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Katherine is clearing up from dinner, a pan of lasagna sitting out on the counter while she wipes up around it. There is a slightly frustrated look on her face, but it might be attributed to the mess, rather than anything else going on.
Esme had dropped by tonight primarily to drop off Kate's dishes from when she had brought the librarian dinner and cookies. She gave a light knock on the doorway, a small smile on her lips as she watched Katherine. "There won't be a counter if you keep scrubbing at it like that." A light tease. Esme was looking much better than she had the last time Kate saw her. She was in her typical work attire, a pair of black slacks and a long-sleeved navy blue shirt with her usual jewelry. She held the dishes in her hands. "Do you want some help, dear?"
Katherine stands up, looking a bit flustered to see Esme. "Sure. Come on behind the counter." She greets her properly then with a kiss on the cheek and a brief hug. "You look happier than I saw you last, how are things going with you?"
Esme returned the kiss on the cheek and set the dishes in the sink before returning the hug as well. "Better. I guess. I'm not pregnant and I'm on the pill so, yay." She flashed a brief smile again before pushing her sleeves up some so she could help Kate with the clean up. "The doctor said it was just stress and anxiety and that I need to try and relax more. How about you? How are you doing?"
Katherine slants a look at Esme, nodding slowly before she gives her another hug. "I'm glad things are working out the way that you want them to." She blinks and then lets out a laugh as she bumps Esme with her hip. "Just don't start getting panic attacks like I do, they are so ..horrible." She sighs and shrugs, grinning over at Esme. "I'm doing okay. Packed for Rio, looking forward to a brief trip away from here."
"More or less." She responds to Kate's comment about things working out. She chuckles at the hip bump. "I think I've got it under control. The last time I had bad anxiety was in Cali. When I was living out of my car while trying to get published. I didn't miss it." She shook her head. "I've readujsted my expectations and set my hopes high up on a shelf so, I think I'll make it out just fine." She mused. "I'll bet Rio will be so exciting! I'm happy that you get a bit of a vacation. You deserve it."
"I'm considering calling it off and not going." Katherine admits, her eyes shifting over to Esme. "I really don't want to go without Xavier, and.." She shrugs, pulling things from soapy water to rinse them so she can put them in the dishwasher. "I'm not convinced I should go. The pilot from the jet will be calling me in two days to confirm, so I have until then to decide." She watches Esme as she talks about her past in California, frowning as the librarian admits that she lived in her car. "The best you can do honestly is what you're doing. Just let go, and let whatever is going to happen…happen."
"You have to go!" She turned and looked to Kate with a small frown of her own. "Katherine. You need to recharge. Have some time to yourself." She leaned lightly on the counter. "And if Xavier can't go, then there has to be someone else if you don't want to go alone. I'd offer in a heartbeat but I don't have a passport." She admitted, reaching out and tucking a few strands of Kate's hair behind her ear. "Or if not Rio…somewhere. If you don't get out of this town for a while you're going to go crazy and you know it." Then Esme turned back to the cleaning. "Letting go is difficult. Just letting things happen…I hate it. But you can't force other people into what you want…so sometimes there's no choice. But, if the world hasn't come crashing down yet, I think it'll keep spinning for a while longer."
Katherine winces, shaking her head with a sigh. "Every time I make plans to go somewhere with someone, something happens. I'm starting to think that I should never make plans beyond the current day, you know?" She moves to take a seat on a stool, crossing her legs. "Rio seems ..amazing, but I don't want to go alone. I'll think about it, and in two days I'm sure there will be a sign. It will come at me, or ..I'll just stay home. Esme… I really love it here, this is my calm. This is my center. When things get insane? I come here." She glances around the kitchen, frowning. "No matter what happens, at least I have this.."
Esme leaned on the counter again as Kate spoke and sat. "I assure you, I know a little something about the cosmos and I'm fairly certain your making plans isn't the reason those things happen." She spoke gently. Almost motherly maybe. "I'm not going to try and push you into doing something you don't want to do. Just think about it and watch for that sign. Tell you what. If the sign comes saying that you can't go to Rio - then spend the weekend at my place. You'll get a bit of a breather and you won't have to leave the town. You can even still check in here if you want." She gave Kate's hand a light pat. "You will, you always will and that is exactly why sometimes you need to walk away."
"Hmm, are you sure a person can't be cursed?" Katherine replies, shifting her gaze to Esme with her eyebrows lifted. Her phone buzzes and she glances at it frowning before she picks it up and taps the screen. "If I don't go to Rio, I'll come stay with you for the weekend." She promises, setting down her phone face down. She looks distracted but she finishes loading the dishwasher, closing it with her foot. "Walking away can be hard, in this case, I'm not sure what I should be doing. All I /have/ done, thus far, is call the local hospitals every other day, and by now they probably think I'm nutty."
"Well…only if someone put the curse on you and I don't think there's anyone around here who would've done that." She mused. An eyebrow rose at the cellphone but she just nodded, turning a bit to watch Kate. "Has he just…gone off the grid?" Esme asked softly. Looking concerned. "Not a word at all?"
