The next morning, Catherine quietly slipped out of bed before Jackie woke up. Her surprise went even better than planned, so she was feeling quite perky this morning despite adjusting to the time difference. She imagined Jackie's jet lag was going to keep her in bed a little longer, so she wanted to do something nice for her to make up for her awful trip.
Expecting the worse, she was rather surprised after finding Jackie's refrigeration and cabinets stocked with food. After whipping up breakfast and brewing some coffee, she snuck back into bed and kissed Jackie on the cheek.
"Wake up sleepy head."
Jackie smiled before turning over and opening her eyes.
"I made you breakfast. Somebody was paying attention during my grocery lesson I see."
"What can I say, you're a damn good teacher," Jackie grinned.
Catherine laughed and kissed her before pulling her out of bed.
They spent the morning being lazy together, catching up on everything they had missed the last three weeks. In the afternoon, they went for a hike before cooking dinner together and calling it an early night. The next day had quite a lot in store for them with Catherine's second interview at UCLA and their big PR meeting.
****
Jackie drove Catherine to her interview and tried to fight through her uneasiness about the meeting before Catherine returned, not wanting to make her feel any more nervous than she already was. On the way there, Jackie had Catherine to go into detail about her interview to hopefully distract her about the PR meeting.
Upon their arrival at Wade's office, his secretary led them into a conference room where Matt and Wade were already seated.
"Jackie!" Wade said, as her rose from his chair and came around to hug her.
"Hey Wade, you remember Catherine?" Jackie said, motioning towards her.
"Of course I do! Hi Catherine, thanks for joining us."
"It's nice to meet you again," Catherine said while shaking his hand.
Matt walked around and hugged Jackie as well.
"Hi Catherine, I'm Jackie's manager. Matt. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"You as well," Catherine replied.
****
Once they sat down, Jackie's PR team arrived and it began to get as awkward as Jackie imagined to be, beginning with a cold hello. They weren't even warm to Catherine but only offered their hands from across the table before giving their introduction for the meeting.
"Okay, we called this meeting to prepare a sort of damage control. If you will, in regards to the two of you in a relationship. After Jackie's little stunt in Europe, eyes are going to be all on her, seeing who this new mystery person is that she's involved with. Right now, as far as the public knows, Jackie is a straight actress who has been spotted with young Hollywood men. This obviously isn't the case, so as you can imagine, it is going to cause some attention. Our plan is to welcome this attention but to prevent it from harming Jackie's career."
"And Catherine's career," Jackie chimed in, amending their statement. "Also, what do you mean by this obviously isn't the case?"
Her publicist switched her focus between Jackie and Catherine, looking confused.
"What do you mean why? You're in a relationship with a woman. Are you not?"
"Yes I am, but that doesn't mean that I need a label attached to me. I've had relationships with men as well. Like I told Wade and Matt, I in no way shape or form want this being some big spectacle."
"Well it's going to be. I'm sorry, but it is. You're in a relationship with a female and as far as our society has come with accepting this lifestyle, it's still a shock factor in our world. Now, I understand that Catherine lost her job because of your ladies' relationship. That's where we need to start. In order to get our stores aligned and be prepared for any possible headline, we need to look forward and prepare for anything. To do that, we need both of your ladies' complete honesty and participation. The more you tell us the better. Okay?"
Jackie looked at Catherine and held her hand under the table.
"Okay," Catherine responded.
"Okay good. To begin, what were the terms of your dismissal at the university?" One of the publicists asked Catherine.
"The head of the department was a close friend of my father's. He approached to me privately and told me that he would keep this quiet and let me finish the school year as long as I resigned."
"And did that all run smoothly?"
"Yes. Rumours floated around as they usually did, but the pictures never surfaced and I was able to complete the year."
"What did these pictures entail?"
"Jackie had gotten into a physical altercation with another student and had shown up to my house after the fight. The pictures show here on my front porch and then us retreating into my house."
"That's it?"
"Yes, those are the two photos I was shown."
"Jackie, why did you get into a fight with a student?"
"There was animosity between us all year. She accused me of getting good grades just because I was famous and then later on revealed that she knew I was having an affair with Catherine. She made some inappropriate remarks and then we got into a physical altercation."
Her publicists hardly showed any emotion as they scribbled down notes and typed on their laptops.
"Catherine, were there any other students you had relationships with?"
Jackie squeezed her hand to let her know it was okay.
"Yes," Catherine answered.
"How many?"
"You don't need to know that," Jackie cut in.
"It would really help if we did so that we know exactly what we're dealing with. In case they resurface."
"That's not necessary," Wade responded, coming to their defence.
"Okay, fine. Did any of the other students you had affairs with cause any issues once it ended?"
