The Good News

Tatiana could be a little flighty sometimes - okay, most of the time, but her heads weren’t in the clouds so high that she could miss that little noise coming from Kaylee when she said how slow they were going. She didn’t like to pry her girlfriend too much for how her past relationships had gone - they seemed like sour points for her, and it was none of her business, and she wanted to focus on them and what they were doing and how they meshed with each other. But that didn’t mean she never made her own assumptions, and she could guess that, of all the words that could be used to describe Belle in the past, ‘slow’ was rarely one of them.

Which made her patience with Tatiana all the more meaningful. It was a rare thing, and she treasured it more because of that.

She tucked the thought away for a moment, more focused on Kaylee’s explanations. What she was saying soothed her a bit - Belle did lead a hectic life, and there was no telling what could take her time in any given moment. If anything, Belle would’ve been the one worried if she was calling her and she wasn’t responding, and she direly hoped that wasn’t the case. A lot of this was just seperation anxiety, so used to having her girlfriend at her fingertips, always just a few taps away.

Her fellow high-flyer went along with it, though, making the simple call to set Tatiana’s fluttering mind at ease. It was a small thing, but it was just one more reason Kaylee was rapidly wracking up points in her book. ”Thank you.” She spoke in a hushed whisper as she wrung her hands, fidgeting about.

She perked up when Kaylee called her, leaning in, eager to get an answer. She sighed when the phone wasn’t answered, but Kaylee showed her talent for keeping things light when she spoke to the machine. Tatiana hopped closer on her chair, caring not at all about all the weird stares she was getting for the upperclass clientele.

”Belle! Hey, beautiful. It’s all super okay, I told Kaylee about us and she’s being the coolest. Literally the coolest.” She gave Kaylee a smile, maybe a bit of a goofy one, and bumped shoulders with her. ”Just want you to know, everything’s great here. I lost my phone, but I’ll track it down when I get back and catch up, okay?”

Even this, just talking to a machine, was enough to help her leagues. And Kaylee’s playing around was a nice cherry on top, making it hard for Tatiana to speak over her giggles. She even joined in on the smacking, earning a raised eyebrow from a waitress as she passed by.

”I love you.” She said with a sigh, exhaling as she looked towards Kaylee. For some reason, being able to say that in front of the second most important person in her girlfriend’s life made it all the more relieving. ”I love you tons, and I hope you’re not too worn out, whatever’s up. I’m bringing all the hugs when I see you.” Tatiana wrapped her arms up as she said, craving to have Belle between them. ”Byyyyyyyyyyyyye.”

Thusly placated, Tatiana sat back and nodded, folding her hands up in her lap. ”Thank you. Again.” She had a moment of quiet ease, before she perked back up. ”So, now that we’ll be living close in the near future, let me ask you a question.”

She leaned in, eyes shifting left and right. ”How do you feel about ‘slumber parties’?”

Kaylee had waited until Tatiana had well and truly finished before puckering her lips and making a big kiss sound, adding it on the redheads behalf for all of her emotional gushing. Teamwork makes the dream work after all. The phone gave a small beep as she tapped the small red button to hang up the call. Taking the phone up in hand, she eyed it thoughtful for the moment.

"Well, renovations are ongoing at the estate. Once you officially sign, if one of my new stars would say… maybe a request for a comfy common room with the fixin's for slumber party extravaganzas, I might just have to take it under advisement." She was back to her very businesslike tone up until the end, letting it slip into being audibly influenced by a grin. She tapped the phone again, motioning Tatiana closer.

"Take a selfie with me. We'll show Belle how flipping gorgeous you are looking right now. That will get her here faster, no doubt." Kaylee's chair dragged along the floor as she skid herself right up beside the redhead. If she seemed willing to partake, Kaylee wouldn't hesitate to start micromanaging the scene for the perfect photo.

She would move one of the plates and the candle so it would be in frame, slide her own plate over just out of frame to pull props from, and reach into her back for her collapsible selfie stick. Ready now, she would set the scene… apparently there was more to a simple selfie than just snapping a picture.

