Chapter 7
SEVEN
“GEMMA, YOU GOT THE PART!”
Gemma’s brain was not computing. She didn’t know what day it was, let alone what Eve was talking about, when she answered the phone. “What?”
The NYPD Intelligence crew had been working nonstop for the last week to finish filming the season before it was time to air. She was exhausted from working a mixture of back-to-back overnight shoots and daytime scenes.
“The role of Sarah in Forbidden Love!”
Gemma winced as Eve yelled into the phone.
“Oh my God!” Gemma was ecstatic. The opportunity she had been waiting for had finally come. Her first movie.
Surprise set in quickly as she realized that must mean that Caitlin hadn’t tried to have her kicked off, and that the producers failed to notice how much she didn’t like her potential co-star.
“Congratulations, I’m so proud of you.” Gemma heard Eve say, over the phone, as the director shouted for everyone to get back into place. “The movie starts shooting in the city in two weeks, so you’ll have some time off after you wrap.”
Gemma breathed a sigh of relief. She needed that break. Both mentally and physically.
Curiosity got the best of her before Eve was able to hang up the phone. “What did the producers say after my chemistry read with Caitlin?”
Even though Gemma knew that she had acted her ass off that day, she wasn’t sure if her face had told a different story.
It had never been easy for her to hide her feelings, so she suspected someone in the room would have seen the shock that coursed through her after encountering her ex-girlfriend for the first time since college.
“They told me you two had this intense love-hate dynamic happening that they liked.”
Now Gemma was officially confused. They had read through the breakup scene, which she assumed was chosen for its range of emotions—anger, hurt, and passion—all mixed into one moment.
Gemma had dug deep into her past, channeling her breakup with Caitlin, so she knew that she had the hatred mastered.
But love? That was a joke. If there had ever been any, there certainly was no love between them now.
“Eve, I’m sorry, I have to run.”
Gemma quickly hung up the call and shoved her phone into her back pocket.
Her first movie. She smiled softly, proud of herself.
If only Caitlin’s presence wasn’t casting such a dark shadow over her excitement.
That was something she could deal with later, though.
NYPD was her job right now, and she needed to focus on the last few days left of filming.
A few demanding hours later, Gemma got home and collapsed onto her couch.
She wouldn’t have time off until they finished the last episode, and the days were only getting longer and more strenuous.
Her body hurt from filming a scene today in which she had to chase a suspect seven blocks, climbing over a few garbage cans and a chain-link fence.
Soon enough, it would be over, and Gemma could finally have the time that she so desperately needed to recover.
After the big news she received earlier, Gemma had a vital date to secure. She shot off a quick text to Hayley.
Gemma: Want to meet at Tony's later?
Hayley: Yes! 8 p.m.?
Gemma reacted to the message with a heart. She could always count on Hayley to come through, no matter how last-minute the plans were.
That night, Gemma waited for her best friend at their favorite cocktail bar.
They’d been going to this place since they found it during the first week they lived in the city.
It was fun, low-key, and the best part—it was within walking distance of their apartments.
They had spent many nights there, such as when Gemma had cried over her breakup with Caitlin, or when Hayley had to vent about a problematic client.
The two had always been right alongside each other, serving as a drinking buddy or a shoulder to cry on.
This place had witnessed them through many highs and lows throughout their lives.
A waitress appeared and placed two drinks on the table. As a perk of being regulars, the dirty martini and scotch on the rocks with a twist arrived the second Gemma had sat down.
“Ugh, what a day!” Hayley walked inside the door a few minutes later, kissed Gemma on the cheek, and threw herself onto the barstool next to her. She grinned as she eyed the V-shaped long-stemmed glass waiting for her. She immediately lifted it to Gemma’s lowball glass before taking a large swig.
Gemma carefully observed Hayley’s movements until the stemware was securely back in place on the reclaimed wooden table. “Care to share?”
“It was just one of those days.” Hayley slumped on her stool, seemingly taking her first deep breath of the day.
“My coffee spilled all over my pants this morning when the cab driver slammed on his brakes, so then I was late for my first showing because I had to find something to change into. Then a condo that I had in escrow fell through. When it rains, it fucking pours.”
