The Carol Wyatt Collection

by Carol Wyatt

“I was just going to let you know that our car's here... I'll grab my bag,” Lauren said as she slung her messenger bag over her shoulder. “I'll wait outside.”

  “There's this after party,” Hailey said, meeting Elle's eyes again. “You should come.”

  “Yeah. I'd love to.”

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes. Let's go,” Elle said, her cheeks flushed.

  Hailey couldn't believe that Lauren had chosen that moment to burst in. She'd been so close to leaning in and kissing Elle's soft lips again.

  “Okay. Let's go,” Hailey said, reaching for her bag as she held the door open for Elle.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Elle leaned against the bar, waiting to be served. The after party was in Christina Clayton's hotel where she'd reserved the rooftop bar. Elle had been up here once before a few years ago for a Christmas party, but this crowd was entirely different. She wasn't used to feeling this old, but maybe that's what happened when you turned forty. Everyone around her was at least ten years younger, even Christina's team, her manager... They all had to be under thirty.

  “I'll have another gin and tonic,” Elle asked the bartender when he finally made it over to her side of the bar.

  When Hailey had mentioned the after party, Elle had jumped at the chance to spend a little more time with her. She seemed to have forgiven her for getting her fired. Elle still couldn't believe that happened. She was just trying to get things back to normal on her street. One of her neighbors had said something too. It wasn't just bothering her.

  “Hey.”

  Elle turned when the voice beside her wasn't Hailey's. She'd went to the restroom a few minutes ago, but she probably ended up talking to someone on the way back to Elle. Christina Clayton was standing beside her instead.

  “Hi,” Elle said with a forced smile. She still didn't know what to make of her. “Great show.”

  “Thanks... I don't think we've met,” she said, extending her hand. “I'm Christina.”

  “Elle. Nice to meet you.”

  “Are you here with Hailey?”

  “Yes,” Elle said, paying the bartender as he handed Elle her gin and tonic.

  “She talked about you a lot when she was in L.A.”

  “She did?”

  Christina nodded. “You're a beautiful couple.”

  “Oh uh... Thanks, but I don't know what we are to be honest.”

  Elle took a sip of her drink. She would have loved to have been able to say that Hailey was her girlfriend, and, in that moment, Elle knew how close she was to losing Hailey. She loved being around her, even somewhere like this where Elle felt completely out of place.

  “Sorry,” Christina said with a half-smile. “I didn't mean to make assumptions.” She gave the bartender a wave and he seemed to know her order, lining up a tray of shot glasses and filling them with a dark liquor.

  “It's okay... So, you guys worked well together?”

  “Yeah. She's amazing. I was such a pain in the ass. I know I was,” Christina said with a laugh. “I was asking her all these questions about her process and trying to get really scientific about something that you just can't explain. I wanted to know where her song ideas came from and she was just... She was so patient. She really should have told me to fuck off.”

  Elle smiled. She knew how patient Hailey was. She went over the same line of music as many times as Elle needed when Hailey was teaching her. Elle tried to hide her smile. It was so obvious to her now how little those lessons had to do with music. She just wanted an excuse to be around Hailey, to sit beside her, to listen to her play.

  “Well,” Elle said as she stirred her drink. “It was a big deal for her. She was so excited when your agent called her.”

  “I'm going to keep working with her. That's actually why I'm in New York. It wasn't fair to expect her to keep flying out to L.A,” Hailey said as she lifted her tray of drinks off the bar. “I better get back to my table. It was nice to meet you.”

  “You too...”

  Maybe Hailey was right. Christina did seem pretty down to earth. Elle wouldn't have thought that someone that famous would be carrying a tray of drinks back to their table. She expected to see Christina Clayton dishing out orders and having everything done for her.

  Elle's eyes caught Hailey's as she crossed the room, meeting Christina along the way. Hailey shook her head when Christina offered her a drink, but eventually, Hailey lifted a shot glass off the tray and downed it before she made her way back to Elle.

  “Hey,” Hailey said with a smile, lightly touching Elle's arm. “Sorry about that. I kept getting stopped along the way.”

  “It's okay. You're good at this, you know.”

  “At what?”

  “At mingling... You fit right in.”

  “They're just fans of Christina's and when she told them that we're writing songs for her next album together, suddenly I became interesting,” Hailey said with a shrug.

  “Well, either way. It's nice to see you so happy... Not that you're not normally...”

  Hailey smiled at her.

  “What?” Elle asked her, trying to figure out why Hailey was looking at her like that, like she was stifling a laugh.

  “You're cute when you're nervous.”

  “I'm not nervous...”

  “Sure,” Hailey said as she got the bartender's attention and ordered herself another bottle of beer.

