The One Night Stand

Chapter 8

Cat scrolled her phone for the last message from Tom.

I miss you. The text message read.

It had been a week since she'd seen Tom, the first few days were the hardest, he messaged her frequently. Mostly she just deleted the messages without reading them, what was the use? Cat knew he was a skilled manipulator, but she wasn't a vulnerable woman. She was strong, she convinced herself she would rather suffer a little now than suffer greatly later.

   "Hi Hun," Nic's voice in the security gate intercom startled her.

  "Come on in," Cat said, pressing the button to open the gates. She waited for Nicola in the sun room, the butterflies in her stomach danced ferociously. Cat hadn't seen Nicola for a few days and when she had, neither woman mentioned Tom.

  "I bought your favorite brie, from that little deli near my place, fucking hell it's expensive. But you're worth it." Nicola chatted away as they prepared a cheese platter and poured two glasses of red wine.

   Unlike Nicola, Cat was good at acting like nothing bothered her. She was a master of concealing her true emotions, it came with the job. She'd had to learn to keep a straight face no matter what her patients told her. Even though some times she'd wanted to burst into laughter or tears, or run and vomit.

  "How's the new book coming?" Nic looked towards Cat's office across the courtyard.

  "Great. I needed a few days of isolation, loneliness is a productive trait for me." Cat laughed lightly, although Nicola didn't smile back. She looked at her friend's full lips as they turned up in a smile while her eyes remained vacant.
  It was sad how quickly she'd lost that glow she had when she was seeing Tom, Nic thought. Feeling a tiny stab of guilt before pushing it away.

  "So are we going to talk about Tom, or just keep pretending it never happened?" Nic sipped her wine watching her friend's face. Cat looked into Nic's eyes, then looked at her glass of wine.

  "How is he?" Cat asked looking suspiciously at her friend again.

  "He's great." Nic answered not looking away from the glare her friend was giving her.

  "He asks about you every day." Nic sipped her wine, smiling when her friend finally looked away. Cat found satisfaction in the fact that Tom asked about her when he was with Nicola.

  "I miss him too." Cat accidentally aloud.

  "So why stop seeing him Cat? What the fuck is wrong with you giving up a cock like that?" Nic's eyes blazed in confusion, Cat smiled at her friend.

  "I don't trust him, he has an agenda. He's a born hustler."

  "So what? Cat, he is about to be a huge star, he doesn't want you for your money. Every woman he meets hits on him. If you thought he was popular before, you aint seen nothing yet." Nic refilled each woman's glass.

  "That type's not for me I'm afraid."

  "Clearly," Nic said and laughed. Cat smiled too, "he's performing at BJ's on Saturday night, it's a private function, for all the record company people and he wants you to come along. He said he invited you but you never responded."

  "I don't look at his messages, tell him to stop calling and messaging me."

  "No, you tell him yourself Cat. Stop behaving like a heartless cow, he can see straight through it you know." Nic rolled her big blue eyes.

  "When did you start sleeping with him Nic?" Cat watched her friend for a sign of guilt, she gave none.

  "The day of the book signing." Nic announced. Cat swallowed hard, she couldn't hide her disappointment, this time it was Nicola who found comfort in her friend's distress.