Jackie slid the key card to her room, flipped on the lights and then held the door open for Catherine.
"Thank you, Ma'am."
"You're very welcome. Do you want a drink?" Asked Jackie.
Jackie laughed at herself as she got on her knees and cracked open the mini bar.
"This is the best I can do."
Catherine laughed, "You're such a classy movie star."
"So, what will it be?" Jackie asked.
"Surprise me."
Jackie skimmed the mini bottles and then smiled. She grabbed two glasses from the shelf and poured the drinks. When she turned around, she saw Catherine sitting on the couch and made her way over. She handed her the glass and it was scotch. They both laughed.
"This is really weird," Jackie said.
"What is?"
"You sitting on the couch while I pour us glasses of scotch. It's like déja-role reversal-vu."
"Fancy lingo there," Catherine laughed.
"Why thank you. I mean, I am the very studious Catherine Stark after all." Jackie stiffened her body pretending to be Catherine.
"Oh you are, are you? Well then, I guess I-I'm Jacqueline Kirk and I-I'm on the verge of having a heart attack." Catherine stuttered, while nervously looking down and fiddling with her glass of scotch.
"Shut up!" Jackie said, smacking Catherine on the shoulder. "I wasn't THAT scared."
"You keep telling yourself that Jackie. Whatever helps you sleep at night," Catherine laughed.
"You're so mean to me," Jackie playfully pouted.
"You know...it's not a bad thing," Catherine smirked. "I found it extremely adorable."
They both flashed each other a smile.
Catherine could feel the tension forming between them. She loved how playful their relationship had always been, but it always led to more. They were never friends. As soon as they met, things had just escalated quickly. So sitting here, acting like there was torture, when all she wanted to do was lean in and kiss Jackie. She quickly changed the subject.
"So, you haven't said much about the movie yet." Catherine said. "Tell me how it went. How did it feel getting back into character and back into your old world?"
Jackie inhaled deeply and then let it escape slowly, sighing.
"I would be lying if I didn't say it took some time to transition back into this life. It was exciting to see my Neptune family that I left so long ago. However, I hadn't been a part of that life for quite some time. There's a reason I decided to move across the country to go to school in Indiana. I craved normalcy after missing out on so many things, like school and being around people my own age. Don't get me wrong, I love acting but I really miss feeling like a normal person with a routine. Also school. I really miss being in class, as weird as it sounds. Can you believe Bloomington was the first time I attended class in a real classroom, with normal people, ever since kindergarten?"
"I'm sure that is difficult. Especially since you worked so hard to be seen as just another student in Bloomington," Catherine responded.
"It was. Filming went great though. Being on a soundstage is where I feel the most comfortable and confident." Jackie said.
Catherine felt a twinge in her heart. Hearing Jackie how rough it was getting back into the Hollywood lifestyle, made her think maybe she was going to give it all up again. It was clear to her that this is where Jackie belonged though. Where she is the most happy, and she needed to accept that.
"That's great," said Catherine. "Do you have anything else you are working on?"
"No, nothing lined up at the moment. The Neptune 26 release is really time consuming, but I am hoping to do some more auditions once this all slows down. What about you? Have you found another teaching position?" Asked Jackie.
"No, but I haven't really tried. I literally spent all of my time and energy the past year working on getting my article published. Now that it is, and after speaking tonight, I am hoping to get some offers or at least an idea on what I would like to do next." Catherine said.
"Do you still want to teach?"
"I'm not sure. I'm a little burnt out on all of the drama that comes with working in a school, Â and not sure I want to go back to that."
"That's understandable. Honestly, you have far more talent than being stuck in a classroom all day."
Catherine smiled, "Thanks. I'm hoping that I do."
They both sat in silence for a least a minute or two while drinking their scotch. Until Jackie broke the silence.
"Did I ever tell you that you basically helped me to get this role?"
Catherine scrunched her forehead, "What are you talking about?"
"It was the whole speech you gave me when helping me to write my essay. The night after I auditioned, I was in my childhood room and found a box that Mark had given me for my birthday. Until then, I wasn't completely sold on the idea of returning to acting, but then I got emotional looking through the box and realised how lost I had felt since leaving the show. After that, I took your advice from my essay and used it to persuade the executives as to why they should hire me. So, it worked so thanks!" Jackie smiled.
"Wow. Well, I'm glad I was able to help you but I am sure it was all you that got you the job. You know, you helped me too. This was my first plane flight ever since you forced me on my birthday and I must say, it's not as scary as I remembered, or as scary as yours at least." Catherine smirked.
"Forced you!? You know you loved it!" Jackie proclaimed.
"That was the scariest day of my life," Catherine joked.
Little did Jackie know it was not only scary because of the plane flight, but also because Catherine finally admitted to herself. Also a sleeping Jackie that she had fallen in love with her.
Jackie involuntarily yawned as she laughed.
Catherine looked at the clock.
"Oh my god, it's 2:30 in the morning, what time is your flight?"
"10am."
"I should go," Catherine said. "I'm sure you are already exhausted from today and need some sleep before your flight."
Catherine pulled out her phone and started dialing a cab.
"What are you doing? You're not taking a cab. I can have my driver take you back."
"Jackie, I am not having that poor man drive me back to my hotel in the middle of the night."
"Catherine, why don't you just stay? The couch pulls out and there's plenty of room here. We can drop you back off tomorrow before we head to the airport."
Catherine shot her a look of hesitation.
"Please? I'm alone in these hotels enough. It's been nice having some company."
"Okay. Fine, but I'm going to need to borrow at least a t-shirt. God knows any pants you have will be shorts on me." Catherine laughed.
"Very funny," said Jackie.
She went into her bedroom and brought back a shirt and shorts.
"These should work."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Well, I guess I will see you in the morning. We can order some room service tomorrow." Jackie flashed a giant smile.
Catherine laughed, "Sounds good. Good night Jackie and thanks for the clothes."
****
10 minutes later, Jackie peeked her head out and then came back with an armful of pillows and blankets.
"How about you take the bed and I take the couch?"
"No, Jackie. I'm fine here and you don't have to do that."
"Well, you are my elder so..."
Catherine's moth dropped and she smacked her playfully.
"I don't sleep anyways. I'm a vampire, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Jackie laughed. She headed to her room but turned back one last time.
"Hey Catherine."
"Yeah?"
"Nice suit by the way," Jackie said with a wink.
Confused, Catherine looked over at her suit nicely folded on the chair. Then it dawned her. It was the same suit she wore the night Jackie first came to her house.
Catherine smiled and said "Good things happen when I wear that suit."
Then she turned off the light as Jackie disappeared into her room.
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¸