Age Is Only A Number!, chapter 12
The year passed by and graduation came for the threesome. They had applied for jobs and they were doing well, Abi was an intern at a law firm, Aaron was an assistant to a social worker, and Katie was an intern at a magazine company in the sections for photographers. Ye she only got coffee for people but she did now learn how to do coffee without having coffee powder left in it. They all lived together in New York, they loved it but it got expensive at times even though it was quite a squishy apartment. They survived it all though.
Tre was just hanging around New York because him, Lisea and Ramona were there on a short holiday. He looked around Central Park and looked around a dozen coffee places. He went into the local supermarket to get some drinks for later, he got water and saw someone he knew checking the price on some Lucky Charms. It was Katie, he couldn't believe it, and he hadn't seen her since the day he found out she loved him. He wondered if she still did, she hadn't changed one bit, she still had short hair this time spiked up, she still wore a lot of boys clothing and she also still had no money for the vitals as he saw her put away the Lucky Charms and look at her money seeing it was insufficient to get the cereal along with everything else. Katie picked up the shopping basket and walked on looking at the change in her hand, she walked right into Tre and all her change fell and got lost. Tre didn't stop himself from being walked into and felt like an idiot and knelt down helping Katie with her change and he heard her rambling "I'm so sorry, I'm such a klutz, sorry" she carried on until she looked up at Tre and said "Shit, I didn't mean that, fuck I'm now half down in change" looking at the money in her hand. "Look I'll pay for your stuff, and those Lucky Charms I saw you ogling" Tre told Katie. Katie's eyes widened and said "Thanks so much, we barely have enough for the vitals let alone the desired." They stood up and Tre thought to himself 'Since when was Lucky Charms desired' it then came across to him, this was exactly what he went through at 22, the guys were working in burger joints and didn't have enough money for much. Katie grabbed the Lucky Charms and put them in the shopping basket. They went up to the checkout and the woman there said after checking all the items in "That's 10.50 then" Tre paid for the items and walked out the shop.
Tre walked home with Katie and asked her "So how are you doing these days?"
"Well I'm an intern at a magazine with the photographers and well there not paying me that well, how's life for you and before you say a snide comment about the band I mean your family" Katie explained, Tre wanted to know what she meant by 'snide comment' and asked "What do you mean by snide comment?"
"Remember Thanksgiving last year I asked how you were doing and you said about Nimrod and ended it by saying 'don'tcha know' you made it seem like I was dumb somehow" Katie told Tre. He didn't know that it made her feel dumb, it was just a joke to him and he answered "Sorry about that, but my family is doing good though Ramona is one year old already, me and Lisea aren't doing so good though." Katie felt a bit happier at that, she still loved Tre dearly and when she saw him for the first time in the aisle her heart skipped a beat. "You'll get through it don't worry, well we're here home sweet home" Katie told Tre, Tre looked at the apartment building as Katie went through what looked like a dozen locks, it was definitely the New York version of where he was at 22.
They went up a load of stairs and saw the door to her apartment which also had what looked like a dozen locks. She finally finished unlocking the door and he saw the apartment, it was quite a nice apartment, it definitely had Abi's and Katie's touch to it. Katie put her keys down and said to Abi "Look Lucky Charms" and showed them to Abi. The younger of the two jumped from her work and the sofa and grabbed the Lucky Charms and asked "How? Why? Whoa I can't believe we have Lucky Charms I haven't had them since April and it's now beginning of December." Abi saw Tre and then figured out he paid for them and said "Why did you take pity money Katie, you know better."
"Because I bumped into him literally and half my change went away from me, so that pity money was needed otherwise we'd only have milk" Katie explained, Abi put the cereal down and looked at Tre. He was looking round at the apartment and at how dingy it was; she was always the smarter one out of the two girls and knew he thought it was a craphole.
Tre hung out for a while and he talked with the girls while watching some T.V. So much had happened to them since leaving university, they had jobs, had boyfriends or lack of in Katie's case, they had an apartment on the whole other side of the country and most of all they had lives beyond where they used to live. They had some lunch of a microwave dinner, it was Katie's and Abi's day off so they had nothing but time on there hands. They were just watching the 3 Stooges when the phone rang and Abi picked it up. "Hi... ye I'm at home... but it's my day off... ok I'll come in bye" Abi said, Tre and Katie didn't know what was happening on the other line just saw Abi get her bag off the floor grab a jacket and say "Gotta go into work, boss is haggling me." She bid goodbye to the duo and left for work. Tre and Katie then hung out for a while, watching Looney Tunes and talking. "So is this what you do on your day off?" Tre asked Katie, she looked at Tre and said "Ye unless I have work leftover but other than that I just watch cartoons and hang around with Abi."
