REPRESENTED (22 page)

             
She dialed another number. “Hello?” a gruff voice answered.

             
“Daddy? It’s Cassie” she said relieved to hear his comforting voice.

             
“Cassie baby, how are you?  Are you on the road?” he asked pleased to hear from his little girl.

             
“Daddy, I think I’m in trouble.  Real trouble” she sobbed into the phone.

             
“What’s wrong baby, what can I do to help?” he asked concerned.

             
“I don’t know daddy.  I think my career is over and I’m not sure where to turn.”

             
“Well, that’s what Travis and them boys are there for.  They’ll look out for you honey.”

             
“That’s just it Daddy, I think Travis has given up on me.  This last tour was a failure” she exaggerated but then she was feeling despondent “and I think he’s doing something with my money.  I don’t know what to do Daddy.”

             
“You want me to come over to Nashville and talk with that boy?” his Kansas twang was never more evident than at that moment when his baby girl was threatened.

             
She smiled at his protective instincts “No Daddy, I don’t think that would help.  I guess I just needed your shoulder to cry on.”  She sighed.  She was an adult and over forty, she should be able to handle this on her own.  She had just needed to hear his voice and know he was on her side.

             
“You can come home any time baby girl.  You know that” he said with a distinct crack in his voice.

             
“I know that Daddy.  How’s Wally?” she asked to change the subject.

             
“Now you don’t worry about your brother, he’s doing fine, mighty fine.  Those kids of his keep him busy.  It’s you I’m worried about honey, you tell me what is wrong now ya’hear?”

             
Cassie told him her suspicions or rather Chet and Alex’s.  She told him what her reports and financials told her.  She also told him her gut feelings.

             
“You trust those gut feelings darling, they will never lie to you.  What about that New York gal you told me you were seein’.  Can’t she help ya?”

             
“I tried reaching her today but her phone is off or something.  She must be on a plane going somewhere.”

             
“Must be hard to date if you’re both all over the country going somewheres” he said astutely.

             
She grinned wryly.  Trust her daddy to hit the nail on the head “yeah Daddy, it can be very hard” she thought about the last weekend they were together and the surprise that Karin had for her “but she loves me and I love her” she said quietly.

             
“She loves you eh?” he said pleased for her.

             
She smiled “Yes Daddy, she loves me, she told me so.”

             
“Well that’s good ain’t it?”

             
She nodded; thinking about Karin always made her feel good.  That was why she was the first person she wanted to talk to about this.  Not only her expertise but her own innate goodness could help.  She’d calm her down.  She’d have wise words of wisdom, or at least Cassie always thought so.  “She’s terrific Daddy, you’re going to like her when you meet her.”

             
“And when is that darling?”

             
Cassie shrugged.  With their schedules it was going to be hard but someday they would manage it.  “I don’t know, we’ve only been going out for a few months.”  She started thinking about the timing of it all and realized how short they really had been together; it seemed like much longer since they spoke so much on the phone.  She spoke to her dad for about an hour on the phone and felt much better after she got off.  His simple plain-spokeness always comforted her.  While he hadn’t been thrilled when she came out it had taken a while for him to understand it and realize it wasn’t his fault he had come to understand and loved her all the same.  She needed that support at a time in her life that was increasingly difficult.

              “Are you okay?” the voice came over the phone lines concerned and tinged with anger almost.

             
“Karin” she breathed relieved to hear the voice she had wanted to hear all day.  “Thank God.”

             
“What’s wrong?” she barked out.

             
“All hell is breaking loose here, I think I’m in danger of losing my house, my career is over” she broke down in sobs and couldn’t continue.  The stress was getting to her.

             
“Hey baby, what happened?” Karin softened her voice to comfort.

             
“I think Travis is sabotaging my career and might be stealing from me as well, I don’t know but Chet and Alex brought some of their suspicions to me and I’ve been going through my reports and paperwork and I just don’t know” she sobbed.

             
Karin was torn.  She wanted to help Cassie but she also didn’t want to get involved in her business.  It wasn’t her concern.  She realized though that she had the contacts, she had the skills, and she could do a lot for her.  She didn’t want to though!  She had gotten out of the entertainment business.  It was too full of pitfalls and spoiled people who made their own hells on earth.  It was people like Karin who were left cleaning up the messes that they made.  She didn’t like it.  It was why she stuck to literary and other public figures to make their careers.  She was good at it and everyone knew that.  She didn’t need these headaches.  “Shh, baby, tell me what you found, shhh.”

             
Karin soon realized that most of it was speculation, suspicions, and paranoia on Cassie’s part.  She couldn’t word it like that though.  The diplomat in her just wouldn’t allow it.  She also loved this woman and she was genuinely upset.  She wanted to comfort her.  Looking at her watch and around the house she was in she wondered if she could catch a flight to Nashville to help.  She realized at that moment that she had trapped herself.  If she didn’t say no soon she would be drawn in regardless of her feelings on the issue.  She could help in limited ways though so that Cassie wasn’t this upset.  “Baby, I’ll be on the next flight down.  I have some calls to make.  I’ll let you know when to pick me up” she said firmly and Cassie felt the first glimmer of hope in an increasingly bad situation.