  “I'm going to get going,” Elle said, giving her an apologetic smile.

  “What? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. You should enjoy yourself.”

  “I am.”

  “I have work tomorrow anyway.”

  “Okay...”

  Elle was so tempted to stay, but she didn't want Hailey to feel like she couldn't go sit at Christina's table. She wrapped her arms around Hailey, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “I'll give you a call tomorrow, after work?” Elle asked as she finished her drink.

  “Sure.”

  “Enjoy your night.”

  “Bye.”

  Elle left, wishing she could have kissed her, but she knew it would never have been a quick 'Goodnight' kiss. She'd want more, and they'd probably end up leaving together. As much as Elle wanted that, it was probably for the best to ease back into things. Elle took the elevator down to the hotel's lobby and stepped out onto the street, looking for a taxi to flag down.

  *****

  Elle woke up, tangled in her bed sheets, her head throbbing. She reached for the glass of water that was always on nightstand and checked the time: 2:37AM. She took a long drink and tried to get comfortable, willing herself to go to sleep. She had to be up in four and a half hours, but she couldn't sleep. She unlocked her phone and opened up her emails, then the news app, but fifteen minutes later, she was still wide awake.

  Elle flicked through her social media accounts. She didn't use them much, but she typed in Christina Clayton's name to see if there were any posts or photos from the gig last night. She found her account that had more than seventeen million followers and opened the most recent photo. She'd posted it twelve minutes ago and it already had thousands of likes.

  Christina was facing the camera, kissing the woman in front of her, her hand snaked through her blond hair, and even though the woman's back was to the camera, Elle knew exactly who it was. She sat up, running a hand across her face. She didn't want to believe what she was seeing, but the equals sign that was tattooed on the back of her arm made it impossible to deny. Hailey had kissed Christina Clayton.

  Elle jumped out of bed, her bare feet pacing the hard wood floors. She replayed their conversations from just a few hours ago. They'd never said anything important. Elle never said that she'd missed Hailey, that she wanted her back. Yes, there'd been flirting, but Hailey never said that she wanted to pick up where they left off... And Christina had said that she was in New York to work with Hailey...

  They're not just working together...

  Elle blinked back the tears t
hat stung her eyes. How did this happen? One minute they were lying in that bed together and the next... Hailey was kissing someone else, someone who had a lot more in common with her than Elle did... Someone that was closer to her age...

  Elle climbed back into bed, wrapping the sheets around her. She felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Even the way Christina Clayton had spoken about Hailey... She should have known. Of course, Christina was interested in Hailey... Who wouldn't be?

  Chapter Forty

  Hailey was on her way home from another long day with Christina, writing in her hotel suite. Well, they didn't spend the entire day writing. Hailey had shown her around, taking her to some of her favorite spots in the city. It helped their writing too. They were more relaxed around each other, and Hailey could see her opening up, putting more of her emotions and experiences into her lyrics.

  The week was flying by, and Hailey wished Elle would return her calls. She hadn't spoken to Elle since she left the party, and that was three days ago. She also wished that Elle had stayed that night. Maybe Hailey wouldn't have gotten so drunk. She couldn't even remember half of the night.

  Hailey did vaguely remember kissing Christina, but Hailey had pushed her away, and they'd both laughed it off. They hadn't talked about it since, but things weren't awkward between them either, so Hailey wasn't worrying about it. She'd kissed friends before when she was drunk, and it had never become a problem, so she didn't want to make it a big deal this time.

  Hailey called Elle again, thinking she might stop by on her way home, but of course, she didn't answer. Hailey didn't get it. Even if she was busy with work, surely, she good spare five minutes to talk to her, or even just send her a text.

  Lauren wasn't even around to talk to. She flew out to L.A. yesterday to record a demo song, and Hailey wasn't going to bother her with her relationship problems anyway. This could be the break that Lauren needed, and she wasn't going to distract her with this.

  Hailey paused at the corner of the street, looking in the direction of Elle's house. She checked her watch. It was 8:15PM. She'd had a long day, but Elle should be home, and she just wanted to see her, to make sure she was okay.

  Ten minutes later, Hailey was ringing her doorbell.

  “Hey,” Hailey said when Elle opened the door. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.”

  Hailey immediately noticed how tired Elle looked. It wasn't just her eyes. It was her body language. She looked defeated. Hailey followed her into the living room where she watched Elle sit down on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her as she reached for her glass of wine. She was wearing cotton shorts and a white tank top, her hair tied up in a loose ponytail. Hailey sat down next to her, wondering why she was so quiet, why she hadn't really smiled at her when she came in.

  “Look Elle... I don't like games... So, I'm just going to say this. I want a chance with you-”

  “I'm too old for you,” Elle said immediately.

