Laura brightened slightly at the flowers. ‘Your romantic side overwhelms me sometimes.’
Eve was relieved.
Laura stared down the corridor. She pulled Eve into a small room so they were out sight. ‘So, this is your dressing room?’ Laura pulled out a chair and guided her into it, she stood behind her, her hands on her shoulders. Eve smiled back at her in the mirror.
‘You need to tell me when you’re going to do something like this.’
Eve’s expression drained. She didn’t have enough time to explain before a knock on the door startled them both.
‘Hey, it’s just me … who’s this?’ A tall man in black pants and a white button-down shirt entered, coffee steaming in his hand and a considerable amount of make-up on his skin.
The lie came quickly to Laura. ‘My sister’s friend. She was in town and wanted to stop by.’
‘Oh hey, I’m Daniel.’ He stuck out an eager hand to Eve.
‘Eve.’
‘You’re one lucky friend. You know—’ He went to sit down beside Eve but Laura talked over him.
‘Actually, Daniel, we were just on our way out. I promised her a tour.’ They both stood. Eve’s eyes widened when he asked if he could tag along.
‘I think it would just be best if I took her, but thank you, Daniel.’
They exited to the corridor. Laura took her down to a lower level.
‘He’s such an annoying turd. He comes onto everyone.’ Laura clenched her jaw.
‘Did you just call someone a turd? Jesus, fame really has changed you.’
Laura couldn’t help but smirk.
They walked down further corridors. Most were abandoned of people. Laura pointed out sets from shows Eve had never seen before.
‘Laura, where the hell are we going?’
‘Somewhere we can be alone.’
Laura finally pulled her into a storage room. She flicked the light and waved her arms towards the rows and rows of manila boxes.
‘This is our evidence records centre. We keep all the important files here for the shows. By important, I mean …’ Laura fished out some papers out of a box and held them up to Eve. ‘Non-existent.’
‘Blank pages? Seriously?’ Eve reached into another box and found the same thing. She shook her head
‘You should see how far back this room goes.’ They passed row after row of identical boxes.
Eve looked out over the filtered light of propped storage room. The musty smell of old paper lingered on her nose as she walked further. She disturbed a mound of dust near the end of one rack and made small patterned circles with the tip of her shoe.
‘I’m really glad you came.’ Laura’s voice was close behind her.
Eve felt Laura’s hands on her. She stroked her arms from shoulder to fingertip. ‘Laura, I don’t thi—’
Laura’s eyes ran over the curves in her lips. Her hands gripped Eve’s arms tightly with a strange urgency she had never felt from her before. Laura unbuttoned her own blue jacket and threw it on a pile of dusty boxes. She kissed the corner of Eve’s mouth then her neck with force, her lips left patches of burning heat wherever they touched. Eve’s hands finally found motion, they grabbed at the small of Laura’s back. They collided with the wall and Laura let out a breathless pant. All sense of space left their minds as they sunk faster and faster. Eve ran a thumb against Laura’s jaw. Laura wrapped her hands against the sides of Eve’s neck, her tongue stroked hers, shocking her system. Her heart accelerated in her ears, her skin ignited with every touch.
‘I want you … now.’ Laura grabbed at the hem of Eve’s shirt and went to slide her hands under her shirt.
Eve drew back, suddenly cold.
‘I cannot believe you.’ Eve’s eyes narrowed. Her cheeks flushed.
‘What?’
‘You … just, you want to have sex with me in some old dusty storage room? What the hell, Laura?’
Laura swallowed as a lump began to form in her throat.
‘None of this is easy for me, Laura. Fuck!’ Eve began to pace.
Laura’s eyes pleaded with her. ‘You never even talk about yourself, you just listen. I know hardly anything about you.’
‘Yeah, yeah, but you still want me in a goddamn storage room at your work.’ Eve waved her arms in the air.
‘You can’t even share the smallest of things with me.’
Eve gritted her teeth. ‘I can’t do this.’
‘Are you seriously walking away from me, right now?’ Tears rolled down Laura’s cheeks.
Eve wiped at her mouth, wanting the taste of Laura as far from her as possible. ‘I wonder what you’ll tell them, when your colleagues ask who made you cry. I mean, for Christ sakes, you’re telling me “I don’t know what you want from me?” Do you even know what youwant, Laura?’ Eve took a breath. ‘It’s funny, I only have one rule and you almost just broke it.’ Laura sunk against the wall when the door slammed. Tears streamed down her face. It took everything in her not to go after Eve.
Laura sat in front of her dressing-room mirror. A thick lump formed in her throat when she remembered Eve walking away from her. She kicked out against the wall, knowing she’d ruined everything. Laura had pushed her too far, only thinking of what she herself needed. The worst was the look she had given her, a look that said, “I trusted you, I expected more.” It was a look of humiliation and disappointment. No matter how much make-up she used to cover up her swollen eyes, she couldn’t swallow the look she had given her.
Eve drank straight from the bottle of whiskey, one hand on the bottle, the other on her ringing phone. She relaxed against her kitchen sink when Anna picked up. Without so much as a hello, she explained what happened, a long stream of words that she hoped weren’t completely incomprehensible.
‘Kid … it sounded like you both had a good thing going. You need to talk to her. There are worst things than someone wanting to know you.’
‘I just … I can’t tell her about the accident. Not yet.’
‘I know, kid. I know.’ Anna sighed deeply on the end of the line.
‘I really like her.’
‘From the sounds of it, she likes you too, kid.’
Laura sat blurry-eyed in front of the TV. She had managed to get off work early – feigning a stomach flu. Laura dabbed at her eyes and reached for her glass of wine. She barely recognised the words emitted from the screen. She watched with disinterest as the images moved. A knock at the door startled Laura. She dried her eyes on the collar of her T-shirt. She opened the door to Eve standing in the doorway with a bag of steaming food.
‘This scares me.’ She pointed to Laura then back to herself. ‘So much, all the time. I feel like I’m out of my depth. But I want you to know me.’
Laura nodded and moved away from the door to let her inside. Eve dumped the bags of Chinese food on the kitchen island and shrugged off her jacket. Laura came to stand next to her.
‘I shouldn’t have pressured you like that. I didn’t …’ Laura looked away, not recognising the person she had become in the heat of that moment.
‘I should have stayed and talked with you about it.’
Laura tapped her nails on the island, not quite ready to meet