the recognition you deserve. Why not quit?"
"Because I love my kids, the people I work with."
"But is worth all the grief?"
Joanie's words plagued Katia until she walked into work the next day. She wasn't going to hide today so she went straight to Sam's office. He was on the phone and he signalled her to wait. Katia shook her head and opened the door to his office.
"I need to speak to you right now."
"Fine," he said, looking annoyed before hanging up the phone. "I suppose you want to talk about the hoodlums who made a scene last night."
"No. I want to hand in my resignation," she said, sliding a letter across the desk to him.
"What?"
"I'm walking out Sam. And this is my final notice."
Katia walked out of the office, leaving behind a dumbfounded Sam. She felt so giddy and happy she wanted to burst. She'd done it! She'd quit! She went to Melanie's office and found her colleague on the phone. She waved Katia in and promptly hung up the phone.
"What did you do?" she asked, her eyes narrowing on her tall friend and her wide smile.
"Nothing."
"Liar! What did you do?"
"I quit."
"What?"
That was from Richard, another account manager who'd given Katia a great career push.
"Hey Richard," she said shyly.
"You quit? Why?"
"One can only deal with so much aggravation," Katia explained. "This company's going to have to look for a new lapdog."
The young man hugged Katia close and walked off, shaking his head.
"But why?" Melanie asked her. "Everything was going so well."
"I know. but I was talking with a friend last night and she asked me one very important question. Were the good things worth all the grief? And unfortunately, the answer was no."
"You're making the right decision for you. That's the first step. But I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too."
For the rest of the afternoon, Katia made her goodbyes. And in some cases, it was hard because she'd worked with some of these people for over five years. She'd bonded with them, become their friend. Finally, at four thirty, she called it quits and left. All the way home, she felt free.
More of The Real Life
More Series Fics
More Fan Fic
Main Page