For A Moment

Getting to Know You

KATE

I arrive at Mel and Kara's a tad late as I got to talking to Hannah longer than expected. She was having her best friend, Landen come and stay with them, and Tommy was stoked because Landen had promised to help him build his tyrannosaurus rex model. That's all Tommy could seem to talk about the entire day; I was making sure that Hannah had not only my number but also Melanie and Kara's in case of emergency.

When I pull up, I notice that several cars are parked that I don't recognize, but of course, I haven't met everyone yet. I knock on the door, and Kara invites me in. "No need to knock! Just walk right in, Kate!" She gives me a big hug and takes my wine. "Everyone is in the dining room! Make yourself at home!"

I follow the laughter to her big dining room, and take the glass nearest the end of the table. Grabbing the red nearest me, I pour, but am interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Welcome, Kate! Thought you weren't coming tonight!" I make eye contact with Melanie who is already tipsy, and my heart stops and my eyes shift to her left only to see none other than Cassie. I can feel my face turning a nice shade of pink, and I say hi as I sit.

"You haven't met Pat, have you?" Mel points to the sturdier woman sitting on the other side of Cassie.

I shake my head as I take a sip of wine, "No, I don't believe I have. Hi!" I smile as I wave and Pat politely says hi. My nose twitches as I take some steak and place it on a skewer to boil in the fondue pot nearest me. The conversation picks up, and I begin making small talk with Sasha and Cindy both whom I met at the last gathering. Yet I can't stop watching Cassie and how she and Pat interact. I can feel the jealousy rising in me, and I finally stand and excuse myself for some fresh air.
My guess is that Cassie is the flirt I thought her to be when I first met her. I head to the back porch, and a woman I never met before is out on the deck smoking. "Hi! You're new!" she observes.

I laugh as she offers me a cigarette, and I take one. I normally don't smoke, but tonight, my nerves are on end. "Very observant," I wink as she lights the cig for me.

She holds out her hand, "My name is Shandy. Normally I work on Saturday nights, but tonight, I was lucky to have off."

"Where do you work," I take a long draw from my cigarette.

"RJ Donovan," She finishes hers and grabs her glass of wine. "You?"

I laugh softly, "Oh, I'm the new judge in town...."

"Hmmmm, how ironic!"'

"How is that?"

"Well, I work at the prison where you send criminals" she laughs as she leans on the railing. "How do you know Mel and Kara?"

"I was Kara's room-mate....set her up with Mel actually after it didn't work out with me," I brag jokingly.

She looks at me and laughs, "Oh ya? I guess that went well then?"

"Well, I didn't actually sleep with Mel...." I blush.

She sizes me up, "Glad we met, Kate....let's go back inside." I feel her hand leading me back inside the house, and I comply. I don't' know why. I normally am the one to take the lead.

As we make it inside, we see that everyone has graduated to the den with more wine and are setting up to play head bands. I throw my head back and laugh, "I'm gonna beat everyone of you all's asses! Ask my Tommy how good I am at this game!"

"Is that a challenge?" I look over to see Cassie asking me this as she doesn't break the eye contact. My face feels hot again as my heart begins to race out of control.