"Why did you move all the way to New York?" Tre asked. Katie looked at him and saw a genuine care for why she left instead of anger. She then answered "I always lived in Berkeley and I just wanted to get out, New York always seemed like a dream, some dream eh" her tone dropped when she said 'some dream eh' and gestured round the apartment. "So why stay, why don't you leave?" Tre asked Katie. She looked down and answered "I can't, I got a job here and a life I can't just leave it."
"You had a life in good ol' Cali you left it pretty quickly" Tre remarked.
"I finished university and had to start a new, I didn't leave quickly I could've gone to university anywhere but I chose Berkeley" Katie told Tre. Katie came closer to Tre and said "Look I made the right choice, I'm a big girl." Tre came closer to Katie until they could hear each other breathing. They locked in a kiss and they felt so much sexual tension it could cut ice, Katie heard the door unlock and pulled herself away from Tre. It was Aaron and he looked like hell, he was holding about 3 dozen papers and his bag was bursting. He put everything on the table and said "My boss is such an asshole it's unbelievable, he doesn't think I would be a good social worker but he is getting me to do more work than the actual social workers."
"Hey Aaron long time no see" Tre said to Aaron, he stood up and shook Aaron's hand. Aaron's hand just flapped about and he replied "Hey, well I've got to go change bye" and he went into his room too change. Katie then shouted to Aaron "We have Lucky Charms by the by"
"Great, I haven't had since April" Aaron shouted back closing his door, Tre sat back down and Katie didn't make eye contact with him. He then said to Katie "Look we won't tell anyone, trust me" and he stood back up and left not expecting Katie to reply. She kept on looking down and Tre was about to go out and Katie said "I never stopped loving you; you know I just knew it would never work." Tre took the comment to heart and left the apartment.
He got back to the hotel, he saw Lisea there with Ramona. He walked over the bed and held Ramona, he couldn't believe his little girl was already one, she was the cutest baby ever and he never wanted to let her go. But sadly he and Lisea were getting divorced and she was going to live in New York, they were going through some rough times and they just couldn't fix them. They decided to file for divorce now as to avoid totally hating each other in the near future. Tre started to jiggle Ramona about on his knee when Lisea said "We'll be officially divorced next month, Ramona will be with me except for holidays like Christmas and Easter." It dampened Tre's mood but it had to be done at some point. He then replied "Yes, I get the house and you get the car, can we not talk about this now"
"We have to, you seem down what happened today" Lisea asked, Tre looked up at Lisea and said "Well I saw Katie today"
"How is she doing I heard she moved here?" Lisea asked, she hadn't seen Katie since the exhibition that she held. "She isn't doing so well, her apartment is shabby, she can barely buy the essentials and all three of them have bosses that make them work way too hard" Tre explained. Lisea took Ramona from Tre and put her in her cot. She then came closer to Tre and put her hand on his knee and told him "They'll be fine, trust me, all three of them, they are great kids, Katie, Abi and Aaron they can survive anything." He didn't know how she knew that Abi and Aaron lived with Katie but he didn't really care. He did make him feel better what she said.
Katie was at home with Aaron and was doing some work on her laptop. She had to sort out a commercial for a perfume. Aaron came out in some ripped up jeans and a 'Smashing Pumpkins' t-shirt, he sat down next to Katie and saw what was on the computer screen. He then said "So how do we have cereal, the last thing we had that wasn't needed was that really nice toilet paper and that involved extra time at work."
"Tre paid for it, I saw him at the store, I think he's staying here for a couple of days" Katie replied improving the picture in front of her her eyes didn't leave the screen. "You know I hate being a charity case, I'm not eating them" Aaron told Katie.
"You are, trust me, all the change got lost 'cause I bumped into Tre and your being docked an hours worth of pay, your eating it" Katie told Aaron. He had to agree, the phone rang and Aaron answered it "Hello... you want Katie, sure here she is" and then saying "It's for you." Katie took the phone off Aaron and wondered who it was, sadly it was her boss, "Hello... yes I have finished the advert... where do I have to go...what you know how much I don't want to go there... ok I'll go... bye" Katie answered the phone, her tone dropped at every sentence until she said bye. Aaron wondered what was going on until Katie said "I'm off to Oakland for a shoot" and Aaron knew why her tone dropped. They loved going home but only for holidays, if work sent them then they visited there parents and there parents asked why they didn't visit more. Katie started packing her stuff, her flight was tomorrow. She packed her CD's and CD player, she was never a good flyer and it didn't help that it was a long flight. She got fully packed and went to bed; she was anticipating what shoot it was and if she should visit her parents.
