"This is ridiculous. I'm not going to stand around here and fight about this."
Simon almost made it out of the kitchen to walk into the living room but Katherine's arm was a little quicker and blocked his only exit. He rolled his eyes and met Katherine's glare. Thinking to himself, 'Ok, maybe this isn't as ridiculous as I make it out to be.' he turned his body to hers.
"What do you want me to do? Tell my only life-long friend that he'll have to spend his first night of the only three nights back home that he'll have to go party without me? Kath, I only get to see him once every three years if I'm lucky. I can't cancel our plans of hanging out because your parents decide they want to have dinner with us."
Katherine turned to pace and made a small growling noise in her throat. Men just don't understand.
"Simon, this dinner is very important. It's my entire family and they want us to announce our engagement. You know how difficult it is for my whole family to be together in one room, so next time we may see them is the wedding- if we're lucky."
Simon let out a sigh and looked towards the window where a fresh bolt of lightning just shot through the sky. 'Great', he thought, 'Now it's going to rain too.' He walked to the fridge and popped the top on a fresh beer. Looking at Katherine he said, "So what do you want to tell them?"
Shocked, she looked at his face with a gaped expression as he took a long pull from his beer. "You are proposing that we skip dinner with my family?"
She planted her hands on her hips in a stance that told Simon that a fight was rapidly approaching if it already wasn't here. "I hope that was a joke because I am not about to cancel my grandparents' fiftieth wedding anniversary dinner just so you and Kyle can go get drunk together. Absolutely not."
Simon was close to apologizing. He even had a reasonable solution in his head, but before he could even open his mouth to form the words 'I'm sorry', she hit him with a swift one.
"Simon, it's me or Kyle. You have to choose who is more important right now. Either me or him and we are not leaving this kitchen until you give me an answer." She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin in a final pout before blocking the exit one more time. This time for good.
"Don't you dare make me choose between the man I've known my whole life and the woman I'm going to spend the rest of that life with. Don't!" He felt a small panic creeping up his neck when he realized that was exactly what she was doing.
'What am I doing?' Katherine thought to herself. She got in over her head on this argument. Her temper has the best of her and she must stand firm. 'I don't hate Kyle and I don't care if Simon and him are friends. I'm turning into one of those girlfriends I hate seeing- controlling, bitter and selfish. Well, we'll see. If he chooses me that I'll tell him he doesn't have to stop talking to Kyle.' She clenched her teeth as she watched Simon balling his hands into fists. 'God help him if he chooses Kyle.'
The silence of the kitchen was broken by a crash of thunder and before anyone could react, the power went out but they both heard Katherine gasp loudly.
'Perfect', they both thought instantly, but didn't say anything out loud. They are accustomed the darkness during thunderstorms- it happens enough that they don't think too hard about it. The problem will be fixed in an hour or so and until then they wait it out. But Katherine's panic began with the first crash of thunder.
They both stubbornly stood still, waiting for the other to say something. The only small window in the room offered no light unless there was a flash of lightning, but besides the occasional heavenly flicker, they were blind as bats.
Simon moved first and bumped solidly into Katherine. "Where are you going?" she asked a bit snobbier than she intended.
I'm going to her the candles from the living room. If we're going to fight, I'd like to at least see where you are so I can dodge anything you throw at me." He began walking again and bumped into her once more. "Katherine, I'm serious."
