To Love a Shooting Star

by K'Anne Meinel

  Sandy tried to stare her down again and then finally she went to go to the side door but Erin stopped her.

  “I want the key you have to my house.”

  Furious now Sandy grabbed her keys out of her pocket and broke a nail trying to remove the key from the ring. Flinging it down across the floor, it pinged its way to Erin’s feet. Sandy slammed the door behind her. Erin watched her on the monitor and opened the gate as she drove away. Picking up the spare key she thought a moment and dropped it in her pocket. Going to a drawer in the kitchen she opened it and removed the spare that was there as well. She knew Sandy wouldn’t hesitate to ‘borrow’ a spare if she found it as well as make a copy from it next time she was in the house and find a way to justify it.

  The boys walked into the kitchen ‘pancakes’ they said in unison and proceeded to help themselves. Leaving them eating at the table Erin prepared a tray to take upstairs.

  Kate was waking up when Erin came in the bedroom. She was surprised to see the breakfast tray as Erin waited for her to sit up to place it across her lap. It was breakfast for two. The pancakes were a surprise as she had just had them in the hospital and that was enough of going off her normal diet of fruits and vegetables. They smelled terrific though and she indulged herself. “Thank you” she said to Erin for bringing her breakfast in bed. She was halfway through her meal when she realized Erin wasn’t eating very much and she looked up in surprise.

  “I had Sandy leave this morning.”

  “Why?” Kate wasn’t going to assume anything, but she was hopeful.

  Erin looked at her a moment and said “you were right, she played these childish games and I’ve had enough. How long am I to be punished for something that happened years ago?”

  Kate wasn’t going to answer that. She knew Erin was talking about when she and Sandy had broken up because of Erin’s infidelity. She had never asked the details, she didn’t want to have to worry about that issue herself. Besides, the Erin she knew was now, not from years ago.

  “It’s not like she and I hadn’t had trouble by then anyway, we were done, or nearly so anyway.” Erin was musing to herself. Kate wondered if she realized she was saying it aloud. Sighing Erin continued “ah well, who am I kidding, I screwed up, major.” She looked at Kate though who was trying very hard not to look up. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask her sooner to go, for your sake at least.” Kate looked up at this.

  “Erin, what goes on between you and Sandy isn’t my business unless it affects me.”

  “You don’t think this affected you? Locking you out?”

  Kate shrugged giving Erin the point and nodding. Changing the subject she said “I’m going home today though.”

  Erin looked at her alarmed and glanced at the suitcases on the floor, the one garment bag bulging and her heart sank. Was Kate leaving her then? Was there nothing she could say or do to change her mind?

  Kate could read Erin; she knew her very well and she recognized the alarm. Putting her fork down she put her hand on Erin’s arm “I just need a few days to chill and veg out around the pool, okay?”

  Erin looked at her and noticed how pale she really looked. The swelling on her arms was still in evidence.

  “You’re welcome to follow if you like. Do you and the boys have anything planned this weekend?” Normally they spent every weekend possible in Santa Barbara.

  Shaking her head Erin considered “we could be ready to go in say an hour if you wanted to wait.”

  Kate gave Erin’s arm a squeeze and then resumed eating.

  The drive home was awful. Kate felt very tired and nauseous. She pulled over once on the side of the highway to throw up in a bag. She knew she shouldn’t have made this drive, especially alone, she wasn’t up to it. Slowly and surely though she made it home. Changing her clothes she climbed onto a float in the pool, sun screened her new surgical scars, and lazed about, falling asleep in the sun, turning automatically every half an hour or so. She didn’t hear when the boys got there with Erin an hour or so later.

