Shrugging, Gemma carefully set her wine glass onto the coffee table and moved to answer the door.
Her stomach bottomed out.
“Hi.” Caitlin’s greeting was soft, a smile playing across her lips.
Before Gemma could respond, Hayley spoke up over her shoulder, “Oh, hell no!”
“It’s nice to see you too, Hayley,” Caitlin said flatly, her smile fading.
“You aren’t welcome here.” Hayley now stood in the doorway like a guard dog between Caitlin and Gemma.
“Let’s not do this out in the hallway, please.” Gemma waved Caitlin inside. She closed the door and angled herself between Caitlin and Hayley.
“What do you want, Caitlin?” Hayley asked, annoyance flashing across her face.
“Still speaking for Gemma, I see,” Caitlin sniped.
“Still the same bitch, I see,” Hayley quipped back.
“Alright, enough!” Gemma stepped in before any hair pulling began. “Caitlin, why are you here?”
“I wanted to check in and see how you were doing.”
“So now you care about her?” Hayley sneered.
“I’ve always cared about her,Hayley.” Gemma could tell that Caitlin was trying to keep her cool, but it wouldn’t last much longer.
“Bullshit. You’ve only ever cared about yourself. Remind me, where have you been the past ten years?”
“Stop!” Gemma demanded, raising her voice and throwing her hands up between the two of them. “Hay, I appreciate you standing up for me, and you know I love you, but I think Caitlin and I need to talk.”
Gemma watched as Caitlin shot a victory smirk at Hayley, who stuck her tongue out in return.
Hayley stomped out of the apartment, but not before kissing Gemma on the cheek and whispering, “Call me if you need help hiding the body.”
Gemma couldn’t help but blow out a small chuckle. Gemma might be the actress, but Hayley would always be the drama queen.
“Wine?” Gemma offered, filling the silence until Caitlin was ready to explain why she had shown up at Gemma’s door.
“Sure.” Caitlin followed Gemma further into her apartment. “It’s good to see nothing’s changed between you two.”
Gemma grabbed another long-stemmed glass. “She lives next door.”
Caitlin laughed. “Why does that not surprise me?”
Gemma smiled as they made their way over to the couch.
“So, why are you checking in on me?” Gemma asked, feeling off balance from her conversation with Hayley.
Caitlin took a sip of wine before she answered. “I know I said that you can have as much time as you need, and you can, but Gemma… we had sex last week. Don’t you want to talk about it?”
“Nope, I’m fine.” Gemma’s walls were back up, although slightly weaker now than before.
“You sure? I didn’t do anything to make you mad at me, did I?” Caitlin asked, genuinely worried.
Oh, that’s rich.
“You mean aside from disappearing for nine years?” Gemma snapped, her voice defensive. The air between them felt tangled and uncertain.
