CHAPTER ONE
"This is a set up?" Cat asked flatly as she leaned back on the couch.
"No, not really a 'set up,'" Beck said. "Just... two of our friends meeting."
"In hopes of it working out," Jade said.
"So, a set up," Cat said. "Need I remind you the last time you set me up it was with that Lendell guy, and he was disgusting? I still have nightmares."
"That was an accident. Trina said -"
"The first clue that something was up, was that it came from Trina."
"She's not that bad anymore," Beck said.
"Only because she's on probation for stalking Lady Gaga to try to get into the music industry."
"Still doesn't make sense to me," Jade said. "She's friends with the biggest popstar in the world and she harasses complete strangers."
"Because she doesn't want to 'take advantage' of our friendship," Cat said, using air quotes.
The doorbell rang and Jade smiled at Cat. "That's Robbie. You'll like him. He's weird like you," Jade said as Beck went to the door.
"I'm not weird," Cat muttered as she stood up.
"We're just hanging out in the living room," Beck said, leading Robbie into the room. "Robbie, this is Cat. Cat, my best pal Robbie."
Cat was almost lost in his eyes. Brown eyes behind glasses that framed his face perfectly. Black curly hair that was a bit unkempt, but Cat knew how much a hassle curly hair was to manage so she looked past it. He was attractive. Not super muscular but he was built. And those pouty lips were pretty adorable and looked kissable. Something about him was familiar, though she couldn't place it.
Robbie smiled as he stared at her. She was beautiful. Long brown curly hair, big brown eyes, an adorable dimple on her left cheek. She was tiny, too. She almost looked pocket sized. Something about her was different. It was like time stood still until he heard Beck clear his throat and he held his hand out. "Hi. I'm Robbie."
"I'm Cat," Cat said, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"Beck's told me a lot about you. Jade, too."
"They have?" she asked, sending them both a warning glare.
"All good things, I promise. Well, mostly."
"Mostly? What did you tell him?" Cat asked, looking at Jade.
"Not much. Just that you throw up if you get too excited, you constantly have to pee, and that you forget your underwear sometimes."
Cat's eyes widened. "You told him about the underwear thing?!"
"Did you remember them tonight?"
"Yes! Jesus Christ, at least let me embarrass myself, I don't need anyone's help doing that."
"Oh, that's another thing, she embarrasses herself all the time."
"I'm gonna -"
"I do too," Robbie said. "I'm embarrass myself daily."
"High fives? They're the worst. Everyone leaves me up in the air."
"People turn down your high fives?"
"Oh, every time."
"That's because you do it at weird times," Jade said. "Beck, come help me real quick. They can talk while we're in the kitchen."
Beck followed his girlfriend out of the room and Robbie gestured to the couch for Cat to take a seat.
As she sat down, she nervously played with the hem of her dress. "I'm sorry about Jade. She gives out way too much information. If anyone did that to her, she'd bury them alive."
"It's all good. I've known Beck and Jade since middle school, I'm used to it," Robbie said.
"You have? I've known them since pre-school. Actually, since birth because our moms are best friends, but my earliest memories are pre-school."
"Yeah, we all went to the same school from 6th to 8th grade. And then I was at Hollywood Arts for my freshman year."
"You did? I went to Bricktown and Hollywood Arts too... I knew a Robbie back then," Cat said before letting out a small gasp. "Oh my god, are you the Robbie with the puppet?"
Robbie laughed and nodded. "Yeah, that was me. Rex is out of commission now."
"We hooked up at the kick backs. And the cow-wow."
"We did?"
"I'm the one that had the purple giraffe."
"Oh my god, we did," Robbie said, remembering her now.
"Yeah... well, if it means anything, I had a good time."
"Me too," he said. "So... how have you been since 9th grade?"
"Uh... up and down. Went through some stuff in high school that I'm still dealing with. Popstar life, mom life."
"You're a mom?"
Cat smiled and nodded. "Zoey. She's 13."
"Oh. Wow, so you were pretty young when you had her."
"I was 15. She's like my best friend."
"That's how it should be," Robbie said. "So, I know we're kinda catching up right now, but would you wanna meet up again in the future?"
Cat stared at him for a few seconds. Was he asking her out? On a date? When was the last time she went on a date? It had to have been back in high school, so at least 10 years ago.
Robbie got nervous when she didn't answer right away. Did he make it weird? Oh god, he made it weird.
