Disclaimer: I don't own the Bartimaeus Trilogy. I like to name my romance stories
after songs, so Just What I Needed is a song by the Cars and it isn't mine, either.
Ch. 1

Kitty flopped down on the soft bed of her apartment in London. She brushed her hair from her eyes, sighing. The apartment was one-room, but she couldn't find it in herself to care.

It had been one year since Nouda had been killed. One year since the spirits had tried to take over. One year since Nathaniel and Bartimaeus died.

That thought still hurt her. Of course she was upset Nathaniel was dead, she had grown rather fond of him. But Bartimaeus . . .

She struggled to push his image from her mind. That witty personality, the cocky smile, and those dark eyes that were filled with so much life constantly plagued her dreams. Why couldn't she forget about him?

She had gone to Egypt for awhile and found it amazing, but painful. Everything reminded her of him. She eventually had decided that it would be better to just go back to London and start up work again, so she could focus her mind on something else.

She had resumed to work at the Frog Inn, and was happy that the owner, George Fox, didn't press her with questions. She knew he could tell something was wrong. Her unusual silence, the robotic way she did her work, and her often distracted looks were completely out of character. But she couldn't help it. She was distracted.

Kitty sat up on her bed, frustrated with herself.

"Forget about him!" she ordered herself aloud. "He's dead and gone."

She bit her lip. Saying those words hurt. She rubbed her tired eyes and decided to read a book. She'd do anything rather than go to sleep. She found sleep more painful than being awake. He was always there, smiling in his trademark way.

Forcing herself to concentrate on the book, it wasn't long until she fell asleep, unable to fight it any longer.

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Kitty . . .

Why did I keep thinking about her? Of course she was the only other one to come to the Other Place, but aside from that there was no reason.

Yeah, right. There were a million reasons why to keep thinking about her. She was strong, had a firm belief in what was right, and was fearless and stubborn to a fault. And pretty. Especially pretty.

She also reminded me of Ptolemy. And that was no small feat.

Still, she was gone and it would be best if I'd just forget about her. I should be happy. I was back home, Faquarl was dead, I killed Faquarl, and Faquarl was dead. Yep, that was a pretty complete list. I'm not too vengeful, okay maybe a little, but the fact that Faquarl, my beloved enemy, was gone gave me endless amounts of pleasure.

Still, overshadowing all that was the memory of Kitty. And, as much as I hated to admit it, I really missed her.

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Kitty woke up and groaned loudly in pain. Why did she keep dreaming about him?

She felt tears sting at her eyes, but she refused to cry. She stood up, barely aware that she'd slept in her day clothes. She grabbed her pillow and threw it, making it knock some things off a small dresser.

Screaming, she threw more things, letting her pain and anger out.

Once she succeeded in making a mess of her apartment, she yanked open a dresser drawer so roughly it fell out. She dug through its contents and got the necessary things.

As if possessed, she began drawing the pentacle, gritting her teeth against her tears. Almost delighting in the self-torture, she decided to prove to herself how gone Bartimaeus really was.

She had kept everything needed to summon him, because she couldn't find it in herself to throw it away. And she couldn't forget how to summon him even if she tried.

Once done, she took her position and said all the words that were engraved into her mind.

She stood there, soaking up the silence, letting it make her eyes watery even as she smirked at the weak part of herself.

Then something happened that shouldn't have.

There was an explosion of smoke inside the once empty pentacle. As quickly as it came, it sucked together and vanished, having become an Egyptian boy in a white loincloth who was smiling darkly.

Kitty froze. She was even sure her heart stopped.

The boy's smile turned into a genuine one. "Hey, Kitty! Honestly, I didn't think you'd be summoning me so soon. In fact, I didn't think you'd be summoning me at all. What made you think I wasn't dead?"

Kitty's voice wouldn't work. She stared at him. Then, still frozen, she fainted, making a loud thud on the floor.

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