"I really think I should be with you for this, Tori."
"I'll be okay, Ms. West! It's just an interview; I've done two already, remember?"
"Both of those interviews were with Piper, and—with all due respect to her—she's small potatoes compared to Miami Music Weekly! They're a major music news outlet here, at least according to Mason!"
"That...definitely sounds bigger than Piper's blog."
"That's because it is! Remember, you're not just representing yourself in that interview; you're a part of Neutronium Records! That's why I should be there with you; in case you get blindsided with questions you don't know how to answer!"
"...Yeah, you're right. Do you want to pick me up, then?"
"Sure. I'll come by the apartment with Tara, and she can go to the theater with Jade while I take you to the interview. Where and when is it again?"
"Uh...the Corner Café at 10:30 AM. That okay with you?"
"Perfect. I'll see you soon, Tori."
"Thanks, Ms. West. I'll see you soon."
After hanging up her phone, Tori finished getting dressed and entered the living room to the sight of Jade setting two mugs of coffee on the dining table.
"Morning," Jade greeted her, half-heartedly smiling, "I made breakfast...or at least I hope I did." She looked down at the plates of slightly burnt eggs, toast, and bacon. "Would you believe that I actually googled how to fry an egg...and almost burned it while doing so?"
The nervous look on Jade's face was enough for Tori to laugh herself out of her nervous fit and pull her girlfriend in for a hug, "It's alright, Jade! I appreciate you trying, at least; but for future reference, I'm also a big fan of milk and cereal."
Jade briefly pouted, a sight Tori was not used to seeing, and returned the hug with a quick peck on the lips, "I'll keep that in mind, babe. At least the pizza and tuna rolls we made weren't too bad!" She took another pitiful look at her cooking and bit her lip, "Maybe Tara will eat it; I'm almost certain her stomach is a black hole or something." Her quip was met with a light slap on the shoulder by Tori before they each took a mug of coffee to drink...and then subsequently spit and dump out over the sink.
"Well, now I'm really glad my interview's at a café...no offense," Tori coughed, placing a reassuring hand on Jade's shoulder.
"No, please...offend away," Jade sighed, "A drive-thru breakfast would be better than this. I hope this doesn't jinx the interview, babe."
"I'm...sure it'll be fine," Tori shook her head, pouring herself a glass of water from the fridge. "Your mom insisted on coming, though, in case they ask some...off-sounding questions."
"Yeah, about that, actually," Jade poured a glass for herself and leaned against the counter, "In both of Piper's articles, you mentioned me, but not...me. As in, you never actually said my name; just that I'm your girlfriend, but as far as the general public knows, I'm your girlfriend from the karaoke video...even if I don't quite look like that anymore; with the hair color and the lack of piercings on me now."
"Oh, yeah..." Tori took a long sip before setting the glass on the counter, "I wasn't sure if you wanted me to or not; you know, privacy and all that? And maybe it would be tough for you to make a name for yourself when the public knows you more as 'Tori Vega's girlfriend' than 'Jade West', you know?"
"That's...actually very considerate of you," Jade frowned, setting her glass next to Tori's. "But you don't need to worry about me like that, Tori. It's my name, and I'm proud to be known as your girlfriend; we talked about this, remember?"
"We did," Tori crossed her arms, looking up as she remembered their prior heart-to-heart on this matter, "But that was more about being out as a les...as queer, I guess...and I'm okay with that now."
Jade raised an eyebrow to Tori's hesitance, but decided not to pursue; opting instead to wrap her arms around her shoulders and flash her a smile, "Well, then you'll be 'okay' telling that magazine that you, Victoria Cassandra Vega, are in a very happy relationship with your fellow Hollywood Arts grad and girl of your dreams, Jadelyn Elizabeth West~"
Tori would have accepted Jade's romantic gesture if she wasn't distracted by her last remark, "'Girl of my dreams', you say? And wait, your first name is Jadelyn?"
"Okay, you can leave those parts out," Jade chuckled, "Will you just kiss me so I can stop saying all this sappy chiz already?"
