The Liberation of Kate Shaw Ch. 11

She looked at me shrewdly. “Okay, but listen to me. Don’t go with her to her place. I have a feeling nothing good will come of it, Kate.”

“I owe her that, Laurie. The way we left things…it wasn’t fair to her, and I owe her the chance to tell me whatever it is she’s going to tell me. Can’t you see that?” I said, pleading with her to understand.

She shook her head, then started to go onstage to her place. “Just be careful,” she said over her shoulder as she walked off. “You and Jordan have been through enough.”

The concert began, and I was extremely conscious of the fact that Kelly was in the audience, listening to every note I played. Even as I felt myself falling deeper into the music I was playing, I could still feel her presence out there. With a huge effort, I banished all thoughts of Kelly and Jordan from my head and let the music take over, and before I knew it, we were taking our bows and the curtain was closing. I could hear the murmuring of the audience on the other side of the curtain as the other musicians surrounded me, offering their congratulations, and the conductor came over and gave me a somewhat sloppy kiss on my cheek. Apparently, he’d already started in on the after-performance drinks. I caught a glimpse of Laurie watching me, then I said my goodbyes and headed back to my dressing area to wait for Kelly.

She was already there by the time I got there, fidgeting and restless. The look of relief on her face told me immediately that she had been afraid I wouldn’t show up.

“Are you ready?” she asked nervously.

“Just let me get my bag out of here, then we can go,” I answered, my heart beginning to flutter in my throat. I walked past her into the room, gathered my things, then followed her out to where a cab was waiting.

To be continued…