She got to the airport and got on the aeroplane, she wondered who would sit next to her. She loved to poke fun at the people next to her, she once had a fat bald man next to her that she found out owned a Ferrari and had a girlfriend who was thin and pretty, it was just the highlight of the journey. She sat down and looked out the plane window, she turned round to see someone sitting down, and it was a little girl that was no more than one. Katie thought it was someone she knew but didn't know who, then the girl's father came along and she knew who it was, it was Tre. Just her luck, Ramona sat next to her and Tre sat by the aisle, Tre didn't recognise Katie because she was in her Green Day hoodie and her hood was up because she was cold and also she had quite heavy black eyeliner on. The plane took off and Katie put her CD player on and she started to listen to Led Zeppelin. She had enough CD's to last her the plane journey and they were all Led Zeppelin. It was half-way through the journey and the air-hostesses were giving out the food.
They came to Katie, Ramona and Tre and they gave the food to Ramona and Tre just not Katie yet, "Miss Do you want some food" the fake-smiling air-hostess asked.
"No thanks, I'm not hungry" Katie answered turning her head round, the hoodie was still over her head and the air-hostess gave a look of disgust towards Katie. Tre then looked at Katie, he didn't know who she was but was intrigued by the hoodie and asked "Are you a Green Day fan?" Katie looked at Tre, she knew he didn't know who she was and answered "Ye, have been for a while"
"Why are you on a plane by yourself, you look like a teenager" Tre asked, she felt embarrassed, she was barely ever mistaken for a teen and said "No I'm 22, my parents do live in California though but I'm going for a job." Now Tre felt embarrassed, she was early 20's not a teen, he looked at her for a moment; something seemed familiar about her to him. She was 22, fan of the band and parents in California; she also lived in New York as it seemed, something familiar but didn't know what. "You seem familiar but I can't pin-point it" Tre said
"You must see teenage fans all the time; I was 17 when Dookie came out" Katie replied. Tre then asked "What's your job?"
"I'm a photographer" Katie lied; she wanted to seem important instead of an intern who gets her boss coffee. Ramona then started crying and Tre went to her needs and Katie went back to listening to Led Zeppelin II, Tre still wanted to know who she was.
The plane was about to land and the air-hostess went up to Katie and said "Miss your CD player cannot be on right now" Katie didn't hear but saw the lips move, she pulled her hoodie down and took her headphones off and asked "What did you say?"
"Can you put your CD player off we're landing" The air-hostess told Katie, she then put her CD player away and looked out the window. Tre then looked at the girl, he knew who it was, it was Katie in disguise, it all fitted, the age, the parents, where she lived, and her job; it was Katie all along. He got kinda pissed and asked Katie "Why didn't you tell me it was you?"
"Because you should've figured it out for yourself it's not that hard, I just thought if I didn't tell you it was me you wouldn't haggle me on the flight, and this isn't a disguise, I actually wear this make-up and I do like your band and where this jumper quite a bit" Katie explained. It did make a little bit of sense to Tre but not enough, they got off the plane and Katie grabbed her suitcase from above and put her CD player back on.
She left the airport quickly and dumped her stuff in the hotel she was staying at; she picked up her stuff for the shoot and went to the studio where they were shooting. She got there and found that the band they were shooting were late because the drummer had to sort something out. Her boss was letting her do some camera work today for all her hard work. She found a table of food and tried to eat something off of it. Her boss then told her it was for the band. Katie wondered why, they had way more than enough money for food, why couldn't she have some when she hadn't seen food like this in ages. The band finally arrived; Katie didn't see who it was because she was getting her boss his umpteenth cup of coffee, she gave it to her boss not caring about the band. She again put her hood back up because she wasn't doing anything until her boss called her name so she sat down and just rested until she heard her name being screamed. The band got into position and they started shooting. Tre told the other two about Katie and they agreed with him, they also saw Katie again not knowing it was Katie sleeping on the table.
"Get your butt up, it's your turn Rookie" Katie's boss Greg shouted down her ear calling her his favourite nickname 'Rookie.' She got up and didn't put her hood down and started mumbling, she got to the camera and said to the band "Okay get into a position, I'm doing a few frames." She still had no clue of the band, Billie Joe noticed the hoodie and asked "So you're a fan of ours" Katie looked up and noticed it was Green Day and said "Ye, I've been one for quite a while now get into a position I'm only allowed a certain amount of time."
"Sure Rookie" Tre remarked, he didn't know it was Katie, but did know she hated the name rookie; anyone could of figured that out. Katie just rolled her eyes and started clicking her camera. She directed them a bit and they obeyed, they thought she was really good considering she was an intern. She put her hood down after 10 minutes and the guys noticed who it was and the three of them said in unison "Katie." Tre was fooled again and felt like an idiot; she was the same as on the plane. "Why didn't you tell us it was you?" Billie Joe asked. "Because you would've haggled me, and not act like I was a proper intern just as that little girl you've known since 15" Katie explained, they only understood a bit and carried on Katie's part of the shoot, what she thought would happen happened, they acted like she was a kid and couldn't do her job properly. Her part was over and Greg carried on the shoot, she returned to sitting down looking upon the food and wishing it was hers.
