That was saddening. Knowing where Tony was coming from with it (his laughter) was even more saddening and made it that much more difficult to keep together her glass smile. Kate blinked and glanced away after he recollected himself. "Oh no, I'm okay now, thank you," she breathed, rushing all the words out so she wouldn't choke on them. Her heart was palpitating with anticipation for the next emotional drop--this was probably why she didn’t like roller coasters--and took in a deep breath to stall herself from mounting toward it. Making an escape to the bathroom was tempting, but that was too easy and too dangerous, she wondered if Tony had ever dealt with a girl who’d lock herself in the bathroom to sob before. Kate didn’t want to face that shame.
She rubbed away the gloss from her eyes and then the back of her neck. “Guess this calls for some readjustment,” she murmured sullenly. That was about all the control she had in this situation. Kate frowned deeply. Taking a mental health day was definitely in order, though probably not today, she had other commitments. “Does everyone else know?” She was mostly referring to the west coast team, and maybe even more specifically Clint; she liked to update him on things, but if he already knew, she wasn’t going to say anything--she couldn’t see that conversation going smoothly on her part. Kate was asking out of curiosity anyway.