The Beautiful Katastrophe

(XXXV) Trippin'

A week later...

I tried bringing normalcy back to my life. I was at work, and spent most of my time on the phone. I knew Mia was going to pop up any second and Adrienne was still in town.

I never even called Vanity or Michael back. I was trying to take care of business first.

I was working closely with my creative team to get ready for a commercial shoot and another photoshoot. I was proud to be the face of Kat Co. I could never get tired of looking at myself on a billboard. But at the same time, I didn't feel my facial features were striking enough. I dreamed of finding a girl with some type of exoticness. Someone with cat eyes, maybe. I went through many headshots but never found anyone that screamed at me. I wasn't going to settle. So until I did, I would remain on those billboards.

In the middle of my day, right after lunch, Rita disturbed me with a knock on the door.

I looked up and saw her standing next to Mia. Even though she looked pissed, I had the biggest smile on my face. I stood up from behind my desk.

"Don't smile at me," Mia said. But I could see she was fighting one of her own.

"Before you yell at me, can you please give me a hug?"

"No." Mia stepped into the room, finger combing her dark curls and examining my office.

"Thanks, Rita," I said.

"Yeah, thanks Rita. And can you please hold her calls? You're going to hear a lot of yelling."

Rita looked at me, lost for words.

"It's fine," I said, retaking my seat.

"Okay...." Rita shut the door.

Mia remained standing as I looked up at her.

"I've been a little down lately so go easy on me," I said.

Mia snickered and shook her head.

"Can you sit?!"

"I want to stand."

I rolled my eyes and sat back in my chair. "So, what happened in L.A.?"

"You still didn't talk to Adrienne?"

"I had a lot going on. She was the last of my worries."

Mia's expression softened up a bit. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'll be fine."

"You and P are good?"

I nodded again.

Mia finally sat down. "I can see in your eyes that you're a bit—drained... so, I'll be nice."

"Where's my baby?" Mia had a one-year-old daughter Gabriella that I didn't get to see enough.

"With her dad." Tyrone lived in Saint Paul, Minneapolis' twin. Mia lived with him while attending school here, in Minnesota. But after the baby was born and Mia started traveling again, she and Tyrone somewhat called it quits. But at the same time, the love still lingered between them. So, I couldn't keep up with their status.

"So," she said, leaning forward. "The story goes... I was in L.A. with my brother, Neek. We were riding around and close to your neighborhood and this is a couple days before P's party but I figured I'd stop by and try my luck." A hand clap accompanied her next words. "So, we get there, and there's cars parked out front and in your driveway...and lights are on and music is blasting." Mia's gaze was to the floor as she recollected the events. "One of your neighbors came out on her porch, folded arms with a frown, and I took responsibility to apologize to her and told her I would tell them to turn the music down. In my head, I'm thinking, wow, Kat's ass is having a party and didn't invite me."