Kat's Nine Lives

by Laina Villeneuve

  Wendy was transfixed by Kat’s muscular arms, exposed when she’d pushed up the sleeves of her sweater. Every beat from the bass drum reverberated through her body, a steady beat that was all Kat, Kat, Kat. Wendy tried to recall if she had ever seen her like this. Unapologetic joy radiated from her. The song and the athleticism brought high school to mind. Wendy recalled Kat the cheerleader and wished she could hold up that version to the one on stage. From what Kat had said about her friends, she guessed that a more careful observation would have revealed a veil of reserve. The person in front of her in this moment had none of that. She was utterly lost in the song with the boys and easily the most beautiful Wendy had ever seen her.

  Warm breath graced her neck again. “Isn’t she great?”

  Wendy snapped out of her reverie. “She’s amazing.”

  “It’s hard not to crush on her,” Erin said.

  Why was she talking during Kat’s song? Wendy wished she’d thought to record it, so she could watch again later. It was passing too quickly. They were already at the instrumental part, and Kat was adorable, encouraging Leo as he jammed on the keyboards and then the young man on bass. Even Travis had a huge smile as he encouraged the crowd to jump in on the clapping part. Wendy happily joined the boisterous crowd as the band repeated the chorus, Kat earning woots for her throaty delivery of the lyrics.

  Wendy felt dizzy as she rose to her feet along with the rest of the room to give Kat and the boys a standing ovation as they left the stage. She felt her smile stretch as wide as Kat’s as she returned to the table.

  To Wendy’s surprise, Kat wrapped her arms around her, the drumsticks clicking together behind her back. Her lips hovered near her ear, and she said, “Don’t be mad I didn’t do your song.” She squeezed and then was gone, hugging Erin and Patrick before she sat down, glowing.

  Wendy glanced at her watch and decided she should take this opportunity to slip out. She tapped Erin on the shoulder. “Very nice to meet you. I’m catering an event tonight and need to get back to my assistant.”

  Erin grasped her hand. “I wish we’d had more time to talk!”

  “I’m really sorry I have to slip away early. Do you mind if I get your number from Kat later?”

  “Please do!”

  Wendy crouched next to Kat. “I wish I didn’t have work. We have to talk about how truly awesome that was.”

  “We’ll be here for hours. How long is your event?”

  “It’s just hors d’oeuvres. And then I have breakdown in my kitchen.”

  “Text me when you’re through, and I’ll let you know if we’re still here.”

  “Deal. Thanks again for the invite!” She placed both hands over her heart. “That was really terrific.”

  * * *

  After the boys had come around for hugs and congratulations and disappeared for burgers, Erin grabbed Kat before she could sit. “Come get the next round with me.”

  Kat saw that coming. She’d taken note when Erin scooted closer to Wendy and had seen the way she kept whispering in her ear during Travis’s set. She remembered the way Erin used to drop her voice to a sexy timbre to whisper flirtations in her ear. She missed the playfulness without expectation that she had enjoyed with Erin before the divorce.

  “Do you and Wendy have a thing going?” Erin asked after she’d ordered another wine for herself, soda water for Kat and a pitcher of ale for the others.

  “I told you we’re friends.”

  “And then you sang ‘Head Over Heels’. It’s not such a stretch to think you might have a thing for her.”

  “I don’t have a thing for her,” Kat shot back.

  Erin put her hands up. “No need to get defensive. She knew you’d be playing today, so I thought maybe it was a message for her.”

  “I invited her here to meet you.”

  “You’re sure? Because she’s totally someone you could fall head over heels for.” She began singing the chorus of the song, swinging her hips and clapping her hands in time.

  Erin’s theatrics annoyed Kat. She was reading too much into the song choice, wasn’t she? Had she subliminally picked the song because of how she felt about Wendy? She shook the thought away. “She was singing a song by the Go-Go’s yesterday. When I asked Travis if I could play, he pointed out that ‘Head Over Heels’ has a solo part for everyone.”

