Donnie fixed a smile on his face as Joe and his girlfriend made their way over to his table, each carrying a Costa coffee. He reminded himself that it wouldn't kill him to give them an hour of his time.

"Donnie, you remember Katherine?" Joe said after they sat down.

"Hi, it's nice to see you again Katie," he said his eyes briefly falling on the brunette.

"It's Katherine or Kat," she said giving him a smile that was bordering on a grimace. "Katie makes me sound like a ten-year-old."

"Okay, I've got it." He ignored Joe's pointed look as he fast recalled why he'd avoided spending any time with them. Katherine was painfully uptight. He'd thought it was shyness at first, but when she rebuffed his every attempt at conversation, he'd concluded that she wasn't a people person. Or maybe she just didn't like him?

"So," Joe said looking awkwardly from Donnie to Kat. "I was discussing your situation with my dad and whether we could put some work your way. Some of the properties we rent out need a a fair bit of renovating."

Some of the properties we rent out, Donnie thought sarcastically. He guessed Joe was trying to big himself up in front of Katherine but rumour had it he was little more than an overpaid errand boy.

"And what did Adam say?" he asked trying not to be churlish. No doubt there would be strings attached somewhere down the line.

"Well we have our own guys for the big projects but I think we can put some of the smaller jobs your way."

"Great," he said trying to inject some enthusiasm in his voice. It wasn't ideal but it would get him through the winter months, and frankly, he couldn't afford to be choosy.

"So long as you don't let us down," Joe warned. "I'm kinda going out on a limb for you."

"Thanks," he said through gritted teeth, and they fell into an awkward silence.

"So is Donnie short for Donald," Katherine asked abruptly. "It's just we were talking about derivatives for my name so I was wondering about yours." She arched her eyebrows quizzically and he wasn't sure if she was being rude or desperately trying to change the topic of conversation.

"Nah, it's not short for Donald," he said with a small frown. "You've heard of Versace right?" Katherine nodded. "Well, I was named after Donatella but since that's a girl's name." He pulled a face for good effect. "I decided to go by Donnie."

"Oh," she said frowning. "I can see why you'd do that but did your parents actually give you a girl's name?"

"Absolutely."

"Shut up," Joe said shaking his head. "He's winding you up Kat, he was named after his grandfather, and since it's a shit name he makes up all these dumb stories to explain it away."

"I see," she said, the hint of a smile playing on her lips. "I guess that's better than being named after Donald Trump."

"Yeah it could be worse," he said thinking he'd best not tease her any more, not when she was opening up a little. "So what brings you to Boston? Joe said you grew up in California."

She cheeks reddened and she cleared her throat. "It's kind of embarrassing really but my mom's an actress, or she was, so all my life she pushed me into singing, acting, dancing and I hated it." Her flush deepened. "But somehow I got accepted into Julliard so I had to go."

"Wow, you must be pretty talented."

She shook her head. "No way, I always felt like I was playing a part."

"Isn't that the point?"

"I guess but the guys around me they were so committed, so intense." She took a deep breath, "Anyway, I dropped out and transferred to Boston University."

"Which was lucky for me," Joe said squeezing her hand. "We'd never have met if you'd gone back to California."

Katherine laughed. "There was no way I was going home to face the wrath of my mom, not after I'd thrown away her dream."

Donnie nodded, he could certainly relate to that. "So who is your mom, anyway?"

Katherine grimaced. "Marsha Travers, I doubt you'll have heard of her, she was a bit of a one-hit-wonder."

Donnie paused, trying to put a face to the name. "You're kidding! I used to watch her movies all the time."

"They weren't her movies, she was the support act," Katherine said rolling her eyes. "She always played the best friend of the romantic lead until she got too old to pass as a teenager. Then her career pretty much dried up."

"Well, I liked her," he said thinking she was being rather disparaging. "I have fond memories of watching those movies on cable during summer vacation."

"It was different for me," Katherine said looking towards Joe to back her up. "I got mocked at school cos she was a has-been or a wannabe, I hated when her movies were shown."

"Kids are cruel," Joe quickly added.

"Yes, they are." She stood up, straightening her already straight skirt and brushing down her jacket. "If you'll excuse me for a moment." She made her way to the restroom and Donnie sat back looking at joe.

"I didn't mean to upset her."

Joe waved his hand. "Forget about it. She's got a few issues where her mom's concerned."

"Right," he said thinking that was an understatement. "So are you still planning to move in together?"

"Of course, I'd be a fool not to," Joe said his brows furrowing. "Kat's as near to perfect as I'm gonna get. She's smart, good looking-"

"Sense of humour failure?"

"Two out of three's not bad."

Donnie nodded, he wasn't sure why he felt doubtful but it was none of his business anyway. "I was talking to Greg the other day, I had him look over my accounts."

"Greg Slater?"

"Is there another Greg in accounts?" he asked tongue in cheek. "He was saying Shannon's coming home for a couple of weeks." He watched Joe's reaction carefully. The glass he was raising to his mouth was slowly lowered, and he shuffled awkwardly in his seat.

"Shannon's done with me, she made that plain enough."

"But you were friends since you were in diapers."

"Urgh, don't remind me," Joe said fake wincing.

"This could be your chance to clear the air with her."

Joe shook his head. "She cut me off without any real explanation, I've got nothing to say to the girl."

"How about hello? If you're over her, you can at least make small talk."

"Of course, I'm over her," Joe snapped scowling. "But what's the point in raking up the past? She threw our relationship away - our friendship aside - as if it meant nothing."

Yep, you're totally over it.

"Okay, I just thought you should know," he said shrugging. "I didn't want to hide it from you."

"No, it's fine," Joe said placatory. "But there's no going back now."

"I guess not." His thoughts turned to Annalise again. They hadn't had their 'date' yet but he knew she was moving on. A woman like Anna didn't waste any time, she had plenty of options, options that were better than him.

"So what have I missed?" Katherine asked as she rejoined them

"Not a lot," he said ignoring the hard look Joe gave him. "I was just telling Joe an old family friend is coming home for a few weeks."

Joe kicked him under the table. "And I was saying I'll probably be too busy to see them."

"Oh, that's a shame," Katherine said obliviously. "You should try to catch up with them, friends and family are so important. I wish my family were closer."

"Okay," Joe said taking her hand. "If I find the time I will, but I'm snowed under with work so it doesn't look likely."

Katherine wrinkled her brow. "You work too hard, you need to ease up."

Joe laughed ruefully. "Easier said than done when your father's the big boss."

"You have to put your wellbeing first," she said smiling softly.

Donnie looked away, having had enough of their smug coupledom. He was about to make his excuses to leave when his phone pinged. Sliding it out of his pocket he saw it was a message from Chloe; he'd almost forgotten about her.

Hi I know we left things kinda abruptly but if you want to get together sometime...