Just as she reached out to pull one of favorite black v neck shirts down from its hanger, Melissa spun her around with a serious expression on her face.
The music was still blaring but her phone was on the other side of the room and neither of them made a move to turn it off or lower it.
Melissa’s camera was down at her side, clutched in her hand, her free hand resting on Cat’s forearm.
“WHAT’S GOING ON?” Cat shouted over the music. Melissa’s furrowed brow and flushed cheeks were making Cat nervous.
Cat knew how fast things could go wrong on the internet. Maybe something went viral about her and Melissa was afraid to tell her.
“WHAT?” Cat asked again, clearly mouthing the word.
Cat couldn’t figure out what she was saying, unable to read her lips or hear her over the music.
Just as Cat was thinking about crossing the room to turn off the music, Emma was standing in the door way and reaching for Cat’s phone on the dresser.
Melissa’s back was to the door and she hadn’t realized what was going on. She was still trying to shout over the music.
It all happened at once. Melissa’s hand was still on Cat’s arm, midway through a sentence, as Emma pressed ‘pause’ on Cat’s playlist.
“I THINK I’M FALLING FOR YOU,” Melissa shouted as the music disappeared.
Cat’s eyes left Melissa’s and moved to Emma’s whose eyebrows shot up as she leaned on the doorframe.
“Wow, that was bad timing,” Emma said as she pushed herself off the frame and left the room.
Melissa nearly fell over as she pivoted toward the door, briefly meeting Emma’s eyes. Melissa’s cheeks immediately flushed, and she dropped her hand.
Cat’s eyes returned to Melissa’s when Emma had left. She was left completely stunned by Melissa’s words and that Emma was somehow here to witness the whole thing.
“I…,” Cat started but she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to hurt Melissa’s feelings. They had a great working relationship that she didn’t want to ruin either.
“Don’t say anything,” Melissa said in a rush as she grabbed her bag and stuffed her camera into it. “I’m going to go… I’m so sorry…”
Before Cat could say anything, Melissa had left, and she was still standing there speechless in front of her closet.
Emma… She has to know that this has nothing to do with me.
Cat left her room and found Emma in the kitchen with a steaming mug in her hands, her back leaning against the counter.
“Coffee?” Emma asked.
Cat paused for a second. Why isn’t she mad? “Uh… No. I’m good. Thanks though.”
“So, are you all set for tomorrow?”
“Are we going to talk about what just happened?” Cat asked, ignoring Emma’s question.
“What’s there to talk about? She’s been crushing on you since you hired her.”
“What?” Cat asked.
“You’re so oblivious sometimes,” Emma said, bringing her mug to her lips.
Cat paced the wooden floors in the living room while Emma made her way over to the couch. She left her coffee down and shrugged her black blazer off her shoulders, draping it across the back of the couch.
“And you didn’t mind?” Cat asked still not ready to sit down.
“I’m not the jealous type… You’re a rising star,” Emma said as she sat down. “Have you seen the comments on your Instagram account? There are hundreds of women drooling over every photo you post. And I’m okay with that.”
“You are?”
Emma nodded. “How could I not be? It comes with the territory.”
“What should I do?”
“About Melissa?”
“Yeah,” Cat said, running a hand through her blond hair. “I don’t want to mess things up. She’s doing a great job and I’d be lost without her. This tour probably wouldn’t have happened.”
“Just tell her the truth.”
Cat smiled as she crossed the room and sat down beside Emma. “And what’s that?”
“That you have an amazing girlfriend and you’re not interested,” Emma said with a slight smile. “Accurate?”
“Completely,” Cat said as she leaned in to find Emma’s lips. She’d miss this, being able to kiss her like this every evening.
They hadn’t spent any time apart since Emma moved out to Los Angeles. She was already nervous about it even before Melissa’s declaration.
She trusted Emma. It had nothing to do with that. She just knew that she’d find their four weeks apart difficult to handle. She’d gotten so used to having Emma around.
Emma’s hand gently cupped Cat’s cheek, pulling her in to deepen the kiss.
“Why aren’t you at work?” Cat asked when she came up for air.
“This is our last night together and my boss happens to be a kind person so here I am…”
“What will we do with our last few hours?”
“Well… I had an idea but unfortunately your bed is covered in clothes and luggage,” Emma said with desire in her eyes.
“That’s what the guest bedroom is for,” Cat said with a smirk as she pulled them both up off the couch.