  “What?”

  “Your career is just taking off. There's going to be so many opportunities, so many parties, like the other night... I don't think I could keep up with you.”

  “Elle, that's not my scene. I'm a writer. That's not what my life's going to be like-”

  “I just don't think we're a good fit.”

  Hailey stared at her, her vision blurring slightly with the tears that threatened to fall.

  “Are we,” Hailey started. “Is this it? Are you breaking up with me?”

  “We were never together.”

  Hailey froze. It was like Elle had slapped her in the face.

  “I'm sorry,” Elle said, finally showing some compassion. “I think we're too different... It wouldn't work.”

  “Elle... Come on...”

  Hailey's eyes pleaded with her, but Elle wasn't going to meet them. Instead, she topped up her glass of wine.

  “I can't,” Elle said, taking a drink.

  Hailey was incredibly close to losing it, and she wasn't going to have a breakdown in front of her. “I'll go then,” she said in a rush as she stood, blinking back her tears.

  Clearly, this wasn't as hard for Elle as it was for Hailey. She left Elle's house without looking back, brushing away the tears that finally fell.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Hailey paused the movie she was watching when she heard the door open and Lauren came in, wheeling her suitcase behind her.

  “Hey, welcome home.”

  “Hi. Guess who just recorded two of our songs?” Lauren said, flopping down on the couch beside her.

  “You...”

  “Yeah. I thought you'd be more excited.”

  “I am,” Hailey said, putting on her best happy face.

  “You're not... What's up?”

  “Elle broke up with me... I mean, I know we weren't really together, but she doesn't want to see me anymore. I want to hear about you though, recording, all of it.”

  Lauren ignored her. “Hailey, I'm so sorry,” she said, pulling her into a hug. “Was she pissed about the photo?”

  “What photo?” Hailey asked, pulling away.

  “The one of you and Christina Clayton kissing...”

  “What?”

  “You don't follow her on-”

  “There's a photo of us kissing online??”

  Lauren nodded, and Hailey grabbed her phone, searching for Christina's profile. Hailey's hand covered her mouth as her eyes immediately fell on the photo that Christina had posted five days ago.

  “Oh my God... This can't be happening,” Hailey said, sinking back into the cushions. “It looks like we were... like we were making out. She kissed me! I pushed her away... We were drunk.”

  “Maybe Elle didn't see it?”

  “No... I think you're right. She did. She wouldn't even look me in the eyes... She saw it and she was disgusted with me. I was there trying to save us, and she thought I was probably sleeping with Christina... Shit.”

  “Calm down,” Lauren said when Hailey stood up and started pacing.

  “Lauren, how can I calm down?! She thinks I'm a player or that I don't value what little we had when both of those are so far from the truth.”

  “What did she say?”

  Hailey sighed. “That I was too young... That we were too different...” Hailey stopped pacing, her hands on her hips. “I have to go see her.”

  “Hailey, wait,” Lauren said, jumping up to grab her arm before she did could get past her. “I mean this with love, but you're a mess. Not only do you need a shower, but you really need to calm down.”

  Hailey looked her in the eyes and eventually nodded. She was right.

  “The other thing you need to do, is figure out what you're going to say to Elle.”

  “I can't believe this is happening to me. I had no idea Christina even took that photo... This is such a mess,” Hailey said, running a hand through her messy hair.

  “Go have a shower. You'll feel better and then we can figure something out, okay?”

  Hailey nodded. “Okay.”

  Lauren wrapped her arms around her, and Hailey finally started to relax.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  “How do you feel about getting some lunch?” Matt asked, glancing over at Elle as they left Brooklyn Bridge Park.

  “To be honest, I'm not hungry, but if you want to get something, let's go.”

  “Elle, you have to eat.”

  “I had a late breakfast. I'm fine.”

  Elle was far from fine, but Matt was trying so hard to cheer her up. He insisted on getting her out of the house and getting some fresh air. She hadn't felt like doing anything since Hailey had left her house three days ago, but Matt came over yesterday and they watched a movie. She knew it was bad when he showed up with her favorite tub of ice cream. He didn't say anything, but it was obvious she was having a rough time. She was pretty sure that Matt could put two and two together, that it was more than likely about Hailey, but thankfully he didn't ask her about it. She wasn't ready to talk about it yet.r />
  Elle thought she'd made the right decision when she told Hailey that it was over. As much as she wanted to ask Hailey about Christina, she didn't think she could handle the answer. Clearly, Hailey thought it was okay to kiss Christina one night and ask her out the next, and technically it was. They weren't together, but Elle cared more about Hailey than she did about her. That's what she thought anyway when she saw that photo, but the look on Hailey's face when she'd said that she couldn't be with her made her doubt that.