Chp 8
"Where the hell are my shoes?" Kat shouted to herself. Gabby came running in, fully clothed.
"Damn, girl, they’re in the living room." Gabby said. Kat rolled her eyes and stormed into the living room, hectically grabbing the shoe box.
"You need to calm down." Gabby remarked. It was an hour before the premiere and Kat wasn’t even dressed. Omar and the limo were set to arrive in half an hour. Besides being unbelievably nervous about the premiere, she had the whole pregnancy thing to talk to Howie about. Kat spun around and gave Gabby a nasty look.
"Calm down? This is like the most important day of my life. I’m so nervous!!" Kat exclaimed loudly. Gabby laughed.
"What are you laughing at?" Kat mumbled.
"I think you'll get used to this. With all the scripts coming in for you, this wont isn't your last premiere. There’s nothing to worry about. You know all the critics love it, especially you!" Gabby laughed. Kat grumbled, knowing that in fact, all the critics were giving the movie rave reviews. But, she cared only about the people that were important to her. Her friends and families reaction were more important then a critics. Kat stormed back into her room. She slammed and locked her door before Gabby could follow. It seemed like only 10 minutes had passed when she heard Omar come in.
"Where’s Kat?" He asked.
"She’s locked in her room" Gabby stated. Omar laughed, and came and knocked on her door.
"C'mon, we'll be late" Omar said through the door.
"One sec." Kat shouted. She put on her earrings, and the heart necklace Howie had given her for her birthday the year before. She looked herself over, and once she was satisfied, she flung open her door.
"Lets go. I want to get this over with." Kat stammered as she walked out of her room.
"Wait." Omar laughed. He went and put his arms around her. "You need to calm down. Have you eaten anything today?" Kat shook her head no.
"I feel like I’m going to hurl. I might eat after this is done." Kat said.
"Ok, well, lets go. We don’t want the star to be late" Omar said, as he massaged her shoulders. Kat went to grab her purse, and said good-bye to Gabby. She let Omar open the limousine door for her. Kat sat down, trying to breathe. Omar sat next to her and put his arm around her. He grabbed a soda out of the bar, and sat back, very relaxed.
"Why aren’t you nervous?" Kat asked looking at him slightly annoyed he was very cool about the whole thing.
"I've done this before. Your first premiere is always the scariest." he responded. He gave her a quick soft kiss. "It'll be cool. You don’t need to stress."
"I’m trying" Kat sighed. She closed her eyes and laid back.
Flashes went off everywhere. The line of press was set up and prepared for the big stars to come.
"Do you think Hype Williams is here yet? Will you introduce me?" Polly Anna whispered to Howie. He shook his head in response. He turned around to see who was behind them. He figured Kat wouldn’t be there for another 10 minutes at least. He found his seat, and left Polly Anna, knowing she could fend for herself. He went and got a drink, and walked back to the lobby, hoping he’d spot Kat. He searched the ocean of people, hoping her purple hair would make her stick out in the crowd. After searching for awhile with no luck, he spotted Kevin. He was standing, his arm around Gabby, talking to Omar. Omar had his arm around a girl with long dark brown hair, which got Howie slightly confused. The girl with the hair turned slightly, allowing Howie to realize it was Kat. He noticed her nervous laughter, and wondered what they were talking about. He watched her for a long time. He could tell she was beyond nervous, because of the constant laughing and fidgeting. Howie finally got up the nerve to go talk to her, and was about 5 feet away when the lights blinked, showing the show was going to start. Kat hugged Kevin, and took Omar's outstretched hand, without even turning in Howie direction. Howie turned around, upset he hadn’t walked over sooner. A hand clamped on his shoulder.
"Don’t look so down. You’ll see her at the party after" Kevin whispered. Howie just looked at him and sighed. They parted ways and went to their seats.
Howie was overwhelmed by the movie. Onscreen, Kat had successfully changed into a completely different person. By the end of the movie, Kat made her character convincingly evil, and was despised. Howie couldn’t believe how great she had been.
Kats' head swam as people surrounded her. They had gone to some producers mansion in Malibu, by the beach. By the time she and Omar had arrived, the party was already in full swing. Kat looked around for Howie, knowing she had to talk to him. She knew he’d been invited to this party, and that he would come. Kat had noticed him in the lobby at the premiere. He had been scanning the crowd. She was glad she'd decided to dye her hair dark brown and get extensions, because his gaze passed right by her 3 times. She enjoyed having time to look at him, because he looked amazing. His hair was pulled back loosely into a ponytail, the curl of his hair left evident. He was wearing a pair of fitted black pants, a black dress shirt, and a silver tie. She had been enjoying the stare she had on him when Kevin practically gouged her shoulder, trying to get her attention.
