a cactus and a lily find a common pot to grow - trixya

Chapter 4: Part 2 - I'll leave the light on for a while

Katya doesn't talk to Trixie until the Saturday of the auditions, and that's when she decides she's had enough of awkward silences and tension between them during the week and chooses to start over with her as if nothing had happened and, truth is, that's easier said than done. Her foolproof plan includes bringing her colleague a cup of coffee and hoping she will forget whatever happened between Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon.

What happens is that, while Trixie had been visibly scared of talking to Katya the whole week, Katya had been too angry to talk to Trixie. When she thinks about what happened, the only thing that comes to her head is how royally furious she is at the monster, the abuser that Trixie is about to marry, because no human being with a heart and a brain would ever be capable of looking into those sweet blue eyes and doing anything to harm the precious human being they belong to. And yes, Katya knows that she doesn't even like Trixie very much, but it doesn't change anything - Ian Elswood is the devil and Katya can't let Trixie or any other woman in her sight be part of his sick and twisted mind games.

And yes, Katya also knows she likes her fair share of those "sick and twisted mind games", for example, using every chance she finds to piss Trixie off, but that's different. When she does that, she's just messing with her snobby co worker, and she's pretty sure she wouldn't cry about that. They have this snarky attitude around each other but that's really just the way they are, and deep down it's even a little fun. Now, do you know what is not fun? Having someone hear your voice and suddenly start trembling, dropping things and hyperventilating. That's what he does to her. He takes Trixie, the pink cloud of perfume and kindness and glitter and turns her into a pale ball of anxiety and fear.

To be very honest, Katya hadn't liked Ian from the moment she saw him. He's got this pretentious vibe, along with the fake smile and the excessive cologne, not to mention the dimples - Katya hates dimples. And she hates Ian. She despises him, she is disgusted by him and whatever it is he's been putting Trixie through. She's never considered killing someone before, but now she is blinded by repulse and fury and that's not even the worst part.

The worst part is that, by being the disgusting pig that he is to Trixie, it automatically triggers a feeling towards her that Katya wishes she didn't feel: pity. Katya pities her because she is a victim in this situation but she really wishes she could feel something else because this does not define Trixie. We tend, in fact, to let ourselves be defined and to define others based on their current situation rather than their true selves, and Katya knows that better than anybody. For many years, she was either a hooker, a junkie or a disappointment, depends on who you ask, and she knows now that none of those things define her. But does Trixie know that about herself? That she's more than what he says she is, that she's more than what he turned her into?

Katya thinks she doesn't. And so she is determined to show her that she doesn't have to be any of that, that she's actually beautiful and special and kind and that the effort that she puts into her handwriting is more relevant to the world than what he made her think she is.

This determination and the fact that staying out of trouble has never been her forté anyway have led her to what she likes to call the FoolProof Plan To Make Trixie Dump His Ass 5000, trademark, which consists of a few simple steps that will make Trixie trust Katya enough to tell her about what's really going on and then let herself be convinced to dump his ass. Actually, it was Adore's idea - Katya wanted to let her neighbors, who are drug dealers, take care of Ian but her friend didn't let her.

step one is: becoming her friend! And what better way to make friends with someone than to let them know you care about them in a non-creepy way, right? So this is why, on her way to school, Katya stopped by Alverton's Coffee House, the local coffee shop where John, who also happens to be the pizza delivery guy, is the barista. She bought herself and Trixie an espresso each and held them proudly in her hand as she entered the auditorium, where a few students were already gathered and Trixie was testing the sound and the mics with the school janitor, Steve.