Disclaimer: Like I could really ever own Instant Star… And yes I planned for the first chapter to be on the short side. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated.
Darius stood up from behind his desk as the pretty blond walked into the room. Her blond hair fell all the way down to her waist and her blue eyes were accented by mascara and purple eye shadow. She almost looked like a toy doll. But Darius knew better than to think that. That girl was as tough as iron, she was not someone who could be messed with or pushed around. She was established in the music business with three triple platinum albums and two Grammies. Miss Katharina Hampton, known by her fans as Kate, was no pushover and around her, even Darius had to walk as if on egg shells. A contract with Kate Hampton meant major dollars for G Major.
"Well Darius," Kate began as she took a seat in one of the chairs pulled close to the large desk. "Do you have the contract for me to sign?"
"Of course Kate," he replied smoothly. "Are you sure you have no other demands?"
"Darius we've been over this contract more times than I can count," Kate answered as she primly crossed her ankles. "My lawyer can always straighten out any flaws later."
Darius just sighed and handed her the stack of paper and an ivory pen. Her famous signature that graced millions of CDs, pictures, t-shirts, and other paraphernalia was on the paper in a matter of seconds. Kate rose to her feet and smoothed down her light pink sweater. Her light brown boots clicked softly on the hard wood floor as she walked out of the office, shutting the door firmly behind her. Kate sighed as soon as she was free of the office and leaned against the door. What she really wanted wasn't another contract. She wanted to be sixteen again in the mall with her best friend and her boyfriend. What she wanted was to pass by that singing competition without looking back. If she had, she would have been able to complete high school like every normal teenager, not with some private tutor in a studio. But it would do her no good dealing in what ifs.
Kate decided to wander around G Major before Darius made the formal announcement and everyone treated her like she was made of glass. She wanted to see everyone and how everything functioned on a routine basis. She wandered past the first studio, which for once was completely silent, and stopped at the second. There were people in there. She could see from the narrow window on the door that there was someone in the producer chair. She would just slip in and introduce herself. She wouldn't really disturb anyone. She opened the door as silently as possible, but the hinges squeaked a little. The man in the chair turned around and his facial expression went from one of intense concentration and mild annoyance to one of complete shock. "Kitty?" the man asked with a smile.
"Tommy!" she exclaimed happily, running into his open arms. Tommy lifted her into the air and twirled her around. Kate threw her arms around his neck and clung to him tightly. As he set her back on her feet she kissed his cheek. "You'll never believe just how much I missed you," she whispered into his shoulder.
"I missed you too Kitty," he replied softly, his voice just a little hoarse with emotion. "I missed you too…"
"Tommy, what's going on?" Jude asked suspiciously as she slipped in from behind the glass.
"Jude I would like to introduce you to one of my oldest and dearest friends," Tommy explained, turning to face Jude, but wrapping an arm loosely around Kate's waist. "This is Miss Kitty Hampton. My best friend since before I could remember."
"It's nice to meet you Jude," Kate smiled as she held out a hand for Jude to shake. After the ritual greeting was completed, Kate slowly appraised Jude, eyeing her with the well practiced eye of a music critic. "Well Tommy, you were right," she said after a long pause. "She does have what it takes."
"Who are you?" Jude asked with a frown.
"Tommy, you haven't told her about me?" Kate inquired with a dramatic flare. "Tommy is one of the few people in this world who are allowed to call me Kitty and live. Most people know me as Kate Hampton, the two time Grammy winner."
"You're the Kate Hampton?" Jude asked in shock. "I can't believe I'm really meeting you! I have all of your albums. Tommy you didn't tell me you knew Kate Hampton!"
Kate blushed a little under Jude's excessive praise. But she was used to people speaking of her accomplishments. Yet she was also the first to tell people she wasn't that great and she was really just a small town girl who'd gotten lucky one day when she'd been at the mall. Before anyone could say anything else, Kwest walked into the room. "What's she doing here?" he asked accusingly, glaring in Tommy's direction.
"What, no hi sweetheart?" Kate asked with a smirk. "No, I'm sorry for breaking your heart?"
"I'm not the one who needs to apologize, sweetheart," he replied stoically.
"I've got to go," Kate said, brushing past him. "I need to settle into my new apartment. Oh and by the way, I'm G Major's newest recording artist."
Kate swept out of the room angrily slamming the door to the studio behind her. Tommy cringed a little after she left and looked up at Kwest. "If Kitty's going to be working here," he began cautiously. "You two really need to fix things."
"I know," Kwest replied, staring at the door. "But I'm not sure if I want to."