"So, I'm going to pick up a piece of sashimi, and have it raised up just a bit, and I want you to put your arm around me and make it look like you are tapping me shoulder. I will look to the side, just enough so my full face is still in the shot, but you will be leaning in to take big bite and eat the fish off my chopstick  out from under me while I look distracted. It will be adorable. Got all that?" the blond rattled it all off so fast, impressive all the pieces just snapped together for her in the moment. If she didn't get an immediate confirmation, she would run through it again more in-depth, actually guiding the other woman into position. It was almost like she directed videos or something... Oh wait.

When all was said and done she hoisted the phone up, took up her pose of pursed lip surprise that seemed at home on any promotional movie poster, and waited for Tatiana to uphold her end of their "simple" selfie. When she finally took the shot, she held the button down as the phone made a soft rapid fire shutter sound, taking several still shots at once, one after the other.

”Stop!” Tatiana’s giggling finally boiled over into full laughter when Kaylee made the kissing sound, giving her new friend and potential employer a playful shove on the shoulder. ”You’re terrible!”

Feeling more comfortable now, she propped her elbows up on the table as Kaylee came closer, not longer feeling guarded. It was as if all the tension from before was gone, and she had this big hole where it had once been, one that was rapidly filling up with the warmest feelings. All at once, she was getting so many of the things that her hectic road life had made difficult before - a friend, a steady girlfriend, a constant, stable roof over her head. No more worrying about where the rent would come from next month, no more moving from place to place. A place to settle down and grown with a woman she could easily see herself with for the rest of her life.

It was all she could ask for, all anyone could ask for, and it was part of the reason her face was crimson hue when Kaylee came over, just overwhelmed by it all, and more than a little happy to hear Kaylee give her indirect confirmation for her slumber party plans. It was a fun thought, the three of them just spending a night together, watching movies, snacking, trading stories. As chaotic as all the hiding had made her relationship, it was going to make for some fun times, as she filled in all the little blanks for Kaylee. Maybe they could even get Valerie to come along, and-

...oh, right, they still had to talk to Valerie about all this. Tatiana’s mood took a momentary souring, even as Kaylee pulled her in for the selfie, the realization hitting her like a stormcloud on a sunny day. Kaylee being so down for this was a pleasant surprise, but there was absolutely no way it would be so easy with her stepsister. But Valerie was a practical woman, and she wanted what was best for her, at the end of the day. If they approached her the right way, made her see, maybe…

She put that thought on the backburner for the moment, focusing on Kaylee’s instruction. It kind of hit her all at once, surprised by her in-depth selfie technique, but a quick, second explanation was all she needed to get it down. When the time came, she tapped the shoulder, then snapped the sashimi up like a dog going for her teeth, gobbling it down with a mischievous smile.

Successful, she leaned over to give Kaylee a nuzzling hug, before she settled back down and started back on her own meal, even daring to take another sip of the sake, more prepared this time. ”Wow, this is all so awesome, really. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to all of this. It’s just...woo.” She tossed her hair about before reaching back to straighten it up, force some calm. She’d have to work on being a little bit more professional, now that she was going into the ‘Big Time’.

”So, the monkeys. One night Jacques, a new guy with the troupe, he goofs and somehow doesn’t lock the cages right. And monkeys, they’re kind of smart, they check things, they notice things, and the fiddle with locks every now and then and…”

Kaylee rocked with the small shove, drifting away with it only to come leaning back, hitting up against Tatiana side by side. She plopped her head down along the redhead's shoulder, making less realistic but more exaggerated kissing sounds while smirking up at her. "Mwah, mwah, mwah… you know you love it."

Kaylee would pull herself up and away, settling out of her own small giggle before taking on the role of director. She oversaw their selfie production to perfection, the two girls working exceeding well together. When it was over though, the blond gave Tatiana a small playful shove.

"You weren't suppose to actually eat my food." She gave a jokingly indignant huff, giving her chopsticks a clicky-clack together in a mock threatening way as if they were torture devices. Without warning she leaned in, trying to snatch a piece of for off the redhead's plate and immediately pop it into her own mouth. Street justice.

Setting the chopsticks aside, she started to dismantle her phone right, bringing the device back to her hands. She thumbed through the several quickfire shots that were taken, deleting imperfect ones that had enough of the two blinking or faltering in their scene. Once she had settled on one she liked, Kaylee leaned back in to share the screen with the other girl.

