3 days later at Tori's
"mom maybe shoot me a text before you decide to come visit, Tori and I were uhhh indecent when you honked, Tori nearly fell and hit her head" says Cat
"I did text you, I also called twice, it seemed odd that you didn't answer or pickup, that's why I honked, I'm sorry if I scared you guys" says Brenda Valentine
"so my bank cards" says Cat annoyed
"it's with a different bank now and I have cash to give you" says Brenda
"why a new bank, I liked the old bank" asks Cat upset
"there was a big security breach, your dad lost thousands, I took out as much as I could before your account got hit, besides this new bank works better internationally than your old bank, your old bank will be transferring all your money over as soon as they can, until then you have ten grand in your new account and five grand in cash I'm giving you now" says Brenda handing Cat a huge bag of cash
"whoa that's way more than I thought I had in my account" says Cat, eyes bulging at the size of the bag
"your father disowned you not me, I kept putting money in as usual for the last few years, I knew you'd need the money, either you'd stand up for yourself and make your father turn over your bank account and cards or you'd find a way to get it back" says Brenda
"wait why aren't you calling him 'my husband', that's how you always refer to him as when talking about him, you never say 'your father', what happened" asks Cat suddenly suspicious
"we got a divorce Cat, last year, he's not in the picture anymore, he attacked your brother when he found out the bank got hacked and he lost money, he blamed your brother, said it was all his fault that your father lost money, disowning you is one thing, I can discretely send you money but I can't hide bruises and broken bones, enough was enough, he ended up losing a lot of money in the divorce, money I use to keep your brother safe and stable, is it possible to ask for a tour of the property" says Brenda
"not the bedrooms but the rest of the property I'd be glad to show you around" says Tori
"I'd never invade your privacy like that Victoria, I must say that your mood certainly seems to be better, you've kind of made a name for yourself when it comes to irritability" says Brenda as Tori brings them outside
"my doctor is unsure of a diagnosis for that irritability, he says it could be a few things, PTSD being one of the ten things he's considering, also autism or Bipolar disorder, in reality it could be any of the ten he's considering, worst case scenario its more than one, the European tour with its quick succession shows will push whatever it is to the surface, Hannah Montana and Lola are doing the tour with me, by my doctors recommendation no less" says Tori
"I'm surprised your doctor would let you go on a tour like that without a proper diagnosis" says Brenda
"keeping me in my comfort zone is making it hard to diagnose as by the time I see my doctor I've calmed down, I'm on edge during and directly after a concert but after that I'm calm my doctor doesn't understand why" says Tori
"oh ok, if you don't mind me asking what's with the rectangle plot marked out" says Brenda
"the plot of land I bought is technically protected land, the only reason I was allowed to but it was because I planned to live off grid power wise, that's also the reason I don't have just one big house, the northern most corner of the property happens to be an unmarked graveyard from when Mexico owned this land so it's a very touchy issue, any building on my plot has to be evaluated by the Nevada environmental protection agency, the particular plot you noted is for a pool, preferably inground but if they say no I can always build it above ground, the pool evaluation has been a slow process because I'm busy and so are they, we couldn't keep an evaluation appointment because of the tour and the fact that my family lives so far away that I can't ask them to be here to monitor them" says Tori
"when is the next opening" asks Brenda
"next week, I don't have to get ready for the European tour for at least a month but I'll probably be in bed with Cat until I have to leave and I won't likely want to leave the bedroom shack until I absolutely have to" says Tori
"when next week" asks Brenda
"Wednesday, they're going to stop by just in case but I'll likely be too focused on Cat to answer the door" says Tori
"I have business in Vegas for the next two weeks and nowhere to stay at the moment, would it be too weird if I asked to stay here while I'm working in Vegas" says Brenda
"the unmarked shack is the guest shack, it has a bed but no sheets or pillowcases, if you can pay for those and food while you're here you can stay here as long as you don't peep, Cat and I use the bathroom shack in the mornings before ten and just before ten at night, you're free to use it outside those hours" says Tori
"you must have a false idea of who I am if you think I'd peep into your bedroom shack Victoria, I'd never do that though Carter has been known to peep on Cat I don't and never have condoned such behavior" says Brenda
"wait MY brother did WHAT!, why did NOBODY ever tell me" says Cat suddenly freaking out
