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“You’ve ruined everything.”
She looked like she was about to cry. Her cheek was already turning pink, her eyes crinkling at the corners. She gripped her bag, her hands trembling. It felt like the first real thing I’d seen from her in a long time.
“No, Bun, no one would’ve had a clue if you hadn’t milked the whole thing for attention. If you’d kept your mouth shut, you could have worked this out between yourselves cleanly and in a way that made you both look good. Instead, you’ve chosen to lie down in the dirt and let the circling vultures come and pick you clean, all for a spotlight role. For what? Two weeks at most?”
She stared at me wide-eyed. Bunny liked to surround herself with people pleasers. She hated being told no and hated it even more when people went against her. She thought it was fun to tell stories at Mum’s monthly brunch of the people she’d crushed.
“Max is the one you are engaged to.” I glared down at her, frustrated that I needed to remind her of this. “Max is the one who cheated on you. I’m part of it, yeah, but you’ve laid all the blame on me. Are you seriously pissed off with me when he is the one who has been trailing after me this entire time?”
I had to remember she was only twenty-two. Even though everyone treated her like an adult, she was still a kid. People put so many expectations on her shoulders, despite the fact she kept telling people all she wanted to do was have fun and look pretty.
“No, it’s not that.”
She’d lost some of her dramatic flair now we were alone. This was the girl I bought Christmas presents for every year and celebrated birthdays with. I was there for her first period and her first breakup. I’d been on the edge of her life for years. Obviously, I wasn’t important enough to stop her from doing something like this, even though I betrayed her first.
“It’s just...” Her jaw tightened, her perfectly styled eyebrows drawing together. “He was mine! We were going to get married and star in the same movies together and go on tour and do adverts together. We were going to be the biggest brand-name couple in the world!”
I stared at her, blinking, trying to comprehend what kind of world she was living in. I didn’t quite understand. All this just because she had her toy taken away from her.
“He’s a human being, Bun. He’s not a doll for you to dress up and use to get more likes on your posts.”
“We had a deal.” Her voice had lowered. She looked more outraged than upset. “He was meant to stay with me for two years before he left me. Not two months.”
She opened her mouth to continue, but I cut her off. All I did was listen to her talk. Every time I was with her, she went on and on without ever thinking about anyone else. It was my turn now.
“Bunny, seriously.” I glared down at her. This didn’t feel worth my time. “Back the fuck off. You’ve already crossed the line. If you push this any further, and get on Mum’s bad side, what do you think is going to happen? All those luncheons, parties, galas... Do you really think you’ll still be part of all that if you try to take me down?” I hated playing the Fischer card, but it was necessary. I might not be big game like Mum, Dad, or Jazz, but I was still part of the family, one of the key families in society. Family came first, every time. “And you know what? You can have him. He’s a dirty, lying little bitch, and I can’t be bothered with either of you.”
I was getting annoyed, but it was over Max, not Bun. After everything, all those times he whispered he loved me, the way he drank me in with his eyes, how he’d followed me again and again, trying to pull me into his orbit. And for what?
I sighed, releasing some of my tension, trying to be kinder. “We’re both intelligent women and we’re fighting over him like he’s a piece of meat. He has a brain, he made choices here too. If he’s going to play us both, we’re better off without him.”
She didn’t deserve my anger. She was trying to find a place for herself in all this. Maybe I was wrong, and she really loved Max.
Though, from the way her hand was sneaking under Damien’s belt, I doubted it.
I reached out and held her shoulder. “Bunny, you know you’re a smart woman. You can make something of yourself, but you’ve got to keep your shit together. Have some respect for yourself. You can’t keep pulling stunts like this and expect people to take you seriously. At some point, you’ll have to choose. Do you want to be a B-list celebrity whose main fanbase comes from social media, or do you actually want to be proud of what you’ve achieved?” She needed to stop the dramatics. She wasn’t a teenager anymore. There was only so much she could do before people tired of her. I leant back. “You have the skills, but you need to aim higher. It’s not just shampoo commercials and designer dresses. What do you actually want out of life? Because shit like that,” I pointed back towards the main entrance, “it’s not getting you anywhere.”
She still clasped her cheek, but she’d been subdued. She was thinking, hopefully taking in what I’d just said.
I straightened my back like Mum would. “I’m going to walk away now. I do not want you to follow me, do you understand? If you follow me, I will do everything I can to crush you.”
I was deadly serious. I didn’t care how close she, Mum, and Jazz were. Mum had practically adopted Bun when her mum died, but I wouldn’t let it stop me. It certainly hadn’t stopped her. If she wanted to challenge me, I was up for a fight. I could bring out the big guns if I needed to.
I gave her five seconds to argue before I turned and left her alone to soak it all in.
I opened up my phone, hit Harry’s private number, and waited. He answered after three rings, the sounds of the A&E ward muffled behind him. “I’m really busy, Cat. This better be an actual emergency.”
“Is that job offer still open?” I asked as I strode through the front doors, towards the waiting cameras.
I felt like a snake, preparing to coil itself around its prey and squeeze. I didn’t need to have a target or exact my revenge. I just needed to keep my head high, keep the sultry smile on my lips, and keep moving forward. If Max saw any pictures of me from those rats, they would be of me looking drop-dead-bounce-a-penny-off-my-tits-and-ass gorgeous, just so he knew how much I wanted him to go fuck himself.
Max
We’d already been here for seven hours. Camera checks, mic checks, sound checks, lights, feedback, costumes, makeup, positions, routines, backup singers, every single bloody song and every single note had to be checked, and all of it with Bunny fucking Collins giving her opinion on the smallest detail. It was the opening night of Clutch’s world tour, and everything had to be perfect — for her. Bunny was only playing with us for three nights, but God forbid she should let other people, people whose job descriptions were literally ‘sound technician’ and ‘stage manager,’ tell her what to do.
It was fucking agonising. Steve was ready to blow, Luc had shut down, and Bevel had stuck his head out the back curtain to smoke and let the rain drown him, so he didn’t have to listen to Bunny shriek at another stagehand. She was a nightmare.
Her fans had bought tickets for these nights, and she wanted to impress them. This was her big onstage debut, but she was only singing three songs with us and then appearing ninety minutes later for the ‘surprise’ encore.
