Kiss Me Cate Pt. 08

"Would you mind doing a little window shopping tomorrow then?"

"Okay but I'm not sure how we're going to take windows back with us on the plane." I said chuckling. She pushed on my shoulder rolling me off her.

"You were right the first time, you are a jerk." She said with a smile in her voice as she turned away from me, pulled the blankets up and sighed. I was still chuckling as I snuggled up against her again and kissed her on the shoulder.

My phone chimed and startled me awake, the fog hadn't quite lifted in my mind yet and I blinked a few times getting my bearings. I could just make out the glint of her eyes, Cate was awake and looking at me. She sighed softly letting her breath out slowly. I reached over and silenced the alarm and turned back to her. "Didn't you sleep?" Her head bobbed a few times.

"Yes, for a bit." She held her breath.

"What?"

"It's just that..." She began, and paused. I quickly reached for the lamp, and fumbled to turn it on. I rolled back over and gathered her in my arms.

"What's the matter Cate?" I said softly into her hair as she held me tight. She made a noise between a hiccup and sob.

"I'm sorry." She croaked out. "I just, I don't understand it either, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, just breathe." I rubbed her back and she began to take slow measured breaths.

"You didn't know you were getting a big jumble of anxiety did you." She said with a snort and began to laugh low into my shoulder. I rubbed her back and thought about the contrast of Cate as she felt right now with the sharp and decisive woman who hit the floor and took control of the situation when a rock came through her apartment window a few weeks ago.

"Whatever you bring I'll be ready." I said laughing into her hair. I kissed her ear. She relaxed and I let her roll onto her back. She looked up at me with wet eyes, streaks running down her cheek and back into her hair. "Why the waterworks?" I said with a smile.

She sighed deeply once more. "It was easier to talk to you while you were asleep." I don't know what I expected her to say, but that wasn't it.

"What did we talk about?" I asked suddenly very curious. She closed her eyes and laid the back of her hand over them and smiled.

"Well I can't say now, you're awake." She pushed herself upright and leaned against the headboard. Her hair was a wild mass of tangles, her eyes rimmed red, her cheeks flushed pink. The lightbulb went on suddenly.

"What did I say in my sleep Cate?" I worried that this was caused by me. She just laughed.

"You're a quick one love." She grinned at me, her hand cupped my cheek.

"Cate." She hushed me with her finger tips.

"Don't worry, it wasn't anything bad. You didn't go on about your conquest of the varsity cheerleading squad if that's what you're worried about." She was grinning as she leaned down and kissed me deeply, her hands held my cheeks her thumbs stroked slowly as our tongues danced.

"Mmm do that again." I growled.

She was breathing quickly. "Gladly, as soon as I catch my breath."

"If we keep this up we'll be late."

She glanced at the clock on the nightstand and swept the sweatshirt over her head quickly. "I guess we'll have to be quick about it then." She began tugging at my tee which caused me to start laughing. We were quick about it, Cate showing amazing ardor for someone that was in tears a few minutes earlier. I knew then that whatever I said wasn't a problem, even if she wouldn't tell me what it was.

She lay back panting as I tried to catch my breath. "Was that quick enough?" I said chuckling.

"Quick enough that we may be able to take a little more time in the shower." She said with a silly grin on her face.

After our shower she pushed me out of the way saying that she needed a moment to overcome her recently ravaged appearance. I warned her if she waited too long I'd ravage her again. She called me a beast and nudged me out of the way. Before long we were out of the hotel and walking towards the pub. It was more of a music hall than a pub from what Shannon had told us. The streets were damp and there was plenty of fog but the rain had stopped.

"You're awfully quiet."

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was trying to puzzle out what happened earlier."

"I told you it was nothing." She growled and tugged me closer for a quick peck on the cheek. We walked past the front of the pub, the windows radiated warmth in the gloom. I held her back a moment before letting her reach for the door.

"Will you ever be able to tell me?"

She turned to face me under the lamps of the door and closed her eyes for a moment, a smile crept across her face. She opened her eyes and gazed deeply into mine. "I hope there will come a day where you will say it when you're conscious, then I'll tell you." Her smile broadened. "Come on, it's cold out here." I reached around her and held the door open wondering what in heaven's name I had said. I took her at her word and did my best to let it go for now. We found a table and ordered a quick supper.