"Why not?" Jude inquired curiously as she set her guitar in its case.
"Because if Katharina Hampton and I fix things," Kwest began with a sigh as his shoulders sagged like an unbearable weight had just been laid back on them. "I just might have to admit she was right all along and I still am in love with her."
Several hours later Kate walked into a bare apartment. All of the boxes were there waiting to be unpacked and the brand new custom made furniture sat scattered haphazardly around the room waiting for her to arrange it to suit her tastes. She made a mental note to ask Tommy to come and help her after she had painted. The paint sat in cans lined up against the kitchen island. The only thing that was set up was the bed back in the master suite, and that was only because the furniture company set up the bed for you. Kate was making a new start. That was what she wanted.
She was tired of New York City and all the noise and the paparazzi following her every move asking about her ex-boyfriend, actor Andrew Layton. Andrew had been a way to end her pain, or at least find a temporary solution. He'd made her feel whole again. She hadn't loved him. She'd always known that she could never love anyone like she had loved Kwest, like she still loved Kwest. That was why she'd turned down Andrew's proposal in front of everyone watching the People's Choice awards.
Kate hated living alone. She always had. She hated the way the apartment was so quiet. She walked back into her bedroom and kicked off her shoes. She slipped out of her sweater and grabbed a light blue tank top from one of the suitcases that rested on the floor. It was as good of a time as any to start painting. She went back out into the living area and grabbed the paint for the smaller bathroom, a roller, and a paint tray. After pouring some of the paint into a tray, she slowly started painting the walls a light mint green.
Suddenly her cell phone chirped from where it rested in her purse. She grabbed it and checked the number. It was Tommy She'd never been so glad to hear from someone. "Hey Tommy," she said with a happy sigh.
"Hey Kitty," Tommy began as he turned a corner in the Viper. "So have you started painting yet?"
"Just the bathroom," she replied as she brushed some of her hair away from her face.
"Well pack an overnight bag," he instructed as he pulled the Viper to a stop in front of her apartment building. "You know you can't stay in an apartment where paint it drying."
"Tommy, I'm not that worried about it…" Kate began with a sigh. Tommy was probably walking into the elevator as they spoke. She had no choice in the matter. He would back her bags himself if he had to.
An hour later, Kitty sat on Tommy's black suede sofa with her feet tucked up under her. Tommy sat behind her carefully braiding her hair. If she ever told anyone about it, he'd kill her, but it had become their tradition when they were kids, after her mom had died. His mom had taught him while her mom was sick and he'd surprised her the night after her mom had died. Until the time she moved away, every night she'd take a shower and then go over to Tommy's house so he could braid her hair, just like her mom had. Now her hair hung in wet strands down her back as Tommy's fingers gently braided it. It had been so long since he'd done it. Kate was amazed by just how much she'd missed it.
Kate sighed and shifted back a little so that Tommy could reach hair better. "So what's going on between you and Jude?" she asked with a wry smile. "She can't be more that seventeen."
"She just turned seventeen and there's nothing going on," Tommy informed her with a secretive smile.
"Thomas Quincy, you have never been able to fool me and you can't start now," Kate retorted with a grin. "You say there's nothing going on, but what if she was twenty-one?"
"What if we hadn't gone on that disastrous tour?" Tommy questioned as he wrapped the end of her braid with the hair tie she had given him. "Where would you and Kwest be now?"
"This isn't about me and Kwest," Kate replied turning to face him. "There is no me and Kwest, not anymore. We really didn't stand a chance after I moved. That tour was just a catalyst.
"So if he told you he was still madly in love with you, you would?"
"Tell him if he meant that, I wouldn't have caught him kissing one of my backup singers in my hotel room with his shirt off," Kate replied with a sigh as she settled back into her favorite position with her head resting on Tommy's shoulder.
"He only did that because he caught you kissing your drummer," Tommy replied softly.
"If he had given me half a second to explain I could have told him that Keith had kissed me and I was trying to push him off when Kwest walked into the club."
"I know that, and you know that," Tommy assured her soothingly. "But Kwest didn't at the time and he was angry and hurt. Cut him a little slack."
"You never did give up hope that Kwest and I would get back together did you?" Kate asked looking up at him with a light frown marring her petty features.
"I always hoped you two would at least call a truce and be able to stay in the same room together for more than thirty seconds." He reached over and grabbed the remote from where it rested on the coffee table. Almost as if their movements were synchronized, both propped their legs up on the coffee table. Tommy wrapped his arm around Kate's shoulders and they sat there together for several hours, like they'd never been apart at all.