An arm going around her shoulders brought her back to the present.
"I'll be right back. Do you want something to drink?" Omar whispered in her ear. Kat started to say champagne, but thought of the baby that was growing inside of her.
"Um, water please" she whispered back. He went off as another group of people flocked around her. Omar returned 5 minutes later, and handed Kat her water. She gulped it, realizing she felt dizzy.
"Omar, I'm going to step outside for a second. I'm feeling a little ill" Kat said to him.
"You want me to come?" he asked.
"No, I'll be ok" with that, she walked briskly away from the crowd.
Kat saw a door down the hallway that looked like it might lead outside. She opened it and held her breath. The door opened onto an exquisite balcony. The balcony had a breath taking view. The moon hung lazily over the ocean, its light reflecting onto the crashing waves. Millions of tiny stars filled the sky. The sand looked untouched, and like it was begging for someone to run their feet through the soft white grain. She took off her shoes, and walked towards the beach.
Howie followed her with his eyes. She was breathtaking. She was wearing a short black empire waist dress with funky purple and silver embroidered flowers. The moonlight was glistening off her now long hair. He had seen Kat leave the ballroom, and walk outside to the balcony. Now she was at the waters edge. He saw her dip her toes delicately into the water, and he could almost see the smile she had when the cool water rushed over her toes. Almost at the same instant, Howie got a mental signal that something was going wrong. He looked at Kat, saw she was ok, then ran inside to see if the feeling was coming from inside the house.
Kat looked at the sky. She had always loved the ocean, especially at night. She thought about her baby, and hoped they would like the ocean as much as she did. She was so deep in thought, she didn’t see the figure come towards her until there was a slight crunch under their feet. She spun around. Her eyes widened with horror and disbelief as she saw the person standing not 10 feet away from her.
"Hi Kat, Miss me?" Jose said calmly. Kat gasped and backed up a little.
"Aren’t you happy to see me?" he asked, laughing slightly. He walked closer to her.
"What are you doing out here alone? I thought SuperHowie would be out here with you. I know how you love romantic late night beach scenes." Jose narrowed his eyes. Kat was speechless, no words could form. She saw so much hate in his eyes.
"Oh, that’s right. He was fucking around" Jose started to laugh. Tears started to roll down Kats cheeks.
"See, if you were worth anything, people wouldn’t fuck around on you. And, now I am going to make you pay for sending the cops after me." Jose laughed. He stepped towards her. Kat screamed as Jose raised his arm.
Howie frantically looked for his friends. He found Kevin on the dance floor with Gabby.
"Yo, Kev" Howie tapped Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin spun around to look at him.
"Yeah?"
"Everything ok?" Howie asked. He looked around, and realized everything was fine, but the feeling still remained.
"Yeah man"
"Oh, no" Howie mumbled. He turned around and went straight back to the balcony. He went out and realized Kat wasn’t there. He looked around, frantically searching. He then heard a muffled scream coming from down the beach. His mind raced as he ran down the beach, in search of the scream. He stopped when he was a person kicking, punching, and yelling at something on the ground. Howie couldn’t figure out what was going on. Then the moon shone off an object. He recognized the illuminated mass as the necklace he’d given Kat. She was lying on the ground, the person beating her. Howie picked up a piece of driftwood off the beach. He crept up slowly, then realized it was Jose. He felt all the anger he had repressed break open. He charged Jose with all of his might. Jose turned around just in time to be met by the driftwood contacting with his head. Jose fell to the ground.
"You little fuck" Jose growled. He grabbed Howie’s legs, and caused Howie to fall into the sand. Jose came over top of him.
"So, you want me to fuck up your pretty boy face" Jose asked. He started hitting Howie. Howie struggled with the bigger man. He then heard Kat whimper in pain. Howie drew all of his power together and pushed Jose off of him. Jose lay there in the sand, stunned he had been thrown. Howie picked up the broken piece of wood, and started to repeatedly bash Jose's skull with it. Howie stopped only after there was a sufficient amount of blood gushing from Joses head. Howie crawled over to Kats lifeless figure. He leaned over her and heard only short struggled breath. He looked at her already swollen and bloody face, and felt himself start to break down.
"Sweetie...wake up" Howie said softly. He picked up her head, trying to get a response. She lay limp. He slowly lifted her, hoping he wasn't causing any greater damage. He carried her to the balcony, crying. He was met by Kevin.
"What happened?" Kevin asked. His mouth fell open when he saw the blood.
"Call an ambulance." Howie shouted frantically. He lay her down on the balcony, and kissed her forehead softly. Kevin turned back into the house. Howie sat there, cradling Kat in his arms until the ambulance arrived.
Chp 9
Chp 7
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