Tori chuckled back, obliging Jade's request with a sweet kiss and her hands around her waist. As they connected, the recent nerves and bad breakfast taste faded away for several seconds until the sound of someone's throat clearing cut through the romantic atmosphere. The couple broke away and turned toward the sound, seeing Tara standing behind the front door with an awkward expression that suggested she walked in on their kiss.
"Uh...good morning," she half-waved to them, "Nora's waiting in the car for you, Tori. She also said you'd give me a ride to the theater today, Jade?" The three of them stood still for a long while before Tara continued, "I was interrupting one of those moments, wasn't I?"
Tori slid into the passenger seat of the company coupe, buckled her seat belt, and turned to greet Nora at the driver's seat with what she thought was a smile. Nora did not recognize the face she made as a smile.
"Why do you look like...okay, on second thought, I don't want to know," Nora shook her head and shifted the gear on the car, "Are you ready for your interview?"
"Yeah, yeah, definitely!" Tori nodded excessively, her hands pressed against her lap and balled into tiny fists.
"Yeah...sure," Nora took a quick glance at Tori's nervous state and knew immediately that she was not ready, "It's a good thing I picked you up an hour before. What's got you so worried?"
Tori sighed, "Well, Jade and I were talking about the interview and how you said they might ask some 'dodgy' questions to throw me off guard. We started to think that those questions might be about my relationship with her, being a publicly queer artist, or...you know, stuff I don't really know how to answer just yet."
Nora took a moment to process all that Tori rambled and cleared her throat before answering, "Okay...that's actually not at all what I thought they might ask. I was thinking more like insider questions about Neutronium or anything about the company that Mason might not like you answering so casually, but for all I know, you could be right; maybe they'll go for a more personal angle, too. What are you worried about most with that, though?"
"I dunno," Tori frowned, looking out to the coastline from the window as she answered, "I'm still getting used to being a professional singer, but I'm worried about people only seeing me for my sexuality and not my music when they read the article. It's making me wish I hadn't said anything about it in Piper's article before..."
As they came to a smooth stop in front of a red light, Nora looked again at Tori staring down at her lap again and sighed, "Tori, as much as you're dwelling on it, you can't change what you've already said. If you really want to take back the article, then you may as well take back doing the showcase and all the work you did on your cover album, and then what do you have to show for all the weeks you've been here?" When Nora stopped, she noticed from Tori's eyes widening and starting to water that she might have used too much of her 'mom tone'.
"Listen, coming out wasn't all you talked about in those articles, right? You talked about all your hard work in school that prepared you for this; to be a professional singer and to inspire others with your music, like those two girls who came to your showcase. If you ask me, that's what you should emphasize in this interview." Nora took a short breath before continuing, hoping Tori was still listening.
"If you're still worried about how your coming out...just know that I probably wouldn't be here—mending things with Jade, seeing Piper again, and looking after Tara—if it wasn't for you, Tori. I have you to thank for all of that." Nora quickly ran a hand over her eyes while the light was still red as she focused on the road again; not noticing Tori looking back at her with a more hopeful smile on her face.
Upon arriving at the Corner Café, Tori quickly noticed a brunette woman about Nora's age raising her arm toward them and made straight for her booth. The woman smiled as Tori slid into the seat across from her, but frowned as Nora slid in after her.
"Good morning, Tori—may I call you 'Tori'?" the woman greeted, to which Tori nodded to her question, "I'm Elaine Thomas with Miami Music Weekly. We 'met' over email for the last few days, but it's nice to meet you in person!" She extended her hand to Tori, her eyes fixed forward, as if to pretend Nora wasn't there.
Tori shook her hand promptly and sat back in her seat, already feeling comfortable with the calm greeting, "It's nice to meet you too, Ms. Thomas!"
"Call me Elaine, please! So, have you already eaten? I'd be happy to order whatever you'd like! The magazine's paying, anyway!"
