As it had turned out, Andy had returned a few days later to London where she did actually live.
After having texted Kaia, they had spent the rest of the night talking and getting to know one another. It turned out they had a lot in common and when Kaia suggested they grab a drink the following weekend, Andy was more than happy to meet her at a pub downtown.
They got along really well. Andy was very easy to talk to and frankly, it was great to forget about things for a while. And when the slightly tipsy woman had murmured quietly that she wanted to kiss Kaia, she didn't stop her.
Instead, she kissed her back. Instead, Kaia suggested they leave. Andy offered they head to her flat and Kaia had Johnny drive them there, her leg bouncing the whole way over. She didn't get to see much of the small apartment beside the bedroom with Andy's hands exploring her body and their mouths interlocked the whole way to the bed.
Kaia was never one to jump into bed with someone so fast no matter how much she was attracted to them. But it was easy with Andy to just forget about her problems for a minute. To shut her brain and just let things go.
She stayed over the next day and they sat in bed watching old reruns of Disney shows while eating cereal late into the afternoon before Kaia had to leave. She had an early Monday morning at work.
On Tuesday evening, as she was getting ready to head home after a surprisingly early end to the day when Will had slipped and accidentally broken an important prop that would take some time to fix, Kaia had received a message from Andy.
Andy (from the park): Can I see you tonight? :)
Kaia chewed on her bottom lip in thought while zipping up her jacket. She was thinking of getting a lazy night in, watching some New Girl and eating some super unhealthy food before turning in early but maybe having a bit of fun wouldn't be so bad.
Kaia Browne: Yes! would u like for me to cook?
Andy didn't reply until Kaia was walking across the parking lot to her car.
"Night, Kibs!" William yelled from his own car a few spaces down.
"Night, Will. Thanks for the break," Kaia chuckled, waving at her co-star.
"Any plans for tonight?" He asked while leaning against his Range Rover's door.
Kaia shrugged while unlocking her own car. "Nah, just going home. Have an early night in. See you tomorrow, mate!"
"Lame! Goodnight," he laughed before slipping into his car.
Kaia sat down in her seat and started the engine. As she waited for it to warm up a little, she checked her phone, opening her messages with Andy.
Andy (from the park): i would LOVE for u to cook! any chance u could do italian?
Kaia Browne: it's only my speciality! Come over at about 8:30?
Andy (from the park): I'll be there :))
Kaia Browne: great! can't wait!
Kaia Browne: [shared a location].
When she got home, she changed into a casual yet still slightly flattering outfit (as in, took off the hoodie she was in and replaced it with a white button-down, keeping a couple of buttons undone at the top, tucked into her pair of ripped jeans) and went to the kitchen to start on a simple tomato sauce recipe.
Her phone rang in her pocket as she was chopping up some tomatoes. She pulled it out, assuming it was probably Andy asking for directions or telling her she was going to be late, but she was surprised to read Taylor's contact name.
More specifically, Blondie💗 was requesting to FaceTime.
They hadn't talked since Kaia had arrived in London except for a few shared memes on Instagram or Twitter, followed by quick HAHAHAHAHAHAs or keyboard smashes.
With a little confused smile, Kaia swiped to answer and rested the phone against the spice rack on the counter so she could continue chopping up the vegetables for dinner.
"What sexy instrument does Yo-Yo Ma play?" Kaia started, focused on not accidentally dismembering her fingers.
"Uhm..."
"Cello!" She exclaimed, finally grinning up at the screen to find Taylor fighting back a smile.
"The cello's not that sexy," Taylor retorted with a light scoff, her blue eyes dancing in amusement.
"It's the sexiest instrument alive," Kaia shot back with a shake of her head, as though Taylor had no idea what she was talking about.
"Clearly you've never met the Saxophone," Taylor told her which made Kaia scrunch her face in distaste.
"It requires a lot of spit," she muttered. "Not sexy."
"Hm, but it sounds sexy as hell," Taylor countered before raising an eyebrow at Kaia. "Just like that shirt. Hello?"
Kaia breathed out a laugh, turning around to add the chopped tomatoes into the blender, timed perfectly to hide her blush. "Hi," she replied timidly.
"What are you doing?" Taylor asked with a light chuckle.
"Making dinner," Kaia replied casually, clearing her throat and plugging in the machine.
"In an outfit that's not your pyjamas?" Taylor pointed out in disbelief.
"I sometimes like to look nice," Kaia offered before turning the blender on.
Taylor winced on the other side of the screen; with her earphones in, it was probably way too loud. When Kaia finally stopped a minute later, Taylor smiled widely at her.
