“My ribs,” Cat said with a wince. “Sorry.”
Emma pulled away, cupping Cat’s cheek, studying her to make sure that was all that was wrong with her.
“What happened?” Emma asked, her green eyes searching Caitlin’s face, taking in the small cuts.
“They ran a red light and came barreling into the side of our taxi. I just happened to be on the right side,” Cat said in a rush, her eyes filling with tears. “She didn’t deserve this,” she choked.
“I know,” Emma said, gently taking Cat in her arms again.
“They wanted to know about her family… And I don’t know anything about her. I can’t even remember where she’s from,” Cat said, wiping away the tears that fell.
“Shhh… I’ll sort it all out.”
“I broke my phone Saturday… I don’t even know who to call but if I did… I don’t have anyone’s number… I don’t…”
“Don’t worry about any of that,” Emma said softly, trying to calm her down. “I’ll take care of it. Let’s just go back to the hotel.”
“Okay,” Cat said with a sigh. “I can’t believe you’re here… I thought I wouldn’t see you until tomorrow at best.”
“I’m here...”
Cat reached for Emma’s hand as they left the building, still not quite believing what had happened.
Chapter 49
June 1st, 2016
The rest of May went by in a blur. Emma and Cat were constantly on the phone the days following the accident, speaking with Melissa’s family, making arrangements, canceling two tour dates, and figuring out what would happen next.
Emma had stepped in as Cat’s manager and spoke with the venue in New York City and Baltimore, explaining the circumstances, but Cat insisted on keeping the rest of the schedule.
Emma was lucky enough to get the those took weeks off from work so that she could stay on the road with Cat and make sure that she was okay.
Now they were back in Los Angeles and as Emma put the key in their door, she reminded herself of how lucky she was.
She’d been so close to losing Caitlin and the days leading up to that night, she’d been obsessing over a potential affair.
That wasn’t the type of person Emma wanted to be.
She held open the door for Cat who wheeled her suitcase in behind her.
“It’s good to be home,” Cat said with a sigh as she sat down on the couch.
“It is…”
Emma sat down beside her. They’d unpack later. Right now, she just wanted to curl up next to Cat.
Chapter 50
July 1st, 2016
Their first six months back together had been full of ups and downs, but Emma was happier than she’d ever been despite everything that had happened.
She’d come to Los Angeles in January when they agreed to give their relationship another shot and once Emma got settled into her new life on the west coast, things had been going well.
Even though they were both busy with their careers, the time that Cat and Emma found for each other was well spent, their ten years apart always at the back of their minds, and neither wanted to waste any more time like they had in the past.
When Melissa died six weeks ago, everything changed. They both looked at life with a different perspective.
Cat threw herself into her music when she got back from her tour. That was the only way she knew how to cope.
Emma tried to do her best to balance taking care of Cat, being there for her, and giving her space to heal.
Cat had spent almost every day with Melissa since she hired her in January and although they hadn’t known each other long, their working relationship developed into a friendship, and Emma knew that she was missing her.
When Emma got home that evening, she planned on opening a bottle of wine and just relaxing with Cat. They didn’t have to talk. She just wanted to be close to her.
Emma turned her key in the door and pushed it open, leaving her bag down on the table just inside the doorway.
The smell of garlic and tomatoes hit her instantly. Caitlin was stirring something on the stove and Emma was surprised that she wasn’t locked in her music room, working on a new song, like she was most evenings when she got in.
“Hi… What’s the occasion?” Emma asked as crossed the open planned living room and kitchen area to wrap her arms around Cat’s waist from behind.
“Hello… Does there need to be one?”
“No… I’m just surprised. That’s all.”
Cat turned down the heat on that burner and faced Emma. “Okay, well there might be an occasion…”
“What?” Emma asked, trying to figure out the playful glint in Cat’s pale blue eyes.
“It’s… Do you want to talk about this now or eat first?”
“As delicious as that smells, I don’t think I can wait. You’ve got me intrigued…”
“Okay,” Cat said, pushing the pan off the heat. “Dinner can wait,” she said as she took Emma’s hand and led her over to the couch and they both sat down.
“Is it good or bad news?”
“I don’t know… It’s just a crazy idea.”
“Okay…” Emma tried not to look as worried as she felt.
“Feel free to just shoot this down,” Cat said as she took a deep breath. “It’s just an idea and it might be a little crazy.”
