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Jude

Jude adjusted her blazer and tried to look like she belonged.

Kat was meeting her after rehearsal at this party, which was celebrating…

something theater related. Jude looked around, hoping for clues.

An award? An opening night? Some sort of charity?

It was impossible to tell. It looked like every other event Jude had been to with Kat—people in business dress holding drinks and picking at a table of appetizers.

A Midtown restaurant had been rented out for the occasion and people were crammed in between the tables, filling the room with a nearly unbearable volume of chatter.

Jude sipped slowly at the whiskey she’d gotten from the open bar just to give herself something to do, feeling out of place in this room of fancy arts people. Everyone seemed so official.

But so was she, she reminded herself. She was part of the arts world now. She had a job at Gala Literary. If she went up to anyone and introduced herself, they would accept that she belonged at this party, in this world. She smiled into her glass.

“Hi!” Kat swooped out of the crowd suddenly. “I’m so sorry I’m late! Can I have a sip of that?” She kissed Jude, then took the whiskey glass from her hand, took a big gulp, and made a face. Jude laughed. “You won’t believe the day I’ve had. Let’s get in line for the bar.”

“How was rehearsal?” Jude asked as they pushed toward the bar, but Kat shook her head.

“Not here.” She tipped her head at the crowd around them. “How was your day?”

“Good.” Jude shrugged. “I cleaned the apartment. I went to the gym. I read a book. I kind of don’t know what to do with myself until the job starts.”

Kat hummed in agreement, but she looked distracted. She ordered two glasses of wine and pulled them over to a high-top table in a corner, where a large potted plant offered a small semblance of privacy. She took a few big sips of wine as she eyed the crowd.

“Richard isn’t here,” she said, mostly to herself. “Good.” She turned to Jude. “Are people looking at me? I feel like they’re looking at me.”

“People are always looking at you, darling,” Jude said, kissing her temple. “And who can blame them?”

Kat gave a small laugh in response, but she still seemed distracted.

Her free hand drummed against the table, and she kept glancing around the room.

Jude glanced with her. A few people were shooting looks their way, but no more than Kat usually got.

At events like these, people found it cooler to pretend they didn’t care that someone famous was standing in the corner.

Kat turned, giving her head a little shake as if throwing off the glances. “Cheers!” She held up her glass, and they clinked. “I have some exciting news.”

Jude grinned at her, feeling a little jolt in her stomach as their eyes connected. “What is it?”

“I think you’re going to be proud of me.” Kat leaned forward on her stool and Jude mirrored her, her body responding to Kat’s automatically, moving forward to get as close to her as possible. “I quit the play.”

“You what?” Jude leaned a little too far forward and almost fell off her stool. She caught herself quickly and stared at Kat.

“Yup!” Kat took a big sip of her wine and held up her glass as if cheersing herself. “I threw my script on the ground and walked out.”

“Wow. That’s—Wow.” Jude tried to catch up. “That’s a really big decision. How do you feel about it?”

“I feel great about it. Richard said something awful to me. And I didn’t take it. I put my foot down.”

“What did he say?” Jude asked. But Kat kept talking as if she hadn’t heard.

“I’m not dealing with asshole directors anymore.

I’m learning to say no to things. Also, that play is terrible.

It’s probably going to flop. And now I’m free to do whatever I want.

” She had finished her wine and she picked up Jude’s off the table, seemingly not noticing that she was switching glasses.

“I can do that indie movie! I can do something that I actually enjoy. So this is great. It’s a good thing. It’s not a big deal to quit.”

“Okay,” Jude said, even though she could feel uneasiness climbing up her throat. “Yeah. Maybe this is good.”

“It’s totally good.” Kat was speaking loudly.

Her leg was jiggling on the footrest of the stool, jumping up and down repeatedly.

“I feel great. I have so much energy right now. I mean, I can do anything. I could write my own play that’s better than his.

Or I could go on Dancing with the Stars.

That’s always a good comeback. Might as well put those eight years of dance lessons to good use, right? ”

Kat laughed loudly. Jude smiled weakly back. Kat’s jitteriness was making her nervous.

“Should we head home?” Jude suggested. “Talk about this in private?”

Kat took another big sip of wine, then put the glass down and grabbed Jude’s hand. “I want to say thank you. For so long, I did whatever directors told me to do, even when it was some questionable shit. But when I’m with you, I feel like my feelings actually matter.”

She picked up the wineglass again. “Maybe that’s enough,” Jude started to say.

“Oh my God.” Kat’s attention slid off of Jude, her eyes shifting toward the door as she interrupted. “It’s Madelyn.”

Jude glanced over her shoulder. Madelyn was coming through the front of the restaurant in a black jumpsuit and tall heels that made her tower over the crowd, her undercut freshly shaven and her long hair falling in glamorous waves down her shoulder.

“Why does she have to show up everywhere? She’s like herpes or something. I can’t get rid of her.”

Jude took advantage of Kat’s distraction to ease the wineglass from her hand and move it away. “Let’s go home.”

“It just kills me, you know?” Kat continued. “She totally destroyed my career and she just gets to go on living her life, more popular than ever.”

“I know it’s—” Jude said, but Kat kept speaking over her. Jude swallowed the rest of her sentence, trying not to let her annoyance show.

