Chapter Text
‘Katherine?’
The girl, who had been gripping the keys in her hand, seems to relax as the presence she felt behind her reveals itself to be another girl.
‘Katherine Howard?’
She turns around, wary, ‘Yes?’
Nothing good had ever come from people full naming her.
‘It’s me. Mary.’
Katherine looks at the girl up and down, no sign of recollection. ‘I have known plenty of Marys in my life.’
‘Mary, daughter of Henry, sister of Elizabeth and Ed—’
Mary can see the recognition hitting, and sheer, abject terror invading the other girl’s eyes. ‘Is he back?’
‘No. Not as far as I know, at least. I’m with my mother.’
Katherine almost slumps in relief, before she peers at Mary guardedly. ‘What do you want?’
Mary opens her mouth. Then closes it. She hadn’t thought so far ahead. ‘Why aren’t you more surprised?’
‘If I am back, why not other people?’ Katherine shrugs. ‘I don’t fancy myself so special.’
‘That’s a change,’ Mary snarks.
‘I never did. Prettier maybe, certainly younger, but I was the fifth wife...trust me, I knew I was not that special,’ Katherine replies. ‘But nice to know some things are still the same. I certainly didn’t miss you going out of your way to make your disrespect known.’ She gives Mary a fake smile. ‘Now, if that was all...’ without waiting for a response, she turns on her heels and walks away.
/
‘What now?’ Katherine groans as Mary approaches the counter. ‘Coming to bother me when I can’t leave?’ Unlike the other day, when she was locking up, she can’t exactly leave in the middle of her shift.
‘Shouldn’t you be nicer to customers?’
Kat closes her eyes and visibly takes a deep breath. ‘How can I help?’ she asks, bright, plastic smile now on her face.
‘That’s creepy.’
‘You’re creepy.’
‘Kat, everything fine?’
She smiles, a genuine if small one, at her colleague. ‘Just an old,’ she sends a smirk at Mary, ‘acquaintance.’
‘I love when you talk all proper like that,’ her co-worker teases her. ‘Want to take a break and catch up?’
‘Oh, no, Meg, it’s not necessary.’
‘Yes, thank you.’
Kat and Mary glare at each other.
‘You two are funny,’ Megan says chuckling, before shooing Kat away and taking over her place at the counter.
‘Kat?’ Mary raises an eyebrow.
‘Pray tell me, why are you here? What do you want from me?’
‘Aren’t you curious?’
‘About you?’ From the tone it is clear the answer is no.
‘Do you know if anyone else is back?’
‘No.’
‘No, you don’t know, or no, nobody is back?’
‘I don’t know, and frankly I don’t care.’
‘Sorry to interrupt,’ it is a young woman whose nametag reads Ruth, ‘Kat, are you still–’
‘Yes, sorry, I’m done here.’
‘No, no, not that, still got ten minutes, I just wanted to double-check you were still okay with covering my shift.’
‘It’s the third time you ask me. Stop worrying and go get ready.’
‘I owe you one,’ Ruth smiles at her, ‘you’re truly an angel.’
‘Seems like a friendly lot...Kat,’ Mary comments.
‘Work sucks most of the time, at least the people are nice,’ Kat simply states. ‘I won’t say it has been a pleasure, but I have to go.’
‘Can I come back?’ For the first time Mary sounds unsure.
‘Can I stop you?’
/
‘Why are you lurking in the dark?’
‘I was waiting for you.’
‘Not making it any better,’ Kat informs her, ‘couldn’t you come in?’
‘You didn’t seem happy last time.’
‘So you thought staying outside, in the dark, waiting for me to lock up would make me happier?’
‘Are you hungry?’ Mary asks instead of replying.
‘Are you paying?’
.
‘How did you even know?’ Kat asks. ‘Assuming you don’t just go up to every girl called Katherine and expect her to miraculously recognise you. I mean, Mary is a common name. And you look...’
‘It’s not that bad, is it?’ Mary looks down at herself self-consciously, frowning.
‘You’re beautiful, I just mean that you look completely different from before. Just like I do. So how did you expect me to recognise you?’
‘You think I’m beautiful?’ Mary straightens up, pleased expression on her face.