  Erin hadn’t been able to get the boys ready in the hour she had hoped and Kate hadn’t wanted to wait. They wanted to take this and take that, they loved going to Santa Barbara. Kate’s house had the best video games, she laughed to herself. She worried though as she followed the path that Kate must have driven north on Highway 101 and then Highway 1. Every car pulled off on the side she examined minutely as she approached thinking that Kate may have just not made it but was stubborn enough to have tried. She was very relieved when she saw the SUV parked in the garage. Walking through the house she greeted Sean and went straight to their bedroom, no Kate resting comfortably though so she returned and checked the library before proceeding to the patio. A very funny sight greeted her. Kate on a blow up lounger in the middle of the pool, sound asleep or so it appeared. Anchored next to her head to head was another lounger with D.O.G. on it laying on his back with his legs in the air as though he too was getting a tan. On the side of the pool contemplating the leap across the water was a very disgruntled C.A.T. Erin knew that Kate anchored both the loungers in the middle for the very reason she saw here. C.A.T. didn’t want to be left out of her buddies’ fun and had punctured several of the loungers by leaping on them. Not that he couldn’t swim to them but on principal he pounced whenever possible to surprise them. Kate knew by anchoring them in the middle the cat couldn’t or wouldn’t pounce. Both Kate and D.O.G. were safe from the leap of that cat. Erin pulled back and grabbed a camera taking several shots before C.A.T. noticed her and came to greet her.

  Erin walked out on the patio and waited for D.O.G. to notice her. He never even moved an eyelash, so much for being a guard dog. After a while though Kate either sensed or heard her and said drolly “are you coming in or do I have to come out?” Erin laughed. Kate sounded more like herself at the moment. Erin had understood her need to ‘go home’ and lick her wounds in the comfort of her own home but had been hurt that Erin’s house wasn’t considered home as well. She was relieved though that they hadn’t broken up over this incident. It would have broken her heart; the little that had happened had unnerved her, left her unbalanced about their relationship, she didn’t like the fact that for the first time she was unsure about them and their future.

  The boys started school the next week and Erin proudly took them in on their first day. Kate had driven down with them as she had some book signings scheduled around L.A. Things seemed back to normal and Erin was pleased to see that the visible swelling had gone down at Kate’s incision sites.

  Kate had a 10 day follow up that week and went alone. Still feeling a little ill she had thought long and hard about what occurred the previous week. She wasn’t happy with the follow up from Dr. Gulbara and his total lack of concern for her welfare even landing her in the hospital. During their follow up exam Kate became really angry when they were interrupted three times and his apparent non-challance about her health. After the third interruption she left the exam room, her chart in her bag. She had no intention of returning and her anger took her straight across town to a malpractice attorney she had heard of through Erin’s agent. He at least, despite not really approving of Kate’s relationship with Erin had expressed concern over her well-being and suggested she sue Dr. Gulbara. Kate turned her chart over to the attorney, she wondered how long until Dr. Gulbara realized it was missing from his office. She had scanned through it herself and was shocked to read that they had given her narcotics despite a warning that she was allergic to them. The anesthesiologist especially had been warned. Perhaps this explained her hospital near miss. She’d let the lawyer work it out. Even though she had no appointment with Hugh Barnes, dropping names had its benefits and she was soon rushed into his office. Listening to her tale he was delighted by the file of hers and asked no questions of how she had obtained it, just commenting it would save time when they subpoenaed the good doctor’s records. After signing a few papers Kate could leave it all to him.

  Erin and Kate both were very busy these days. Wit
h two books out Kate had a lot of book signings and public appearances to promote them. Erin was extremely busy getting ready for the October premiere of her movie they had worked so hard on together. Kate was invited of course, she was listed as one of the four writers on the screenplay. She had never been to a premiere and was excited. Erin only wished they could go together but as the producer, director, and star she was in a different league from others who had worked on the film, this included Kate.

  It was bothering her more and more that she and Kate weren’t out in public together. Even when they went out to dinner or a party they had to arrive in separate cars and ‘happen’ to meet. No one but her agent, her sisters, and Kate’s sons knew of their relationship and she was getting a little tired at all the pretense. She loved Kate, she wasn’t ashamed of her or their relationship, and this was getting to be a bit much for the sake of her reputation. What about Kate’s reputation? Granted it wasn’t as internationally well known as Erin’s but she too had a certain amount of fame.