The shoot was over and Katie picked up her bag and her boss gave her the disc with the photos on it and told her to sort through the good ones and the bad ones. Billie Joe then came up to her and asked "Seriously why didn't you tell us it was you." Katie was tired and needed food and answered "The answer I gave before was true, after you found out it was me you acted as if I was a baby, I hated it, now if you don't mind I have to eat with what little money I have with me."
"Why don't you have the food on the table?" Billie Joe suggested, it was easy for him to say he didn't have a boss she thought and then replied "It isn't for me it's for the people who earn more than me."
"Look take something I insist" Billie Joe said gesturing to the food, Katie picked up a pastry and said "Happy now, I have to go." Katie started walking off while eating the pastry. Billie Joe then walked up to her and asked "Do you want to have dinner at mine, maybe stay over"
"I can't, I have a hotel to stay at" Katie told him, truly she wanted to stay at his but she felt embarrassed and a charity case. "Please, Joey would love to see you again, he misses you ever since you moved" Billie Joe said, he played the sympathy card and it worked, Katie answered "Sure, just gotta get my stuff, and can you give me a ride." Billie Joe agreed to and she went up to his car and went in, and she then thought 'Shit this is one cool ride.' She got her stuff from the hotel and she went to Billie Joe's place.
She got to the Armstrong residence and it was big, it was bigger than Katie's home in Berkeley. She went inside with Billie Joe; he opened the door and shouted out "I'm home." Adrienne came in and Katie saw a baby in her arms and she remembered that in September she found out that Adrienne gave birth to another son, he was called Jakob and Katie had yet to see him. Billie Joe showed her the guest room and she put her suitcase on the floor and her laptop on the side table. She opened her laptop up and started working, she put the disc in and viewed the pictures taken, and they were quite good, some very natural poses and some other good poses. She was sorting through them when Billie Joe came in and said "Katie dinner is ready." She went inside to the kitchen and saw it was only 6.15, then she realised Joey was only 3 so it made sense. She sat down and started eating, it was her first home-made dinner in ages and it tasted good. "So Katie I hear from Billie that you're an intern at a magazine" Adrienne said, Katie looked up and replied "Yep, I help at shoots, mainly getting my boss Greg coffee." Adrienne had a look of worry and then asked "Does he get you to do anything else for him?"
"No he doesn't sexually harass me, he hired me because he saw my portfolio" Katie told Adrienne. "Daddy what does sesally hawass mean" Joey asked Billie Joe, he didn't know what to tell his little boy so he said "It's something very bad and you should never do when your older".
"Have you got a boyfriend then?" Adrienne carried on questioning, Joey listened in to the conversation and Katie answered "Nope, but there is someone out there I like but he's taken." Adrienne wondered who it was but didn't question, they carried on eating and talking. After dinner Joey went to bed and Katie carried on with her work. Adrienne and Billie Joe went into there living room watching T.V.
It was 11.30pm when Katie finished working, she realised the time and decided it was time for bed. She thankfully was in her pyjamas she put away her laptop and pulled away the sheets, she sat down on her bed and as she did a tired Joey came in holding his teddy by its ears and rubbing his eyes. Katie went up to Joey and knelt down and asked "Joey why are you up now?"
"I can't get to sleep and I heard you working" Joey answered, the boy just had so much innocence to him. "Why couldn't you sleep?" Katie asked.
"I had a nightmare" Joey answered, Katie gestured Joey to her bed and she sat down on it and he sat down on her lap. "You know what I do when I have a nightmare" Katie told Joey. "No what?" Joey asked.
"I sing my favourite song, it's by the Beatles and it's called Octopus's Garden" Katie told Joey and he then said "Sing it to me please"
"Sure, I'm not that good though" Katie told Joey "I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus's garden in the shade, he'd let us in, knows where we've been, in his octopus's garden in the shade" Katie started singing, Joey started smiling and she carried on singing "I'd ask my friends to come and see an octopus's garden with me." She went through the song and Joey then said "Thanks Katie that made me feel much better"
"Your welcome, why did you come to me instead of your parents" Katie asked
"Because Mummy and Daddy have been caring more about Jakob than me so I don't go to them anymore" Joey answered, it upset Katie to think that Joey thought that his parents didn't care about him. She then said "They care trust me, they love you so much, I remember when you were born they couldn't keep there eyes off you."
"Okay night night Katie" Joey bid goodbye, he left Katie's room and went to his own. She got into her bed and started sleeping.
Morning came by and Katie went into the kitchen to find Billie Joe there looking on what looked like her laptop. "Billie is that mine" Katie asked.
"Ye" Billie Joe simply answered, he had no clue he was doing something wrong he just wanted to look at the pictures. Katie took it off him and said "It's mine, ask me first."
