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| FOUND THAT SOUL by Sioux PART 1 As usual, the Manics were having a little party after one of their shows, everyone was drinking and talking in their own little groups, besides the Manics, there was no one Kate recognised. She picked up a drink and sat in a corner where she felt hidden and safe in this new environment, she lit up a cigarette then glanced nervously around the room, mostly everyone seemed to be the bands friends, there were a few groupies who seemed unsuccessful in their attempts to get the guys attention, a reporter, and employees from the record company. Everyone was having a great time-except Kate, she didn’t know why she bothered coming, she’d been invited to these things before since Martin employed her, but tonight she wanted to leave the house and have a night out, her boyfriend was having a night out with his friends and she knew she’d be bored at home and would be regretting she didn’t go out. But this wasn’t going well; sitting alone with all these people around made her feel like shrinking. “Hey Kate! Glad you came...finally everyone can meet the new beautiful mystery girl I’ve been bragging about! I see you’ve already met Smirnoff!” Martin said with a cheeky grin “Yea me and Smirnoff hang out together frequently” she laughed, while taking a sip “You’ve gotta meet the guys! Come on, I’ll introduce you” Martin said, as he took her hand to drag her around the room… She was quite nervous and would rather hide in her little corner, but she appreciated Martin’s attempts to make her laugh and to make her feel welcome, so she enthusiastically greeted everyone. “This is Kate… great girl, she works her ass off and knows her job well” Martin said to each band member that she individually met. Kate suddenly felt comfortable, everyone was so nice, Nicky was all enthused when he greeted her and she loved how friendly and bubbly he was, Richey was adorable. More reserved and quiet, and had such innocence about him, he was lovely. Sean was drunk and hung off her shoulder and drunkenly slurred a joke in her ear, which made her burst out into laughter, she felt great, she clicked with all of them. She loved this job. When Kate started laughing, James turned, his eyes fixated on her…she was beautiful, stunning even, she simply glowed and stood out from every other female in the room. “AH! James!! There you are…come and meet our Kate!” Martin called out , latching onto Kate’s arm as if she was some trophy. “This is Kate, the one I’ve told you all about” Martin smiled. James was speechless, he just stared at her, it was only for a second, but when his big brown eyes locked with hers, it seemed to last a fair bit longer! “Hi, I’m James. I haven’t seen you around. How long have you been working with Martin for?” James quizzed, “This is my third week...I’ve been in my office the whole time! Which would explain why I hadn’t met you earlier,” she smiled back. Martin had disappeared, leaving James and Kate to talk, talking to James felt comfortable, and the conversation simply flowed along. “Shall we sit down?” James asked “Yea, sur…..” “OHHHH JAMESSS!!! PLEASE PLEASE SIGN MY POSTER”, “MINE TOO!” about 5 girls screeched at James, completely moving Kate to the back, she didn’t mind though, she giggled and found it quite sweet how excited these girls were. She grabbed another drink, and headed out on the cool balcony where she lit up her second cigarette. She looked back in, the fans had moved onto Sean now, and James was nowhere to be seen. “There you are! I’ve been asking round for you!” James smiled. Kate was flattered that James Dean Bradfield was looking for HER. “Yea, you seemed a little busy” she laughed “Do you mind if I grab a cig of you?’ “Yea, sure, take as many you like” she offered politely, hoping he’d take the hint that she wanted him to stay talking to her a bit longer, she pulled her packet out of her bag. “You’re a great girl!” he laughed, “you smoke the same ones as me! I’ll never have to buy my own again!” James made her feel great, he could’ve said the most stupidest thing, and his cute expressions could still make her melt. The night carried on with the conversation flowing, she felt chemistry, that was for sure, but she didn’t actually comprehend the thought, as this is the man she’d now be working closely with, plus she had a boyfriend. James felt it too, more than she did, he couldn’t even put a name on what he was feeling, it was something he’d never felt before, it was more than lust, he’d only known her a few hours but he had such strong feelings towards her and already knew he cared for her. Kate looked at the time, it was almost 3 am, she knew she should get back to her boyfriend, so she put out her cigarette. “Well, it’s getting late, I better be going.” Kate said hesitantly “It was lovely to meet you, and I guess I’ll see you on Monday” “Yes, you can come out of your office now and talk to all of us when we stop by!” James said cheekily. Kate smiled, she was a bit embarrassed that they had all noticed she was too nervous to come out of her office, she thought she’d hidden it well. “You don’t wanna talk to me! You just wanna nick off with my smokes!” she said playfully as touched his arm (and yes...she noticed the muscle in his arm of course!) James laughed, picked up her bag for her and walked her inside. She said goodnight to the remainder of people that were still there and the night was over. Monday at work was much more comfortable, Kate came out her office to hand Martin the accounts she’d just finished. “Incredible! That