Page 24 of Back Up Plan

Maybe she wasn’t even into Cass, it could all be an act. After all, that was the point.

She snapped out of her haze and went back to her monitor where she was remixing a track on the Kylie project. Their session the week before had gone well, according to Ari.

The room always smelled stale, but today was particularly bad. Cass popped open the one, tiny window in the room and let the sounds of SoHo leak into the room.

Her phone dinged with a text from Ari:

What’s the attire for tonight? Going to change before heading out to the backwoods.

Cass rolled her eyes. Queens wasn’t eventhatfar out. Most days, she could make it into Manhattan in 20 minutes which was a better commute than most people had from the island itself.

She typed her reply:

Casual. NO heels. Stop trying to be taller than me ;)

She hesitated before sending the message, she didn’t want to push Ari beyond what she was comfortable with. But, she hadn’t told Ari to back off just yet. She hit send and locked her phone, turning the screen upside down as she placed it down.

Cass couldn’t lie, she loved keeping Ari in the dark about the date. It was not going to be what she expected, but Cass loved surprising her.

As she worked, her phone buzzed again with a message. She smiled in anticipation but her face dropped when she read the name on the screen.

Elle: I miss you. Are you still coming to the party?

Cass tapped her leg, her stomach dropping to her stomach. She hadn’t been very good at telling Elle “no” in the past and she feared she wouldn’t be able to do it now.

Elle was an engaged woman. Cass was furious that she’d even consider sending her ex a message like that. Her behavior since their breakup had shown Cass that she never should have trusted Elle to begin with. God only knows what she was texting other women when they had been together.

She looked at the screen, considering before letting her fingers type:

We’ll be there, Ari is excited to get to know the real you.

She sent it before she could second guess herself. It was stern but non confrontational, Gabby would be proud.

Just as she returned to her screen, there was a knock at the door. And before she could welcome the knocker in, the door swung open.

“Hey, Cass,” Niamh continued as she leaned against the door, “Just checking on your progress on the Kylie project and the music video.”

Cass nodded and turned to face her boss, “The ADR sessions went well with Kylie. I think we got everything we needed but we’ll see. The video is good but the artists keep changing their mind which will push the deadline.”

Niamh sucked air through her teeth, “Yikes. I think maybe you’ll need to speed it up then.”

Cass opened her mouth to protest but thought for a moment.

“I hear you. Do you think you could get them to settle on a final vision and I’ll make it my priority as soon as that’s confirmed?” Cass said, trying her best not to roll her eyes.

“Let me see what I can do, but really you’re going to have to settle their vision for them,” Niamh said, the condescension in her tone undeniable.

“Got it,” Cass said, hoping Niamh would leave before she lost her shit.

Sure enough, she closed the door and Cass turned back to her computer.

“What a bitch,” she whispered to herself. She checked the clock, just a few more hours before she was out of this place and off to her hangout with Ari.

9

ARI

Cass had refusedto send Ari any more information than necessary. She hadn’t even sent an address, just cross-streets and to look for a green awning.

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