"Sorry" Billie Joe replied, Katie saw that nothing disappeared. Billie Joe returned to his toast and said "I don't think Tre has told you this but he's getting divorced." Katie's eyes widened and she then thought 'Yes!'
Tre was just hanging around New York because him, Lisea and Ramona were there on a short holiday. He looked around Central Park and looked around a dozen coffee places. He went into the local supermarket to get some drinks for later, he got water and saw someone he knew checking the price on some Lucky Charms. It was Katie, he couldn't believe it, and he hadn't seen her since the day he found out she loved him. He wondered if she still did, she hadn't changed one bit, she still had short hair this time spiked up, she still wore a lot of boys clothing and she also still had no money for the vitals as he saw her put away the Lucky Charms and look at her money seeing it was insufficient to get the cereal along with everything else. Katie picked up the shopping basket and walked on looking at the change in her hand, she walked right into Tre and all her change fell and got lost. Tre didn't stop himself from being walked into and felt like an idiot and knelt down helping Katie with her change and he heard her rambling "I'm so sorry, I'm such a klutz, sorry" she carried on until she looked up at Tre and said "Shit, I didn't mean that, fuck I'm now half down in change" looking at the money in her hand. "Look I'll pay for your stuff, and those Lucky Charms I saw you ogling" Tre told Katie. Katie's eyes widened and said "Thanks so much, we barely have enough for the vitals let alone the desired." They stood up and Tre thought to himself 'Since when was Lucky Charms desired' it then came across to him, this was exactly what he went through at 22, the guys were working in burger joints and didn't have enough money for much. Katie grabbed the Lucky Charms and put them in the shopping basket. They went up to the checkout and the woman there said after checking all the items in "That's 10.50 then" Tre paid for the items and walked out the shop.
Tre walked home with Katie and asked her "So how are you doing these days?"
"Well I'm an intern at a magazine with the photographers and well there not paying me that well, how's life for you and before you say a snide comment about the band I mean your family" Katie explained, Tre wanted to know what she meant by 'snide comment' and asked "What do you mean by snide comment?"
"Remember Thanksgiving last year I asked how you were doing and you said about Nimrod and ended it by saying 'don'tcha know' you made it seem like I was dumb somehow" Katie told Tre. He didn't know that it made her feel dumb, it was just a joke to him and he answered "Sorry about that, but my family is doing good though Ramona is one year old already, me and Lisea aren't doing so good though." Katie felt a bit happier at that, she still loved Tre dearly and when she saw him for the first time in the aisle her heart skipped a beat. "You'll get through it don't worry, well we're here home sweet home" Katie told Tre, Tre looked at the apartment building as Katie went through what looked like a dozen locks, it was definitely the New York version of where he was at 22.
They went up a load of stairs and saw the door to her apartment which also had what looked like a dozen locks. She finally finished unlocking the door and he saw the apartment, it was quite a nice apartment, it definitely had Abi's and Katie's touch to it. Katie put her keys down and said to Abi "Look Lucky Charms" and showed them to Abi. The younger of the two jumped from her work and the sofa and grabbed the Lucky Charms and asked "How? Why? Whoa I can't believe we have Lucky Charms I haven't had them since April and it's now beginning of December." Abi saw Tre and then figured out he paid for them and said "Why did you take pity money Katie, you know better."
"Because I bumped into him literally and half my change went away from me, so that pity money was needed otherwise we'd only have milk" Katie explained, Abi put the cereal down and looked at Tre. He was looking round at the apartment and at how dingy it was; she was always the smarter one out of the two girls and knew he thought it was a craphole.
Tre hung out for a while and he talked with the girls while watching some T.V. So much had happened to them since leaving university, they had jobs, had boyfriends or lack of in Katie's case, they had an apartment on the whole other side of the country and most of all they had lives beyond where they used to live. They had some lunch of a microwave dinner, it was Katie's and Abi's day off so they had nothing but time on there hands. They were just watching the 3 Stooges when the phone rang and Abi picked it up. "Hi... ye I'm at home... but it's my day off... ok I'll come in bye" Abi said, Tre and Katie didn't know what was happening on the other line just saw Abi get her bag off the floor grab a jacket and say "Gotta go into work, boss is haggling me." She bid goodbye to the duo and left for work. Tre and Katie then hung out for a while, watching Looney Tunes and talking. "So is this what you do on your day off?" Tre asked Katie, she looked at Tre and said "Ye unless I have work leftover but other than that I just watch cartoons and hang around with Abi."
"Why did you move all the way to New York?" Tre asked. Katie looked at him and saw a genuine care for why she left instead of anger. She then answered "I always lived in Berkeley and I just wanted to get out, New York always seemed like a dream, some dream eh" her tone dropped when she said 'some dream eh' and gestured round the apartment. "So why stay, why don't you leave?" Tre asked Katie. She looked down and answered "I can't, I got a job here and a life I can't just leave it."