  The premiere itself was insane. A rolled out red carpet and plenty of press. The fans went wild upon seeing Erin Ingram step out of a vintage limousine. She gave the waiting crowd a beautiful full smile and waved wildly back. A few cat calls and she answered them good naturedly. Kate watched as Erin worked the crowd, stopping now and then to sign autographs and do on the spot interviews with various news stations. It was all part of the deal to promote the film. Kate’s date was Omar Khalid one of the writers she had worked with, they both were at loose ends and she suspected he was dating a man from the film. As they both didn’t want others to know of their same sex partners they kept a lively friendship up and allowed others to assume they were dating and no one realized what good friends they just were. Their other two writers Faith and George Kovochny, the husband and wife team who had ‘finished’ the screenplay double dated with them. Out of sheer mischievousness Omar and Kate did a tango down the red carpet behind Erin when she was giving a live interview to one of the big network shows. The crowd loved it and their cheers drowned out the interview. Erin looked around at the excitement and even she had to laugh as Kate and Omar with Faith and George imitating them sailed by. If she didn’t know Omar was gay she would have worried at how well Kate got on with him.

  This was the first time many who had worked on the film got to see it in its entirety. Erin had worked long and hard with her editors to keep as much as possible from ending up on the floor at the studio. The movie was going to appear a little long but as its flow was so smooth, so romantic, and actually quite funny no one noticed. It showed an incredibly sexy woman and a charming and witty man falling in love. Even the sex scenes which had given the movie a PG13 rating and almost an R, were amusing. Kate, sitting a couple of rows behind Erin was able to separate the Erin she knew and loved from the character on the screen and enjoy the movie. It really was quite incredible to see what she had read over two years ago, worked on with these talented writers, on screen in print in front of her. Awesome was something she heard over and over. It stirred your senses, aroused you, and made you laugh in unexpected ways. Everyone gave it a standing ovation when the lights came on and the curtain came down. Erin was all smiles as she accepted their accolades.

  The party afterwards was well attended. Kate sat nearby but not with Erin and chummed with some of the crew she had gotten to know during production. Omar and she kidded around on the dance floor time and time again, many remarked what great dance partners they were together. Kate saw Erin distracted a couple of times but she didn’t care at the moment, she was having too good of a time to worry. Omar convinced Erin to dance with him as well a few times. Erin danced with her agent as well as a host of movie studio executives. It was all part and parcel of the formula to release a film these days and make it successful. Erin was doing her job, she was schmoozing. Kate didn’t have to like it though but she could ignore it.

  They arrived home separately that night and when Erin walked into their bedroom she was pleased to find Kate already there. She had experienced pangs of jealously that night and it had bothered her. She wasn’t a jealous person but she wished that Kate had been her acknowledged date instead of her manager and agent. That was becoming so old but in Hollywood that was acceptable, being out and gay was not. Seeing how much fun Kate had been having though she wondered if it bothered Kate as much as it bothered her.

  “Hi” Kate greeted her. She was already dressed in a robe having showered and gotten rid of her make up. She smelled fresh and clean as she gave Erin a peck on the cheek.

  Not letting Kate go so easily Erin slid her arms around her and held her smiling down from her high heeled height for once the taller of the two of them. Leaning in she gave Kate a kiss that expressed a whole lot more than could be said. “Did you have a good time tonight?”

  Kate laughed, she had drunk too much champagne perhaps but she figured now and then wasn’t a bad thing. Omar had been a riot and very attentive but Kate had hated being ignored by Erin, she would never tell her though. Kate knew the unwritten rules, they were lovers, partners, the eternity ring on her finger was private between them. No one was to know that they lived together or that they really knew each other except in the context of their jobs. “Yes, it was an interesting night. The movie was GREAT! You did an awesome job.”

  Erin squeezed her closer “WE did an awesome job. Everyone enjoyed it.”

