by Mia Archer
I turned and looked at Megan who was grinning at me. I wanted to punch her in the face. Apparently my desire to punch her in the face was pretty clearly communicated through that look because she held up her hands defensively and took a step back.
“You can still get a cab and leave,” Megan said. “But I’m going to say my piece. I heard your argument last night and I think she had some good points. I think you’re maybe a little afraid and maybe looking for any excuse you can find to run away from what’s probably the best damn thing to happen to you in awhile.”
I balled my hand into a fist, anger pumping through me, but then I released it. I let out a sigh and all the tension I’d been feeling all morning drained out of me.
“You really think so?” I asked.
Megan stepped forward and wrapped me in a hug. “Just do what feels right Amber. Don’t go crazy over thinking things or thinking about all the ways something could go wrong. Let something go right for a change. Hear what she has to say and then make your decision, because I can always book you on a later flight.”
I blinked. "A later flight? What do you mean?"
Megan at least had the good grace to blush, though not by much. She wasn't the kind of person who felt much in the way of shame. Particularly when she was meddling.
"You think I'm going to waste a bunch of money on a plane ticket when I know this is in the works?"
"You knew?"
The blush deepened, but again not by much. "Let's just say your girlfriend over there has ways of tracking people down in Tales of Elassa and she recruited me for this."
"If this doesn't work out I'm never trusting you again," I said with a laugh.
Megan let out a laugh of her own. "Yeah, you'll at least need to trust me enough to use my credit card and take advantage of the low rent house I have, so I'm not too worried."
I sighed as she released the hug and turned to look behind me. There was still a clear path back to the skywalk and then the hotel if I wanted to escape. Apparently everyone at the convention had gathered in this hall. Waiting for me. I couldn’t believe there was an entire convention of people waiting for me. How had Kaitlyn even managed to pull that off?
I seriously considered escape, only something stopped me. I turned and looked at the crowd again. At everybody staring in absolute silence, all of them hopeful, and then I looked down at that lone figure standing at the head of the crowd.
Kaitlyn had gone to this much trouble. I might regret it, I might decide it was the most ridiculous decision I ever made, but I figured the least I owed her was hearing her out if she went to all this trouble. Wasn't I the one hoping for a grand romantic gesture last night? Something straight out of the movies or a cheesy book? Well here it was, so I at least owed it to her to hear her out. I still couldn’t quite believe that this was all for my benefit, but after everything else that had happened this weekend I could also very much believe she would pull something ridiculous like this.
I suppose there was nothing to do but see it through to the end.
So I took a hesitant step forward. No one stopped me. It seemed this show definitely was for my benefit. So I walked down the center of that big group of fans. All of them staring at me expectantly.
I got closer to that figure standing alone. Kaitlyn looking pretty casual in a T-shirt that had the logo of one of her books on it and a pair of shorts. The shorts surprised me just a bit, but then again she was the boss so it's not like she couldn't do whatever she wanted anyways and it was hot as fuck. She held a single rose in her hand and had a hopeful smile on her face. A smile that grew bigger and an expression that grew ever more hopeful the closer I got.
Finally I stood in front of her. I fixed her with my best neutral stare. If she thought all this was going to impress me or pressure me into anything then she had another thing coming, but I was also thinking over everything Megan said. Was I trying to sabotage this?
No, not entirely. Everything I'd said the night before was still true. Sure I was a little scared of how I felt about her, both because this was the first time I'd felt this way about a girl but mainly because I was scared at how strong those feelings were so soon. I was afraid of her not wanting to tell anyone the truth about her or about us.
Still, I could hear her out. I figured I owed her at least that much if she'd gone to the trouble of getting an entire convention to come down and watch her make a grand romantic gesture. I wondered if that Carrie bitch was anywhere in the crowd and had a moment of satisfaction thinking about that. She never got a grand romantic gesture like this.
Eat your heart out, bitch.
Kaitlyn got down on her knees and held the rose up to me. I blinked in surprise. I wasn’t expecting that.
“Amber,” she said, her voice catching for a moment and then she seemed to get control of herself.
Kaitlyn was either the world’s best actor or this was a genuine moment. In a daze I took the rose, still not quite believing this was happening. Still not quite believing I was actually going along with this after all the anger and shouting yesterday. Finally she seemed to regain control and started talking again.
“You were absolutely right last night Amber. I haven’t been honest with you about who I was, and I haven't been honest with the world, with my fans, about who I am. It's paralyzed me creatively and I'm tired of living with this. I did it because I was afraid, but I should’ve given you more credit than that. I realize that, and from now on I’m going to be completely honest with you from here on out. I want to start over with you, and I want everyone to know the truth.”
I was getting a little overwhelmed. I was weak in the knees. Actually, shit. I was losing it. I was falling to the floor only she caught me in her arms and I wanted to sigh and just lean into her, but I couldn’t. Not yet. I owed her an apology.