  “Fine. Fine. I was just checking to make sure I wasn’t stepping on any toes if I asked her out.”

  “You’re not stepping on mine.” Kat gazed across the club at their table and felt tightness in her chest. Ember was relaxed into Jack’s wandering hands. God, she’d hated sitting next to Jack at things like this, feeling the pressure and expectation of every touch. She should be happy for them to have found their compatibility. She’d read the same comfort in how Wendy sat next to Erin. They were a good match, both successful and full of life. They could be good together. For some reason, this thought brought a pang of jealousy.

  They watched the table while they waited for the drinks. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to leave. The anticipatory buzz while waiting to play and the high from being onstage drained away, and all she wanted was to change into her pajamas and watch The Great British Baking Show for the rest of the evening. Wendy had her hooked and was ahead of her in the series. She enjoyed teasing Wendy about her baked goods. But she had invited Wendy to come back later, which meant she had to stay.

  The bartender delivered their drinks, and Erin paused, leaning slightly against Kat before they walked to the table. “You’re sure? Say the word and I’ll back off.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Kat laughed. “I’m glad you like her.”

  Erin pulled out her phone. “Then can you give me her number?”

  Kat hesitated. She had wanted them to meet, and Wendy hadn’t offered her number before she left. Maybe she should wait and ask Wendy before she complied.

  “She said she was going to get my number from you. I’m just saving her the trouble.”

  “Oh.” Kat felt oddly disappointed. She pulled up her contacts and tipped the phone toward Erin.

  Erin typed in the number and then leaned back, her finger sliding along the keys. “Just texted her about getting drinks after work.”

  Kat gave her a thumbs-up and felt a tickle of envy for her being able to simply text and ask about getting together. She was always happy to have an excuse to call Wendy when a catering gig came up. She couldn’t imagine just texting Wendy to say she wanted to see her.

  Erin did a little happy dance when her phone buzzed. “She answered!”

  Kat tried to ignore her and the smile on her face as she concentrated on her phone’s screen. “Do you know anything about her restaurant? It looks really nice.” She held out her phone to show their website.

  “I’ve never been,” Kat said.

  “They have a jazz ensemble there tonight!” Again, her fingers flew over the keys. The whole table seemed to be on pause as she waited for a reply. Finally, the phone buzzed. After she read it, she coyly pocketed her phone and said, “We’re on for drinks!”

  Patrick leaned against Kat. “Looks like we’re the only ones not getting laid tonight,” he said lasciviously.

  She scooted her chair away from him and traced the lines on her palm.

  “Unless, you know…The offer’s still good. I don’t see what it would hurt to fool around, let off some steam.”

  “Still not that easy,” Kat said thankful the next band was finished setting up and starting their set.

  “Nobody ever said you were easy,” Patrick said loudly enough for the whole table to hear.

  Though Kat kept her eyes lowered, she could feel everyone absorb his critique. She refused to look at anyone, refused to react to his childish outburst. She filled her lungs and held her breath as long as she could before letting her frustration out with it. If she left, he would think that he’d stung her. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. She leaned back in her chair and sipped her drink thinking about her de
cision to sleep with Jack. The product of that night sat at the bar. Travis was the reason she didn’t regret the decision her former self had made, but she had no desire for Patrick, period. She reminded herself that she was under no obligation to please him.

  She tuned out the band onstage and replayed her favorite Go Go’s song in her head. The audience response had been fantastic, and she savored Travis’s nice intro. Like the song said, she’d been waiting a long time. She’d been playing the part of mom so long that she had, indeed, forgotten about her heart. She had been pulled into playing the part of wife and mother, and even though she was divorced, she wondered if she was holding on too tightly to the past. She sang again to herself, One hand’s just reaching out, and one’s just holding on. It seems my weaknesses just keep going strong.

