Don’t think about leaving before we talk. Water. Pain relief. Use it.
Toni
P.S. You smell like booze and vomit. Shower. Clean clothes. Come upstairs.
Shit!She was at Toni and Addie’s townhouse. An oversized Vienna College sweatshirt was haphazardly folded next to a pair of sweatpants. Next to them was a plastic bag that had a stickie on it saying “gross clothes in here.” Kaelee washed down a couple of acetaminophen with half the water there and went to shower.
While she was standing under the hot water, she remembered Greta calling after Kaelee had messaged her.
Kaelee rested her head on the wall of the shower, trying to remember how much of an ass she’d been. The parts she remembered were mortifying enough that after her shower she went out and grabbed her phone, which someone had kindly put on a charger. She scanned the text conversation as well as the app before sending a new message.
Lee:I am so sorry about last night.
Marie:T said you were alive and at her place.
Lee:I am. I shouldn’t have reached out. Rough night.
Marie:You are my friend. Calling friends is fine.
Lee:I can see our messages. How bad was the call?
Marie:Doesn’t matter. Still my friend. Still worried when you were hurting. Sorry/not sorry about calling T.
Lee:It’s ok. Does she know?
Marie:Enough. Talk to her as much as you need. I’m ok with it. We will need to talk to E too.
Kaelee flinched at the thought of telling her agent she had crawled into a bottle last night. She wasn’t embarrassed about having sex with Greta, but being drunk was another thing. Kaelee wasn’t the sort of person to get drunk or stupid like that. She had, however, maybe snapped a little under pressure.
Lee:I am so sorry about all of it. I don’t do that. I swear.
Marie:Are you safe? That’s all I care about.
Lee:I’ll let them know that none of what happened with us was after you knew me as me.
Marie:I trust you. Call me later. Please.
Lee:Will do.
Right now, Kaelee wished she could call Greta right this minute, but she wasn’t going to have that conversation in Toni and Addie’shome, not when there was a risk that they could hear her. Feeling like a disobedient child, Kaelee got dressed and went to find Toni or Addie, not sure which woman was home. When she was a teen, she hadn’t ever gotten drunk or made an ass of herself. Doing it at almost thirty stung her pride.
Failing to eat, drinking on an empty stomach… there were a number of stupid-assed things she’d done the night before. Explaining how it had happened didn’t undo her mortification that ithadhappened in the first place.
Toni looked up at Kaelee as she walked into the living room. She was seated in a rather Victorian sofa with fringe under it. A stack of books sat next to her, along with a notebook. When she set aside the book she was actively reading, a fluffy cat looked up and hissed from her lap.
At the sound, Toni ruffled the cat’s fur and said, “Take no offense at his drama. Oscar Wilde is a grump. I’m not even sure he likesme.” She stared down at the massive cat, a Maine coon or something similar, with a fond look. “He likes Addie. Sometimes Em. He accepts my love grudgingly when they aren’t here.”
The cat looked perfectly content in Toni’s lap, so Kaelee had her doubts about the other woman’s interpretation of his opinions. It certainly seemed like the cat’s objection was simply about having cuddle time interrupted.
Kaelee stood there awkwardly, not sure what she was to be doing right now. What shewantedwas to call a ride and get out of here without chatting. “Addie’s not home?”
“She is. She went to read in our room when she heard the shower turn off.” Toni motioned toward the kitchen. “She made you a cup of tea before she left. She says coffee will be too harsh for your stomach as drunk as you were. I asked for a little privacy to talk to you, so you didn’t feel like we were ganging up on you.”
Mutely Kaelee went and grabbed the cup of tea, added milk, and came to sit in the living room to face her former boss, now friend.Finally, she said, “Thank you both. You didn’t need to bring me here, but I appreciate it.”
“Oh, that’s not what oureditorsaid when she texted me in the middle of the night in a panic.” Toni stared at Kaelee, looking a little too much like a surly mother for Kaelee’s comfort.
“Right, well… I had a thing happen. Bad decisions were made and—”
