Chapter 1
"Kat!" "Kat!" Jane bumped Kat's foot rudely. Kat was lost in thought, "What have I done. Eva Rhodes?! How could it have gone so far..." "Kat, what are you thinking about? Are you even listening to us?" Asked Sutton. Kat looked up from her wine glass and looked into the faces of her two friends sitting across from her on the sofa. "Sure, we're fine" she replied, not making a face. "How was the party at The Bell again? - Your party!" inquired Sutton, once again pouring her friends copious amounts of wine. "The party..it was really cool, interesting and strong women, I already have some new podcast ideas." Began Kat to share. She was glad when she could talk. Then she didn't have to think about what had happened just a few hours ago. Relieved that they didn't probe deeper she continued "There's a panel discussion planned for tomorrow, plus a well-known artist is exhibiting photos of internationally-known politicians who advocate for queer politics" Kat continued "Darby told me, I guess it's planned on the fly. I don't even know who this well-known artist is. But I'm looking forward to it anyway." Sutton and Jane exchanged slightly disturbed looks. "You don't know which artist it is?" Jane hooked up with her friend again. "No, but she'll be the perfect guest for my podcast, I'm sure." Replied Kat. Both of her friends fell silent and looked down at the floor. "Kat" Sutton began, "Kat, I'm sorry, I've been trying to tell you something all evening" Jane helped Sutton along. "But you were so distracted and I didn't want to spoil your party... Kat the famous artist is Adena." She finished her sentence. "Adena exhibits the photos at The Bell." For a brief moment, none of the three said anything. Kat gulped and looked at her friends in horror. "Adena?! Why didn't you guys...? How long have you known...and why didn't you tell me?" Kat's voice grew louder and she noticed the blush slowly rising in her face. "Kat! I only overheard by accident. I overheard a conversation between two members at The Bell. I was going to tell you, but then I didn't know when or how. I mean, Jane looked at Kat forcefully "I know you didn't part on the best of terms and I don't want you to get hurt. I didn't have the heart to tell you." "We're sorry, Kat," Sutton now chimed in. "We wanted to tell you, but we just didn't know how." Kat could never stay mad at her friends for long and she believed them both too, trusting that they were telling the truth. She propped her head in her hands and then looked up into her friends' faces. She could see that they were sorry. "Is Adena coming too? Does she know I work at The Bell?" asked Kat Jane. "She'll be there tomorrow, but we'll be there to support you. We'll watch you all night tomorrow, I promise!" replied Jane forcefully. "And hey, you're behind the bar, you won't notice much of Adena. Just concentrate on your guests and the drinks" Sutton tried to lighten the situation "your Bloody Merry is almost known all over New York!" The three friends laughed and Kat was glad to have such great friends. She was sure they would rock the night together tomorrow. Kat took it upon herself to avoid Adena tomorrow, just as her friends had advised her to do. "Okay, that will be fine tomorrow" Kat agreed with them both, "but you have to come, I won't accept any excuse" "100 percent promise, we will come!" Answered her friends immediately. The three sat together for a while before Kat said goodbye to bed. She was tense about meeting Adena tomorrow. Besides, she couldn't forget the night with Eva. She felt bad after having sex with Eva. As if she had left all her principles behind. She was such a strong woman, how could she have gotten involved with Eva? Kat's head was in chaos, but she was too tired to think any more.