“I’m sorry, that’s a lot. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.” Hayley eyed Gemma with exasperation. “What happened to you that made you summon me out for a night at Tony’s? Work?”
“Okay, ‘summon’ is a strong word. I merely asked you to meet for a drink, and you jumped at the invitation.”
Hayley smirked, knowing Gemma was right. She would have been drinking that night either way.
“I got that part in Forbidden Love.”
“Holy shit, Gem! That’s huge! Congrats!” Hayley slid off the tall chair to hug her. “Wait, why aren’t you jumping up and down with me?” She stepped back and looked Gemma dead in the eyes, trying to figure out what was really going on.
“You might want to sit back down and take another swig before I answer that.” Gemma slid the base of the martini glass closer to Hayley as she took a sip of her own dark liquor. “My character’s love interest in the movie… is Caitlin.”
“Please tell me there’s another fucking actress named Caitlin out there that you’re talking about.”
“Afraid not.”
“Fuck.” Hayley looked as upset as Gemma felt. When Hayley had nothing else to add, Gemma knew she was screwed.
“I know. Hence the drinks, Tony’s, and you. I’m already panicking, and we haven’t even started yet. Hayley, it was so surreal seeing her after all these years.”
“Wait, so that means… shit. The chemistry read. Why are you just now mentioning this?” Hayley was on a spiral, and, in all fairness, it tracked given the scenario.
Gemma hadn’t been trying to avoid her best friend.
Between the past few late nights at work and the early call times, she didn’t have much time for anything but the show.
It wasn’t like she was eager to talk about the reunion with Caitlin, either.
She barely processed what had transpired between the two of them, so she hadn’t been ready to talk about it with anyone else before tonight anyway.
Gemma still wasn’t sure exactly how she felt about the situation.
“I’m sorry. It all happened so fast, and I’ve been so busy on set, I honestly just forgot about it.”
Hayley glared at Gemma. “Bullshit. You just happened to forget that you ran into the only woman you’ve ever been in love with after nine years of not seeing or hearing from her?”
“Fine, I didn’t. But I hadn’t seen you, and I needed to work it all out in my head before I talked about it. It was wild, Hay. I felt like I was in a dream and couldn’t wake up. Or a nightmare, I’m still not sure which.”
Hayley ordered them a much-needed second round of drinks before moving her chair closer to Gemma. “Okay, so what happened?”
Gemma thought back to the moment that she had shown up to the chemistry read and found her ex-girlfriend—the one who had taken a sledgehammer to her heart and broken it into a million pieces—just standing there, in the same room, after almost a decade had passed.
Her fists clenched into balls while the rest of her body practically melted into a puddle at the sight of the beautiful woman.
Caitlin had been glowing, still able to light a room with only her presence.
Those piercing blue eyes had met Gemma’s with familiar admiration.
It had almost disarmed her. Almost. But then the flood had come as the familiar floral scent washed over her.
Memories, raw and uninvited, had crashed through her like a storm. The heartbreak. The silence.
Damn it, she thought. Why did Caitlin look even more beautiful now? Couldn’t time have dulled her edges, made her easier to forget?
“Earth to Gemma.” Hayley waved a hand in front of her face, snapping Gemma out of her obvious rumination. “What did you do when you saw her?”
“I pretended like I was meeting her for the first time and shook her hand just like I would with anyone else. I didn’t know what else to do, and I panicked. Obviously, I wasn’t expecting her to be there. I didn’t want to ruin my chances before I even got to read for the part.”
Hayley started laughing uncontrollably. “You shook her hand? I honestly love that. She was probably seething inside.”
Gemma told Hayley about the rest of their interaction—the scene they had brought to life, the way Caitlin had followed her outside, their conversation on the sidewalk, and the producer’s response that Eve had told her about earlier.
“How did you feel afterward?” Hayley took a sip of her vodka and olives, hanging onto Gemma’s every word. Hayley had been there to witness Gemma’s downfall after the breakup, so she didn’t feel the need to hide anything from her best friend now.
“I was pissed. Like, what the fuck? It’s pretty messed up for the universe to shove us back into each other’s lives like that. But I did feel a little bad afterward about some of the things I said to her. I was being a bit of a bitch, but the words just kept coming out and I couldn’t stop them.”