"We look so cute…" Kaylee would pull up her contact list again in front of Tatiana, and set up a text message to Belle, forwarding the picture too her with the caption: "Missing out". The social media star seemed to like this particular picture, taking a moment to ruminate while the redhead started up on her story again. The blond would listen along, waiting for a natural break or pause before speaking up.

"Mind if I post this on my feed? You have any socials? I can tag you. guarantee to give you a jump in followers." Kaylee gave a slender brows a small wiggle. This was something Tatiana had seen Belle do when she was most animated as well. It was a curious thought who between them may have started it and if the other one just picked up the mannerism.

”Soooooooooory.” Tatiana blushed at Kaylee’s accusation, knowing she probably shouldn’t have snatched the food for real. She didn’t object to her new friend equalizing things by taking off her own plate, knowing that was more than fair. And besides, she was paying, so it was technically all hers, anyway.  ”When I’m hungry, I kind of go on autopilot with food. Like, I always eat what gets put in front of me. I can stay away from junk food, but if you put junk food in front of me I gobble it up. I’m like a goldfish.”

She opened and snapped her mouth shut a couple of times, mimicking her favorite pet. She went on with her story, more than happy to relay, noting how Kaylee tended to her business while she listened. Now that she had time to sit down and notice her more, she could see how quick this woman was, how she multi-tasked and moved. It seemed like she was tuned to do at least two things at once, as if her hands had minds of their own, and she wondered if that was a talent that she’d picked up or one that just came natural. She hoped it was the former - she had an inkling it was one she, too, would need to develop.

For the moment, though, she let her mind wander to more important things. Kaylee seemed to want to get to know her, but the reverse was true, too. She was going to be living with this woman in the nearish future,  and even beyond that, she was her girlfriend’s best friend. Her family. But she didn’t really know her. Oh, sure, she’d heard plenty from Belle, and she’d read her Wikipedia pages and all that, but that wasn’t knowing her.

”Oh!” She popped up at Kaylee’s question. ”I’m at RedStar001 on Instagram and TatStar on Twitter, though...” She chewed her lip, not sure about the influx all of the sudden. ”Should I get a private account? Maybe I should get a private account?”

She’d mull on the idea for a moment, before leaning back in Kaylee’s brow wiggling reminding her of where her thought train had started. ”So, tell me, what was Belle like when you two first met? How did you guys get along?”

"Good to know." Kaylee gave Tatiana a side eye with a small snicker, talking out of the corner of her mouth while mid chew seemingly having forgotten her professional manners. The blond gave the chopsticks in her fingers a graceful twirl, reversing them in her grip before giving the redhead a small nap on her nose with the back ends not used for eating. "That will make a nutrition plan interesting. Though, whatever you are doing now to stay in shape is working wonderfully. Any special tips or are you just blessed with fantastic metabolism?"

"That's up to you really. You definitely want a "professional" set of socials so people can post to you and tag you. Even if you can't or won't respond to it, people like to know you are at their fingertips. You would be surprised how much simply retweeting something could snowball into a wave of new fans. I don't keep any private socials. Defeats the purpose. That's why you have DMs and sit-down meetings, like this." Kaylee quietly typed on her phone as she spoke, running through all of this like it was social media 101 for her rookie apprentice. Peering up over the edge of her screen at Tatiana, she gave the girl a few moments to reconsider being tagged in the post but if nothing came, it was not on the internet.

"Oooo, you are diving into the forbidden lore now. Belle was the cutest little girl, for real. She was quiet and shy. If a camera wasn't rolling she was basically a completely different person than her character on the show. It took me awhile to get her to smile… and laugh. It helped the show dynamic really, how much we actually we're strangers at first. We both sort of grew into friends as things evolved on set. We were pretty inseparable after that... I don't have them on my phone, but I have tons of pictures from back then at home." Kaylee glanced up, reminiscing fondly as she waved the phone in one hand and twirled chopsticks in the other. With a small shake of her head she finished up what she was doing on the device and tucked it away.