Chapter 37
May 15th, 2016
Cat woke up with a start when she heard someone knocking on her door a little too loudly for… What time was it anyway?
Cat glanced over at the digital clock beside her hotel bed. 11:56AM
It was her day off, but she was surprised that she had slept that long. She’d be flying to Buffalo tomorrow, but she had nothing planned for today.
She needed a lazy day after the hectic schedule she’d had for the last two weeks.
Cat threw back the covers and swung her lays out of the bed, letting her bare feet hit the carpet beneath them.
Cat rolled her shoulders before she stood up, the muscles around her neck and upper back a little sore.
She pushed her blond hair out of her face, the curls from yesterday practically gone. She was wearing shorts and a black tank top, but she was confident it was either one of the crew or room service at the door, so she didn’t really care.
“Hey,” Cat said as she opened the door and saw Melissa standing there.
Things were relatively okay between them but there were still moments of awkwardness since Cat had talked to her.
While they were in the airport two weeks ago, getting ready to fly to Seattle for the first gig of the tour, Cat had told her that she loved Emma, but she didn’t want to lose Melissa.
Melissa apologized again and they both agreed to forget about her confession. They worked so well together that it would be a shame to throw it all away because of what Melissa had said.
She promised Cat that it wouldn’t change anything. They could go back to the way things were.
It was easier said than done but they were doing a pretty good job.
“What’s up?” Cat asked her as she held the door open for Melissa to pass.
Cat noticed that she had a bottle of champagne in her hands.
“We’re celebrating,” Melissa said as she found two glasses on the table by the window.
“It’s a little early…”
“Aren’t you going to ask what we’re celebrating?” Melissa asked, peeling the foil off the bottle.
“What are we celebrating?” Cat asked.
“Five hundred thousand followers across all platforms,” Melissa said with a big grin on her face.
“What?”
Cat tried to process what she’d just said. When Cat had hired Melissa four months ago, she’d only had about fifty thousand followers. Now she was active on almost every social media site and had a growing YouTube account.
“Half a million?” Cat asked, still not believing it.
Melissa nodded and glanced down at her watch. “It’s past noon and I think that’s worth drinking to,” she said as she rested the bottle on her hip and uncorked it without taking out any light bulbs in the room.
“Wow, Melissa,” she said as she lifted her glass. “I can’t believe it… And in four months. It’s incredible. Thank you.”
“Just doing my job,” Melissa said with a smile. “But thank you… For dealing with me and my camera always in your face and… forgetting about that day in your apartment.”
“Don’t worry about it… So, what will we drink to?”
Melissa held up her glass. “To this tour and the start of something big.”
“To the tour,” Cat said as she clinked her glass off Melissa’s and brought it to her lips.
Chapter 38
Emma got changed into her pajamas as soon as she got in from work that evening. She had a lot of editing to do with her photographs, so she planned on spending the night on the couch with her laptop.
Cat was already half way through her tour dates and they spoke almost every day. Time was flying by and in two weeks Caitlin would be back in L.A.
Emma wasn’t hooked on social media like some of her friends at the hotel were, but she found herself checking Cat’s profiles now that she was away. She got to see photos from each show and clips of her performances.
Emma stopped scrolling through her feed when Melissa’s face popped up as a person she might like to follow. Emma’s thumb hovered over the follow button.
Would it be weird to follow her?
She went into Melissa’s profile and saw some great backstage photos of Cat and her band. She only had a few hundred followers, probably her friends and some hardcore Cat Stone fans.
Why not?
Emma followed her and continued scrolling through her feed for a few more minutes before finally getting to work on her photos.
Chapter 39
Cat watched Melissa crouch down, peering into the hotel room fridge. She stood up with two small bottles of white wine, one in each hand, and emptied each of them into a glass.
“Do you hear that little voice telling you that this is a bad idea or is it just me?” Cat asked from her bed. She was still in her pajamas, leaning against the pillows that she’d propped up against the headboard.
“It’s just you,” Melissa said as she handed Cat her glass. “The little voice in my head is telling me how amazing I am,” she said with a confident smile.
They polished off the bottle of champagne ten minutes ago and now Cat was lying on top of her bed, tipsy, at 1pm.
It’s my day off though. Why shouldn’t I relax and celebrate?
“Maybe I should listen to yours and ignore mine,” Cat said as she brought her glass to her lips.
