'So what's Katherine like?' Shannon asked Donnie as he steered her into a quiet corner of the party. He frowned slightly as his eyes fell on Kat.

'She's nice, she doesn't like me too much,' he said, and Shannon raised her eyebrows eager for him to continue.

'I guess I rub her up the wrong way, she's sorta prim and proper and I'm more rough around the edges,' he admitted and Shannon laughed.

'You do put your foot in it,' she said taking a sip of what passed for champagne. 'And you are kinda direct.'

'Yeah, take earlier. I was complimenting her mom on her old movies since she used to be an actress, and Kat was getting all worked up.' He looked over at her again, she'd had Joe's hand in a vice-like grip since Shannon had arrived.

'Oh that's why she looks familiar,' Shannon said with a fleeting sense of recognition.

'Yeah she was in quite a few flop movies.'

'Well I hope you didn't point that out,' Shannon said knowing tact wasn't his strong point.

'No some of them were pretty good. I used to watch them on cable when I skipped school but I guess Kat wouldn't approve of that either,' he said shaking his head.

'Neither would Joey, he never skipped school,' Shannon said. 'Oh apart from this one time...'

'Yeah?' Donnie asked wiggling his eyebrows.

'It doesn't matter,' she said blushing.

'That sounds like a story I want to hear,' he teased as she put her hands up to her cheeks.

'No, it's certainly not a story that would be appropriate to tell at Joey's engagement party.'

'Sounds like something for the best man's speech,' Donnie said watching her squirm.

She cleared her throat. 'So what are you doing these days?' she asked wanting to change the subject.

'I set up a company doing landscape gardening,' he said letting her off the hook. 'It keeps me out of trouble, and at least I get out and about.'

'I couldn't imagine you stuck in an office for ten hours a day,' Shannon said and he shook his head.

'Nah, that's my idea of hell. I guess you think the same?'

'Sort of, I mean after I finished college I didn't have a clue what to do. Then I went to this careers event with a friend and before I knew it she'd signed us up for this taster session with Qatar airlines and the rest's history,' she said wishing she'd had more ambition or direction.

'So what's your uniform like?' Donnie asked and Shannon rolled her eyes.

'Red skirt, red jacket, red heels, red lipstick,' she said wryly.

'I bet you look sexy in it,' he said grinning.

'Donnie! How much have you been drinking?' She tried to act outraged.

'Not a lot, I've been too busy keeping you company, and I bet you're glad that I have.'

'You have a high opinion of yourself,' she retorted.

'No I don't, but I can see you'd rather be anywhere but here,' he said more seriously.

'It's that obvious?' She'd thought she'd been putting on the perfect act.

'Only cos I know you,' he said, and she guessed he still remembered eighteen-year-old Shannon who masked her insecurities by being over exuberant.

'It's not easy being here,' she admitted sipping her wine and hoping a waiter would soon be over with a refill. 'I finished with Joey but it wasn't because I didn't care, I honestly thought we were too young to settle down.'

'You don't have to justify yourself to me,' Donnie said finishing his own drink and trying to catch a waiter's eye.

'I know,' Shannon said and then continued to do so. 'I thought we'd either wind up miserable or we could cut our losses and enjoy life. I was being selfish of course, cos I was away from home and I wanted to have fun.'

'I'm sure Joe understood deep down, and it's not like he pined for eternity,' Donnie joked as a waiter topped up both their glasses.

'Well he clearly didn't pine for long,' Shannon said looking at Katherine. It was dumb but it upset her that Joe had settled down first. At college she'd not been short of offers but none of her relationships had gone the distance.

~~~~

Katherine kept taking surreptitious glances at Shannon, and every time she saw her she thought she looked a little bit prettier. She didn't understand it, she'd known what she looked like, but she'd seemed so unassuming in the photos. In the flesh she was more attractive. She was still with Donnie but they'd been joined by some more of Joe's friends, and they were all clearly enjoying themselves. More than she was at any rate.

'I'll be glad when this is over,' she told Joe.

'Are you not enjoying yourself?' he asked frowning. 'I thought it was turning into a pretty good night.'

'I'm tired. Making polite conversation with people I barely know is draining,' she admitted.

'Well why don't you go and talk with your friends,' he suggested. 'You've spent enough time with my family.' She looked over at her girlfriends Danielle and Eva and thought about joining them when she caught Joe glancing at his friends who were surrounding Shannon. No doubt it was a big reunion for them.

'I'm fine,' she insisted. He looked at her doubtfully, and she smiled. 'If I can't handle this then how am I going to get through the wedding day!'

'You make it sound like attending your own execution.'

'This is just a bit out of my comfort zone that's all,' she told him. 'It's one of the reasons I gave up on performing arts, I didn't like being the centre of attention.'

'You are an introvert,' he said teasing her.

'You say that like it's a bad thing,' she said testily.

'No I don't, I'm pretty sure I'm one as well,' he said chuckling. 'I like my space.'

'I guess that's why we get on so well,' she said and briefly kissed him. Out the corner of her eye she thought she caught Shannon watching them but she couldn't be certain.

'Let's go talk to the guys then,' he said squeezing Katherine's hand. Kat was less than pleased but she knew if she'd joined her friends he'd have gone over without her. The group opened up making room for them, and Katherine felt acutely aware of every nuance.

'So where are you working?' Joe asked Shannon when there was a break in the conversation.

'I'm based out of Logan International now.'

'That's convenient,' Joe said and Shannon nodded. Katherine felt relieved she wasn't particularly engaging with him.

'I've been trying to convince Shannon to demonstrate her uniform for me,' Donnie said coming to the rescue. 'But for some reason, she won't.'

'I can't think why that is Donnie,' Joe said forcing a laugh.

'What I thought was we could do a bit of role play,' Donnie said and the guys laughed but Katherine felt a bit disgusted.

'The only role-playing I'd do with you Donnie is where you're the disruptive passenger and I strap you to the seat and duct tape your mouth!' Shannon retorted laughing.

'Now you're talking,' Donnie said, and Katherine could see even Joe was laughing.

'Have you ever had to do that?' Joe asked Shannon.

'Not me personally but I've been on flights where it's happened,' she said sounding more relaxed than earlier.

'I can't imagine you manhandling someone,' Joe said.

'No I'm a bit too small, I leave that stuff to the guys.'

Katherine felt her smile become more forced as Joe and Shannon made small talk. Evidently, Shannon must have picked up on her displeasure as she turned to her smiling. 'So Katherine, what do you do?

'Oh I'm a librarian, that's how me and Joe met.'

'Really? Your eyes met over the bookshelves?' Shannon asked.

'Pretty much, and we got talking,' Katherine said hating how stilted she sounded.

'That's so sweet. Maybe one day I'll meet my future husband whilst serving an in-flight meal.' Kat laughed but she still felt tense.

'Wasn't that the only reason you took the job?' Donnie asked teasing Shannon again.

'You heard!' she exclaimed playing along, and Katherine made herself smile. She thought that if she could speak to Shannon alone they'd get along fine, however in front of all the guys she couldn't keep the conversation going. It didn't help that she so busy monitoring Joe's reactions to Shannon that she couldn't relax.

~~~~~

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