Don't

Clint laughs at the mental image Wendy paints. “Well if I stop, I’d have to hold all this inside and then I’d burst, and you’d be sad then too, so we better find a better solution.”

He straightens up and turns around to lean back against the car, half sitting on the hood, and folding his arms across his chest. “Hmm, well, the assistant to the assistant would lend a hand with tools…keep the assistant company so he didn’t get lonely…they’d probably get just as dirty…” Clint glances at his filthy hands and arms. “But that would be okay because then the assistant wouldn’t feel so bad about his greasy hands if he ever decided to steal a kiss.” He still refuses to look at Wendy, the corner of his eye the only thing keeping track of her face.


Con looks up from his box and sees Katie in the doorway. The look on his face warns him not to even hope for a happy reunion. As her words are hurled in his direction, they feel like a kick to the gut. His shoulders drop as he listens, and for a moment he feels like dirt. He’d left at the worst time possible, then he had returned just to leave again. The look in Katie’s eyes stung…the tone of her voice cut him to the quick…and he can’t even think of a single thing to say.

As Katie walks away, Con desperately tries to understand everything. “Katie, wait…” But it’s too late. She’s already gone. Con lowers his eyes to the box on his desk. “Dang it,” he mutters. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. He’d made up his mind…it was something he had to do…he couldn’t turn back now…

Glancing at the last photo on the wall, it’s one of him, Jason and Laura several years prior…when things had been simpler. He sighs deeply. He couldn’t let another friend just walk away…not like this.

Leaving his packing, he heads out onto the floor and looks around for Katie, but doesn’t see her. He spies Laura, who points to the exit. “Aw, no…” Con quickens his pace, barely pausing at Jamie’s desk. “I’ll be back,” he informs over his shoulder.

Once outside, he squints in the sunlight, and just makes out Katie already leaving the parking lot. “Katie!” he yells, but he’s too far away. Not allowing himself to give up, he sprints into a run. Skidding around the corner as he hits the sidewalk, he catches up to Katie, skirting in front of her and stopping to face her, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Kat, look at me,” he orders sternly. “Don’t do this to yourself. Just because I’m leaving TJY does not in any way, shape or form mean that I’m walking out of your life. Do you understand me?” He bends lower to see those tear-filled eyes that cause him pain. “I know you’re hurting like mad right now, and I know that me leaving isn’t helping matters any, but it has nothing to do with you. You are not alone, and you are not being abandoned. Don’t fall into that lie.” His eyes beg Katie to understand. “Please…”