             
Karin looked around her house.  She had come home for the weekend after an intense week at work after the weekend in Tallahassee.  These trips to Milwaukee were becoming harder and harder.  She wondered why she bothered except she did have two cats, three fish tanks, and all her stuff here.  It wasn’t all hers either as she had seen that both boys still had plenty in each of their bedrooms.  She watered her plants as she called the airlines for a flight.  She was fortunate, a commuter flight on a smaller plane left in an hour from Milwaukee to Nashville.  She was genuinely surprised that there was a direct flight but apparently Nashville was a hub to other destinations large and small.  She called a taxi next.  By the time the taxi arrived she had locked up the house, all her plants were watered, the automatic feeders on the fish tanks and the cat dishes were full and she was ready to go, she hadn’t had the chance to even unpack the bag that she had brought.  She texted Cassie with her flight information before turning off her smart phone and boarding the plane.

             
She had been to Nashville before once or twice for clients but she hadn’t been back in years.  It hadn’t changed she saw as she arrived.  Carrying her bag and with her familiar briefcase over her shoulder she didn’t look any different than when she had seen Cassie the previous week except she was fully recovered from her food poisoning.  She did look a little tired, two flights in a day were always a little much but she had worried about what she could do for Cassie the whole flight from Milwaukee.  She had started a list of people she could contact while she was down there.  She also worried if things were as dire as Cassie had said.  Her whole face lit up though as she saw Cassie waiting by the luggage carousel.

             
“Hey baby” she whispered as she hugged her close and refused to allow her to kiss her on the mouth in public.  She settled for one on the cheek.

             
“God you don’t know what a sight for sore eyes you are” Cassie breathed as she held her close.

             
“I hope I can help” Karin told her as she pulled back to look at her.  Cassie looked devastated, almost as though someone had died.  Karin hoped this wasn’t the case.

             
“Is this all you brought?” Cassie asked as she saw the small case Karin was carrying and her briefcase.

             
Karin nodded “I was only planning on being in Milwaukee for the weekend” she told her.

             
Cassie nodded.  It made sense now why she couldn’t reach her when she was panicking.  She felt a little foolish now but knowing what was on her desk at home maybe not.

             
They talked as Cassie led her to her Trans Am.  Karin raised an eyebrow at the sports car.  It seemed a little cliché to her but who was she to judge.  She had known from their conversations that Cassie drove one, the reality though made her want to laugh.  As they drove from the airport and Cassie talked Karin just sat and listened.  She could still hear the panic in Cassie’s voice that had come through on the phone.  It was late and she was tired, she didn’t want to deal with this tonight but then that was her forte, working at all hours for her clients.  Cassie though wasn’t a client; she was her lover, her girlfriend.  She wasn’t sure what she could do for her and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do for her.  All she knew was she could try.

             
Cassie pulled into a modest little house that surprised Karin.  It was so simple.  Built shotgun style you entered either from the garage or the front door into a living room that was totally country in decor.  The kitchen was kind of small and the bedrooms as well but Karin was used to a lot different.  This was simple, it was country, it really didn’t seem to suit Cassie though as she was shown around.  Karin could sense Cassie’s pride though in the first house that she owned herself and didn’t let on that she wasn’t impressed.  Someone of Cassie Summers’s stature though deserved a lot more than she was seeing.  Where had all her money gone?  Karin refused to even look at the paperwork that night.  She was tired, she had been on planes all day, and she hadn’t eaten.  She needed to relax and refuel.  Cassie whipped up some eggs, toast, and bacon and they ate this with some nice beer.  Karin almost gagged on the beer but managed to not convey her disgust over it.  When she drank beer she drank Corona, it appealed to her pallet.  Most of the time she either drank mixed drinks or red wine.  She wouldn’t let on to the upset Cassie though, she was trying, she was upset, and another time it would be different.  She was here for Cassie, not to compare their differences.  She loved this woman, bad beer and all.

             
They made love that night but it wasn’t as good as it had been.  Cassie was too upset and Karin too tired.  They both realized it couldn’t be the passionate encounters they had in Phoenix and Tallahassee all the time.

             
“I guess the honeymoon is over?” Cassie lamented afterwards.

             
Karin laughed at her “I’m tired, you’re upset, what did you expect?”

             
“I don’t know.  You’re right, you’re always right” she said sadly.

             
“Relax, let’s get some sleep.  We’re together, let’s be happy about that however unexpected it is” she said wisely.

             
Cassie snuggled into the protective arms of the woman she loved.

              Cassie woke to an empty bed.  There was no sign of Karin and she got up pulling her robe on as she looked for her.  She found her in her office or the extra bedroom she called an office reading through her papers she had left on the desk.  She looked totally different from the sophisticated woman she always knew.  No makeup, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and dressed in pajamas.  She looked astoundingly different.  Still a striking woman, she was all business with her glasses on the end of her nose as she dug into what she had found.

             
“Well, how’s it going?” Cassie asked fearfully.

             
Karin glanced up “I think you’re in trouble my friend” she said succinctly and then sighed.  She hadn’t meant to panic Cassie further after yesterday.  She knew yesterday had been hard on her.  She didn’t need to make it worse.  “It’s not so bad though that we can’t get some people in here to fix it.”

             
Cassie relaxed.  She knew Karin would know what to do.  She breathed a sigh of relief.  “You’re my hero” she said smiling.

             
Karin smiled at her over her glasses.  “Would you mind finding us something to eat?” she asked.