4th Time Lucky

Stop...

Katherine grabbed for the edge of the table for balance. The voice had thrown her off so much she couldn't trust which way was up.

When she turned, Thomas stood behind her. He wore a smile, but his eyes were menacing. He reminded her too much of her second husband. Her stomach twisted.

Katherine took a deep breath through her nose.

"Your drunk," he commented neutrally.

"So are you," she said, surprised at the sass in her voice. She felt trapped between the table and Thomas, a wall of kegs on her third side. Her instincts screamed for some distance.

His hand came up and clamped down on her wrist. He looked over at the other two women and smiled. "I'm so glad you're having fun ladies, but I'm afraid my woman has overdone the fun. Let's see if we can't find a servant to put in some coffee for you."

Translation: you're all drunk.

He took off to the servant's door at the back of the room too quickly for Katherine to react. She had to throw all of her concentration into making sure when one foot went up, it also came down in the right direction; she didn't even notice how hard Thomas was holding her until they were on the other side of the door.

When it closed, they were in the stairwell below the kitchen. A dumb waiter was on one side, with a rolling tray parked neatly under the curve of the spiral staircase. The whole building looked nice and cared for - unlike the look on Thomas' face.

"I'm trying to secure a distribution deal with the Duke for Keilgard and you're fucking it up for me." Thomas breathed heavily through his teeth, small bits of spittle hitting her cheek.

"I was just doing what you told me to," Katherine said defensively, trying to put gentle pressure toward his thumb so she could release his grip. "I entertained the ladies."

Thomas threw her arm away, pacing two steps in the small space and spinning back to face her. Katherine's wrist throbbed in time to her heart. He pointed a finger at the tip of her nose.

"You were loud on purpose. Talking up your wine. And making servant wine sound good. Even that idiot Micah asked to try some. Their focus should have been on me and my product. You and your simpering girls can't hold your liquor long enough to do a proper tasting. Duke Albrecht kept looking over at you instead of my presentation. If you'd stop being a harlot for five seconds I would have made a deal by now."

Katherine felt the room spinning. She was trying to formulate an explanation after being hit with the simultaneous thoughts of Micah wanting a sample and Eddie looking at her and what did he just call me?

The next words that tumbled out escaped every filter she had. "Maybe if you were actually good at your job you'd have made a sale. Don't blame this on me, maybe I'm just better at this than you."

Thomas turned purple.

Before she could register his hand was raised, she was reeling from a hard slap across her face. She stumbled and sat on the bottom step, one hand pressed against her left cheek, brow furrowed in confusion.

By the time she thought to look back at him, he has stepped out of the stairwell and back into the room. He was talking in the other side, but Katherine didn't have the energy to properly eavesdrop.

Maybe she could keep walking up the stairs and leave through the kitchen. Sometime between the slap and formulating a plan, her eyes had started to leak without permission. Whether it was from genuine feelings, remembering her third life, or a physical reaction from the sting of flesh on flesh, Katherine didn't want to look too closely at why it was happening. She just knew it needed to happen in private.

Using the skirt of her dress, she wipes the tears off her cheeks. To her dismay, new ones fell and she didn't seem to be able to stop it. There were no heaving sobs or crying, just the quiet steady drip of tears rolling down. Her face.

Katherine stood up slowly, stepping toward the door. The only words she could make out were "show you to the door". Maybe now was her chance to slip out without seeing Thomas again. She cracked the door open slowly. To peek in the room.

Clunk. There was something in the way.