Just Good Friends Read Free Page B

doesn’t need you to tell her. Or anyone else, for that matter.”
    “So a man can’t even look after his wife, the way you see
it,” Koti retorted. “Pretty extreme. Is that the way it is in the States now?
Glad I don’t live there.”
    “I didn’t say that.” Kate flushed. “Just that it can be another
form of domination, if you’re not careful. A woman isn’t a child who needs to
be looked after.”
    “Reckon we should be more like women,” Koti shot back. “Sit
around and share our feelings instead. God forbid we try to protect the women
we love. It’d probably be better if we got rid of all that shocking
testosterone entirely. Because first it’s fetching a chair and holding a door,
eh. Next thing you know, she’s in a burqa.”
    “Whoa.” Hannah held up her hands. “Time out. Drew doesn’t
push me around, Kate. Far from it. And Koti, where’s all that famous charm? If
the two of you want to argue about this, how about doing it when I’m not
around? Come to think of it, how about not discussing my marriage in front of
me, too? Have a heart. Do it behind my back, like everybody else.”  
    “Sorry.” Koti looked shamefaced. “Out of line.”
    “That was so rude of me,” Kate said, chagrined. “After
everything you’ve both done, too. Sorry, Hannah. I got carried away.”
    Hannah nodded in acknowledgment. “Thanks for coming by to
say hello, Koti,” she told him. “It’s always good to see you.”
    “Dismissed.” Koti smiled ruefully. “No worries.”
    “Kind of a jerk, isn’t he?” Kate asked after Koti had left
the room, accompanied by longing looks from the female staff. “He sure thinks a
lot of himself.”
    “He’s just a flirt, that’s all,” Hannah said. “And he gets a
lot of reinforcement for it. Believe me, most women flirt back. But underneath
it all, he’s really a sweetheart.”
    “If you say so. I can’t say I got that. Just because he’s
nice to you, you like him.”
    “Well, of course I do. How else am I going to judge
somebody, except by how I see them behave?”
    “Everyone’s nice to you, though. Even me. Because everyone
knows you’re an angel on earth, and you like everybody,” Kate complained.
“That’s a lousy test. How about if you judge him by the way he behaved towards
me? Which would make him, let’s see now, a jerk.”
    “I’m not sure that was your most shining moment either,
though,” Hannah told her with a wry smile.
    “You’re right,” Kate said penitently. “And I apologize
again. But Hannah. You’ve always been my role model. You know that. You’ve
always been so strong, so independent.”
    “Don’t get me wrong,” she hurried on. “I can see how much
Drew cares about you. It’s really all right with you, though, having him talk
about looking after you?”
    “It’s really all right. I take care of him too. It works
both ways. And you’re wrong, you know,” Hannah told her gently. “I understand
why you said what you did, after the experience you’ve had. Being protective is
part of a man’s makeup, true. But it’s not the same thing as being domineering
or abusive.”
    “Who’s abusive?” Drew came up behind her.
    “Not you,” Hannah assured him.
    “I hope not,” he said, startled. “Ready to go?”
    “Sure. See you later, Kate. Thanks for entertaining me for a
few minutes. You’re still going to the game with me Friday, right?”
    “I’m counting on it. Have a nice dinner, guys.”
    Kate sighed as she watched them leave. She wished she could
think somebody would ever look at her like that. True, she could take care of
herself. But it would be nice to have someone love her that much.    
    “Be careful there.”
    Kate turned at the words. “Sorry?”
    Her neighbor Corinne, a pleasant woman in her early 30s,
nodded at her. “Dead easy on the eyes, Koti. But he’s a player. Always has an
eye out for the new girls in the office. If you want a bit of a fling, he’s
your boy. It may only be for a