”Ow!” Tatiana giggled and oversold the bop to her nose, rubbing it as if that little touch from the chopsticks had some real damage. This whole conversation was a lot more fun than she could’ve ever pictured, doing wonders to turn around her opinion on Kaylee and giving her the kind of fun moment she hadn’t had in...ever. She and Belle had eaten out before, and her girlfriend was excellent company, but this was the sort of lighter moment you could only really have with someone you were more casual with. And, now that she thought about it, Kaylee already qualified as Tatiana’s best non-Belle friend, simply because she was the only friend Tatiana had who wasn’t Belle.

”I’m just used to training a lot. That’s part of circus life, really. Training, traveling, training, traveling. I get up early, hit the gym, sneak in text with Belle, and just...stay moving, you know?” She shrugged, not really all that good at vocalizing something she did on a daily basis. ”Maybe we can train together a bit, figure it out? Our styles aren’t too far off, we’d be great sparring partners.”

She tapped her lip at the idea of expanding her social network, realizing the bigger world she was about to step into with a simple tag. Had this been a few weeks ago, she might’ve said no, not even considered it...but she was already making big steps in her life, wasn’t she? She was dipping her toes in the water, no harm in jumping in. ”Sure.” She nodded with finality. ”Sure, go for it.”

She settled in as Kaylee talked about their early lives, giving her a window into her girlfriend’s forming years. She took a smile, but a soft, sad one, as she pictured a younger Belle. So quiet. So lonely. Forced into a life that she didn’t ask for. ”I wish I could’ve been there. I wish I could’ve known Belle sooner. Sometimes, I kind of feel like we needed each other before we even knew it, like we were just two pieces waiting to come together.”

She brushed some hairs out of her eyes and stared at the table, before she looked up to Kaylee. ”I owe you an apology. Another one. I apologize a lot, sorry.” She shifted in the seat. ”I sort of thought the worst of you, at times. Like you were bad for Belle, and I couldn’t trust you, and my sister was in my ear a lot about you to color things, and...it wasn’t fair. I’m glad I’m getting a chance to know you better, now.”

"Not a bad idea, Tatiana. I've been working with this new trainer recently, trying to flesh out my skills a bit into mixed martial arts. Holds, strikes and the like to give me a bit more punch in the ring to go with my showmanship. I think your type of striking is far more on brand for me than Belle's swing for the fences style, so I'd definitely appreciate some good sparring sessions." She gave the redheaded girl a small grateful nod. Reaching over she set her bag on where she had been sitting prior rather than moving back, and just slide her plate of food over so the two could sit next to one another and chat.

Kaylee wore a soft smile as she listened to Tatiana explain her and Belle's connection. She let out a small wistful sigh as she ate another piece of sashimi with a delicate dab of soy sauce. "You're giving me cavities.,with just how sweet you are. It's almost storybook, the both of you. I can tell this is all pretty new for you. I'm glad the two of you have been able to keep that spark burning bright. It's a bit inspiring." The blond canted her head slightly, continuing to casually eat as they conversed.

Kaylee lofted a slender brow at the mention of an apology, setting down her chopsticks to give Tatiana her full undivided attention. She nodded along with what the acrobat was saying. Once she had finished, the social media star reached over to take both of Tatiana's hands gently in hers and give them a small comforting squeeze. "Its fine. We live in a very... polarizing time and work in a very sensationalized business. While I would like to say that I'm a saint, I'm not. I sometimes play up my cattiness for shock value, but its also part of who I am... who I was. I've been trying to get better about that. That's a big part of why I'm doing this, hopefully managing other peoples careers will help me get out of the habit of trying to manage their lives. Thank you though. I'm grateful you are not only considering my offer, but have such great things to say."

Hearing Kaylee talk about her training perked Tatiana right up - more than she had been perked up, anyway. A higher gear of perkiness. ”That is so what I need! Me and my sister are self taught a lot. We had the AFW trainers to get the basics, and the high-flying stuff was just us doing what we’d been trained to do our whole lives. But the MMA stuff, the kicks and the chokes…” She mimed a few punches and a hokey looking choke, getting more animated as she pictured it. ”That’s self-taught. Could really use help ironing out the kinks.”