“I’m sorry for not listening to you,” I said. “I think I was afraid and it was easier to lash out at you and believe my version of reality than admit to myself how I feel about you.”
She arched a sexy eyebrow. “How do you feel about me?”
I arched my own eyebrow. “That’s not obvious? I love you, you idiot!”
Kaitlyn grinned. "Well I suppose it's only fair since I was afraid to admit to the world how I felt about you. I love you too!"
Kaitlyn stood and held out her hand. Not the reaction I was expecting but I took her hand and she lifted me up. “In that case we’d better start this out right. Hi. My name’s Kaitlyn Morgan. I write books, I’m here with a few thousand of my closest friends, and I’m falling absolutely, totally, irretrievably head over heels in love with you too.”
She stopped and looked at the massive crowd gathered around us. At the people who were recording all of this on their phones. She raised her voice so that it would carry across the eerily silent crowd. "This is Amber. My new girlfriend. Also, I'm totally a lesbian!"
I looked up at her and blinked in disbelief. her girlfriend? Then I smiled. Yeah, her girlfriend. I liked the sound of that.
I launched myself at her. I had the satisfaction of seeing her eyes go wide and then a moment later she was wrapping her arms around me and our lips came together. We were locked in a passionate embrace with thousands of fans erupting and cheering around us. Definitely not the doom and gloom reaction Kaitlyn seemed to be expecting from the way she tiptoed around coming out. I closed my eyes and I was completely oblivious to the world around me. My entire world was Kaitlyn, that incredible kiss, and a wave of relief that washed over me.
Maybe I was going to get my happily ever after!
I have to admit it felt a little weird to have my love life playing out in front of an audience of thousands, particularly when that involved coming out to the world in a majorly public way on top of letting the world know about my new relationship, but I suppose I was going to have to get used to that sort of thing if I was going to be dating one of the most successful authors in the world. I pulled away from the kiss and disentangled myself from her, turned around to
look at the crowd gathered for us.
Kaitlyn held up a hand and everyone immediately grew quiet. I marveled at the level of control she seemed to have over her fans, at the level of dedication they had.
“I want to thank all of you for taking the time to help me out this morning,” Kaitlyn said. “I really appreciate it! And to sweeten the pot, thanks to Amber here I've been inspired to start working on the next book. Expect it this time next year!”
Once more everyone erupted into applause. Whether for our budding romance or announcing the new book was anyone’s guess.
I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just went with the moment and pulled her into another kiss.
Epilogue: Getting Even
About an hour later I was lying back in disbelief on the bed in Kaitlyn's suite. Her room was a surprisingly subdued affair, especially compared to the one Megan and I shared. She said something about not wanting to travel too ostentatiously.
I looked over to her. We hadn't actually done any of the fun that we got up to yesterday. No, after everything that had just happened down below we were just sitting back and relaxing. Basking in one another's presence.
She looked over at me, intertwined her fingers in mine. "So what do you think?"
"I still can't believe you did that," I said.
"I told you that you were different from Carrie," she said. And she punctuated that by leaning in and giving me a kiss. Yeah, I suppose I was different from Carrie in one hell of a major way. Kaitlyn certainly hadn't made any sort of grand romantic gesture in the convention center for that crazy bitch!
I turned over to the television. To one of the news channels. Apparently it was a slow news day with nothing blowing up somewhere in the world, because the only story that was plastered across cable news was Kaitlyn's display and coming out. People pontificating about what it meant. Though thankfully so far the response amongst the fan communities seemed to be pretty damn positive. We had a laptop in between us and had been cycling between all of the major blogs which were plastered with pictures from the convention and the big announcement.
By far the only people who were really upset seemed to be guys who had the hots for Kaitlyn and had just had their fantasies of wooing her and running off to live happily ever after dashed. Well, that was tough shit for them. This was my happily ever after now.
"See? It wasn't as bad as you thought!" I said.
Another email made its presence known with a pop-up notification in the bottom corner of her screen. She reached down and clicked to pull it up. There'd been a steady stream from people all day long, though most of them had come from her suddenly overworked head of the PR team who apparently had no idea Kaitlyn was about to drop this bomb on the world.
Not that I thought it should be a bomb. It's not like someone being gay was exactly earth shattering anymore, but I suppose any sort of salacious gossip was going to sell in the gossip rags. Particularly with someone as well known and as rich as Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn laughed when she saw the email. It was basically the PR person begging her for more information and then admonishing her for making the decision to do this without at least consulting the poor girl first. I suppose I could sympathize with that, but it didn't stop me from getting the same rush that I felt every time I thought about Kaitlyn's very public display. All for me. I still couldn't believe it. She'd gone out of her way to make a display like that, and it was just for me. It was incredible!
Kaitlyn tapped out the same response she had before. "My personal life is my business, and I'm not going to tell you anything more than I already have. Not until we're ready."
I giggled and fell back against the bed again. And then I popped my head up on one elbow and looked at her. She glanced over and then looked again when she realized I was staring.
"What?"
