The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 30

"Jack kissed me," Kat revealed dramatically as she and a still pajama adorned Emma walked to Rises the next morning.

They didn't really have enough time to stop for coffee, Kat had both woken up a bit late and had even more trouble dragging a resistant Emma out of bed, but she'd decided on at least a half cup, the urgency of the news making the time spent worthwhile.

"No," Emma gasped, her head whipping around so she could eye Kat's face. "No he didn't, oh my god, Kat!" she squealed, dragging out her words as if they were all onomatopoeias, speaking in meaning imbued exclamation of joy instead of words with any distinct linguistic structures. "Oh my god!"

Kat nodded, flushing. She knew she should be as excited as Emma was. She was on some level, she was sure of it, but that level surely wasn't the surface, wasn't anywhere near it.

"Was he a good kisser?" Emma asked. "Tell me everything, tell me literally everything."

"I mean," Kat began, realizing there wasn't much to tell. "We walked to Veggie-edgeys and right before we went in he kissed me, that was really it. And I held his hand," she added, keen to include her reciprocation of affection.

"That's it?" asked Emma. "How did you feel, were there fireworks?"

Kat paused, her flush intensifying. Emma laughed, assuming her friend's embarrassment could be attributed to the interrogation about her kiss with Jack, but Kat had other things on her mind.

The only times she'd felt fireworks, true fireworks that were more than just commonplace nerves, were the times she'd seen Jove. He didn't have to touch her, he didn't have to kiss her, he just made her...feel. It was like she felt everything, she felt awake, she felt alive, she felt in touch. In touch with what, she wasn't entirely sure, but in touch with some energy beyond her own, something powerful and pleasurable.

"It was," she mused finally. "It was great. It was like," she took a deep breath, steeling herself for the lie. "It was like I'd never really been seen before, not the way he looked at me."

"Kat," Emma cooed, stretching out her name. "That's so cute, that's so precious! Kat, this could be for real, those are falling in love words."

Kat's eyes darted away. She couldn't believe she was lying to her best friend, couldn't understand why she was lying to her best friend, and felt a sense of shame deeper than she'd felt before. She'd described Jove's gaze at her as if it were Jack's, but more pressing than that, she'd felt the urge to defend him the night before, to quantify his excess. In hopes to what? Make him seem better? He wasn't better, and the time she'd spent with him the day before had done nothing but confirm that.

She couldn't allow herself to keep thinking about him. Now that they had the missing piece of the puzzle she'd have to stay more focused than ever, and sympathetic thoughts towards the man she was looking to ruin would only get in the way.

"Ok, ok," Emma started confessionaly. "I have something to tell you too."

This time it was Kat's turn to whip around and stare, pausing with her hand on the Rises' door handle.

"Conner kissed me" she admitted, a smile shyer than Kat had ever seen her produce spreading across her face.

"What?" Kat cried. "When? You didn't tell me? Emma!"

"Go in, go in," said Emma with a laugh. "Sit, I'll give you the quick version."

"Ok," said Emma once they were both seated, half filled mugs cooling in front of them. "Ok, so here's what happened."

Kat nodded, enraptured.

"So, before you started your job, you and I were on basically the same schedule, you know, for hauls and river cleanup and stuff. We always did stuff together, cooked together. And when you left, that was right around that time Brent kinda started seeing that girl he met at Plasides. Or at least, trying to see her, I think.

Kat nodded again, acknowledging their total lack of confirmed knowledge about Brent's love life.

"So Brent was always gone, you were gone, and me and Conner just paired up. It was a convenience thing at first, but we've been hanging out a lot and," she trails off, a dreamy expression on her face.

"He's so cute Kat. And like yea, he's cute to look at, duh, but like the inside of him is cute, it's like he's made of cute." She giggled at her repetitiveness, and lifted her palms skyward, shrugging. "I don't know. He's just good, he's just a really good guy. He's so sweet, and he pays attention to little stuff, and he's so funny, but not mean funny, just perfectly funny, a perfect balance and I," she paused, taking a deep breath.

"Emma, you sound like me," Kat observed in wonder. "You're rambling. You like him, you really like him."

Emma, uncharacteristically timid, looked down before nodding her head in affirmation.

"Yea," she said quietly, a large smile plastered on her face. "And you," she continued accusingly, looking up at Kat and pointing. "You really like Jack."

Kat lifted her mug to her mouth so Emma couldn't see her expression, nodding.

"Yea," she confirmed after a sip. "I really like him."