It's Just A Job

When Katherine, Beau and Rob all got the call up from Wilkes Barre, they spent the majority of the lock-out shortened season living on the same floor of the hotel that the Pens used for their calls-up. For the three of them, it was just like Wilkes Barre; road trips to Target, ordering crappy late-night pizza, being a wingman and chauffer when needed; they had become a family.

So when everyone came back from the summer break, it was only natural that the three of them would find townhouses not far from each other. Beau and Rob shared a townhouse three blocks from Katherine’s townhouse in the Southside Flats section of town. Katherine had found her townhouse over the summer and she helped Beau and Rob find their place a few weeks after they came back. Each had a key to the other’s place and every once in a while, Katherine would find the two of them on her couch, just like they did when they all lived in the same apartment complex in Wilkes Barre.

Sunday dinners meant one thing and one thing only, food! At exactly 7:00 pm, Beau and Rob came barreling through Katherine’s door with wine and bread in their hands only to find Katherine already at the stove. Katherine was sautéing butter, wine and garlic for the clams to go on top of the fresh linguine she picked up down on the Strip that morning on her way back to her house. The smell of dinner wafted through the kitchen as Rob made is way over to the drawer to grab the corkscrew.

“Whatcha got going on there Donnell?” Rob uncorked the wine and searched the cupboard for Katherine’s wine glasses.

“Whatever it is, it smells awesome.” Beau reached up to get the dishes for the table.

“Clams for clam sauce to go with the linguine I picked up down on the Strip this morning. This is a total carb fest tonight.” Katherine turned and took the glass of wine that Rob offered up.

Toasting their Sunday dinner, the Dynamic Trio settled into their weekly routine.

“Soooo, how was the Paulie sexfest weekend?” Beau taunted Katherine. “Or was it just a sextfest morning?”

“Yea, Nealer was super pissed off at you last night.” “Kinda figured you two would have had a good old anger bang on top of Disco’s desk this morning,” Rob said while poking Katherine in the ribs.

“Jesus you two, and for your information, no I did not bang Nealer on Dan’s desk and yes, it was a Paulie sexfest weekend and morning.” Katherine said with a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin.

Rob leaned against the counter next to the stove where Katherine was cooking, “God woman, you’re grumpy for having gotten laid all weekend.”

“I’m not grumpy, just tired of everyone assuming that Neal and I are still going at it.” Katherine grabbed a collinder to drain the pasta with. “That ship has sailed and was replaced by a Ferrari.”

“Why does that car bother you so much?” Beau tried to pick out a piece of clam from the sauté pan as Katherine swatted his hand.

“I mean it isn’t the car that I hate.” Katherine moved from the stove to the sink with the pot of pasta. “It is what it represents.”

“What, that Neal is trying to overcompensate for something?” Rob snorted and walked over to the stove and stirred the sauce.

“No, trust me it has nothing to do with his anatomy,” Katherine confessed. There was nothing that James needed to overcompensate for in that department.

“It’s like it is a cry for attention.”

Beau and Rob turned to look at each other and with a nod, agreed with Katherine, for as long as the both could keep a straight face. They both busted out laughing at the same time and sunk Katherine’s theory.

“Donnell, it’s like this,” Beau began to explain the male thought process. “You dumped his ass.”

“Yea, you dumped his ass,” Rob decided to put his two cents into the conversation.

“Cut the damn bread, Rob, and we both agreed that we were in different places…..”

“Just how many psych classes did you take to get your multitude of degrees?”

“Only two and one was on labor and business relations, really not on relation…..”

“You, this smart, good looking chick who has her act together, dumped his ass.” “So why not go out and buy a Ferrari?” Beau continued.

“I still think it is a stupid car.” Katherine finished draining the pasta and took it over to pour into the pan of clam sauce.

“Well, I heard it is really great for getting head in.” Rob snickered and threw a piece of bread at Katherine. She had heard rumors about that night after they all came back from West Point. The same night that Paul walked her home from the bar turned out to be the same night James tried out a co-ed in his new car.

“Jesus fuck, Rob!” “Can we please change the conversation and eat this food before I decide to change my locks.”

Rob and Beau both made their way over to Katherine and as they had done on many occasions before, they huddled in for a group hug.

“You would never change the locks because you love us too much,” Beau said and gave Katherine a kiss on the forehead.

“Yea, what he said,” Rob chimed in and with a slap on the ass.

Katherine knew how blessed she was to have these two goofs as her “brothers”.

After a few hours, emptied plates and drained wine bottles, Katherine said good night to the guys and made her way to her bedroom to get ready to finally crawl into her bed. She followed her nightly routine and when she was finished, she slipped on a t-shirt she stole from Paul, pulled back the covers and curled up for a good night’s sleep.

After what Katherine could assume was a few hours of sleep, she awoke to a noise from outside her bedroom. She climbed from her bed to investigate and noticed that a small lamp was left on in the living room, a lamp she was sure she had turned off. Katherine walked over to the lamp and with a flick of the switch, she turned it off. Turning to return to her bedroom, she noticed a familiar figure in the shadows, a figure that she knew, but hadn't seen at her door in many months. She could tell by the outline of the figure, exactly who it was.

It was James and she did nothing to stop him when he took three strides across the room only to capture her lips in a deep kiss.

Notes