"I worded that wrong Cat, when he peeks it's never when you're changing, in fact he's stopped your father from going in your room a few times when you WERE changing, he may be schizophrenic Cat but he would never, he's more loyal to you than he is to ANYONE else, he said last month that if someone hurt you he'd kill them if you even remotely asked him to" says Brenda as Cat's nostrils flare angrily
"if I really really really wanted someone dead I'd do it myself, I'd never EVER ask anyone to do that, least of all Carter, he needs to get his priorities straight, he's too unstable to be trusted with most normal chores anyway, why on earth would I ask him to kill someone" says Cat visibly angry
"I argued with him about that believe me, his response was 'there aren't many people like Cat mom, she's unique and special, not many people see just how special she is, I have a right to defend her, maybe killing those who hurt her is too far but I would absolutely lay down my life to keep her safe' it was a shock to me that he was that grounded about it" says Brenda
"he's schizophrenic mom, he has nothing grounding him into reality, not anymore, not after you and dad got that decade long restraining order against Alice, for all we know she's dead, she loved him mom and he was absolutely head over heels for her, you keeping them apart made him worse, he's projected her special qualities onto me ever since, I'm not as special as he thinks, unique sure but I'm not special, not even a little bit" says Cat
"we didn't have a choice, she was fifteen and he was nineteen, your father and I had no problem with them being in love" says Brenda
"then why forcibly keep them apart, he was doing really well with her by his side" says Cat
"the cops would have arrested him Cat, he was of age and she wasn't, the of age person is always ALWAYS arrested in that type of situation, the cops warned us that if we didn't do something Carter would be arrested, it was the restraining order or permanently traumatize her by letting the police arrest her, she is still alive Cat, she's somewhere in San Francisco, the last I heard she was kidnapped though the police there did save her but that was last year" says Brenda
"you've kept them apart for six years mom, why keep track of her, you have the power to rescind the restraining order, if his happiness means anything PLEASE cancel the order" says Cat
"as of this morning it is canceled, I paid Jade to try and find her, she left last night and arrived there this morning, I don't know if Jade will find her but my hopes are high, Carter gave Jade a code word to use, I just hope Alice remembers who he is and still has feelings for him" says Brenda
"Jade has a job mom, she can't afford to just go find people, how much did you pay her" says Cat
"five grand, she didn't renew her lease, she'd had a hard time after giving you to Tori, she's hoping to find a better job here in Vegas, she's hoping you'll let her stay here even if it's just for a day" says Brenda
"that's maybe a little close Mrs. Valentine, the last time her and I were that close to one another she broke my arm in three places because I criticized her slightly 'predatory' talk to Cat, I'll permit her being on my property if she sleeps in a tent, I will not allow her to sleep IN my guest shacks, not until she proves she can be trusted, like I said this is protected property, if the environment people really wanted to they could kick me off the property or make me pay every month for use of the property" says Tori
"but you already paid for the land" says Cat concerned
"that doesn't matter, if she does something they don't like it's my head on the chopping block not hers, they're very strict, you had to fill out a form remember, all guests have to do that, you filled out the 'Tennant' form, Trina had to fill out the 'recurring guest' form, I paid a heafty price to use the land, because it has an unmarked graveyard on it I can't technically own the land, my living here and using the land has terms and conditions, there are things I can't do, like build things on my own, I have to get permission and they have to do GPR scans every time to verify my build application doesn't disturb anything archeological and if they find anything then they take three weeks to dig it up and relocate it, the ground your standing on took archeology teams two months to finish because there was a buried body that wasn't more than a decade old"says Tori
"ok one question, why did you want to live all the way out here, on a property where you get told whether you are allowed to build on property you paid for" asks Brenda
"why did I know you'd ask that question, the answer is plain and simple, reason one, privacy, reason two LA is kind of toxic for music stars, why do you think Hannah Montana floats around so much, me being on protected land means no press can sit outside my house without signing anything or letting me know ahead of time, I need privacy because I have conditions that are hard to diagnose at the moment, privacy like this means I'm safe to have people like my doctor visit without people knowing" says Tori