  Head over heels. She’d been head over heels for her baby, but he wasn’t a child anymore. As he’d said, she had been a stopgap until they found a drummer. And in another few years, he’d be off to school. That was the way of parenting, she supposed. Who would she be when he went away to school, when he had a family of his own? A grandma? There was an idea she couldn’t even fathom.

  Tonight she’d head back to her parents’ home to sleep in her childhood room. She’d pass her wedding album on the bookshelf and feel Miranda hiding there. Miranda who had whispered that she didn’t have to marry Jack just because she was pregnant. Miranda who had insisted that they could be a family, the three of them. Miranda who had said it wasn’t too late. They could run away together. She’d broken her own heart as certainly as she’d broken Miranda’s when she said she had to marry Jack. We can be friends, she’d insisted. They had always been the best of friends.

  Until Kat said no.

  And Miranda had left.

  She wasn’t supposed to leave.

  Kat closed her eyes and allowed herself to imagine a parallel life, one where she let herself be head over heels for Miranda. Miranda could have been Travis’s proud other mom. They would be holding hands, and she would feel safe, content and happy. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt that way.

  Chapter Seven

  “This feels surreal,” Wendy said, sliding onto a stool at the mahogany bar in the restaurant, the liquors displayed on the wall. She had broken down her kitchen as quickly as possible in order to join Erin, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the restaurant’s mood lighting after the harsh fluorescent lights in the kitchen.

  “Nice place,” Erin said, looking around the main seating area. Wendy appreciated how José didn’t overcrowd the space with too many tables. The cozy booth seating offered a view of the classic palm-tree lined street. “And I’m so happy to see you again tonight.” Erin leaned forward and kissed Wendy on the cheek.

  Wendy hesitated before leaning forward to hug Erin.

  “Sorry,” Erin said. “Was that too forward?”

  “No. Absolutely not. It’s nice. It’s really, really nice. It’s also so unexpected.”

  “But Kat told you that I’d be there, didn’t she?”

  Wendy reviewed the conversation when Kat had invited her to the club. What had she said about Erin? She hadn’t even told her Erin’s name. She had said the lesbian sister might be there. She said Erin was fun and cute and that she might be perfect for Wendy. Not a whole lot. She didn’t even know what Erin did for a living, where she lived. “She did.”

  “I’ve been on her to introduce us forever.”

  “Really?”

  “Ever since she ran into you at the reunion.”

  “She told you about that?”

  “Of course! Our families have been close since the boys were five.”

  “I didn’t realize you hung out with her that much.”

  “All the birthday parties, Halloween, Fun Fridays every summer. My brother always hauled me along, so he could drink and flirt with the moms. Nobody says no to having an adult around who actually enjoys children.”

  “Parents don’t enjoy their children?”

  “I’m sure they have their moments, but my brother was always happy to hand Leo off for an auntie adventure. I’d swoop in and swim with all the rug rats while the adults drank themselves just short of shitfaced.”

  “Even Kat?”

  “Never Kat, which is why I like her best. She was always coherent enough to talk to. And she told me all about the hot lesbian at the reunion.”

  “She said that?”

  “Absolutely. And she didn’t lie. I’d yell at her for not introducing us sooner, but you were with someone at the time.”

  “I was.”

  “But that someone isn’t in the picture anymore?”

  “No.” Wendy was glad that the bartender had appeared to take their order.

  “Mind if I ask why?” Erin startled her.

  Her thoughts were sluggish as she reached back in her memory. What had they fought about? Wendy put herself back at the reunion, climbing behind the wheel as Susan ranted about having been ignored for most of the evening. There were so many critical issues, but that night was the catalyst to her moving out. “We wanted different things. José had just brought me in as the catering chef, and I spent a lot of time networking. She wanted someone who could devote more time to a relationship, someone with a more static schedule.”

  “It wasn’t that you wanted kids, and she didn’t.” Erin sipped her white wine.