"You had a life in good ol' Cali you left it pretty quickly" Tre remarked.
"I finished university and had to start a new, I didn't leave quickly I could've gone to university anywhere but I chose Berkeley" Katie told Tre. Katie came closer to Tre and said "Look I made the right choice, I'm a big girl." Tre came closer to Katie until they could hear each other breathing. They locked in a kiss and they felt so much sexual tension it could cut ice, Katie heard the door unlock and pulled herself away from Tre. It was Aaron and he looked like hell, he was holding about 3 dozen papers and his bag was bursting. He put everything on the table and said "My boss is such an asshole it's unbelievable, he doesn't think I would be a good social worker but he is getting me to do more work than the actual social workers."
"Hey Aaron long time no see" Tre said to Aaron, he stood up and shook Aaron's hand. Aaron's hand just flapped about and he replied "Hey, well I've got to go change bye" and he went into his room too change. Katie then shouted to Aaron "We have Lucky Charms by the by"
"Great, I haven't had since April" Aaron shouted back closing his door, Tre sat back down and Katie didn't make eye contact with him. He then said to Katie "Look we won't tell anyone, trust me" and he stood back up and left not expecting Katie to reply. She kept on looking down and Tre was about to go out and Katie said "I never stopped loving you; you know I just knew it would never work." Tre took the comment to heart and left the apartment.
He got back to the hotel, he saw Lisea there with Ramona. He walked over the bed and held Ramona, he couldn't believe his little girl was already one, she was the cutest baby ever and he never wanted to let her go. But sadly he and Lisea were getting divorced and she was going to live in New York, they were going through some rough times and they just couldn't fix them. They decided to file for divorce now as to avoid totally hating each other in the near future. Tre started to jiggle Ramona about on his knee when Lisea said "We'll be officially divorced next month, Ramona will be with me except for holidays like Christmas and Easter." It dampened Tre's mood but it had to be done at some point. He then replied "Yes, I get the house and you get the car, can we not talk about this now"
"We have to, you seem down what happened today" Lisea asked, Tre looked up at Lisea and said "Well I saw Katie today"
"How is she doing I heard she moved here?" Lisea asked, she hadn't seen Katie since the exhibition that she held. "She isn't doing so well, her apartment is shabby, she can barely buy the essentials and all three of them have bosses that make them work way too hard" Tre explained. Lisea took Ramona from Tre and put her in her cot. She then came closer to Tre and put her hand on his knee and told him "They'll be fine, trust me, all three of them, they are great kids, Katie, Abi and Aaron they can survive anything." He didn't know how she knew that Abi and Aaron lived with Katie but he didn't really care. He did make him feel better what she said.
Katie was at home with Aaron and was doing some work on her laptop. She had to sort out a commercial for a perfume. Aaron came out in some ripped up jeans and a 'Smashing Pumpkins' t-shirt, he sat down next to Katie and saw what was on the computer screen. He then said "So how do we have cereal, the last thing we had that wasn't needed was that really nice toilet paper and that involved extra time at work."
"Tre paid for it, I saw him at the store, I think he's staying here for a couple of days" Katie replied improving the picture in front of her her eyes didn't leave the screen. "You know I hate being a charity case, I'm not eating them" Aaron told Katie.
"You are, trust me, all the change got lost 'cause I bumped into Tre and your being docked an hours worth of pay, your eating it" Katie told Aaron. He had to agree, the phone rang and Aaron answered it "Hello... you want Katie, sure here she is" and then saying "It's for you." Katie took the phone off Aaron and wondered who it was, sadly it was her boss, "Hello... yes I have finished the advert... where do I have to go...what you know how much I don't want to go there... ok I'll go... bye" Katie answered the phone, her tone dropped at every sentence until she said bye. Aaron wondered what was going on until Katie said "I'm off to Oakland for a shoot" and Aaron knew why her tone dropped. They loved going home but only for holidays, if work sent them then they visited there parents and there parents asked why they didn't visit more. Katie started packing her stuff, her flight was tomorrow. She packed her CD's and CD player, she was never a good flyer and it didn't help that it was a long flight. She got fully packed and went to bed; she was anticipating what shoot it was and if she should visit her parents.
She got to the airport and got on the aeroplane, she wondered who would sit next to her. She loved to poke fun at the people next to her, she once had a fat bald man next to her that she found out owned a Ferrari and had a girlfriend who was thin and pretty, it was just the highlight of the journey. She sat down and looked out the plane window, she turned round to see someone sitting down, and it was a little girl that was no more than one. Katie thought it was someone she knew but didn't know who, then the girl's father came along and she knew who it was, it was Tre. Just her luck, Ramona sat next to her and Tre sat by the aisle, Tre didn't recognise Katie because she was in her Green Day hoodie and her hood was up because she was cold and also she had quite heavy black eyeliner on. The plane took off and Katie put her CD player on and she started to listen to Led Zeppelin. She had enough CD's to last her the plane journey and they were all Led Zeppelin. It was half-way through the journey and the air-hostesses were giving out the food.