Shannon appeared a few minutes after we sat down. "Well there ye are. I thought I'd have to run over to the hotel and throw a bucket of ice water on the two of ye." She said with a wink. "No thanks." She said when I asked if she'd join us. "I need to get round back and warm up. I'll see you in a bit." She leaned down and gave Cate a kiss on the top of the head. A move which caused her to raise her eyebrows and smile.

"I wonder what that was for?"

"She's not usually like that?" I asked.

"No she's not." Cate shrugged.

"She's missed you." I said with a little smile. Cate's smile faded ever so slightly as she looked down at her glass. "You miss being here don't you." I said softly.

She tilted her head and nodded. "This isn't where my life is right now. My life is in America," she paused, "with you. Where I'll finish my degree and decide what to do then." That smile crept across her face again and I sensed that what ever I said in my sleep was pretty important.

Our dinner appeared and we made short work of it. We were finishing our drinks, speaking about nothing in particular when I realized that the little quirk at the corner of her mouth hadn't left. Her lips were a little redder than usual, her eyes a little brighter. The gold light warmed her skin. Her eyes glinted softly, their message to me was loud and clear. They said exactly what I felt and I no longer had any doubt about how she felt. She was very much in love.

"Are you alright?" She whispered. "I don't think you've taken a breath in minutes." I remedied that by taking a deep breath and let it out slowly with a small laugh.

"I think I might know what I said."

She raised her eyes and a slight blush flushed her cheeks as her smile broadened. She didn't ask for verification but just gave a slight one shoulder shrug. She perked her head up at the distant sound of a violin.

"That'd be Shannon." She said smiling.

I laughed. "How can you be sure."

"I've heard her warm up enough to recognize it. She can go from Vivaldi to Drunken Sailor in a measure without losing a beat." Cate replied with a grin. "Let's get another round and go find a seat." Cate walked ahead of me through the darkened hallway and stopped, turned and kissed me spontaneously. "Thank you for this, for everything, Dylan."

"Anything for you love." I said kissing her again. A small polite cough from behind me.

"If ye'll be meeting in the hall at least stick to one side so's we can sidle past." The gent said, as he did just that and kept walking.

Cate and I laughed and we kept on around the corner and into the back of the hall. There was a large floor with tables drawn up and a small area left open I guessed for dancing. Another bar stretched down the right wall and the left wall held a low stage brimming with instruments and a few people warming up. Shannon was there and saw Cate and I and threw us a smile. She stopped and pointed with her bow to a table with a couple drinks on it and mouthed "there." I looked around and noticed that there was a decent crowd for a Monday night. Shannon looked around and saw who was on stage at the moment and began playing something, soon the others joined in on some impromptu jam I didn't recognize. They sounded terrific as they played the pianist leaned into a microphone and asked about a couple of other band members who were likely at the bar to get to the stage. A few people laughed, but two others came up to the stage and stepped up. They started with a few covers of UK bands as a warm up. Shannon walked up to the main mic and began introducing the band as each played a little solo. They jumped into some more even more upbeat music and I was amazed by Shannon's voice as a few she just sang. "So it runs in the family." I thought. I got a feeling that someone was hovering around us and I turned to find a thick-set, dark haired guy behind us looking up at the stage. He had his sleeves rolled up and saw a couple tattoos on his lower arms. He had eyes for nobody else in the place but Shannon. I leaned over and whispered as softly as I could in Cate's ear. "I think Mik is here. I recognize that look in his eye." She looked over my shoulder and her eyebrows rose as the smile spread across her face. She nodded her agreement with my assessment. As the song came to an end I noticed a nod from Shannon, and he moved towards us.

"You must be Catelyn and Dylan." He said in a halting, sing song accent. He held out his hand. "I'm Mik, Shannon's friend." He had a firm rough, grip and easy smile. We rearranged our seats to make room at the little table. We didn't chat as another song started. This time the guitarist was singing lead on Wild Night. They segued into another song I didn't know but it sounded great. Once the song ended Shannon stepped forward during a pause, then the pianist began a riff I recognized instantly and my eyes went wide.

"This one is for my lovely sister who is here from America with her new beau." She looked down and the pianist began playing New York State Of Mind. Cate leaned over and laid her head on my shoulder as I watched her foot twitch to the music. She was terrific and I heard an echo of Cate's voice in hers. The song ended with a vigorous round of applause.

