Chapter 24 #2
“I didn’t have a choice. Did you think I wanted to go after everything that had happened?
” I run a hand through my hair and spin to face her.
“I was in the hotel that day, because Dillon had offered to meet with me. Your father arranged the interview. For someone like me, it was the chance of a lifetime. Dillon Myers was my hero.” I sink onto the edge of the bed.
“I didn’t even know Sasha was going to be there, not until I turned up and Dillon introduced Emma, his daughter, and Sasha, her close friend.
They left almost immediately, and Dillon conducted my first interview.
I never gave it another thought. I was as surprised as anyone when he invited me to visit their offices in the US. ”
Kat frowns, “Someone like you?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Don’t be naive, Kat. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I couldn’t turn down opportunities like the one Dillon was offering. It jump-started my career. I’d still be a nobody if I hadn’t taken that internship.”
“You’ve got it all wrong. You were never going to be a nobody, Jax. I never blamed you for taking that job.”
Her words stab me in the chest. She always had so much faith in me, even before.
“But you didn’t tell me about it. The interview,” she says.
When Robert approached me, he’d asked me not to tell anyone at Dillon’s request. I didn’t want to ruin my chances, so I kept it quiet, even from Kat. My first mistake. I should have trusted her.
“No, I didn’t,” I say, shaking my head. “And that’s on me. I was asked to keep it quiet, and when I didn’t hear back, I didn’t think anything was going to come of it. I should have told you.”
“You were my best friend.” She sighs. “When I finally found out, I knew what a big deal that interview was to you. My first thought was to ring and congratulate you, but then there was Sasha. Beautiful, gorgeous, confident Sasha and I began to question whether I’d been stupid and na?ve.
You were always so driven, had your life planned out.
Our lives were heading in different directions.
Why would you want me holding you back?”
I flinch at her words. According to her parents, Kat never allowed herself to be vulnerable, even as a little girl.
“I never in a million years thought I’d get the position. When I was offered the internship, I wanted to tell you. But then I remembered you hated my guts.”
We fall into an awkward silence.
“Do you know, you’re one of the few people who would call my brother or me out on our shit when you didn’t agree with us. Not many people do that when your last name is Frazer.”
I chuckle.
“It’s why your brothers’ like me,” I admit. “I refuse to take any of their shit.”
Kat repositions herself on the sofa and laughs quietly. “It’s a rarity. It’s also something we value, especially when it’s genuine and comes from the best place.”
My eyes find hers, and a sharp pain stabs through my chest.
“You say this, but you went from my bed straight to his?”
Kat gets up and walks towards me. She pauses before sitting down on the mattress next to me.
She turns her head her haunted gaze meeting mine.
“I didn’t,” she says with a sigh. “But looking back, I can see how it might have appeared that way.”
I pause, waiting for her to continue.
She drops her gaze to her hands which are clasped in her lap.
“Zach and my relationship was purely platonic for a long time. He would accompany me to functions and family events as my plus one. Was an effective barrier to those irritating social climbers and money hounds.”
“I haven’t heard that phrase in a while.”
She chuckles. “He also made me laugh, something I didn’t do for a long time after you left.”
“But you did begin a relationship with him,” I say. The thought is like a knife to my gut. They lived together for seven years.
She drops her chin to her chest, biting down on her bottom lip. Kat closes her eyes for a second, and when she opens them again, they’re filled with pain. “It was the day Elijah announced your engagement to Emma.”
My lungs constrict, making it difficult to breathe.
“But that was eighteen months later.”
Emma was my rebound. Luckily for both of us, I came to my senses in time and called off the wedding.
It sounds like Zach became Kat’s.
His words are now beginning to make more sense.
Silence descends.
I drop my head into my hands, resting my elbows on my knees.
I turn my head to face Kat.
“What now?” I ask.
“I’d really like, for us to be friends,” Kat says, suddenly sounding tired. “I’ve spent so many years resenting you. I knew you, should’ve known they were lying.”
“I should have fought harder, made you listen. Realised there was something wrong with the scenario.”
She rests a hand on my shoulder, the warmth of her palm burning its way through my t-shirt. “I’m not sure I would have listened. The evidence they presented was pretty compelling.”
I catch her gaze.
“You never told your brothers about us,” I say, surprised when Kat laughs. She removes her hand, dropping it to her side. I miss it instantly.
“What? Admit to them I’d been duped. That I’d fallen for your sweet-talking charm, that handsome face? Besides, Eli needed you, and whatever happened between us. I’m not that selfish. His needs trumped mine.”
It’s those words that remind me why I fell in love with Kathryn Frazer, and why no one else has ever come close to replacing her.