“What is it?”
“I know you’ve only been living out here for six months but… How would you feel about going home?” Cat asked cautiously.
“To Philadelphia?”
Cat nodded.
“You’re asking if I want to move back to Philadelphia?” Emma asked, not quite sure that she was understanding her.
“I’m asking you if you think we should move back… Together…”
“I don’t know…”
“I only came out here to build my career and get more gigs,” Cat said, holding Emma’s gaze. “I’m happy with my music and where it’s going… I uh… I got asked to sign with a new record company.”
“What!? Why didn’t you say that?” Emma asked, throwing her arms around Cat. “That’s fantastic,” she said as she hugged her.
“I didn’t want to uproot us again…,” Cat said as Emma pulled away. “I know you’ve got a job you love here now… They’re based in New York, so I mean we could live there but it would be a struggle… I thought we could go back to Philadelphia, back to a city we love, where we have friends…”
“I’d love to,” Emma said in a hurry.
“Really?”
“Yes. I mean, I’m happy here but it would be great to go home.”
“So, you think we should do this?” Cat asked.
“Yeah… There’s a lot to organize… But I think we should.”
Cat leaned in to find her lips, cupping her cheek as she kissed her firmly.
Emma couldn’t believe that was the news that Caitlin had for her, that she’d been offered another recording contract and that they could be based on the east coast again, near their family and friends.
“Let’s eat,” Cat said as she pulled away. “We can sort out all the details later.”
Chapter 51
July 12th, 2016
Emma was glad to be back in Philadelphia, especially when it wasn’t even her idea. She didn’t know how long she would have lasted in L.A. She enjoyed her time there, but she would always consider this city home.
She had a lot less to take care of than Cat did. She’d only arrived with a suitcase six months ago, and Cat had been living there for more than ten years.
The six-month lease that Emma had the woman sign that moved into her apartment was just up, so the timing was great for her.
Emma was almost completely settled back in and Cat would fly out when she found someone to sublet her place to and she’d arranged for her belongings and instruments to be shipped out.
Emma just had to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She probably could go back to Liberty Park, the hotel wher
e she’d worked for years but she was doing alright with her photography and she got so much more enjoyment out of it than she did running a hotel.
Being a photographer had always been her dream, but she’d been too afraid to leave her comfortable job in the past. Now, after taking photos part time in Los Angeles for almost six months, she felt like she had enough confidence to be a full-time photographer.
She’d been working hard to build up a following on social media like Cat had. She was starting from zero and just relying on people sharing her photos, but she was already gaining traction.
So far, she’d received requests from magazines and newspapers to use her work, some paid and some unpaid, but it was all attention and she was slowly but surely getting her name and work out there.
Thankfully, she had always kept her expenses low, so she had savings that built up over the years. She could rely on that money now to keep her going for the next few months if she had trouble finding work.
Emma had started looking at cameras and lenses online. If she did alright in the next few weeks, she would consider upgrading her lens collection at the very least.
Cat had her new recording contract now too, so life was looking good for both of them. They would finally be able to relax. The last few months had been stressful for several reasons but mostly because of Melissa’s sudden death.
Cat had only worked with her for a few months, but they’d gotten close. Melissa was always around taking photos or videos to post to Cat’s social media profiles.
Even though Cat didn’t talk about her, Emma knew that she was hurting. She figured that she must be working through her grief by writing. She always put what was worrying her into a song. When Cat was ready for her to hear it, she’d play it for her.
The only thing that was worrying Emma was running into Tori again. Sometimes this city felt so small and Emma knew that they’d eventually cross paths.
They hadn’t spoken at all since Emma found out what she did. She still hadn’t forgiven her for taking those photos of her and Cat kissing when she was still in the closet and it could have ruined her career.
Emma couldn’t understand how Tori could possibly be short on money. She was a workaholic. She wasn’t buying that excuse.
Maybe she wanted Cat for herself, although she was always interested in Jeff, Cat’s former manager.
Emma didn’t know what to think or how she’d react when they saw each other again. She was just glad that things had worked themselves out and Cat had come out anyway without damaging her career.
Chapter 52
July 14th, 2016
Cat was sitting on Emma’s sofa, in her living room, their living room now, wondering how she got this lucky. It was her first night back in Philadelphia and she already knew that she’d made the right decision. This is where they belonged.