They came to Katie, Ramona and Tre and they gave the food to Ramona and Tre just not Katie yet, "Miss Do you want some food" the fake-smiling air-hostess asked.
"No thanks, I'm not hungry" Katie answered turning her head round, the hoodie was still over her head and the air-hostess gave a look of disgust towards Katie. Tre then looked at Katie, he didn't know who she was but was intrigued by the hoodie and asked "Are you a Green Day fan?" Katie looked at Tre, she knew he didn't know who she was and answered "Ye, have been for a while"
"Why are you on a plane by yourself, you look like a teenager" Tre asked, she felt embarrassed, she was barely ever mistaken for a teen and said "No I'm 22, my parents do live in California though but I'm going for a job." Now Tre felt embarrassed, she was early 20's not a teen, he looked at her for a moment; something seemed familiar about her to him. She was 22, fan of the band and parents in California; she also lived in New York as it seemed, something familiar but didn't know what. "You seem familiar but I can't pin-point it" Tre said
"You must see teenage fans all the time; I was 17 when Dookie came out" Katie replied. Tre then asked "What's your job?"
"I'm a photographer" Katie lied; she wanted to seem important instead of an intern who gets her boss coffee. Ramona then started crying and Tre went to her needs and Katie went back to listening to Led Zeppelin II, Tre still wanted to know who she was.
The plane was about to land and the air-hostess went up to Katie and said "Miss your CD player cannot be on right now" Katie didn't hear but saw the lips move, she pulled her hoodie down and took her headphones off and asked "What did you say?"
"Can you put your CD player off we're landing" The air-hostess told Katie, she then put her CD player away and looked out the window. Tre then looked at the girl, he knew who it was, it was Katie in disguise, it all fitted, the age, the parents, where she lived, and her job; it was Katie all along. He got kinda pissed and asked Katie "Why didn't you tell me it was you?"
"Because you should've figured it out for yourself it's not that hard, I just thought if I didn't tell you it was me you wouldn't haggle me on the flight, and this isn't a disguise, I actually wear this make-up and I do like your band and where this jumper quite a bit" Katie explained. It did make a little bit of sense to Tre but not enough, they got off the plane and Katie grabbed her suitcase from above and put her CD player back on.
She left the airport quickly and dumped her stuff in the hotel she was staying at; she picked up her stuff for the shoot and went to the studio where they were shooting. She got there and found that the band they were shooting were late because the drummer had to sort something out. Her boss was letting her do some camera work today for all her hard work. She found a table of food and tried to eat something off of it. Her boss then told her it was for the band. Katie wondered why, they had way more than enough money for food, why couldn't she have some when she hadn't seen food like this in ages. The band finally arrived; Katie didn't see who it was because she was getting her boss his umpteenth cup of coffee, she gave it to her boss not caring about the band. She again put her hood back up because she wasn't doing anything until her boss called her name so she sat down and just rested until she heard her name being screamed. The band got into position and they started shooting. Tre told the other two about Katie and they agreed with him, they also saw Katie again not knowing it was Katie sleeping on the table.
"Get your butt up, it's your turn Rookie" Katie's boss Greg shouted down her ear calling her his favourite nickname 'Rookie.' She got up and didn't put her hood down and started mumbling, she got to the camera and said to the band "Okay get into a position, I'm doing a few frames." She still had no clue of the band, Billie Joe noticed the hoodie and asked "So you're a fan of ours" Katie looked up and noticed it was Green Day and said "Ye, I've been one for quite a while now get into a position I'm only allowed a certain amount of time."
"Sure Rookie" Tre remarked, he didn't know it was Katie, but did know she hated the name rookie; anyone could of figured that out. Katie just rolled her eyes and started clicking her camera. She directed them a bit and they obeyed, they thought she was really good considering she was an intern. She put her hood down after 10 minutes and the guys noticed who it was and the three of them said in unison "Katie." Tre was fooled again and felt like an idiot; she was the same as on the plane. "Why didn't you tell us it was you?" Billie Joe asked. "Because you would've haggled me, and not act like I was a proper intern just as that little girl you've known since 15" Katie explained, they only understood a bit and carried on Katie's part of the shoot, what she thought would happen happened, they acted like she was a kid and couldn't do her job properly. Her part was over and Greg carried on the shoot, she returned to sitting down looking upon the food and wishing it was hers.