Nora scoffed, crossing her arms, "Starting off with bribery! Wanna fatten her up before you blindside her?" She glanced aside at Tori blushing over one of her choice words and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "No offense, dear."
Elaine's smile twitched on the corner of her mouth before turning toward Nora, "Nora West; here at Neutronium's request, I assume? Don't you think Tori's a little too old to have a chaperone? N-No offense, of course!"
Nora was about to object when she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. Fishing it out of her pocket, she saw Piper's name and picture across the screen. She made a sour face and slid out of her seat to answer the call.
"Piper, I'm a little busy—what? Yeah, she's...are you serious?! Ugh! Fine!" Nora stowed her phone away with an irritated groan and scooped her purse up from her seat. She uttered through gritted teeth, "Good luck, Tori," before marching out of sight, leaving Tori confused and alone with Elaine.
"What was that about?" Tori settled back down in her seat, shaking her head.
"Oh, I guess she had a personal emergency," Elaine simply shrugged as she handed a menu to Tori, "So, breakfast?"
Tori grabbed the menu, putting on her best nervous smile before retreating behind the pictures of coffee and baked goods.
A few minutes of fresh coffee and breakfast muffins later, Tori was no less anxious than the moment Nora left her alone, and Elaine was fully aware of it. Taking a deep breath after a quick sip of her cup, she broke the silence, "Look, I get it, Tori. This is your first interview without training wheels, but don't worry. I'm not here to 'blindside' you with questions about your record label or anything Ms. Legal over there might be worried about. I'm here for you, and only you, okay?"
A shy smile slowly formed on Tori's face as she nodded, taking a calmer sip from her coffee cup, "Um...thanks, I think. I mean, those weren't really the questions I was worried about."
"And what would those be?" Elaine cocked her head curiously, "If you don't mind me asking, of course."
"Well, when you said 'me, and only me'...I assume you're still going to ask me about my relationship...or about me being queer?" Tori sighed with slight relief for getting the words out.
"I'll admit those did come up when my bosses assigned me to interview you," Elaine admitted, making Tori cringe back in her seat, "But we don't have to talk about that if you're not up to it. But, in my professional opinion, if you don't say anything about it, people might just make their own conclusions..."
Hearing that made Tori bite her lip, as if she knew as such already. With another sigh, she sat up straighter and clasped her hands over the table, "Alright. As Pat Benatar said, hit me with your best shot." She met Elaine's determined smile and braced herself for the first of many questions.
An hour later, Tori found Nora standing in front of her car, giving an awkward wave to her as they slid into their respective seats.
"What was that call about, Ms. West?" Tori asked as soon as they were settled in the car. "It seemed...inconveniently timed."
Nora pinched the bridge of her nose before explaining, "It's...complicated, but the short version is that Elaine over there is a...colleague of Piper's, and Piper was leveraged into getting me out of the way so there wouldn't be any interruptions during your interview. I really should have expected this. I'm sorry, Tori!"
"No, don't be," Tori shook her head, smiling, "The interview actually went pretty well. She made me feel comfortable, and the questions didn't feel so awkward after all!"
"Really? Well...that's good, then! I'm glad it worked out!" Nora gulped as she backed the car out of the parking lot, "For you, at least. Piper and I, on the other hand, are gonna have a few words about this..."
Nora dropped Tori off at her apartment, where they noticed the red SUV parked in its usual spot. Upon opening the front door and stepping inside, they saw Jade alone on the couch, quickly slipping something behind her.
"Jade?" Tori called over to her, placing her bag and keys on the dining table. "Everything alright? You're home from work early!"
"Y-Yeah, everything's fine..." Jade shrugged, not-so-subtly shifting whatever was behind her beneath the couch's cushions.
"Where's Tara?" Nora narrowed her eyes toward her, "Is she still at the theater?"
"Um...no," Jade glanced in every direction except toward Nora, which even Tori knew meant something was amiss.
"Then where is she?" they both asked with genuine concern, to which Jade sighed and looked straight at them before explaining...