"Before you think I'm done embarrassing you Cate, you're wrong. You see before she went off to uni and turned into a computer nerd, my sister was a fair hand herself at the piano, and has a voice like a lark." I felt Cate stiffen and begin a soft litany of 'no, no, no.' "The next song I have in mind, since it's Monday and we don't really have a set list, is an old pop favorite of ours. When we were kids we'd sing along with the record in the parlor at home. The thing is that it's best performed with at least two singers in harmony." Shannon winked at Cate. "Do you think she'd join me for it?" She asked the audience with mock innocence. The crowd, well lubricated by this point was all for it, applause and a few whistles. "Better come on up then Cate before the crowd becomes unruly." Cate had her face in her hands, her head shaking. Mik was grinning ear to ear nodding vigorously and clapping.

"I'm going to kill her." She said before standing, straight and tall. The audience cheered her on as she walked forward and stepped up on the stage. She whispered in Shannon's ear and she grinned.

"What's that?" She made her repeat it out loud in front of the mic.

"I said, I'm sorry if I ruin this for you, and hope nobody leaves because of it." The guitarist moved his mic stand up to the front for her. "Can this one be turned off?" She asked him and he grinned and shook his head.

"She made us learn this song, somebody had better sing it." He stepped back and swapped his acoustic for an electric guitar and strummed it a few times.

"You'll be fine, if it helps, block them out and pretend we're in the parlor singing into hair brushes again." Shannon added with a grin.

"Breathless, right?" Cate asked her. Shannon nodded. Everybody went silent for a moment and Shannon leaned into the mic and began, Cate and the band picked up on the next bar. It was amazing to watch. They sang as if they'd been practicing it for years, Cate loosened up immediately and began swaying to the music as she sang. I was so mesmerized that when the song ended, the crowd erupted and I was still frozen. I shook my head and even saw Shannon had turned aside and was clapping. Cate was grinning, red cheeked and so incredibly beautiful. Before I realized it I was standing with the others clapping for all I was worth. Cate bowed, for a moment her smile brighter than before as she hugged her sister and stepped off the stage.

"You were amazing!" I said holding her chair for her as she sat down. Mik agreed.

"You sound great together. You should be a singer like Shannon."

"I might have been were I not scared to death to get on stage and perform." She said fanning herself with her hand.

"You did fine." Mik replied waving towards the stage as Shannon said they were taking a short break and would be right back. Shannon approached the table, pulled up a chair and reached for the drink she'd left on the table.

"I could kill you right now." Cate said with very little menace.

"O' ye did fine, relax. I nearly had you do an encore but I wasn't sure you were up to it." She added grinning. "Have you all met? Mik this is my sister, obviously, and her boyfriend Dylan from America. This is my boyfriend Mik, from Poland."

The barman came by with a full tray of drinks. "From some of the boys at the bar. They'd love another song from the two of you." He added grinning.

"Maybe some Spice Girls." Shannon said laughing. Cate gave her a withering look.

"Let's not drag ALL of my skeletons out of the closet at once, shall we?"

"So I shouldn't tell Dylan about your unrequited love for Justin?" Shannon said.

"Beiber?" I said in disbelief. The withering stare was turned on me.

"Timberlake." She growled. "Let's not, I'm sure I couldn't remember another song if I had to." She begged.

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to remember when the music starts." Mik added.

"Keep it up love, you'll be up there next." Shannon grinned.

"That's a terrific idea. She says you have a wonderful voice." Cate encourage.

"We could do Blackbird. We've been practicing that one." Mik said smiling.

"Probably want to wait until we wind down, it'll put these buggers to sleep." She replied.

"How did you two meet?" Cate piped in, curiosity getting the better of her. I'm sure she was trying to divert Shannon from finding a song she could do as well.

"This one came in one night with a few of his ship mates and sees me up here and falls head over heels. Can't say as I blame him though." Shannon grinned at Mik. "It's not every day you have a sailor jump ship for you. Quit his job and stayed here in Cork and got work at the shipyard."

"So you were a sailor before?"

