The blonde hadn’t even looked at her. Was she trying to be discreet for her sake? Maybe so, but Cat felt like a glowing light in the dark, as if there were bits and pieces of the truth oozing out of her pores with every move she made. She picked up the untouched glass of wine and drank deeply. Now she needed this.

And Sam, why had she offered Frankie a seat next to her? Had it been to prevent her from sitting next to Cat? And if so, was Sam suspicious about them? Cat glanced up at her girlfriend, who wasn’t giving anything away, chatting away with Jay and Ed.

Frankie returned with a beer and a tequila shot. She sat between Sam and Fin, grinned courteously at Sam, and started talking to Fin, whom she seemed to like. It was hard for Cat to unglue her eyes from Frankie. To look less suspicious, she was making her pupils dance all over the place, which in turn was making her dizzy. Shit. It was getting increasingly difficult for her to reconcile the two worlds she seemed to inhabit, especially when both were present at the same time. How could she cope with the fact that the night before she’d been in bed with that woman over there? How could Frankie, whose eyes never could lie?

As if the blonde had heard her thoughts, she turned to Cat for the first time and swallowed her tequila shot without breaking eye contact. Yes, it was still there, only hidden, for her sake.

Making her excuses and trying not to rush, Cat went to the restroom. She needed a moment alone, to focus, to tell herself that she couldn’t fuck this up… Fuck what up, exactly, her relationship or her affair? She locked herself up inside one of the tiny compartments, put down the toilet seat and sat on it with her face between her hands.

A minute later there was a knock on the door. Fuck – she’d thought the other toilets were free. Cat unlocked the door, opened it and there was Frankie. Oh no. No, no, no.

“You okay?”

“Frankie, what are you doing? What if someone-?”

“Just tell me, are you okay?” The blonde cupped her face and slid her fingers into the strands of her hair.

“I’m totally losing my shit. I’m afraid Sam’s going to know.”

“She’s not. Look at me.”

Cat did as she was told and thought she might very well drown in Frankie’s eyes. It had been very difficult to resist Frankie and acknowledge that she was not over her, but now that she had actually given in to the feeling and acted upon it, she was finding it even harder. However, when Frankie tried to kiss her, she pulled away.

“What did you tell them?”

Shrugging off the rejection, Frankie grinned and pointed down at her streaked Vultures shirt. “I went for another beer and spilled almost half of it over myself. It was fucking cold too.”

She would always be drawn to Frankie’s goofy, smug smiles, no matter what. They took her all the way back to their shared schooldays, when she had been fascinated by the girl’s mischief.

“I need to get back.”

“Yeah. Go on, then. Can we talk tomorrow?”

Cat nodded and managed to slide past Frankie and out of the restroom. The others were still yapping loudly. In their world, nothing was the matter.

“What did Frankie do? Did she spill her drink all over herself?” Cat laughed.

“You’d think that she’d know better than to waste some perfectly good beer.” Jay answered.