‘I think you’re a pain in the ass.’
‘Such language,’ Mary scolds her jokingly.
‘No, but...seriously. How did you know?’
‘I sort of noticed you at school. There was just something about you. I ignored it,’ Mary tells her. ‘But then I recently met some ex-schoolmates and they wanted to make conversation,’ she sounds annoyed, ‘and they started to go through every mutual acquaintance and what they knew, where they are now...and you come up. And I had no idea who you were. The girl with the choker and the pink hair, they told me. And of course I remembered you. And then they told me the name. And...younger girl with a familiar name giving me a familiar feeling? I had to try.’
‘And what if you were wrong?’
‘Well, I was not, was I?’ Mary raises her glass as if to cheer to herself, giving Kat a smug smile.
/
‘Your girlfriend is here.’
‘No, no, no. She is not my girlfriend. She is barely my friend!’ Kat corrects her colleague.
‘Wish I had a barely friend picking me up once a week and taking me to dinner.’
‘Not to look a gift horse in the mouth,’ Kat says at said dinner, ‘but why do you keep coming?’
‘Are you calling me a horse?’
‘I don’t consider you a gift so no.’
‘Funny.’
‘I meant the food,’ Kat fixates her with a look. ‘And you didn’t answer me.’
Mary hesitates visibly. ‘If I tell you, you’re never going to let me live it down.’
‘Probably not.’
Mary draws back in surprise.
‘What?! If I can make fun of you, I probably will.’
‘Are you not even going to pretend?’
‘You would do the same.’
Mary stops to think about it for a few second, before nodding. ‘True.’
‘Well?’
‘You’re my only friend.’ Mary takes the leap.
‘That’s...sad.’
‘That’s it?’ She expected more of a reaction. If only to deny they are friends.
‘Resorting to befriending your most hated step-mother–’
‘That was Anne.’
‘Resorting to befriending me…’ Kat restarts, ‘could you go any lower? I don’t want to add insult to injury.’
‘You’re...not that bad.’
‘Glowing recommendation,’ Kat comments sarcastically.
‘You spend half of your time insulting me.’
‘And yet you keep coming back.’
‘I feel the most like myself when I’m with you.’
Kat has nothing to say following that.
/
‘Come on, go ahead.’
‘What?’ Mary, who was looking around speechless, murmurs.
‘Make a dig at place. Perhaps about me never being worthy of being a queen and this being a much more accurate reflection of my status.’
Kat had known she would be inviting scrutiny, but she was tired and drenched, and she had just wanted to go home, even if that meant taking Mary with her.
‘Do you ever talk about the past in...a good way?’
‘Oh, yeah, because I have so many good memories...’
‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t worry, you are not even close to the worst ones.’
‘You really live here?’
‘Not everyone has mummy dearest.’
‘What about your family?’
‘About as good as before. Except there was no step-grandmother to take me in, for whatever good it did me, so it was foster care.’ Kat shrugs. ‘Not that bad. Now I got a place on my own. No weird people around,’ she looks at Mary, ‘usually.’
‘I don’t remember you being this sarcastic back then.’
‘Oh, you mean when anytime I opened my mouth, I risked getting beheaded.’
‘And instead it was opening your legs–’
‘Get out.’
‘Katherine.’ Mary had known the moment the words left her mouth that she had messed up.
‘Get the fuck out.’
‘I’m sorry–’
‘Out. Or I’ll do it myself and the rain will be the least of your problems.’
/
‘It’s me! Mary!’ she yells, hands raised in the air. ‘Why do you have a knife?’
‘To protect myself. I don’t know if you noticed, but it is not the safest area.’ Kat gestures to the surroundings with the knife, before looking at Mary stone-faced. ‘What do you want?'
‘To apologise,’ Mary tells her sincerely. ‘But maybe inside? I didn’t want to do it at your work.’
Kat doesn’t move.
‘At least put the knife down?’
The younger girl seems to realise she is still pointing the blade at her and she lowers it. With a flick of her wrist, she closes the butterfly knife and slides it in her pocket.
‘Nice trick.’ Mary looks impressed.
‘If you’re lucky, you won’t see the others.’ Kat reminds her that she has some grovelling to do before they can go back to their usual frenemity.