  “Nope. We weren’t anywhere near that kind of conversation.” Wendy glanced toward the stage and took a sip of her beer trying her hardest to appreciate the jazz group that José brought in once a month.

  Erin turned her body to follow her gaze. Her foot bounced to the beat, and her smile grew wider as she listened to the musicians on a slightly raised stage. “I was so excited when I saw this on the website! I can’t believe you can just walk out of your kitchen to a performance like this!”

  Wendy nodded noncommittally.

  Erin glanced back at Wendy. She frowned. “Unless you hate it.”

  Wendy chuckled. “I like songs to have words.”

  “You liked Kat’s song?”

  “Oh, I love eighties music, and that song was one of my favorites. Oh, shoot. I said I’d text her when I was back at the restaurant.” She pulled out her phone, but Erin stilled her hand.

  “I told her we were doing drinks here.”

  “She was okay with that?”

  “Yes. She knew I was excited about the band.” She held eye contact with Wendy and added, “and the company.”

  Wendy blinked in surprise. “Okay.” Tentatively, she placed her phone on the bar. “If you’re sure.”

  “Course I am. She looked pretty wiped out when I left. I’d be surprised if she was still there, honestly. It was fun to see her play, especially a song she clearly loved. Back when she was drumming for the boys, they chose all the songs. I always thought it was cool how into it she was, but she never looked like she did tonight.”

  Wendy thought about how much Kat did for other people and wondered how often she did what she wanted for herself.

  When Wendy didn’t immediately respond, Erin said, “I asked her if she had a thing for you.”

  “What?” Wendy said, trying to find her place in the conversation.

  “You’ve known each other for a long time, and she never followed through on her promise to invite you to hang out.”

  “I don’t really know her that well, mostly as a work contact.”

  “I thought you two knew each other in high school as well.”

  Wendy laughed. “No. Kat was way too popular. I was surprised she even knew we went to the same school, but what you said about the drums makes me wonder how much she enjoyed stuff like cheer back then. How much does she do because it’s what people expect?”

  “Back then or now?”

  “All those years of being married and being a mom. I get the impression that she got married because people expected her to.”

  “That’s a societal expectation. Don’t you feel it being you
r age and single?”

  “My age?” Wendy was surprised by her phrasing.

  “At our age, I find that people want to know why I’m not partnered. That doesn’t happen to you?”

  “Does it matter? I’m not going to hook up with someone just to avoid being alone.”

  “I think you’re in the minority there. Don’t you feel sad if you’re alone on Valentine’s Day?”

  “I care about Valentine’s Day for one reason only. It drums up business. Personally, I could do without the holidays that add unnecessary life pressure.”

  “Are you always so candid, Chef?”

  Wendy scrunched up her face in thought. “Yep, pretty much. It’s who I am.”

  “Who you are is very appealing,” Erin said, reaching for Wendy’s hand.

  They talked until the band packed their instruments and Wendy was unsuccessful in hiding a yawn. She promised it had nothing to do with Erin’s law stories and everything to do with her own schedule. Wendy said her goodnights to the staff and escorted Erin to the parking lot.

  “You don’t have to stay?”

  “When I’m on dinner service I have to, but not when I’m catering. Did you want to see the setup?”

  “Not really,” Erin said. Before Wendy could register the words, Erin was leaning forward, pulling Wendy toward her. Their lips met, first just a gentle brushing of soft full lips and then a bit firmer. The tickle of her tongue against Wendy’s lower lip elicited a small gasp. Erin took advantage to assert her interest more boldly, delivering a kiss that said without question that she would very much like to be headed for either her house or Wendy’s, and not the restaurant’s kitchen.

  Erin wove her hand into Wendy’s curls and pulled her closer. Making out next to her date’s car, Wendy felt like a teenager again, the thrill that accompanies the risk of being caught making her body tingle even more.

  She didn’t think anyone would bother them, but the idea of being watched made her feel vulnerable enough that she pulled away.