She thought she saw a famous actress walking beside her at one stage, but no one bothered her. She was just another concerned citizen, voicing her opinion, and that’s what Cat was doing too.
Tori was doing her own thing as Emma suspected she would. She had a lot more contacts who would want good photos from today’s events. Emma had brought her camera for fun not because she’d been hired by anyone to cover this protest.
Emma stopped walking to get a photo of a sign that a little girl was holding over her head. Emma sped up so that she could get ahead of her and kneel down to take the shot.
She spoke to the girl and her mother for a few seconds, taking note of their names and where they were from, before looking up to see where Cat was.
Emma turned around, doing a full three-sixty, and searching the crowd in her vicinity but she couldn’t see Cat.
She kept walking, keeping an eye out for her. They’d catch up with each other eventually. They were all heading to the same destination.
Emma continued marching, pausing often to turn around a take a photo of the crowd behind her.
As the sun set, Emma got some amazing photos. People lit candles and turned on the flashlights on their phones creating atmospheric lighting and Emma’s finger rarely left the shutter button.
Chapter 63
Cat turned to say something to Emma, but she wasn’t there. She stopped walking and turned around, searching the crowd around her for Emma’s jet-black hair and the turquoise hoody that she was wearing but Cat couldn’t find her.
She kept walking. It was bound to happen. There were so many people here and she could tell that Emma was enjoying taking some photos.
She’d send her a text when they got to Midtown. For now, she’d keep going, joining in with the crowd. She had her phone out, taking videos and selfies with the crowd in the background.
When she first stepped out of her hotel and out onto the street, she was worried about being recognized and distracting people from the protest, but she’d already seen two celebrities, and no one was paying them any attention.
It was kind of surreal. Not that she was that famous. There were plenty of times where she went out to get a coffee or have dinner and she wasn’t recognized once but that was happening less and less now.
Her social media numbers were growing each month and she was struggling to keep her life as normal as possible but being out here today, she felt a strong connection with all of the people around her and the message that they were trying to get across.
Her legs were getting tired, but she knew they were only a few blocks away and for the first time, she saw a group of people that were peacefully clashing with their march.
The opposing group were stationary, staying on the sidewalk, while their march continued to move towards Midtown.
Cat’s walk slowed, and she turned again to look for Emma but there were so many people. She couldn’t pick Emma out of the crowd.
When she faced forward again, the two groups looked like they might clash. A few people that were marching had stopped and engaged with the shouting from the other group.
Cat looked on, wondering if Emma was around to photograph this. She didn’t see any news cameras or photographers getting any of this.
What started as arguing quickly escalated to pushing and shoving. Cat tried to keep moving but she was forced to go with the crowd, many of whom were heading towards the sidewalk, ready to defend what they believed in.
This is completely unnecessary… We obviously want different things. We believe in different things. This is going to turn into a punch up pretty soon and for what?
Cat gently pushed her way through the crowd, trying to get away from the clash but she actually ended up getting closer to it.
She really didn’t want to get involved. Everyone was entitled to their own opinion and that was exactly why she was marching. She just didn’t think that there was any need to fight.
As Cat turned to look for Emma again, she was pushed forward with the crowd and she almost stumbled before regaining her balance.
To her right a man and a woman were shouting, each with a fistful of the other’s jacket.
Cat put her outstretched arms between them, trying to keep them apart before either of them started throwing punches but that’s exactly what happened.
The woman reached back with her right hand, clenched in a fist, ready to do some damage but instead of striking the man in front of her she was pushed, and her arm swung wide, finding Cat’s cheek.
Cat stumbled backward, just as much from shock as from the blow. She reached up with her hand, surprised to find blood already forming and the skin below her eyes incredibly tender.
The woman must have been wearing a ring.
Cat backed away and kept to the side of the crowd marching on the street until she found a place where she could safely stop.
She took out her phone to open up the camera app and see how bad it was. She held out her phone and didn’t recognize herself. There was blood pumping out of a cut just below her left eye.
Shit…
She found a tissue in her jacket pocket, but it was saturated in a few seconds. Cat put her phone away and saw an ambulance about twenty yards down the road. She might need stiches or at least something to soak up all this blood.
Chapter 64
Emma had given up finding Cat now that it was dark. The crowds seemed to have grown in the last few hours and she had no idea if Cat had kept pace with the march or stood to the side to wait for her.
