Chapter 10
Stunned, I didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry,” I stammered. “I didn't mean to offend you."
I climbed off the barstool and thanked Jimmy.
"I'm sorry," Kate said. "Don't go. That was rude of me. We barely know each other. I just happen to be a little irritated at the moment, and I took it out on you. Sit back down. Drink with me.”
Something was bothering her. She was clearly upset and had lashed out.
I hesitated a moment before returning to my seat at the bar. “Want to talk about it?”
Kate thought for a moment. “I guess I wouldn’t have sat down at the bar next to you if I didn’t. Maybe it was a subconscious choice. As I said, maybe we don’t have as much control over our lives as we like to think.”
“I like to think I’m in full control. That my choices are my own. That my destiny is mine to shape.”
She looked at me and smirked. “That’s cute. I like your spirit.”
Kate took another sip of her martini, but she didn't stop there. She guzzled it down in a gulp. "Hit me again, Jimmy."
He did.
Kate looked at me. "Keep up. You’re gonna make me look bad."
I shook my head. "I've had plenty already.”
"Then maybe I need to catch up to you."
She offered me a cigarette, but I declined.
“Smart girl.” Kate took another drag.
We sat there for a moment in silence.
“You need to ask the right questions,” Kate said. “I can’t help you if you don’t ask the right questions.”
My brow knitted with confusion. “Help me?”
She shrugged and looked at me like she knew something I didn’t.
“What are the right questions?”
“I don’t make the rules.”
“Rules?”
Maybe I’d had a lot to drink, but I wasn’t following her train of thought. Maybe this wasn’t her first martini of the day.
“The Universe,“ she said, gesturing to the vast expanse, her gold bracelet sparkling. “It makes the rules. In the end, we’re all just stardust.”
“That’s kind of a depressing thought.”
Kate shrugged and took another sip, then looked over at the poker table with disdain. “Look at those assholes. Just going about their lives without a care in the world.”
“Aren’t we supposed to go through life, living in the present without worry?”
“Touché,“ she replied with a grin. “Maybe I’m just bitter.”
In my drunken stupor, I started to put it all together.
“Hey, Jimmy,” Declan shouted. “Bring us another round.”
“You got it.” He poured the drinks, then excused himself and delivered them to the table.
It didn’t take a genius to see what had upset her. I leaned close to Kate and asked, “Okay. Which one did you have an affair with?”
She smiled. “Now you’re asking the right questions.”