Page 73 of Back Up Plan

Cass pulled Gabby into a hug and said, “I’m going to bed. But, I’ll see ya in the morning.”

Gabby nodded, squeezing her friend tightly before releasing her and watching her saunter down the hallway.

“Love you,” Gabs called after her.

“Love you too, Gabs,” Cass replied as she shut her bedroom door.

She could hardly bring herself to take the last few steps toward her bed, instead opting to lean against the closed door.

Finally, she peeled herself off the door and laid in bed. She knew it was bad to sleep with makeup on, but what was the point of growing out of acne if you couldn’t skip a face wash every once and awhile?

She laid down, staring at the ceiling. Her mind wandered to the night Ari had stayed over and they listened to her message together. She knew she shouldn’t be thinking about it, knowing it would hurt her heart too much.

But, as she thought about it, she remembered a moment she hadn’t fully heard. It had sounded like Ari was about to say something but the sounds of their collective ecstasy stopped her from hearing it.

Tapping her finger on the mattress, she tried to convince her out of it. But not hard enough to stop herself from picking up the phone and opening the message.

I’ll just skim through it, listen to that part, and then delete the message.

After all, it would’ve been gross for her to hold onto any of those messages from, what she guessed would be considered, an ex.

She shook off the feeling of guilt and skimmed the message, doing her best not to picture Ari’s face or the way her body looked when she was nearing climax.

Instead, she got to the end of the message. She would just listen to those last 15 seconds and then delete it forever.

As Ari’s moans escalated, Cass listened closer.

“Oh, god, Cassandra, I lo-,” Ari’s voice cut off as she moaned louder.

Shocked, Cass played it again.

Did she say what she thought she said?

“I lo-,” it repeated.

She had to stop herself from saying it back, her body wanting to Ari more than her mind would allow.

Cass shook her head, closing her phone and looking back to the ceiling, her eyes wide.

There were very few other words that she would have meant to say. Was Ari feeling the way Cass had been?

21

ARI

Ari had forgottenhow good heartbreak was for her work. All of the memories of Cass in her apartment made her want to avoid it entirely, and just stay in her office until she couldn’t focus her eyes anymore.

But, she’d also made a point to see some shows and scout the talent she had been neglecting.

The day before the Gala, Ari’s plan for her client list was finally fleshing out. She started to focus on some of the agencies, and the world, most under-considered talent: those who had been successful but whose management had let them slip into oblivion despite the artist’s best attempts to have a renaissance of sorts.

She had named it: The Client Assist Serve and Survive Plan. She couldn’t lie, Cass’s dreams of her own promotion played heavily in her decision. How many other artists were there who were trapped in the minutia of paying bills and didn’t have representation that would bring them artistically rewarding and financially responsible work?

Jess had helped her research well-awarded and fiscally successful artists who had slipped away from the public eye and those who had sent inquiries throughout the agency for a transfer from their current agents.

And she was just about ready to present the project to the partners the next morning. Jess was making some final adjustments to the pitch deck and Tommy had come in to help them finalize the details.

“I can’t lie, Ari, you’ve got me looking at my own client list and feeling guilty,” Tommy said as she sat across from Ari, flipping through a binder of paperwork.

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