3The day of the engagement party soon dawned, and Leslie was up and raring. "Morning, Kath!" she said, jumping on her best friend's bed and shaking her.
Kath groaned. "Why aren't you asleep?" She tried to pull the blankets over her head, but Leslie grabbed them and yanked them back down.
"C'mon sleepyhead! It's already 8:30, and you've got your enagement party at one!"
"You're right." Katherine yawned and sat up, pulling off her fluffy violet sleep mask. "I guess I'll make some breakfast." She rubbed her eyes.
"Already done." Leslie grinned. "Toast, scrambled eggs, and smoothies."
Katherine smiled. "This is why I have you for a best friend." Both girls walked into the kitchen. "Where's your mom?"
Leslie rolled her eyes. "She's still sleeping, and probably won't wake up until ten." Both girls sat down at the table, and began to talk. "Who's coming?"
"All Jack's brothers-"
"He has brothers?"
"No. He calls them his brothers, but they're really just his friends. So them, and there's at least ten, Spot and his girlfriend Smalls, my dad, his girlfriend, and her daughter."
"Woah!" Leslie blinked. "Your dad has a girlfriend?"
"Yeah. His secretary Hannah. She was married, but her husband died a couple years. She and Dad have been going steady for six months or so."
"Wow. I guess stranger things have happened." Leslie shook her head. "Where are we going?"
"Oh, you'll love it! It's called the Brooklyn Winery, and..."
"Finally!" Leslie pointed at her mother emerging from her bedroom. "The beast awakes. Fully dressed and makeup-ed, too."
Medda glared at her daughter as she patted her braided bun one more time. "I have to get my beauty sleep, honey."
"Sure." Leslie ducked to avoid her mother's swat and ran into her room to get dressed.
Race rubbed his finger over the rim of his Coke glass. From his vantage point, he could see the whole interior space of the Brooklyn Winery, and he liked it that way.
The door opened. Jack and Kath walked in, followed by two others. Race practically spit out his cigar as he noticed the tall African American woman behind Jack, leaning against the doorframe and laughing at something he said. "Who's that?" He asked Crutchie.
"That's Leslie, Katherine's maid-of-honor. Didn't Jack say she'd be here?"
"Yeah, but I didn't know she'd look like that." Race plucked his cigar out of his mouth and continued talking. "She's cute."
Davey looked at him sharply. "We're here to celebrate Jack and Kath, Race. Not to flirt with some girl. We don't need drama or awkwardness at the wedding."
"Poor, boring David." Race gave him a look of feigned condescension. "You're never gonna get a girlfriend. Oh look, they're comin' over!"
Katherine walked over, Leslie following her. She slid into a seat as Katherine introduced her. "Boys, this is Leslie, my maid-of-honor."
"Hey, Crutchie," said Leslie, smiling at him, then turning to the other boys.
"I'm Davey," he said, reaching over the table to shake Leslie's hand and giving Race a look that said 'no nonsense.' Race, as usual, paid no heed and plunged ahead.
"I'm Racetrack."
Leslie's eyebrows rose. "Racetrack?"
"I ran track in college."
Leslie nodded, and Katherine squeezed her shoulder. "Have fun!"
As soon as Kath disappeared, Race turned to Leslie. "So, you available Saturday?"
Leslie didn't look fazed, only smiled a little. "Sorry. I'm having a headache this weekend."
The rejection stung a little, but Race was a quick thinker. "Aw, c'mon. Lower your standards a little." He smirked. "I just did."
Crutchie shook with silent laughter as Davey rubbed his temples.
After eating, Katherine and Jack stood up. "We're gonna play How Well do You Know the Couple," said Katherine with a huge smile.
"There's some notebooks and pens in the middle of the table," added Jack. "That's where you'll write down your answers."
After everyone flipped open their notebooks, Jack continued with instructions. "I'll ask Kath ten questions, and you write down what you think for both of us. At the end we'll read off the answers." He proceeded to the first question on his list. "What's your favorite holiday, Kath?"
After much deliberation, the questions were over. "First answer," announced Kath. "What's my favorite holiday? The answer is...Christmas!"
Race saw Leslie silently pump her fist. "My favorite holiday," added Jack. "Is Thanksgiving. 'Cause you get all the food!"
There was an eruption of laughter.
"What's our favorite foods?" Kath grinned. "Mine is spaghetti and meatballs."
"Mine is tacos."
"Huh." Race rubbed his chin. The boys had always eaten at Jacobi's Deli, but now Race was beginning to think about other places Jack might want to eat.
"Next question. The first thing on my bucket list is to get commissioned to write an article about a new Broadway musical's opening night." She held up her crossed fingers.
"Mine's to go to Santa Fe," said Jack. Race saw Crutchie smile thoughtfully.
"What are three things I'd bring to a deserted island?" Kath grinned. "My notebook, my flashlight, and Jack."
"And I'd bring my pencils, my sketchbook, and Kath." The crowd aawed as the two looked into each other's eyes and grinned.
"All time favorite movie," read Jack. "Mine's The Empire Strikes Back."
Always a nerd, thought Race.
"Tangled," said Kath with a grin. "Next question is, what's my dream job?" She grinned. "Living the dream already. I'm a journalist!"
"Mine would be a comic book artist, or just an artist." said Jack. Race grinned, thinking of all the times Jack had stayed up well past four in the morning working on one detail in a drawing, such as a character's eyes or the symmetry of a building, or the times he had yelled at Race for moving a drawing.
"Now we get into the fun questions," said Jack, a wicked smile crossing his face. "How many people have I dated before you?'
"Zero. Nobody wanted to put up with you." Jack swatted Katherine. "According to me, I have never dated anyone before, but if you ask Jack, he insists I was going strong with my friend Darcy before I met him."
"'Cause you were!"
Katherine ignored him. "Next. My favorite color is...orange." Race saw Leslie grin across the table.
"Mine's blue. Now, who's my favorite Disney princess?"
The audience laughed. "Mine's honestly Mulan," said Katherine.
"Yeah!" Leslie clapped her hands together.
"Mine's also Mulan." The whole room burst into applause.
"Last question," said Jack. "Favorite songs. Mine's Believer by Imagine Dragons."
"I like Symphony by Clean Bandit." Everyone began to clap, but Katherine held up her hand. "Now, bonus round!" Surprise twisted Jack's face. "Jack. When did we first kiss in public?"
Jack rubbed the back of his neck, a vein straining in his forehead. After a moment of heart-thumping silence, he finally spoke. "We went on a road trip, and the sun was settin' over Lady Liberty...I told you no other girl could ever be prettier than you." He blushed slightly as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.
There was awed silence for a moment, which was then broken by thunderous applause.
Hey you guys! I hope you like this chapter. I thought the How Well Do You Know the Couple game was a fun way to introduce my modern AU characters' preferences. It was a lot of fun to write. I think the second romance in this story is starting to show itself ;) Anything you'd like to see? Please leave me a review and let me know!
Percie Jean: I'm glad you liked those things. That's just the modern AU stuff my brain churns out. I literally spend hours (not kidding) fantasizing about different AUs. Hope you're enjoying it so far.