"You always look nice," she said which, once again, made Kaia blush.
"The moment was ruined. Your flirting was not effective after all that," Kaia lied, with her back still turned so Taylor couldn't see she was even redder than the tomato juice she had just blended.
"I'm just trying to compliment you," Taylor said innocently.
"Thank you," Kaia chuckled, returning to her cutting board to dice an onion. She slipped on a pair of gloves to make sure her hands didn't smell horrible for the rest of the night.
"So, who are you cooking for?" Taylor asked after a moment, and when Kaia looked up at the screen, she couldn't read the expression on the blonde's face.
"No one, really," she murmured, running her knife over the vegetable to slice it into the smallest of cubes.
Taylor chuckled quietly, setting her phone down on a surface and pulling out a bottle of nail varnish remover. "I don't buy it."
Kaia wasn't exactly sure why she was lying. It wasn't like she had anything going on with Taylor in the first place. She was an adult who was allowed to date and to have a healthy sex life.
So why did she feel bad about having to tell Taylor she had somewhat of a date tonight, and why did she feel even worse about lying to her about it?
"I have a friend coming over," Kaia finally admitted, moving to grab a pan and place it over the stove with a dollop of olive oil inside. "She said she liked Italian, so..."
Taylor was quiet for a while and when Kaia risked a glance at her phone, she saw the singer focused on filing her nails.
"Do you think I should go purple or blue?" Taylor asked, holding out two bottles of nail polish in front of the screen.
"Uhm, well blue brings out your eyes but purple's my favourite colour so I'm biased..." Kaia replied with a light shrug. "What's the occasion?"
"I got bored of the red I had on?" Taylor replied with a little grin.
"Which one's your favourite?" Kaia asked, dropping the onions into the pan and stirring them with a wooden spoon.
"I like them both. But... the light blue's calling to me. What do you think? With sparkles?"
Kaia chuckled and sent her a smile. "Yeah! That sounds lovely."
"So, how's London?" Taylor asked casually, starting to paint her nails carefully.
"Pretty good. The weather's starting to get nicer. Not too hot," Kaia explained while adding the rest of the ingredients into the pot to make the sauce.
"Oh! Lucky! New York's still really hot right now. I'm constantly a sweaty mess, even with the AC on!" The blonde pouted before holding out her left hand to show off the nail polish. "What do you think?"
"I love it!" Kaia exclaimed, adding some pepper and other spices to her dish.
"Me too," Taylor decided, going on to add a second coat of the same colour. "So, Tom's invited me to spend some time with him and his folks in London next week."
"Oh?" Kaia mused, slowly covering her pot and wiping her hands with a towel. "That sounds nice."
Taylor scrunched her nose. "I— hm, I think I need to sort of break up with him."
Kaia's mouth fell open for a moment and she was about to respond when the doorbell rang. "Oh, that must be Andy. Hold on for a moment?"
"I'll let you go," Taylor chuckled but Kaia shook her head, leaning down to meet Taylor's gaze through the phone.
"No, no, I'll be right back. We're discussing this at length in a second, hold on—"
"Kibbles," Taylor groaned with a little laugh, hesitating between reaching for her phone and risking her freshly painted nails getting ruined and just staying on the line.
Kaia ran to the front door and opened it with a little grin. Her thoughts were still with that last bomb Taylor had just dropped but she blanked for a moment when she saw Andy, dressed similarly in a black button-up, revealing a lace bralette underneath and the hint of a tattoo on her chest.
"I hope you like cacti? It's all the shop had left this late at night," she said with a cheeky grin which made Kaia breathe out a laugh and accept the small cactus.
"A lot more than roses," she replied, letting Andy in and closing the door behind her. "Thank you. Would you mind taking your boots off?"
"No problem!" Andy leaned up to kiss Kaia's cheek before bending down to undo her laces. "Smells lovely in here, by the way!"
"Mhm, I should get back to it!" Kaia exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
She headed back to the kitchen where she found Taylor still on the line, applying a clear glittery coat of varnish over her fresh blue nails. She found her earphones lying on the kitchen table and connected them to her phone, carrying it around with her while she went ahead and started boiling the pasta.
"Okay, so let me get this straight," Kaia said, turning the heat under the sauce on low to let it thicken before giving Taylor her full attention. "Tom's invited you to spend time with his family..."
"Yep. Why do you have a cactus?"
"And you're planning on dumping him?" Kaia ignored Taylor's question, leaving the potted plant on the kitchen table.
Taylor groaned, flopping back against the couch she was on. Olivia came padding over the screen and jumped onto her lap, curling up comfortably. Taylor had to keep her hands up in the air to avoid getting any fur stuck in her wet nails.