must be some sort of record!” he praised, making everyone in the room noticed her, Nicky ran over to her, always going out of his way to be nice, Sean called out a hung over moaning attempt of a hello and Richey and James walked over to Martin’s desk to greet her, with Nicky staring in complete amazement at her fluffy pink pen. The day went quick, she went back to her office for the remainder of the day, only leaving once when James requested she joined him for a smoke break. James offered his smokes this time. (aww so thoughtful). It was 5 o’clock already, Kate’s boyfriend borrowed her car for the day and was picking her up, so she gathered her things and went outside. He was already there, getting something out of the back of the car, Kate walked over to him and gave her boyfriend, Tim, a kiss. Meanwhile, James was on the balcony above them and saw everything…he was hurt, he was jealous, he was on the verge of tears, on the verge of screaming, he was angry, he felt deceived...why hadn’t she mentioned a boyfriend? He honestly got the impression she liked him too. He felt numb as he watched the car drive out of view. 2 days later… Kate walked into Martin’s office, the band was sitting around his desk. Their faces lit up and they greeted her, James remained silent. She didn’t think much of it. “Here are the orders you needed Martin. Nicky, here’s that booked you wanted to borrow, Richey, you wanted blue paper with no lines, Sean you didn’t ask for anything, but I assumed you needed aspirin, and if you don’t, you will at some point within the next 24 hours, and James, you asked for a pack of cigarettes, and I heard you saying something about loosing your favourite silver lighter, so there’s a new one” she took a breath, that was a big sentence! Everyone laughed at what she’d done for Sean as he defiantly did need aspirin, they thanked her, but James didn’t even lift his head, he made a grunt. “We are having a bit of a piss up tonight, we’d love you to come” Nicky said warmly. “Yea, I’d love too! Hey, I just gotta make a call, I’ll be right back.” Kate walked into her office and called her boyfriend. She asked Tim if he wanted to join her, but he was too tired, and she explained to him she’d be home late. Kate walked back into the room and when she did James got up, and pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one up with his crappy old lighter he hated right in front of her. She gave a half smile, she looked confused and very hurt and they all noticed it. “Actually guys, I’ve got heaps of work to do, so I wont be able to join you tonight…maybe another time then” Kate unconvincingly said, she walked out of the room before anyone had a chance to say anything, they knew why she suddenly made up an excuse. “What the fuck is wrong with you James?” Sean said, “she goes out of her way to be nice to us and you go out of your way to make her feel like shit!” Nicky added. “Didn’t you see how upset she was? She was practically about to cry” said Richey, with concern in his voice. “That was completely uncalled for. It’s not her job to go out of her way to do things for you, you all mean a lot to her...haven’t you noticed how we have no problems around here anymore and everything is to your liking? It’s because she want to see your all happy. She spoils you all! She’s the best thing to come along in ages, and I don’t want her to quit! So lighten up James!” Martin was fuming. “I thought you liked her? You always rave on about her...what happened James?” Nicky said, with worried eyes. “She’s got a fucking boyfriend” James was still pissed off. “So?! She hasn’t done anything wrong by having a boyfriend!” “But Nicky,” James eyes started to sparkle as they lightly filled with tears.. “ I thought she liked me too...we got along great…and if she didn’t feel anything, why did she neglected to tell me she had a boyfriend?” “I don’t know! She didn’t tell anyone...none of us knew…it’s never come up, she wasn’t hiding anything!” Nicky declared in her defence. “James… if you are meant to be together it will happen, time will tell...but being an asshole to her will get you nowhere, just stay friends with her ok? There’s more of a chance for her to like you back.” Nicky was upset for James, he knew James had feelings for her, but that’s all the advice he could offer. “You are right, I’ll apologize as soon as I see her, I feel even worse now. I shouldn’t have upset her” James said firmly, after thinking about what Nicky had said. Kate drove home in tears… she kept saying to herself “work is work. You are there for the money. Not to make friends. Who cares” but it didn’t help. James coldness hurt, and she didn’t know why James had suddenly turned on her. She tried to make the situation positive, “ James is an asshole, terrible personality” at least by trying to believe this, she felt less attracted to him and less guilty when having feelings for James, which she helplessly tried to deny while she had a boyfriend. She wasn’t convincing herself of anything, James was great. She knew that well. She got home and walked into the bedroom. There was Tim on top of Kate’s best friend… “ What are you doing here? You said you were going for drinks!” shouted Tim. “ Oh well I should be fucking apologising then shouldn’t I!” Kate screamed, tears pouring down her face. “Kate, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, let me explain!