"No, not that I am aware of," Catherine replied.
"Did any claim that you took advantage of them?"
Catherine let go of Jackie's hand and stared down at the table, biting on her upper lip.
"Catherine? Did any claim that you took advantage of them?" They repeated.
It felt as though they were on trial.
"Yes, I believe a couple of them did out of spite," she answered reluctantly and sighed.
Jackie looked over and could tell that was becoming uncomfortable. Her jaw was clenching and her eyes were beginning to water.
"Did you take advantage of any of them?"
"Is this really necessary? Of course she didn't!" Jackie blurted out.
"Sorry but yes it is. We're only trying to help to protect the two of you."
"No, I don't believe that I did. I always made it a point to make sure it was what they really wanted and that they were aware of what they were doing."
"She's completely right," Jackie butted in. "Our first.." She paused before continuing, trading glances with Wade and Matt, and let out a deep breath. "Our first time, Catherine asked me multiple times if I wanted to stop and made sure I was okay. She told me that I could leave at any time and to let her know if I was feeling uncomfortable."
The publicists were completely expressionless staring down as they wrote. Jackie turned to Catherine but she wouldn't look at her. It was extremely awkward talking about her sex life in front of her peers so she knew Catherine had to be feeling even more uncomfortable talking about her past.
"Is there a reason why you always pursued students?"
"Oh come on!" Jackie laughed sarcastically and then looked at Catherine. "That's none of your business. She's not answering that. Catherine, you're not answering that."
With a little hesitation, they moved on.
"How would you pursue them?"
"Stop it," Jackie warned.
"Were any of them under the age of 18?"
"Absolutely not!" Catherine said sternly and finally looked up at them.
"How did you know?"
"I made sure of it," she quickly answered.
"How were you able to do that?"
They began firing questions off. Each on more inappropriate than the last.
"Enough!" Jackie yelled.
"I'm sorry but the media are going to be a lot more invasive than this. They'll dig deep and find out everything. Even without finding for ages that there is a good chance they will label Catherine as a pedophile. Jackie, do you have any idea what this would do to your career? Considering your audience is mostly children and families?"
"I don't care. I don't base my life and happiness off of other people's preconceived opinions of me."
"I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore," Catherine said as she stood up and stormed out of the room.
"We'e done here," Jackie said as she looked at them each in the eye before going after Catherine.
She ran into the hall and couldn't find Catherine, so she went to the bathroom. Not there either.
"Hey, have you seen the woman I came in with by chance?" Jackie asked the receptionist.
"Yes, she headed towards the elevators a few minutes ago."
Jackie finally it to the garage and found Catherine standing by her car.
"I'm so sorry," Jackie said, putting her arms around her and giving her a hug. "I knew that wasn't going to go well but had no idea it would be that bad."
"Can we just get out of here?" Catherine responded, not making eye contact.
****
Catherine stared out of the car window and didn't say a word the entire way back to Jackie's apartment. She was in no way upset with Jackie. Just completely in shock over the meeting and didn't know what to say, let alone how she felt.
When they finally got back to Jackie's, Catherine changed her clothes and began packing for her flight that was leaving to go back home later that evening. Jackie had given her space without even asking her if she needed it, which she appreciated.
After about a half an hour later, she appeared at the bedroom door, timidly knocking to ask if she could come in.
"Of course you can, it's your bedroom after all," Catherine slightly smiled.
Jackie didn't say anything. She just walked in, sat on her bed and watched Catherine packing her last few things.
"Can you talk to me?" Jackie finally asked softly.
Catherine turned around, "I want you to know that I'm not mad or upset with you at all. I'm just trying to absorb all of what just happened in there."
Jackie rested her elbows on her knees and laid her head in her hands.
"I just want to make sure you're okay. You didn't deserve any of that."
"What I don't deserve is you," she said kneeling in front of her. "I've never had someone sticking up for me the way you did in there. I have a really, really ugly past and now it only has caught up with me. It's also affecting you as well."
"I don't care. I know you. You're not anything like what people assume you to be."
"But I was. I hurt a lot of people and I was extremely selfish. It's taking me a while to become the person I would love to be."
"That doesn't matter anymore. Everyone has a time in their life that they're not proud of. You have no reason not to love the person you've become, but I will love you for the both of us until you do."
Catherine smiled at her and brushed her hair behind her ear.
Jackie grabbed her hands, "Screw this place. Do you mind if I hop on that plane with you tonight?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, after the month I had. I just need a break from these people and this life. I just want to be back in Bloomington with you, even if it's just for a few days."
"Well you better get packing," Catherine smiled before kissing her forehead.
A/n Thanks for reading my story. Please vote and drop a comment. Comments will help me a lot more than you might think. â¤ï¸