"You make me sound so evil! But, isn't leading him on further worse?" She asked which in her defence, really was fair.
"I thought you weren't even exclusive though?" Kaia asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"We're not! But I think he's planning on making it official somehow and I can't let it get to that point," Taylor sighed heavily, gently pushing Olivia off her lap so she could continue painting her nails. "I need to do it soon. I feel horrible."
"Mhm," Kaia cringed, remembering how she had a lot to do with "cheating" on poor Tom. Technically, according to Taylor, it wasn't cheating. But technicalities were dumb. "You're going to do it in person, right?"
"Hey, babes, where d'you go?" Andy asked from the hallway, making Taylor's head snap up at the nickname.
"Just in the kitchen," Kaia called back, locking her phone and placing it back in her pocket.
"Listen, I'll let you get back to your date," Taylor said with a little cough to clear her throat.
Andy came up behind Kaia in the doorway, and the actress smiled at her, holding up one finger telling her she'll be with her in a second before returning her attention to Taylor.
"Tay..."
Taylor laughed softly in Kaia's ears. "Don't worry, Kibs. Go have fun! We'll talk some other time."
"You're not going to come to London?" Kaia asked, feeling her heart drop at the prospect of not seeing Taylor so soon after all.
"You mean come hang out with Tom's mother and his sisters after breaking up with him?" Taylor said dryly. "I don't think so."
"Hold on, you're not planning on doing it over the phone, are you?" Kaia asked, her blue eyes wide. She turned slightly at the feeling of a warm hand around her waist, Andy standing right there behind her, taking a look at the food on the stove.
Kaia felt a little warm all over, keeping her eyes on the boiling spaghetti water.
"What choice do I have? He's going to be in London for the next few weeks, I think," Taylor replied.
"I think after... everything," Kaia started, choosing her words carefully. "I think you owe him a little more than that. Plus, if you do come here, you get to visit me on set."
"Yeah? You'll let me watch you do a scene?" Taylor asked and Kaia chewed down on her bottom lip, nodding even though Taylor couldn't see her anymore.
"Yeah, maybe. If you're nice."
Taylor was quiet for a second and Kaia could hear a bit of shuffling on the other end before the blonde finally sighed deeply.
"You're right. I need to do it in person. As soon as I land. I'll just... rip it off like a Band-Aid!" Taylor said while Kaia grabbed the wooden spoon from the spaghetti sauce and held it up to Andy's mouth.
The shorter girl tasted it and her brown eyes widened at the flavour. "That is so fucking good!"
"Hey, I'm going to actually hang up now. Enjoy your night, Kaia," Taylor said softly.
"Thanks. You too, Tay," Kaia responded and Taylor finally ended the call.
Kaia took her earphones out and finally gave Andy her undivided attention.
"Friend trouble?"
"Yeah, rough breakup," Kaia replied briefly. "Are you hungry?" She asked, changing the subject immediately.
"Starving!" Andy replied with a big grin.
"All right!"
The brunette went to grab a colander and strained the spaghetti before serving them each a bowl.
As they sat around the dining table eating their dinner, Kaia opened up a bottle of red wine and poured a glass for each one of them.
"I love this place," Andy said, looking around the room. "It's so homey."
Kaia smiled slightly, going back to her seat and leaving the two glasses on the table. "Yeah, I did grow up here."
"Ah! That explains all the baby pictures," Andy laughed. "Your family doesn't live here anymore? Wait, is your mum going to walk in on us doing it?" she said playfully, whispering the last bit for comedic effect.
Kaia rolled her eyes but couldn't help but laugh. "No, you don't have to sneak out the window either. They're all in New York," she explained, her eyes darting down to her hand on the table as Andy's came to rest in it.
"Good," she said, which made Kaia pull away, grabbing her wine to take a big sip.
Not good. But Andy didn't know and she couldn't really blame her when she had not told her.
"So, I had something kind of serious to mention, actually..." Kaia started, looking up carefully at the other girl who was dabbing her mouth with a napkin.
"Okay..." Andy trailed off, chewing slowly on her food. "You're not actually married with three kids, are you?"
Kaia contorted her face and shook her head. "No, no. It's not that kind of serious. My publicist just kind of had me pull the old, trusty non-disclosure agreements. You know... in case this goes any further, and in case anything goes, well, south, I— we can't take any risks. Especially since practically no one knows I'm gay."
"Oh, yeah! Sure," Andy replied, her laidback smile returning. "I mean, I promise I wouldn't tell anyone anything either way but, I'll sign your papers if it'll make you feel safer."