…it’s just that you haven’t been home, you’ve been working, and not even given a shit about me!” Tim said, making it obvious he’d just thought of that excuse of the top his head. “I love you Kate. Please don’t go” by that time she’d already shoved a toothbrush, make up, hairdryer, underwear and another change of clothing in her bag. Kate was hysterical, she couldn’t stop crying. She sat in her car down the street and composed herself. “Right, Tim goes to work at 7, I’ll get the day off, grab my stuff in the morning, stay in a motel while I look for a new place” Kate felt a lot better now she had a plan. Kate got to a shitty motel, their was one room available, but the tenants weren’t leaving till 10pm. So she headed back to work, at least their she could do some work to get her mind off Tim and her bitch friend, and while she was there she could ask Martin for the day off. Kate fixed her face up in the car mirror and went straight into her office. “I’m not gonna cry. I’m not gonna let my mascara run for that wanker, waste of fucking make up!” Kate consoled herself. Her phone rang, it was Tim, she cancelled it. The sound of her phone brought Martin into her office. “Hey, thought I heard your phone, didn’t think you’d still be here” “Martin, I know things are really hectic around here at the moment, but would it be alright if I had tomorrow off? But only if you let me work late to make up for it” (you were only working late coz you had nowhere to go till 10pm, but hell, it made you look good.) “Sure sweetie, that’s fine, but you don’t have to stay late.” “No, I’d like too” she said unconvincingly as she looked down. “Kate are you ok? Is this coz of James?” Martin said with concern. “What do you mean?” she looked confused. She’d forgotten about the James encounter, it was the furthest thing from her mind right now. “Ohhh! No no no! of course not!” she laughed, trying to make it into no big deal. “Ok then, I’ll see you later, enjoy tomorrow. You deserve it, your doing great!” Martin said reassuringly as he tapped her shoulder. Martin exited the room, walking back into his office, where the band was still present, as well as their friends who came for the gathering. “Did she leave her phone behind, Martin?” asked Richey. “Nah, she’s in there with it, she’s come back, staying late so she can have tomorrow off.” That comment caught James attention, “I guess this would be a good time to apologize” said James nervously “She’s not gonna bite your head off James, it will be ok” Nicky always had a way of making the situation seem no big drama, so on that note, James went into her office. Kate wasn’t there, so he walked out onto her office balcony, “Smoking like a chimney I see” James said cheekily. “Would you like sit down?” she gestured to the chair next to her. “Look Kate, about today. I didn’t mean to be so rude, I was just in a bad mood over something really stupid and I took it out on you” (James really wanted to say, I bloody love you, who’s that ugly git of boyfriend, tell him to fuck off…but anyways…) “Oh James, you don’t have to apologize, that’s quite alright” James adored how forgiving she was, it made him like her more. “So you’ve got the day off I hear…bet your going to have a good day!” Kate burst out into tears, with heavy sobs-she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Kate, what’s wrong? Why are you crying, are you alright?” James said panicky, his voice was full of concern, he moved his chair over to her, and hugged her, she buried her head into his neck, crying. “There, there...its ok” James gently pulled back from her and made her look at him, he gently moved the hair of her face... “please Kate, tell me what’s wrong” “Tomorrow I won’t be having a good day... I’ll be getting my things out of my boyfriends place and moving… I came home and he was in bed with my best friend,” her lips were trembling, she couldn’t stop crying. “that’s why I came here, I didn’t know where else to go.” Seeing Kate like this made James feel terrible. “Honey, that guy is scum, and your friend deserves him”, jambs words were said in all seriousness, his sexy masculine voice made her feel so reassured, it was hard for Kate to explain, but having James there, didn’t take away her sadness, but it took away the feeling she had of worthlessness. She felt safe; she didn’t feel as though she was nothing. She thought to herself “I’ve got the sexiest man with me right now, with his arms wrapped round me and I’m crying over some ugly bastard who treats me like shit”, Kate lets out a quiet laugh “What’s so funny?” James smiles, asking curiously. “Never mind” she grinned. “ So where are you going to stay tonight, Kate?” “There’s a little motel, not far, my room will be vacant at 10” she said, wiping her tears away, finally she had managed to stop crying. “You’re not staying in a motel.” He said abruptly. “But I don’t mind, it’s..” “No. You’re not staying in a motel,” James interrupted, “you are staying at my house, I’ve got a spare room, and you’re not just staying there the night, you’re staying there as long as you need too” the tone in his voice, made it clear there was no point in arguing about it. That was final. “Thank you so much, that’s so kind of you...I’m sure I’ll find somewhere within the week, I’ll start looking tomorrow.” Kate smiled and gave him a tight hug, she could feel it, she had feelings for him too, with Tim gone, there was no point in denying it. “You ready to go home now then?” asked James “Yea I’m exhausted, I’d love too, could you do me a favour?” “Sure” said James without hesitation “Could you say goodbye to everyone for me, I don’t want them too see me like this” Kate said “No problem, wait here” James smiled, and kissed her on her forehead. Part 2 >>> <<< Sioux's stories |