“And she doesn’t even have the decency to ignore me, you know? Every time we’re at a party together, she has to come over and pretend to be nice and rub it in my fucking face that she’s successful and I’m pathetic.”

“You’re not pathetic,” Jude protested.

“She took my spot,” Kat practically spat. “I was supposed to be the one who made it after the show. But she stole it from me.”

Kat stared at Madelyn, her eyes narrowed, her cheeks sucked between her teeth. “You know what? I’m going to go tell her that.”

Jude stood up. “That’s really not a good idea.”

“This is the new Katrina Kelly,” Kat said, sliding off her stool.

“I’m in touch with my emotions now. And I’m not going to play nice with the woman who ruined my life.

I’m not going to kiss her on the cheek and pretend that it’s okay that she stabbed me in the back.

I’m going to tell her how I honestly feel. ”

Jude put her hands on Kat’s arms, trying to soothe her and block her from leaving at the same time. “This isn’t the right time. You’ve been drinking and you’re in public and it’s been a hard day. Let’s just go home.”

“I’m done waiting,” Kat said. “I’m done being nice and quiet and taking everyone’s shit. People think I can’t act? Well, I’ve been acting my entire life. Acting like the good little girl everyone wants me to be. And I’m done with it. I’m done!”

She sidestepped Jude and pushed through the crowd toward Madelyn, her footing slightly unsteady. Jude hurried after her.

“Madelyn!” Kat called, her voice a little too loud. Madelyn jerked around, startled, cringing away for a second before she saw who it was.

“Oh! Hi.” She laughed nervously, brushing her fingertips against the short hairs of her undercut. “You scared me for a second. I thought you were a crazy fan or something. How are you?”

“I have to talk to you,” Kat said.

“Okay. What’s up?”

“You ruined my life, that’s what’s up.”

Madelyn sighed. “Look. Kat. Let’s not do this here, okay?”

“No.” Kat’s voice came out strong and clear. “We’re going to do this now. I’m done pretending like everything is fine.”

“This really isn’t the place,” Madelyn said, but Kat kept barreling forward.

“You were supposed to be my friend.” Kat was talking loudly, and Jude saw several people in the crowd turn to look. Madelyn’s eyes darted around, as if looking for an escape route. “And then you ruined my life with that interview.”

“I did not ruin your life,” Madelyn said.

“Don’t be so dramatic.” She stepped forward, leaning in to speak in an undertone so the rest of the crowd couldn’t hear.

“Everyone knew, Kat. You thought it was such a big secret, but do you think those guys at the network kept anything to themselves? Word got around. It was a TV set. If it wasn’t me, someone else would have done it. ”

“But you were my friend!” Kat’s voice broke, and Jude saw tears start to gather in her eyes. “How could you do that to me?”

Jude grabbed Kat’s arm and tried to tug her away, but Kat resisted.

“Oh, please,” Madelyn said scornfully. “Like you’re a saint. Does your little girlfriend know why you’re dating her? Should I tell her about the proposition Jocelyn made to my agent?”

Jude dropped Kat’s arm, looking at her uncertainly.

Kat’s face went white. “You are such a bitch !”

Someone nearby gasped. The restaurant fell quiet around them.

“If I’m a bitch, so are you,” Madelyn said fiercely. “You can blame all your failures on me, but you wouldn’t have made it anyway. I’m sure you’re going to blame me for this, too, but you did this to yourself. Just like before.”

She jutted her chin over Kat’s left shoulder and Kat spun. Jude’s heart dropped as she saw what Madelyn had gestured to: a twentysomething man in a suit, holding up his phone. Recording the whole conversation.

Kat looked like she’d been slapped. Jude had never seen her look so scared, not even in the mob at that Old Navy. She was frozen, gaping at the camera. The man flushed red but kept his phone up, still recording.

Jude stepped forward, between the camera and Kat.

“Excuse me, sir,” she said in her politest voice. “Could I please ask you to delete that video?”

The man kept recording but lowered his phone. “I don’t have to do anything.”

Jude wanted to punch him, but she forced herself to smile instead. “We all have bad days sometimes, right? How would you like someone to take a video of you on a bad day?”

“I’m not a celebrity,” the man said stubbornly. “She is.”

“Look, buddy.” Jude tried to keep from cursing, but it was hard. “You have a chance to do a kind thing here. To be a good guy. Don’t you want to be a good guy?”

The man turned and started to walk away. Jude grabbed his arm.

“Let go of me,” he said loudly.

“Just delete the video,” Jude said. “Don’t be an asshole.”

“You can’t tell me what to do. Get off.” The man yanked his arm away. Jude released him, and he stumbled backward, dropping his phone.

The man lunged forward, and without thinking, Jude lifted her foot and smashed it down.

The man let out a yell, diving after his crushed phone. Jude watched him, breathing hard. That had been dumb. But at least the phone was destroyed. The video was in progress, so it wouldn’t have saved. There was no way he’d be able to recover the file.

Jude heard a small, strangled sound. She turned and saw Kat standing behind her, looking horrified.

And that’s when she noticed all the other phones in the crowd, pointed toward them, recording the whole thing.