Kaia nodded gratefully, offering a little smile. "It's just, I've been burned before by this ex who didn't even just tell her friends. Went straight to a reporter and I was definitely not ready to be out to the world and... yeah. It was a complicated thing. Just, I know you might want to tell your friends or family or something... and I promise if this ends up, you know, being something for the long run, we'll tell anyone you want."
Andy grabbed Kaia's hands in hers and offered her a wide smile. "Hey, I get it. Don't worry! I like you enough to keep you a secret from the world," she winked at Kaia before taking a sip from her drink.
Kaia blushed softly and nodded, moving to go grab the paperwork from her bag where she had left them earlier.
"Thank you for being understanding," Kaia said as she returned to the dining room and passed the sheet of paper over to Andy. "You can take some time to go over them, maybe with a lawyer if you like, before signing. It's just standard things, though. Like, you can't say anything confidential to anyone without me agreeing to it beforehand, and it could definitely be up for negotiations if there's anything specific you want to agree to—"
"Babe, will you relax?" Andy laughed, grabbing the paper from her and furrowing her brows to read it closely in the dimly lit room. "It's pretty straightforward. I'll sign it, okay?"
"Thank you," Kaia sighed, sitting back down next to Andy who had somehow pulled a fountain pen out. "Where did that come from?!"
Andy smirked mysteriously up at Kaia and wiggled her eyebrows. "It's a secret," she said with another wink before writing her name down in big block letters on the paper along with the date and signing her name at the bottom, right next to Kaia's signature.
"Is your signature in Arabic?" Andy asked, her eyebrow raised in surprise while handing the young actress the papers back.
"Mhm, I'm half-Lebanese," she explained, leaving the document under the vase in the corner to remember to send it back to Emma in the morning.
"That's so cool," Andy grinned. "And you speak French. And you're not too shabby in the kitchen. Amazing in bed. Is there anything you can't do?"
Kaia grinned up at Andy, giving her a nonchalant shrug. "I can't really dance."
"Eh, dancing is lame, anyway!"
It didn't take them much time after dinner to move the party over to Kaia's childhood bedroom upstairs. Andy did stop for a second to make fun of her giant poster of yes, you guessed it, Taylor Swift, next to a poster of Joan Jett.
But with a slightly annoyed roll of her eyes, Kaia pushed her against the mattress and made her forget ever wanting to mock her. Yeah... she was that good. Or, at least Andy told her as much later that night.
"Are you staying over?" Kaia asked from her spot under the blankets as Andy reached to grab her underwear and started heading toward the bathroom.
"I can't," she said with a little smile. "I've got a meeting with a client at eight. Don't you have to be on set at like five?"
"Not tomorrow, I don't!" Kaia said with a happy smile. She couldn't wait to sleep in.
"How about this," Andy said, walking back over toward the bed and hovering over Kaia. "I'll come back tomorrow night and we can go out for a movie?"
"Only if we can make out through it when it gets boring," Kaia said with a wide grin.
Andy laughed and pecked her lips before returning to hunting for her clothes. "All right, then we'll go watch that horrible rom-com."
Kaia pouted, hugging her pillow close. Rom-coms were never horrible!
"I hope you're not talking about that Emilia Clarke one," Kaia mumbled, watching as Andy slipped on her shirt.
"That woman who's like a pilot or something?"
"You mean Amelia Earhart? You suck at remembering names! Emilia Clarke's from Game of Thrones," Kaia chuckled dryly, pulling herself up in an upright position. "Also, rom-coms are only the best kind of movies."
Andy turned around with her eyebrows raised but didn't say anything else. Now fully dressed, she walked over to Kaia and pecked her lips. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Kaia murmured, offering a smile before the older girl left.
The following morning, Kaia woke up pretty early, her body used to it, and decided to head to the gym for a workout. She didn't just have defined abs from sheer determination.
She didn't need to get to set until one o'clock, with Will having messed up their whole schedule the previous day. So, after her shower, she bought two salted pretzels and headed to the set Mica was working on for a modelling shoot. She stood behind the metal barricades, watching as the blond snapped pictures of a couple of models in weird jungle animal outfits until he turned around and spotted her.
"Do not let this woman in under any circumstances!" Mica told the security guard who looked uncomfortable glancing between Mica and Kaia's glaring contest. "She's wanted by INTERPOL!"
"You're that lady from Castaways, aren't you?" The guy said with a little look of distaste. It made Kaia feel uneasy.
"Uh-huh, and he's an asshole," Kaia muttered, flipping Mica off.