"Oh nothing," I said. "Just thinking about how gorgeous you look!"
She blushed and I felt a warm flush running over me. God I loved that I could make her blush like that. That I could get that sort of reaction out of this goddess. She was so fucking beautiful!
That still felt odd. Saying that a girl was beautiful. I'd spent so long with these feelings buried in the back of my mind, refusing to acknowledge what they actually meant, that it was weird having them up front and center even though, if I'm perfectly honest and doing some soul-searching, they'd always been with me. It felt good to have them out in the open. It felt good to be honest with myself about who I was, and to be with someone who was honest about who she was.
And those feelings really were out in one hell of a way. My face was plastered across all of those blogs right alongside Kaitlyn's. I'm sure anybody who knew me was probably getting a look at those pictures right now. It was a hell of a way to come out. I was still waiting for a call from my mom, but it hadn't come so far.
I suppose I had her general computer illiteracy to thank for that.
Kaitlyn moved in closer. Close enough that her face was just inches from my own. Damn it was so sexy having her that close. I could smell her scent. I could practically taste her.
Come to think of it, I could think of a couple of ways that I'd like to taste her in the near future, if you catch my drift.
"So we overcame the big obstacle. We both got the girl. What do you want to do now?"
I paused and thought about that. Sure I knew exactly what she was talking about. I wasn't an idiot. I could tell a come on when it was being thrown at me. I reached out and started running a hand up her arm. We hadn't bothered to change out of our clothes from the convention, but I had a feeling that was going to change pretty damn soon.
I smiled at her. An evil idea occurred to me. And I told her exactly what I'd like to do. She blinked in surprise as I outlined what I had in mind, but then a huge grin split her face. By the time I was done she was outright cackling right before she rolled on top of me.
Later in the day, after exactly the sort of distraction that had kept us from doing anything productive for the early part of the afternoon yesterday, we were making our way down through the convention center. No costumes this time. No anonymity. And my hand was firmly grasped in Kaitlyn's which felt so damn good.
Of course it also meant we couldn't walk more than five feet without people stopping us and asking to have a picture taken. Or asking for an autograph. All of the flashes from the nonstop picture barrage created a dazzling star field that very nearly had me blinded. I wondered how many of those were going to various news blogs. Or maybe even national news organizations, assuming there hadn't been some other bigger story somewhere in the world to pull them away from the salacious gossip of an author coming out of the closet.
A couple of people even asked me for my autograph, as ridiculous as that sounded. That was something I refused outright, but I saw Kaitlyn grinning at me out of the corner of my eyes every time I pushed someone away. That was just ridiculous. I wasn't famous. I wasn't anything special.
Well, I guess I was something special to Kaitlyn. That's all I needed though. The last thing I needed was a bunch of people clamoring for my autograph when I hadn't done anything to earn it other than making a splash in the news because of who I happened to be dating!
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, we managed to make our way to the spot we were looking for. It was an out-of-the-way hall that didn't get much traffic, though of course it was starting to get a hell of a lot of traffic now that people realized Kaitlyn Morgan was down this way. I looked behind us and saw security guards surreptitiously setting up and creating a human barrier to prevent anyone from getting down here.
I shook my head at all of it. This was completely ridiculous.
"What's wrong?" Kaitlyn asked.
I took in a deep breath and let out a sigh as I looked at the crowd that was bunched up against the security guards back there. It was like something out of a zombie apocalypse movie. It was completely ridiculous. And I was starting to realize that was going to be my life now. At least for as long as I was i
n a relationship with Kaitlyn. Which I hoped might be awhile, considering how well we'd clicked so far.
"Just thinking about those crowds," I said. "It's ridiculous!"
Kaitlyn came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me. A feeling that had me closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath even as a wave of pleasure went crashing over me. God how I loved feeling her pressing up against me!
"Don't worry about it too much," she said. "The whole convention thing is probably giving you a skewed idea of what it's like. This is one of the only times of the year where I have this sort of problem."
I giggled. "Either way, it's going to take some getting used to!"
"Well I hope you have plenty of time to get used to it!" she said. And that sent another thrill running through me. It seemed like she was just as interested in the long term as I was, and that felt good.
I turned around and smiled at her. "So are you ready for a little fun?"
"Am I ever! I've been meaning to do this for years, but this is finally given me the excuse I needed."
Our fun upstairs had been interspersed with a lot of emails back and forth between Kaitlyn and her business people. Trying to get everything in line to make the announcement we were about to drop. I was impressed that she was able to get it turned around in a matter of a couple of hours, but then again I suppose when you were the head of your own company you could make people jump just as fast as you wanted.
And so we moved down to a double door. Kaitlyn took a deep breath and then she opened it.
We found ourselves in a decent sized room that was set up with numerous tables and a platform at one end. People wearing volunteer uniforms and volunteer badges were at various tables, and it looked like there were a lot in here right now. There was somebody standing on a platform at one end of the room with a PowerPoint running. My eyes narrowed. It was Carrie standing up there.