She threw in a quick wink before moving back to her food. ”Plus, I think I want a little rematch from last time. Without throwing your phone away, I promise.”

After working over her food a bit more and daring to get more Sake into her system, she nodded along with Kaylee, blushing as the woman took her hand. It was kind of strange to think that she was older than both her and Belle, even if by just a year or two. They seemed so more mature, seemed to have so much experience under their belts. ‘Wise beyond her years’, as her stepmother would’ve said.

”’Polarizing’. I think that’s about the nicest word to describe it.” She rubbed the top of Kaylee’s hand before pulling back. ”I look forward to knowing the real you better, then, and I’m glad things are turning for the better. I...can’t promise my sister is going to get on board so easily.” She had a wistful sigh, remembering that raincloud above it all. ”But we’ll see. I’d really like us all to come together. Full peace.”

"Oooo, careful what you wish for. I'm at least twice as powerful without my phone in hand." Kaylee gave Tatiana a small smirk and an exaggerated loft of her brow. It was strange to see her this animated in person. The redhead would have gotten a taste of this side of the blond in the past in the form of her online videos and way back when she was a mischievous young girl on her sitcom, but up until now all she had gotten a glimpse of was perhaps all the worst parts of Kaylee. It was easy to see why she had judged her the way she had.

"It goes both ways. Its hard for me to find genuine people these days... one of the side effects of fame. You tend to draw in a lot of people looking to get something out of you. Money, standing..." She gave a small shrug with a tired sigh. "Its a bit disheartening and it had me pretty jaded for awhile. Wrestling though, really helped with that. So many passionate people who are there for the love of the sport and the thrill of competition. Sure, my reputation has afforded me a great deal of support, but in that ring I'm more on other people's level. We're all just there to wrestle. There is a certain truth to that, a freedom of expression that I haven't felt since I first started making content online before expectations have locked down a lot of what I do." The blond casually gestured with her hands and waved her chopsticks as she spoke, clearly not trying to be reserved at all. This was Kaylee Day being candid with a new friend rather than a client.

"Family can be rough. Trust me, I know." Though she didn't volunteer any real details on the matter. As far as the public knew, she was a star from childhood. Winning child beauty pageants, landing a starring role to become America's sweetheart in syndication, and seeing untold success from social media mogul into a wide reaching business woman. No interview, biography, or wiki had managed to really document her family life which was something she had been certain to keep under wraps all her life. It was an impressive thought given how much of her life she shared with the world on social media, it almost felt like it would be impossible to have secrets. "She'll come around eventually, once she understands how good this is for you."

---

The two women continued to chat and joke through dinner, more than once drawing over a member of waiting staff who politely reminded them to be mindful of how load they were laughing. The evening came and went in a flash, leaving them finishing up the last of their dessert and Kaylee sending the bill off with a waiter with one of many cards from her wallet. The other seats at the table had remained barren with no sign of Belle throughout the whole meal... though in truth the two had been so lost in conversation it had hardly registered. The sudden rattle of Kaylee's phone vibrating on the table top was a stark enough contrast to catch both girl's attention, warranting a bit of inspection.

"Local number?" She tilted her head as she eyed the phone, scooping it up as she watched the pulsing numbers displayed on her phone face. This was her personal phone, carefully cultivated to be locked away from call center access and remain unlisted to keep her from being disturbed. Incredibly few people knew of its existence for certain, even less knew the number. She raised a finger to Tatiana, asking silently with a gesture for a bit of silence as she accepted the call and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" The blond blinked a small smirk working across her lips as she cast a glance over to the redhead. "Yeah, I can tell. How did the shoot go?" The blond furrowed her brow at the response with a shake of her head. "Yup, sure am." Kaylee lowered her phone from her ear, circling a finger over the display of the phone, searching for one of the digital buttons before giving it a poke. She set the phone down between herself and Tatiana so all three of them could converse freely.

Alright... well, no reason to let her know its me. I just need to talk to yo- wait... am I on speaker?

"Whoops." Kaylee bit her lip, turning to look between Tatiana and the phone as Belle went silent on the other side. The blond sat back a bit in her chair, folding her hands in her lap.

Dammit Kaylee... uh... hey Tat. Hope... the contract stuff is going well.