Cat gave him a smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."
"Great. It's a date then."
A date, Cat thought. Do I remember how those work?
"If you'll excuse me for a few minutes, I gotta grab something from upstairs," Cat said, standing up.
"Sure, take your time."
She scurried out of the living room, passing Beck and Jade and grabbing Jade's arm and pulling her with her upstairs to the couple's room.
"Must you manhandle me?" Jade asked.
"Must you eavesdrop?" Cat shot back. "He asked me on a date. I said yes. I don't know how to date."
"You have a whole ass kid and you don't know how to date?"
"Having a kid means I know how to mate, not date. And - and how do I explain it to Zoey?"
"You don't have to explain anything to her."
"You don't think she's gonna have questions? This is the first date I'll have in over 10 years, she's not used to me dating. What if it's weird for her?"
"Are you dating her teacher or friend?"
"No..."
"Then it shouldn't be weird for her. She'll be fine. You don't even have to tell her you have a date. Just bring her over here and she'll just spend the night with Jamie and Kayla."
"Why would she need to spend the night?"
"Because if you're lucky enough to forget underwear that night, you'll get lucky and she won't be there to walk in on you."
"Zoey Jade! Aunt Jade is gonna be here any minute, get your butt down here!" Cat called upstairs from the foyer as she put a pair of earrings on.
"I can't find my shoes!" Zoey called out.
"They're in the living room where they're not supposed to be!"
She heard rushed footsteps on the stairs, followed by a thump.
"Ow..." Zoey whined.
"Did you run into the wall?" Cat asked as the teen walked past her.
"Maybe," she muttered.
"Stop running down the stairs. You're gonna break your neck."
"Kay kay."
Cat couldn't help but stare at the daughter. She was the single most important person in her life. They'd grown up at the same time. Zoey was beautiful too. She looked just like Cat but she had black hair and blue eyes. She got that from her dad.
Speaking of the devil... Cat looked to her phone as it rang and she answered immediately. "Hi, Daniel."
"Hey," he said. "My sister's gonna be in town this weekend with her kids. Would it be cool if I had Zoey this weekend?"
"That's fine with me. She's staying the night at Beck and Jade's tonight, but I'll drop her off to you tomorrow on my way to my interview. I'll drop her off around 10:00, does that work?"
"Yeah. I'll be at work, but Carly will be here."
"Okay. I think I have Zola's blanket over here, too. I'll look for it when I get home tonight and bring it tomorrow."
"You're going somewhere on a Thursday? What, you got a hot date?" Daniel chuckled.
"As a matter of fact, I do have a date tonight. I don't remember how to date, but I'll worry about that later."
"It hasn't been that long since we went out."
"It's been 10 years for me, Daniel, I'm rusty."
"Aunt Jade's here," Zoey said, walking into the foyer with her backpack.
"Dad's on the phone. You're gonna stay with him and Carly this weekend because Aunt Lacey's gonna be in town with Jordan and Kelsey."
"Hi Dad, by Dad, I love you," Zoey said, walking towards the door as Jade honked her horn.
"Hey! Where's my goodbye love?"
Zoey ran to Cat and hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Love you, bye!" she said, rushing out of the house.
"And she's out."
"So, who's the hunk?" Daniel asked.
"Well... Remember that Robbie kid that always carried the puppet?"
"The same Robbie kid you fucked in my car?"
"Yeah, that one. It's him."
"I can't believe you did that to my baby."
"Jesus Christ, this again..." Cat said.
"She was a precious soul, Cat."
"She was a fucking station wagon, not a Ferrari."
"One man's trash is another man's treasure."
"Yeah well, your trash station wagon gave us our treasured orgasms."
Cat sat down as Robbie pulled a chair out for her, giving him a small smile when he sat across from her. "I haven't been here in years. Since... high school, I think."
"The ping pong tournament," Robbie said, nodding.
"I mean, the fake one, but yeah," she said as a waiter poured them two glasses of wine. "I still can't believe I didn't recognize you from high school."
"Well, I was only at Hollywood Arts for freshman year. I went to Briarwood after that."
"I think we still hung out a couple times after that."
"We did. Wasn't exactly 'hanging out' if I remember correctly, though."
"It was definitely more than hanging out."
"So, um... Zoey."
"What about Zoey?" Cat asked, taking a sip of her wine.