  Kate was silent. She wasn’t sure how to answer it. Omar had written the original story and screenplay, she had just gone through and edited it, adding her own sense of humor before turning it over to Faith and George who had polished it. She didn’t think she deserved the honorable mention she had gotten but she wasn’t going to argue.

  Erin was busy with parties and schmoozing for the next few weeks. Kate was busy traveling around from city to city promoting under Kate McCall or Macc Katell depending on the venue. Sometimes in the same day she had to promote both. She really had to concentrate to remember which persona she was on which appointed day. It really could be confusing. Rarely but it happened when someone would realize Kate McCall was also ‘Trina’ but as she didn’t promote that persona except on the internet it was always a surprise. Because of their intense work schedules both Kate and Erin realized they would be spending a lot of time apart. It saddened them both to realize that they wouldn’t be able to spend their birthdays together this year. Kate was in Seattle in bookstores there and was surprised one afternoon therefore when she looked up at one of the book signings to see a rain coated Erin watching her work. One of the bookstore managers came up and discretely pointed Erin out to her asking if Kate wanted her removed as she had been watching her awhile and the manager worried she was a stalker. Kate laughed; imagine someone thinking Erin Ingram a stalker! Whispering to the manager she handed her something and went back to work. She had another hour to go.

  Erin was surprised when a woman approached her “ma’am Kate McCall told me to tell you that she is staying at the Marriot Inn and Suites room 211” and handed Erin a key card before turning around and returning to Kate’s busy table. Erin was amused. It made it all seem so clandestine and a little sleazy but she was game and left but not before flashing Kate an impish smile. Kate caught her breath. Erin didn’t realize the effect she had on Kate time and again.

  Finally her time for today was at an end. The managers had turned away dozens of fans with the promise that Kate would return the following day to sign more books and autographs but thank you for coming anyway. Standing up and stretching Kate was always surprised how exhausting it was to write her name hundreds of times, sometimes a little something more, and talk with her fans. Her personality being friendly she didn’t want to disappoint her fans and she swore she recognized a few from other signings. She was relieve that this day was at an end. Tomorrow would be her last day in Seattle before flying out to Chicago. She hurried out the back door and got in the car waiting for her that drove her to her hotel. Rushing through the lobby she got on the elevator
and pushed the 2nd floor button. She was so anxious to see Erin who she had missed these last couple of weeks. She was surprised and pleased at the unexpected visit. Ringing the room’s doorbell she was delighted as Erin grabbed her hand and yanked her into the room she locked the door before pushing Kate up against the wall kissing her madly. Kate couldn’t get a word out but at that point she didn’t want to. Erin’s hands groped and caressed, feeling up the body she knew as well as her own. Kate was helpless in her desire to let this woman have her way with her, her knees barely supported her. She was mindless with the kisses Erin bestowed upon her, responding with equal fervor. Erin soon pulled her skirt up with one hand as her other hand held her close and pressed their bodies together. Kate was holding on for dear life as Erin’s fingers plunged inside of her, a small whimper of desire escaped between their lips as Erin plunged inside her over and over again, her thumb rubbing Kate’s clit mercilessly. Kate knew she couldn’t cum this way but enjoyed the sensations and the frantic feelings it engineered. Then much to her surprise a small series of orgasms struck her body giving her immense relief. Over and over she felt the small spasms. She could feel Erin smile against her mouth in satisfaction at what she was causing within Kate. Finally it ended and Erin and Kate stood there breathing hard but both pleased with what had just happened. Holding Kate against the wall Erin finally breathed “well, hello” and smiled one of her radiant smiles to her girlfriend.

  Kate wasn’t sure she could respond, much less want to. Nothing like this had happened to them before. It was amazing and she certainly didn’t want to dissect it. She just held tightly onto Erin and chuckled at the breathy ‘hello’.

  Just then the doorbell to the suite rang and they both stood up in alarm. Kate lowered her skirt and Erin quickly checked her own attire before answering the door for room service. Kate reached for the bill to sign as Erin began checking the food under the dish tops. Not wanting to be recognized she subtly turned her back to the waiter as Kate finished with him, handing him a tip.