“Exactly,” Melissa said as she sat down beside her. “I think you’ve behaved yourself so far on this tour. Only the odd beer or glass of wine. Some people go crazy when they go on the road.”
Cat laughed softly. “I just don’t want to screw this up. That’s all.”
“You won’t. You’re halfway through and it’s going better than I imagined.”
Cat nodded. “I know they’re small venues but it’s nice being able to say that a gig is sold out…”
“They won’t be small for much longer. When you get back to L.A. there’s going to be a line of people waiting to sign you.”
“I don’t know about that,” Cat said as she took another sip.
“I’m serious.”
“I hope so… But if there isn’t, I’ll be okay with it. I’ve had so many ups and downs over the years. What’s one more road block?”
“No… I have a feeling about this,” Melissa said, turning to face her. “This is it. This is going to be your break… Again…”
“I’ll believe it when I see it… I think I’m too drunk to step outside this room. The last thing I need is a photo of me stumbling out the front door of the hotel going viral.”
“Do you want to watch a movie? Just have a lazy day?”
“Sure,” Cat said. “What genre?”
“I personally hate romantic comedies.”
“Okay…”
“How about a horror?” Melissa asked, reaching for the remote that was on the bedside table.
“Yeah. That’s fine. Will I order us some room service? I’m starving.”
“Me too… I’d eat just about anything right now.”
An hour later, after eating a sandwich, a salad, and some dessert, Cat was feeling a little less tipsy. She was lying on the bed again while Melissa flicked through the movie choices.
“You’re sure a horror’s okay?” Melissa asked.
“Yeah.”
“Okay,” Melissa said as she pressed play and raided the fridge again, bringing back two more bottles of Chardonnay.
Melissa climbed back on the bed, passing Cat her bottle, and they both refilled their glasses as the movie started.
“Do you mind if we get under the covers?” Melissa whispered.
“No. Not at all.”
They both stood up and then got comfortable under the sheets.
“Popcorn is about the only thing missing right now,” Cat said.
“I’d rather the wine.”
As they watched the movie, Cat realized that Melissa was jumpy. Cat glanced over at her to see that she was practically under the covers and tried not to laugh.
She was enjoying the movie, but the alcohol was hitting her again and she could feel her eyelids getting heavier.
Cat tried to stay awake, but she could feel herself drifting off.
It’s my day off… If I want to spend it sleeping, I can.
She didn’t want to ruin the movie for Melissa, so she didn’t tell her that she was tired in case she felt like she had to leave. Cat just sunk further down and adjusted the pillow behind her until she was comfortable.
Cat felt Melissa jump beside her and that was the last thing she remembered.
Chapter 40
Emma turned off her laptop after spending almost three hours editing her photos and stretched her arms above her head as she stifled a yawn.
It was early yet so she put on Sports Center to see how the Phillies did today.
Emma stretched out on the couch, waiting for the highlights. She grabbed her phone and scrolled through Facebook and then Instagram.
She nearly went past the image but went up to it when she saw that it was Melissa’s.
Emma’s eyes narrowed as she tried to process the picture and the caption. She couldn’t make out the woman’s face, but she was tangled in the sheets, sprawled out across the bed.
Emma reread the caption.
Sleeping beauty. #coverhog
Emma’s green eyes returned to the photo, her heart beating a little faster now. She could swear that that was Cat. Her blond hair was in very loose curls, her toned legs peeking out from underneath the white sheets.
That’s Caitlin.
Emma tried not to jump to any conclusions. She was hardly naked underneath the covers. It was hard to tell but Emma couldn’t see how that could happen.
But what if she is? And Melissa’s with her…
Emma never considered herself the jealous type but as she sat up on the couch and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart, she wondered what she should think.
Why did I decide to follow Melissa? I would never have seen this if I hadn’t…
But maybe I needed to see this… To warn me that Melissa never got the message…
But what about Caitlin?
She’d never cheat on me…
Emma pushed herself off the couch and went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of red wine.
She swirled the merlot in her glass, not ready to sit down yet. Emma looked at Melissa’s post again. She put it up ten minutes ago.
What time was it in Chicago? 10 pm?
Maybe the photo was from this morning?
Emma sighed and took a drink. This was probably something she should have been worried about when she heard Melissa tell Cat that she was falling for her, but she knew Caitlin.
> Emma thought there was nothing to worry about, that she could trust Cat.
Endless Love Page 13