"Do you not want her in?" he asked Mica who grinned like the shithead that he is and shook his head.
"Let her in, please," he said and the guard reluctantly opened the gates.
"Thanks," Kaia coughed, shoving Mica on her way inside. "I am eating both pretzels."
"No— heeeeeey, I loooooove you!" He said in his most sickeningly sweet voice, batting his lashes at her.
Kaia rolled her eyes at him, fighting off a smile as she handed him the food.
"You seem to be in a better mood today," Mica observed, with a more genuine smile this time, retrieving his camera and leading her toward a bunch of empty chairs while the models were getting their makeup retouched.
"I guess so," Kaia said softly, tearing a piece from her pretzels and biting down on it.
"So, it's going well with this Andy?" He asked while focused on fixing the settings on his camera.
"I think so," Kaia told him. "She's fun!"
Mica was quiet for a second, tapping away on his camera before leaving it on the empty seat next to him and turning to give Kaia his full attention. "But?"
Kaia furrowed her brows and chuckled. "But what?"
"She's fun... but?"
"Nothing really, we're still getting to know each other," Kaia shrugged. "Although she did mock the posters in my bedroom and she hates romcoms."
"Oh, no! Major red flags!" Mica exclaimed sarcastically.
"Who doesn't like romcoms?" Kaia cried out, throwing her arms out to make her point but ending up tossing a piece from her pretzel a few feet away.
Mica snorted, shaking his head at her. "You're right, that is weird. But she's nice, right?"
Kaia nodded, chewing slowly on a bite. "She is."
"Good. There you have it. It might be something good!" Mica smiled, giving her arm a pat.
"Maybe!"
He observed her for a second with an unreadable look before leaning in closer and asking, "tu penses toujours à Taylor?" [You're still thinking about Taylor?]
"Non," Kaia said sternly. "Last night though, we were talking on the phone and well, Andy came over, and— I think it kinda bothered her?"
Mica chuckled, giving Kaia a pointed look. "Yeah, I mean, imagine the girl you're attracted to tells you she can't go out with you only for her to go out with someone else? I'd be bothered too."
Kaia grimaced a little, crumpling up the wrapper in her hand. "I mean, it never would have worked! We're better off as friends, anyway."
"And you're probably right," Mica agreed with her.
"She's coming to London next week I think," Kaia informed him quietly, watching as the rest of the crew on set started readying everything for the rest of the shots.
"Yeah? We should go out for drinks again," Mica suggested with a boyish grin, remembering their last drunk adventures with Taylor and her friends.
"Yeah, I think she'd enjoy that," Kaia chuckled dryly.
"Why do you say that?" Mica asked, getting up and grabbing his camera to go back to work. "You wanna stay and watch for a while?"
"Yeah," Kaia replied, following him back to the main set-up. "Tom invited her, and she's dumping him."
Mica stopped fiddling with his camera, turned, and looked up at Kaia with robot-like movements. "Oh, shit, that's messy."
Kaia couldn't help but laugh and nod in agreement. "Yeah, I know. We'll definitely need to get drunk."
"Yeah, just try not to get in her pants this time," Mica said, looking through his viewfinder and pointing his lens at the models who had now returned. "Can we fix that light on the right? Yeah... perfect, thanks!"
"I hate you," Kaia breathed out a laugh, taking a few steps back to watch him work from behind. "Mum was asking, by the way. Do you want to come to Beirut with us next month?"
Mica looked up in surprise. "On your... uh, family trip?"
Kaia knew he must have felt awkward, understanding how personal that trip was going to be for her and her family.
"Mhm, you know she loves you like her own, third kid. Plus, she says the sun would do you some good," Kaia laughed, flicking his very pale elbow.
"Sun? In September?"
"Yeah, the weather'll still be relatively nice there around then," Kaia nodded, tossing the pretzel wrapper from one hand to the other.
"I mean... I'd love to, but I don't want to be intruding," Mica said softly, avoiding Kaia's eyes by focusing on snapping a few pictures.
"You're family, Mica," Kaia told him softly.
Mica put down his camera for a moment to give her a little smile and nodded. He swallowed visibly, his lips spreading into a wider smile. "Yeah, I'd love to tag along."
"Great! I'll tell dad tonight," Kaia decided, slipping her arm around Mica's waist and squeezing him in an affectionate side hug. He leaned his head against hers for a second before Kaia let him return to his work, watching from a chair a few feet away.
———
posted today to apologise with another post tomorrow<3 seriously i love u guys<333 and seriously... im sorry... 👀 maybe 👀 no i am i am....
👀