Mik nodded. "Worked a freighter out of Gdansk as an engineer. We made the rounds of the Baltic and North seas. We transported cars from Sweden, oil from Edinburgh you name it. That's not how I wanted to see the world, from the engine room of a rusty tub." He said laughing. "I came here, heard her sing and decided this would be a good place to start."

"How did your shipmates feel about that?" I asked.

Mik shrugged. "There's always someone to fill the spot when you're in a good sized port. Otherwise the company will fly someone in. I wasn't critical, there were others who could also do my job so they didn't have to replace me unless they wanted to work shorter hours. I build and repair ships. I get paid about the same and I get to go home to this one every night." He grinned as he motioned to Shannon.

"I'm sure Mum already knows but don't go blabbing about it, will you?"

"Mum is well aware you're, how did she put it, seeing some rascal down here." Cate said smiling. "You should bring him home. I did." She said laying her hand on mine.

"Oh I thought it was the other way around, that Dylan brought you home, after the number the telephone boys played on you in New York." Shannon chimed.

"Either way, we're here, and from everything I can tell Da got along with Dylan just fine."

"Well of course he would, Dylan's as Irish as we are, he might even pass it off if we only drop him in Dublin for a month." Shannon added tartly.

"I think you might be surprised." I added before they could start swiping at one another like strange cats circling. "I mean he's got a great job, his English is great. Are you Catholic?" Mik nodded. "See, another point in your favor. I'm betting that your father would get along with him just fine as long as he doesn't go on about how you're shacked up together." I added. Everybody laughed at that.

"Maybe." Shannon said gazing at Mik with a little smile. "Alright, back to work." She saw the others getting back up to the stage. They played some traditional music, a few of which were drinking songs which got the crowd to join in with the lyrics. True to her word as the night wound up she did have Mik join her for Blackbird. They wound up the night thanking everybody to a long round of applause. It was late and Shannon came and sat with us for a bit longer, she was visibly tired which didn't surprise me considering the time we got to the train in the morning and the late hour. She expressed surprise at Cate's fortitude.

"We had a nap after lunch."

"Oh I bet you did." Innuendo dripped from her words. Cate rolled her eyes at her sister.

"That was after." I said and got a booted in the shin for it. I had the good sense to shut my mouth quickly and look embarrassed while being laughed at. We talked a while longer and I paid off the tab for the table. Shannon and Mik invited us to dinner with them the next night after our sightseeing.

We finally parted ways and began the short walk back to the hotel in the foggy night. We walked hand in hand from one orb of light to the next. "I told you that you were a great singer."

"They were drunk." Cate said, though I distinctly heard the smile in her voice.

"Don't sell yourself short." I said giving her hand a squeeze. I chuckled. "After the second wolf whistle I nearly stood up to see who was giving my girl the eye, then I realized where I was and I probably shouldn't try to start anything." Cate did laugh out loud at that.

"Probably a good idea." We stepped off a curb and crossed a darkened street, mounting the one on the opposite side in the warm light of a street lamp.

"I love you." We walked in silence for a few more yards, and she hadn't responded and I started to worry. She gripped my hand tightly. Our footfalls echoed softly on the pavement as we walked. I thought about what happened this afternoon, she was right, what I said was just a wisecrack and shouldn't have been taken so seriously. I realized that I had a responsibility to her, to be mindful of what I said. Words could leave marks. She still hadn't spoken and I began to worry. I swallowed deeply. "Cate?"

She chuckled. "I love you too. Did I have you worried?"

I laughed as well. "Well, a bit. What are you thinking about?"

"What am I NOT thinking about would be more apt."

"Can we narrow it down to a few highlights?"

She took a deep breath and let it out. "First, I still feel awfully embarrassed about getting upset earlier. I was being crazy." She sighed. "It happens sometimes."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"What was that for?" She sounded offended.

"What? Nothing?" I stumbled innocently. "I mean that sort of explains..."

"Explains what? Why I'm an anxiety ridden lunatic?" She said sounding even further offended.

"No, no, not that, it's just that you seem to be crying a lot lately and I've been worried that I was the cause."

"Well you're partly to blame, but that's because you can't stop being wonderful, even when I should be angry with you, the rest is that I can't believe I'm this lucky." She said raising our joined hands. I pulled our hands up and kissed the back of hers. "See, there you go proving my point." She said smiled before turning her eyes back to our path as we continued to walk.