this is all my fault

[ counting down to zero ]

[ boom goes the dynamite ]

[ the clock keeps ticking ]

[ kate's day keeps getting worse ]

[ two goodbyes later ]

She’s back.

Back in the coffeehouse, back in L.A.

But she can still hear Boo’s voice as it cracks (“Lellow Kake no bye-bye! No!”) and see the look on Bill’s face just before she walked away the second time.

She spins back to the door (maybe, just maybe, please) but when she opens it, she’s staring at the parking lot and into the early southern California morning.

Swallowing sharp disappointment, she digs her keys from her bag.

Forcing away thoughts of the bar, she concentrates on unlocking the car with a hand that doesn’t shake.

It’s Marie’s day, she reminds herself; she has a wedding to get to.