She took out her phone and tried calling her again. She couldn’t get through ten minutes ago, but she wanted to keep trying. She didn’t want Cat to be worrying about her.
Just as Emma was about to call Cat, a text popped up from her.
Hey... I ended up getting accidentally hit. I'm sitting in the back of an ambulance getting looked at. I'm in front of The St. Regis. Let me know if you get this.
Emma quickly typed back that she was on the way. Thankfully, she was only two blocks away and she was there in less than fifteen minutes.
When she spotted the ambulance outside the hotel, Emma made her way across the crowded street as fast as she could.
She tried to get to one of the paramedics, but a police officer stood in her way.
"Excuse me... I just need to see the woman that's getting seen to," Emma said, slightly out of breath.
"No way," the policeman said, holding out his hand for her to keep her distance.
"What?"
"No press allowed," he said firmly.
"No, no, no... I'm not press. I just brought my camera with me today... I'm looking for my girlfriend. She said she was being seen to in an ambulance and she gave me this address."
Emma watched the policeman hold her gaze, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth.
"What's her name?" he asked.
"Cat Stone," Emma said, wondering if she had ID on her with her real name but he was probably just going to ask Cat for her name.
"And your name is..."
"Emma Kingsley."
"Give me a minute," he said as he strode towards the back of the ambulance and spoke to one of the paramedics.
Emma watched him, waiting anxiously for him to decide if he was going to let her through. A few seconds later, he waved her over.
"Thank you," she said to him and then tried to look past the medics to make sure Cat was okay. "Cat?" she called.
"Emma?"
One of the medics moved to the side to get something and Emma could see Cat sitting in the back of the ambulance, her cheek swollen and bruised.
"Oh my God! Cat??"
Emma took a step closer, careful not to get in the paramedic’s way, but she needed to get a closer look at her girlfriend.
"What happened??"
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Cat said with a wince as they finished cleaning her up.
"Do you need painkillers?" the woman that just finished bandaging Cat up asked.
"Please," Cat said.
She handed her a strip of tablets and gave her instructions on the dosage. A few minutes later, Cat was standing on the sidewalk across from Emma as they wrapped their arms around each other.
"Are you okay?" Emma asked her, reaching out to stroke her other cheek, examining her for any other cuts or bruises.
"I'm fine. I mean, it's sore but it's not that bad."
"What happened?"
"I just got in the way of these two that were arguing and before I knew it I took a punch. Things got ugly fast and I just stumbled away and was lucky enough to be pretty close to this ambulance."
"We should go back to your hotel," Emma said, putting her arm around her waist, both to be close to her and to help support her in case she was feeling faint. "Or did you check out?"
"I checked out, but we can go back home tonight if you want."
"I think you should take it easy. We'll see if they have any available rooms there," Emma said, taking out her phone and searching for the hotel's number.
Cat always stayed in the same hotel when she came to New York. She liked having a place where she knew the staff and if there was ever a problem with security or a fan, they would know what to do.
Cat didn't travel with an entourage, not yet anyway, so she liked to surround herself with people that she could get to know and trust.
Emma got through to reception and found out that they had a room for tonight. She booked it under Cat's name and said that they would be checking in shortly.
They just had to find a street where traffic was flowing normally and get into the back of a cab.
"Will you be okay?" Emma asked her as they moved away from the noise in search of a taxi.
"I'm fine. I'm just sore and exhausted... I can't wait to get into bed."
"We'll relax... Watch a movie... Or something on Netflix," Emma said as she kept her eyes peeled for a cab.
Chapter 65
December 14th, 2016
Cat’s face was fully healed just in time for her album photo shoot. The label had pitched their ideas to Cat and together they came up with a concept.
The album was going to be called “Coming Home” and Cat agreed to do a shoot in front of a green screen.
Their idea was to have a shot of Philadelphia, maybe in black and white, in the background of the album cover with Cat’s profile or even a collage of images of Cat in the foreground.
Cat loved the mock ups they’d shown her and was glad that she’d eventually have a say in the final product.
Even though Philadelphia wasn’t technically where she was from, she liked to think of it as her adopted home.
And ‘Coming Home’ didn’t necessarily mean a location. Cat was thinking of Emma when she came up with that idea for a song title and now the name of the album.
Everything was still on schedule and the album would be released in early February. Cat couldn’t be happier with the way things were going. Life was good right now.
Chapter 66
December 24th, 2016
Emma knew that Cat was extremely busy with getting her album ready and recorded. She’d had an intense week in the studio in New York.