The shoot was over and Katie picked up her bag and her boss gave her the disc with the photos on it and told her to sort through the good ones and the bad ones. Billie Joe then came up to her and asked "Seriously why didn't you tell us it was you." Katie was tired and needed food and answered "The answer I gave before was true, after you found out it was me you acted as if I was a baby, I hated it, now if you don't mind I have to eat with what little money I have with me."
"Why don't you have the food on the table?" Billie Joe suggested, it was easy for him to say he didn't have a boss she thought and then replied "It isn't for me it's for the people who earn more than me."
"Look take something I insist" Billie Joe said gesturing to the food, Katie picked up a pastry and said "Happy now, I have to go." Katie started walking off while eating the pastry. Billie Joe then walked up to her and asked "Do you want to have dinner at mine, maybe stay over"
"I can't, I have a hotel to stay at" Katie told him, truly she wanted to stay at his but she felt embarrassed and a charity case. "Please, Joey would love to see you again, he misses you ever since you moved" Billie Joe said, he played the sympathy card and it worked, Katie answered "Sure, just gotta get my stuff, and can you give me a ride." Billie Joe agreed to and she went up to his car and went in, and she then thought 'Shit this is one cool ride.' She got her stuff from the hotel and she went to Billie Joe's place.
She got to the Armstrong residence and it was big, it was bigger than Katie's home in Berkeley. She went inside with Billie Joe; he opened the door and shouted out "I'm home." Adrienne came in and Katie saw a baby in her arms and she remembered that in September she found out that Adrienne gave birth to another son, he was called Jakob and Katie had yet to see him. Billie Joe showed her the guest room and she put her suitcase on the floor and her laptop on the side table. She opened her laptop up and started working, she put the disc in and viewed the pictures taken, and they were quite good, some very natural poses and some other good poses. She was sorting through them when Billie Joe came in and said "Katie dinner is ready." She went inside to the kitchen and saw it was only 6.15, then she realised Joey was only 3 so it made sense. She sat down and started eating, it was her first home-made dinner in ages and it tasted good. "So Katie I hear from Billie that you're an intern at a magazine" Adrienne said, Katie looked up and replied "Yep, I help at shoots, mainly getting my boss Greg coffee." Adrienne had a look of worry and then asked "Does he get you to do anything else for him?"
"No he doesn't sexually harass me, he hired me because he saw my portfolio" Katie told Adrienne. "Daddy what does sesally hawass mean" Joey asked Billie Joe, he didn't know what to tell his little boy so he said "It's something very bad and you should never do when your older".
"Have you got a boyfriend then?" Adrienne carried on questioning, Joey listened in to the conversation and Katie answered "Nope, but there is someone out there I like but he's taken." Adrienne wondered who it was but didn't question, they carried on eating and talking. After dinner Joey went to bed and Katie carried on with her work. Adrienne and Billie Joe went into there living room watching T.V.
It was 11.30pm when Katie finished working, she realised the time and decided it was time for bed. She thankfully was in her pyjamas she put away her laptop and pulled away the sheets, she sat down on her bed and as she did a tired Joey came in holding his teddy by its ears and rubbing his eyes. Katie went up to Joey and knelt down and asked "Joey why are you up now?"
"I can't get to sleep and I heard you working" Joey answered, the boy just had so much innocence to him. "Why couldn't you sleep?" Katie asked.
"I had a nightmare" Joey answered, Katie gestured Joey to her bed and she sat down on it and he sat down on her lap. "You know what I do when I have a nightmare" Katie told Joey. "No what?" Joey asked.
"I sing my favourite song, it's by the Beatles and it's called Octopus's Garden" Katie told Joey and he then said "Sing it to me please"
"Sure, I'm not that good though" Katie told Joey "I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus's garden in the shade, he'd let us in, knows where we've been, in his octopus's garden in the shade" Katie started singing, Joey started smiling and she carried on singing "I'd ask my friends to come and see an octopus's garden with me." She went through the song and Joey then said "Thanks Katie that made me feel much better"
"Your welcome, why did you come to me instead of your parents" Katie asked
"Because Mummy and Daddy have been caring more about Jakob than me so I don't go to them anymore" Joey answered, it upset Katie to think that Joey thought that his parents didn't care about him. She then said "They care trust me, they love you so much, I remember when you were born they couldn't keep there eyes off you."
"Okay night night Katie" Joey bid goodbye, he left Katie's room and went to his own. She got into her bed and started sleeping.
Morning came by and Katie went into the kitchen to find Billie Joe there looking on what looked like her laptop. "Billie is that mine" Katie asked.
"Ye" Billie Joe simply answered, he had no clue he was doing something wrong he just wanted to look at the pictures. Katie took it off him and said "It's mine, ask me first."
"Sorry" Billie Joe replied, Katie saw that nothing disappeared. Billie Joe returned to his toast and said "I don't think Tre has told you this but he's getting divorced." Katie's eyes widened and she then thought 'Yes!'