Robbie was silent for a few seconds, unsure of how to ask what he wanted to ask her. "...Is she mine?"
Cat coughed, placing her glass down and covering her mouth until she stopped choking. "Why would you ask me that?"
"I just... we were hooking up, it's just common sense to me to ask."
"She's not yours. I got pregnant sophomore year. We only hung out until the summer right before school started back up."
"Okay... I'm sorry. I was just curious..."
"She's Daniel's. If she was yours, I would have told you."
"Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."
"I'm not upset, I'm confused as to why you would even think she's yours in the first place."
"Black hair, curly, blue eyes."
"How do you know what she looks like?"
"She's kind of all over your instagram and she's famous by association."
Oh. That's embarrassing, she thought. She forgets sometimes that the entire world sees her social media. "I guess she is, huh? I forget sometimes."
"I'm sorry if this whole thing freaked you out."
"No, you're fine. It's over now, confusion is settled. I'm not offended, just... surprised. But we're fine, we got it cleared up."
"I intended for this to be a normal date, not all... weird."
"It can be normal now. We got the awkward out of the way."
"Are you sure? Cause if you'd rather go home, I understand."
"No. It's fine. A little awkwardness comes with any date. We're adults, we can move past it. Ther's no hard feelings. I assure you, I've had way more awkward moments than this."
"I dunno, this was pretty awkward."
Cat laughed lightly and took a sip of her wine. "I've had interviewers as some pretty personal questions. Intimate questions. That was way worse. We're all good here. I know you didn't have any ill intent. Just breathe, oxygen is good for you," she joked.
Robbie chuckled, taking a sip of his own drink. "Alright. But, I'm still sorry."
"It's fine," she said. "So, what do you do? Where do you work?"
"I'm a police officer."
"Here in L.A.?"
"Yeah, for the L.A.P.D."
"Can I flirt my way out of a ticket if you pull me over?" Cat joked.
Robbie laughed. "You'd be able to flirt your way out of and into whatever you want with me.:
Cat grinned. "Good to know."
"I had fun tonight," Robbie said as he walked Cat to her door.
"Me, too. It was nice to get out of the house," Cat said. "I was really nervous at first."
"Me too. We'll have to go out again, get to know each other a little better."
"Do you work tomorrow?"
"No, I have weekends off."
"Do you... wanna come in?"
Robbie smiled. "Sure."
Cat unlocked the door and walked into the house, closing and locking it again after Robbie was inside. "You want a drink?" she asked, leading him to the kitchen. "I have tea, water, milk, juice, Smirnoff, Parrot Bay, Sangria, wine... some other stuff I've never tried because the names looks scary."
"I'll take a Sangria."
Cat poured two glasses of Sangria. "Ice or no ice? I like mine cold."
"No ice."
After putting some ice in her glass, she handed the other to Robbie, leading him to the backyard.
"You have a really nice house. It's big," Robbie said.
"I bought it when I was 20. I figured it's better to have more rom than what I need in case I have more kids or my sister moves in eventually," Cat said, sipping on her drink as she sat on a hammock, gesturing for Robbie to sit next to her.
"Do you plan on having more?" Robbie asked, sitting next to her.
"Eventually. Do you want kids?"
"Some day. I want a boy and a girl."
"Maybe you're meet the right girl and have those babies. Being a parent is... magical."
Robbie smiled. "You must be really close with Zoey."
"I am. I know everything she goes through. Not many parents have that with their kids, but Zoey and I keep it real, and she trusts me. And I trust her. She's a good kid and she's smart. She has a good head on her shoulders. She tells me when she's going through something or wanting to try something she has no experience with to get my opinion. And she listens. I don't know any other teenagers that listen to their parents. I know I didn't."
"That's special. She's a lucky kid."
"I'm a lucky mom," Cat said, placing her drink on a table near the hammock.
Robbie put his drink down as well. "Anyone that has you in their life is a lucky person."
Cat looked at him with a smile. "You think so?"
Robbie nodded, staring at her eyes.
It was quiet for a few seconds before they both slowly leaned into each other, and their lips met. They lips moved with one another for a few moments until they leaned back on the hammock, and a split second later they were both landing on the ground, Cat letting out a short scream before laughing.
"That was probably the most eventful kiss I've ever had," Robbie laughed.
"In hindsight, we probably should have known better," Cat giggled.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Can we try that kiss again?"
Cat smiled and nodded. "I'd like that."