Cat called Emma whenever she could be she sounded strange lately. Emma couldn’t put her finger on it.
She almost sounded nervous and she had stepped out of the apartment to make a few phone calls which was unlike her.
Cat would be working over Christmas, she’d told her last week, but she wanted Emma to come into the city and spend Christmas there with her. She said she’d have Christmas day off, but she didn’t want to be traveling back and forth.
Emma happily agreed. She’d never spent Christmas in the city and even though it was mainly a thing tourists did, she loved the idea of having Cat all to herself tomorrow.
They agreed to visit their families later on in the week when Cat was finished putting the album together.
She arrived in New York on the train a few hours ago and the snow had begun to fall when she found a cab to take her to Cat’s usual hotel. She’d sent her a text with her room number and that she should be back by the time Emma got there.
She knocked on Cat’s door, adjusting the overnight bag she’d packed on her shoulder while she waited for her to answer.
“Hey,” Cat said with a warm smile as she opened the door and took Emma’s bag from her.
“Hi. How’s work going?”
“Good but I’m glad to have the rest of today and tomorrow off to recharge.”
“What’s the plan for tonight? Do you want to just relax?” Emma asked as she wrapped her arms around Cat’s neck, tilting her head to find Cat’s soft lips.
“Hmmm. Well as tempting as it is to stay in… I was thinking of a walk around Central Park before it gets too late. The snow is falling…I don’t know… I thought it’d be nice,” Cat said as she met Emma’s green eyes.
“Sure. Why not? Do you want to go now?”
“Yeah… Just give me a second,” Cat said as she went over to the other side of the room and unzipped her suitcase, rifling through her clothes but keeping her back to Emma. “So, your parents didn’t mind you missing Christmas with them?”
“No…,” Emma said as she sat on the edge of the bed and waited for Cat. “I told them I’d come visit next week.”
“My parents weren’t impressed but they know how much this album means to me,” Cat said as she slid her black winter jacket on and bending down to zip up her suitcase again. “Ready?” she asked as she stood up.
“Ready,” Emma said as they both headed out into the cold, snowy night.
They debated getting a cab, but they were only six blocks away from the entrance to Central Park and it wasn’t bitterly cold. They were both wrapped up in scarves as they held gloved hands and strolled through the deserted streets.
It was dusk when they reached Central Park. They’d walked the last two blocks in silence and Emma kept getting the feeling that something was wrong.
Cat had been fidgety lately, anxious even. Emma always thought it was about getting the album finished and when that was done, maybe Cat would relax.
Emma was under the impression that the recording process was going well so she didn’t know why Cat was still being weird.
Emma couldn’t put her finger on it. It was like Cat was hiding something but the last time that Emma had jumped to the conclusion that Cat might be cheating on her, she’d gotten it completely wrong.
She kept her mind from going there again. Cat wasn’t cheating on her. She was just stressed. The sophomore album always came with a lot of pressure especially when this was her first one with a real record label.
Emma glanced over at Cat when she’d stopped walking. She still held onto Emma’s hand and met her gaze without saying anything.
Now, Emma was concerned. Cat always had something to say.
She’s trying to figure out how to break up with me.
“Emma…”
She waited for Cat to continue, her beating a little bit faster now.
“I somehow always knew we’d end up here,” Cat said as she took a deep breath. “Even when we hadn’t spoken or seen each other in years… There was never going to be anyone else.”
Emma’s eyes widened slightly as she watched Cat continue, her lip quivering slightly as she tried to get the words out.
“It’s always been you, Emma,” Cat said as she held onto Emma’s hand and got down on one knee. She reached into her pocket and held out a navy square box, flicking it open with one hand to reveal a single diamond on a silver band.
Emma gasped, her eyes filling with tears.
“Emma, will you marry me?” Cat asked, her voice cracking with emotion.
Emma eyes flickered between Cat and the ring that was between them. This was the last thing that she was expecting to happen tonight.
All the doubt that she’d been dealing with in the last few weeks disappeared in that moment when Cat dropped to one knee in the
snow.
“Yes,” Emma said with a smile tugging at her lips. “Yes.”
Cat wrapped her arms around Emma, picking her up and spinning her around with Emma’s hands clasped at the base of Cat’s neck.
Emma dipped her head to find Cat’s lips, a tear escaping down her cheek as she kissed her like she had that night at the Christmas market, when neither of them knew what would happen between them.
Endless Love Page 18