Sequins and Shots - Book Three of the Café Latte Trilogy

Part Three: Chapter 5

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy Chapter 5. Getting closer to the end of Part Three!

Love, Cam

♡

Part Three

Chapter Five

Edward

To say I was pissed with Harper after the hospital would be the biggest understatement of this century. I was livid. I was furious. I was bubbling away with so much rage and vitriol that I barely lasted three days before snapping at Mark during a rehearsal.

"Alright, take five," Mark said, reaching over and pausing the song we were dancing to. "Ed. Man. What the hell?"

I cringed. "Sorry. I just... I'm wound up."

"Yeah, man, I'm picking up on that very subtle vibe," he told me dryly. "What's up? Why are you being a dick? Is Harper okay?"

"Harper's as fine as he can be given a recent bout of pneumonia," I muttered grumpily. That, at least, was accurate; Harper was on the sofa at his home watching reality TV shows and eating whatever extra-healthy dinner Lucie had made him, along with his two courses of antibiotics and new HIV meds.

"Okay, so what gives?" Mark pressed, sitting down and examining one of his shoes; the heel had recently been repaired and he wasn't 100% sure it would hold.

"I'm just..." I took a deep breath. "I'm stressed."

As soon as I said it, it felt really obvious. I was stressed out.

"It's just..." I blurted out, unable to stop now I'd opened this particular door. "Seeing him like that, and then the whole Jasper and Tom getting beaten up thing, and work is great but it is a bit overwhelming to finally be getting somewhere with drag, and then therapy is good but it's not exactly easy to do-"

"Sounds like you need a break from something," Mark interjected, glancing up in alarm. "Look, you've been through major drama recently. Your body is probably in fight-or-flight mode at the moment, and might be for a while. You need to engage in low-stress things to try and keep you calm."

I grimaced. "I don't know if I can get away from all of this, though."

"Well, the Jasper and Tom situation is mostly sorted, right?" Mark asked. "Like, I'm sure it'll follow them around for a bit, but you said they've talked to the main bully guy recently and that they're on tentative but okay ground. And Jasper's had stressful times with his family-"

I snorted; that was a bit of an understatement. Jasper had been ceremoniously told to either dump Ross, or get out of the house, and he'd chosen to get out of the house. It was a hideously familiar situation to me.

"Yeah, well, he's at least somewhere more stable," Mark nudged me, and then smirked. "Who'd have thought we would ever call Ross Stone's flat a stable place?"

I grinned at that. "Low-hanging fruit, my friend."

"Maybe you need to take a few weeks off therapy," Mark suggested. "I know it's good for you long-term, but right now you've got a lot going on, it's hard to go around digging up your feelings when you're already struggling."

It was a testament to Helena's skill as a therapist that I genuinely recoiled at the thought of giving up therapy all of a sudden.

"God, look at you, you look like I told you to stop having the fruity cocktails," Mark laughed, and got to his feet. "Look, something's gotta give at some point, baby. You can't pour from an empty jug."