“Here you go,” Emma said, handing her a glass of white wine as she sat down beside her.
“Thanks.”
“So, everything’s taken care of in L.A.?”
“Yes. I have what looks like a responsible couple renting out my apartment and my stuff is on its way here. There’s so much to organize work wise though,” Cat said as she brought her glass to her lips.
“When are you going to New York?”
“My first official meeting is on July 29th.”
“Two weeks away…”
“I need a manager… I’m sure they’ll have somebody in mind. I need to find musicians for the new album, maybe some people to co-write with…”
“So, you’ll be writing and recording for the next few months?” Emma asked her.
“That’s the plan.”
Cat leaned back into the cushions, already feeling more relaxed just from being here, sitting beside Emma.
“Do you think we need to find a bigger place?” Emma asked.
“You want to move out?”
“Well, we need space. I do a lot of work from home now… You’re used to having a room where you can work on your music and keep all your instruments. We should really be living in a three-bed apartment.”
“So, you’d sell this place?” Cat asked.
“I think I’d rent it out.”
“Really? You’d do that? I know that you love this place…”
“I’m just thinking ahead… I don’t think we’d be comfortable here,” Emma said as she tucked a lock of her black hair behind her ears.
“So… Should we start looking?”
“Yes… I think we’re both in a position to stretch to a three bed. Your place in L.A. was expensive…”
“Let’s do it,” Cat said as she stood up to go find her laptop. A few seconds later she was back sitting beside Emma again.
“We don’t really need a guest bedroom…”
“No,” Cat said as she started looking through apartments that were available for rent. “What about this one?”
She leaned into Emma slightly, putting the laptop on both of their legs so they could look through the photos together.
This wasn’t at all how she imagined spending her first night back in Philadelphia. She just assumed that they’d be sharing Emma’s apartment but now that she mentioned it, this place wasn’t really practical. Neither of them would have space to do their work here.
“It’s nice…,” Emma started but Cat could hear the hesitancy in her voice. “I’m not sure that I want to live in that area though.”
“We’ll keep looking,” Cat said, turning to meet her green eyes.
Chapter 53
July 29th, 2016
Emma went through the photos on her camera with her back to the crowd while she waited for the next act to come on stage. She was at a small outdoor music festival and she’d gotten some nice shots so far.
She was surprised that Cat wasn’t asked to play at the festival. It was a weekend of folk and bluegrass music and she would have fit right in even though she was more alternative.
Emma looked past the crowd to catch the sun going down, creating a fire in the sky. She lifted her camera to her face, taking a few steps back to get in the crowd and the amazing sunset that was happening behind them.
Once a few of the people in the front realized they were getting their photo taken, they started raising their hands, their faces animated, and Emma continued to press the shutter.
The main act was going to be on any minute, so Emma went back to her position near the center of the stage and took a few shots now that extra lights had been turned on.
She checked her phone again to make sure that she hadn’t missed Cat. She hadn’t heard from her yet today and Emma was dying to know how her meeting in New York went but Cat knew that she had this gig tonight.
“Emma?”
She turned to her left to see Tori standing beside her with one camera hanging from her neck and another in her hand.
“Hey…”
“Hi,” Tori said walking over to her. “Well, if you couldn’t get a tan in L.A. it’s never going to happen,” she said with a smirk.
“I’ll blame it on my Irish roots.”
“Are you back in Philadelphia now?”
“Yes…”
“Look,” Tori said, aware that she wasn’t getting the most positive reception. “I know that I messed up. I was desperate… I’m not trying to make excuses. I was just in a bad position for a few weeks. It seemed like the quickest way to make a few bucks…”
“I don’t know if I can ever forgive you…”
“I know… Can we at least be friendly? It looks like we might end up seeing each other on a regular basis whether you like it or not,” Tori said, looking down at the camera in Emma’s hand.
“Yeah… I think we could manage that.”
“You’re taking photos full-time now?” Tori asked.
Emma nodded. “I was taking photos part time in Los Angeles and I’m trying to make it full-time now.”
“That’s great. I’m proud of you… If I can ever help you out, just let me know.”
<
br /> “I will. Thanks,” Emma said as the band made their way onto the stage to a roaring cheer.
“Good luck,” Tori shouted over the crowd before she moved to get into position to the left of the lead singer.
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