"Like a ghost." Katherine folds her arms over her chest, her brows furrowed. "I'm at odds with myself, I'm not sure what I should be doing, and even if I knew? I wouldn't know who to call or what to do? I was tempted to call Julian, but he's in the hospital, he got shot." She quirks a brow at Esme, moving a little closer, her voice dropping to a near whisper. "What would /you/ do?"
Esme frowned a touch at that and tried to honestly think about what she would do. It wasn't an easy answer. There wasn't a black and white solution. She leaned on the counter, resting her chin in her hand and looking at Kate. "…Honestly?…What is your gut telling you to do? Forget about what you think he would want or what you think you should do or want to do or whatever. What are your instincts telling you? Even if you don't like the answer?"
Katherine stares at Esme, blinking as she waits a few beats. "It's telling me that he's dead, and that I should take a deep breath, not panic and walk on." She gazes at her hands in her lap, frowning as her fingers fidget with her clothing. "There was…something going on, something dangerous, and I think it caught up to him. Which.." She wrinkles her nose, glancing away now. "..is something that I feared that would happen."
She laid her hands over Katherine's and gave a gentle squeeze. "Well, I'll be the positive one and think that he is still alive, but something is definitely preventing him from keeping in contact." She kept her voice soft. "But I agree that you should take a deep breath, not panic, and keep walking. The truth will reveal itself in time, but you can't stay trapped, waiting to see what it is. You've still got your whole life ahead of you Kate, you have to live it."
Katherine eyes Esme and for just a few seconds, naked hope shines on her face before she chases it away. "Thank you, Esme. You're probably right. If what I am afraid might have come to pass, something would have been said. Done." She shifts her gaze to the pile of paperwork on the counter. "I haven't heard from any of the investors though, and I'm not sure what the status of that is. Maybe it's a dream that wasn't meant to be?" She jerks her shoulders up, shrugging. "I'm not really sure what I should do."
"You're very welcome Kate." Esme let her hands fall back to her sides and looked to the paperwork. "Maybe you can try reaching out to them yourself? If you and Tony have…patched things up at all maybe he can help out? He's a business guy after all…he might have some pointers?" She shrugged. "I don't know the first thing about business anything, reaching out yourself if you're able makes the most sense to me."
"I haven't spoken to Tony since that night in the kitchen." Katherine says faintly, managing a slight smile before she glances toward the door. "I'll figure it out Esme. Eventually." She leans in, propping her chin in her palm. "So you're not doing anything for New Year's, and you want a house guest. You're not a masochist are you?" She asks, pulling a cookie from a box and breaking it in half. She hands one half to Esme and takes a bite of the other half.
Esme nodded a touch in understanding and then chuckled. "Nothing for Christmas, nothing for New Years, I'm dreadfully boring." She gave a wry smile. "Not a masochist, promise. I'm the easiest hostess ever. Do whatever you want, just don't break anything." Esme chuckled again and grinned. "I'll even bake you some cookies." She accepted the other half of the cookie and took a bite of it.
"You're not doing anything for Christmas?" Katherine remarks, getting to her feet as she takes a bite of her cookie. "You could come here, I have an empty room and I'm going to cook a lot of food. I could use the company.." She leans against the counter, eyebrows raised slightly. "Please say you'll come?" She gives Esme puppy dog eyes.
"The only holiday I ever do anything for is Halloween." She laughed. "The most I'll do normally is light a Yule log on Christmas Eve." Esme shook her head at the puppy dog eyes and smiled again. "Sure, I'd like that. I could use the company too." Esme grinned again then. "At this rate, you're going to get sick of seeing me all the time." Teasing the younger woman.
"I doubt that, you and I are a lot alike in some ways." Katherine shrugs a shoulder, getting to her feet as she starts to pace the kitchen. "Esme?" She says, pausing in her pacing to rub her hands on the thighs of her leggings. "I invited someone over here for dinner tonight. Am I insane?" She raises both of her eyebrows, staring across at the other woman. "Don't mind me, I think I am actually insane, the change of subject came really quick, but..you know… It just hit me."
Esme tilted her head slightly, eyed Kate as she started pacing. Then flashed a smile. "Dear, I've told you before - but I'll tell you again. We're all a little crazy.I think you inviting someone over for dinner is a great thing. All part of that 'keep walking' that we just talked about, you know?" A brief glance to the backdoor and then back to Kate, still smiling. "I want to hear all about how it goes. Who is it?"
Katherine glances around at Esme, catching her glance to the back door. "His name is Sevin Khan." She moves over to her seat again, settling on it. "I met him at the coffee shop last night. He's ..different, but fun to talk to. I just think I'm walking a little fast, that's all. I'm not even sure if I'm remotely interested in him, but ..never met someone like him before." She takes a bite of her cookie. "Perhaps I can introduce you to him if he comes back."
Esme took another bite of the cookie as she listened. "Interesting name. I mean, dinner is dinner. It's not like you're trying to bed him, you know? Just getting to know someone new and talk to them is a good thing. I'd love to meet him if he comes back by." She agreed. "What makes him so different?" Curious now.
"I walked into the coffee shop and he was sitting there, late. So I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't really look at me." Katherine sighs and shakes her head slowly. "There is something going on with him, and I love a mystery, so I'll attempt to figure it out." She shrugs, getting to her feet. "You should take some of these cookies home, Esme. I'll never eat them all."