"ahh that makes sense, where do I get one of those visitor forms, I assume they won't be happy with you having a visitor unregistered" says Brenda
"across the road at the great basin institute, walk in and tell them Victoria Vega sent you for a visitor form, you fill it out there, state how long you're staying and that's it" says Tori
"ok, I'll go do that" says Brenda as she gets in her suv
"Tor is there any chance we could expand the bedroom shack, it's pretty crowded with both my clothes and yours" says Cat
"I could always buy a bigger dresser" jokes Tori as Cat pouts
"I'm serious Tor, don't joke around, I love the bed size so we can't shrink it" says Cat
"I'm only allowed to widen the shacks a couple feet, after that they have to inspect farther out, because of the storms we've been getting recently all buildings in desert terrain have to be cemented or otherwise attached to the ground, they can't be free floating" says Tori
"but you said Jade would have to be in a tent, that's a free floating structure" says Cat
"she'd be on the inside of the shack building structure, not outside the outer walls Cat, I'm not evil, I just don't want her having easy access to my property, remember the whole 'the wood' show thing that tried to happen, the first episode I walked in and Beck said Jade was here and she said she was in my room" says Tori
"yeah, looking back I think her wording was referring to sexual toys" says Cat
"I didn't have any of those back then, I did however have fancy panties, three of which went missing after that exchange, I don't trust her with anything I spent money on" says Tori
"she gave them back later, you were at Andre's, Trina probably has them, she told me Jade 'bought' you three pairs and delivered them but Trina thought they were for her, I don't know what Jade sees in Trina or what Trina sees in Jade" says Cat
"you were with Jade Cat, Trina's only just out of the closet, she refused to come out to dad in person, she did it by video call, she was still trembling when she called me yesterday, said she was afraid to go pick up her things and take them to Jade's" says Tori
"what I saw in Jade can't be what Trina sees, I'm shorter, I know it sounds stupid but height changes everything" says Cat
"so does perspective, from Trina's perspective the fact that you didn't run away from Jade after a few days means more to her than you realize, she's always on some level had feelings for Jade, however Trina of all people is terrified about liking girls, the idea excites her but the thought of rejection absolutely freaks her out" says Tori
"you and Trina are a lot alike that way…. Wait if they're dating why is Jade wanting time here" says Cat suddenly confused
"more than likely Trina asked for some time away, she's had a few days with Jade and she's likely riding high on her emotions, Trina most likely wants to see if spending time away from Jade now makes her miss Jade or if the attraction fades" says Tori
"that seems kind of manipulative don't you think" asks Cat
"not entirely, normally with Trina yeah that would absolutely be manipulation but this case is different, she's never actually had a relationship, not really, most attempts at dating with Trina end at date one, some don't even get there, so to have a heated sexual relationship with Jade means she will want to see if what she's feeling is real and not just a passing phase, you know how some people love to say being gay is a 'phase', well with Trina she's afraid that's exactly what it is, she NEEDS to know if it's real, she doesn't want to just ride the feelings only to one day find herself bored or suddenly uninterested in Jade" says Tori
"ooooh yeah I can see that being a fear of hers, mainly because it was a major MAJOR fear of mine" says Cat
"speaking of when did you first start having feelings for me" asks Tori
"oof a hard question, to be quite honest I'd seen you around LA for years before you joined Hollywood Arts, I kept my distance because I was scared of meeting new people but you fascinated me, from the way you walked to the way you talked, even the way you did your hair in braids, then all of a sudden you stopped going to the stores I'd see you in with Trina, I found myself very depressed very quickly, the only thing that got me out of the house outside of school was the possibility of a chance encounter with you, I don't know when it went from fascination to hard core feelings, I just know all of a sudden when I saw you again I had this intense urge to kiss you yet the extreme fear that you'd have me arrested if I got anywhere near you, then you showed up at Hollywood arts and I got sad because I believed you didn't truly care about me even as a friend, some of your words stung 'Bipolar Cat' among others, even if the whole Bipolar part is true" says Cat as they head back inside
"I'm sorry I didn't know, when I said things like that it's because I was nervous about you becoming such a close friend to me, when I get nervous I tend to say stupid outlandish things, I never said them to intentionally hurt your feelings" says Tori
