Alone in Rome

Chapter Five

The following morning Kate woke to an incessant buzzing coming from underneath her pillow. She rolled over and tried to ignore the irritating sound that had interrupted a rather enjoyable dream, but just as soon as one call ended, another began. She reached under her pillow, felt around for her phone and somehow managed to send the call to voicemail. It rang again and again. Ugh, feeling frustrated, she pulled the phone out from under her pillow; it was Nina. 

Kate cleared her throat and answered the call, “Hey Nin..” Kate wasn’t even able to get all the words out before Nina interrupted; “Kate, finally! Where the hell have you been?” The panic in Nina’s voice prompted Kate to actually look at the time, "holy s*** it's almost 11 am!" 

Kate had drifted off to sleep without bothering to set an alarm, even though she had promised Nina she would be in to sign the paperwork at 10 am. Considering Kate was the one who had asked Nina to get things going, she felt pretty bad for sleeping in. On top of this, Nina had offered to have Ryan come in and sign everything earlier so that Kate wouldn't have to see or even speak to him. Poor Nina had been calling all morning to.. wait, why was Nina calling? 

The sound of Nina's words swiftly brought Kate back to earth. “Kate, listen. Ryan came in to sign everything and Elise was with him! She left you a letter with Arlene at reception and walked out before I even had a chance to speak to her. I’ve been trying to reach you since they got here. I was really hoping you could make it in before they left.” Sorry Kate, They just didn’t give me a chance.”

At the mention of Ryan and Elise, Kate bolted upright in her bed. She couldn’t believe her stupidly naive older sister was still with him. What the hell was she even thinking? She thanked Nina profusely for trying so hard to contact her and said she would be in this afternoon, Kate just needed some time to process. Time and a really strong coffee, if she was ever going to get through today. She decided to stay in bed a little longer and with some luck, she would manage to avoid her mother. Maybe even drift back off to finish the dream that had ended so abruptly. 

It began with a very handsome realtor who was showing Kate an absolutely gorgeous penthouse apartment. Think luxurious double showers, timber flooring, marble benchtops; things she certainly couldn't afford in real life. As he took Kate through to the main bedroom, a very welcoming double bed was positioned in the centre of the room, covered in throw pillows and fitted with silk sheets.

Unfortunately, Kate was having some trouble envisioning what happened next. Unable to force her imagination to pick up where her dream had left off, she gave up and decided to get herself ready for the day.

As she was about to leave, Kate saw her mother in the dining room, ironing her father’s shirts. She had considered sneaking by but wanted to know if her father was back home.  “Morning Ma, dad back today?” "In the lounge," Dianne replied without once looking up from her ironing. Kate could tell from her tone that she was in a mood and was already thinking up an excuse to skip dinner.

“Good morning Katie, nice surprise to finally have you back home, staying permanently I presume?” She heard her father, Tony, shout from the living room. “Morning" Kate shouted back, "Very funny Dad, how did it go with ENC? I haven't been in the office since Monday."

Her father walked over from his old leather lounger and gave Kate a big bear hug, “It took a few days but we managed to settle. We’ll have to get back out there in a few weeks but it’s all just standard paperwork from here on out. The judge agreed that all the staff should have been given their payouts immediately.ENC will have to hold up their end and on top of that payout any penalties the staff incurred on their mortgages. We got a great result Katie girl, glad you convinced me to take this one on.”

“That’s amazing dad, see I told you doing some pro bono work paid, just in a different way.”

“Yeah, I know kiddo and your mother told me what happened with Ryan. Not worth your time, love. Have you sorted out your finances?”

“Actually, I’m headed over to the office to deal with it now, I’ll see you both later on. I'll be catching up on work tonight so, eat without me.” 

She knew there was going to be a substantial amount of paperwork to sign. It should be fairly straightforward, she thought; sign this, close this, sign that and split that. Still, Kate really wasn't looking forward to going through it all and she would definitely need that coffee.

She tried to avoid looking inside the travel agent as she waited for her order. Kate made it a whole two minutes before stepping inside, she picked up one of their European brochures and started to flip through it. Her favourite barista looked a little more relaxed as she placed her order today, so she felt she had the time to sneak off, making sure to listen out for her name. She managed to pick up her coffee on the first call this time. 

Kate walked into the office almost forgetting about the letter, Nina had set it on Kate's desk so it was the first thing she saw when sat down. She put it aside, wanting to get the paperwork out of the way. There would be plenty of time to read the letter Elise had left. Maybe after a few drinks. Finally, something she could look forward to.