sweet like cherry wine

There was never a time in Alison’s life that she didn’t know that music was what she wanted to do. She could remember running around, forcing her brother and his friends to listen to her songs – which back then weren’t all that good. She really had come far since then, but music had always made her feel better. Today, it didn’t seem to be doing the trick the way she had wanted it too. “Thank you.” Alison said. Alison wasn’t sure where she wanted the song to go, but she just wanted to get some of the pent up emotions out. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Sky. I’m Alison, you can call me Ali though.” Alison knew most people knew her name but she wasn’t over introducing herself.

“Of course,” The star said, wondering what the question would be. She was a bit taken off guard by the question Sky asked, but to her that confirmed the suspicion she had about the relationship between her and Sky. Truthfully, she knew well that she wasn’t really supposed to talk about it, even now though it had been years since her own PR stunt. “No, don’t worry about it. I have before, yes.” The blonde admitted, “Is that – you and Mat Berinut?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at the other. Even if it was, she knew the other couldn’t talk about it, but she was the one who had brought it up. “Oh, thank you. They are the sweetest little things.”

Sky looked down at the piano and chuckled to herself because she knew exactly who she was. It was still sweet that she bothered to introduced herself formally though. “Nice to officially meet you too.” She gave her a warm smile.  At Alison’s next words, she stiffened up and actually regretted saying anything in the first place. Surely it would be okay if another famous person found out about this, right? She was in the business, In the loop. And she even said herself that she had been in a PR relationship before. “No. It’s not. I’m sorry I asked.” Sky started playing the same chords on the piano in an attempted to change the subject. “Is that a new song? Those lyrics are gorgeous. What else do you have for it?” She asked curiously. When would she ever be able to pick Ali Haynes’ brain about a song again? 

For a second, Tommy actually wondered if they were going to have this conversation like that; screaming over each other to try and be heard over the music. So it was definitely a relief when his friend dragged him outside to the smoking area. There weren’t many people around at this time of night so it was quiet, certainly more quiet than it was inside. “Phew, what a relief! I was beginning to think that I was going to end up deaf with that music.” Tommy didn’t mind loud music, it was to be expected at a club but he enjoyed so much more after having a few drinks and getting a good buzz going. He smiled into the hug, happy to be around his best friend again. “So…terrible, huh?” he asked, curious to learn more. Some people didn’t understand that earning good money didn’t get rid of some of the worse parts related to their work. “Guy not paying you well?”

God. it was such a relief to be with Tommy again. He gave her a sense of security that very few people actually did. He literally saved her life after all. She sighed as she handed the male the drink she had gotten for him. Shaking her head, she lead against the cold brick wall - because it was fucking November and the New York winter was quickly approaching. “Well. That’s just it, Tom. I got a new job. Stopped sex work and everything for this PR stunt, pretending to be some actor’s girlfriend.” She lowered her voice as she spoke even though there weren’t maybe people outside who could hear them. “He’s paying me wonderfully.  I’ve honestly had this much money and I don’t know what to do with her.” She laughed at herself, then fisted her braids on her scalp in her hand in frustration. “He’s a terror though. A complete tyrant. One of the biggest wankers I have ever met in my sorry life. Like almost a bully. And Sam broke up with me because of it too. Which has been in the worst part of all of this.” She took a large sip of her drink through the straw so as not to mess up her lipstick.

Part of Chasity hated herself for suggesting the pair between Mat & Sky. Chasity figured that her and Sky got along swimmingly so obviously Sky & Mat would too. But, seeing two of her favorite people not so happy in a relationship – a fake relationship – suggested by her made her feel upset. She wished she could take back the suggestion, but really she just wanted to help get Sky some exposure while also helping out her brother. When the blonde got to the dance floor, it wasn’t long before she broke out a dance move. “Anything new going on in life?” She asked her friend, hoping she could hear her over the music.

Sky knew that Chas half blamed herself for all the issues between Mat and herself. Honestly though? That had everything to do with Mat, Sam, and Sky. Chas just seemed to be the one stuck in the middle. Sky wanted to show Chas that she didn’t blame her for any of the bullshit that’s happened that had happened to her the past couple of weeks. There wasn’t much new going on in Sky’s life that didn’t want to make her cry, so she just shook her head and kept dancing. “We should head to the theatre and rehearse later!” She suggested over the music She’d only had a couple of drinks anyway, and there was not better therapy than singing and rehearsing with your co-star. “Or we can go to a karaoke bar and sing our song!” She laughed. 

Alison thought after her twins were born, maybe the pain of the break up would disappear, but that hadn’t been the case. If anything, it just felt worse. Everyday, Alison looked down at her beautiful babies and wondered how anyone could walk away from them. But, that was the choice their father had decided to make, when he left without a return date. She was sure that the break up made it that much easier for him to decide he didn’t want to come back, not even for those beautiful babies.

At the glance of Sky, Alison could recognize her immediately. She knew the other was part of the theater, she had met her a couple times when she stopped in to see Roman, or offer some insight. Plus, she was up in the media lately as she was dating Mat Berinut. Part of Alison felt there was something fishy about that relationship, as she had been in fake relationships in the past. But, she didn’t know either of them well enough to have an opinion on that.

Alison nodded as the other played the piano. It took a second as Alison listened to the melody on the piano. The blonde picked her guitar back up, strumming to what the other played before singing once again. “Distance, timing, breakdown, fighting. Silence, the train runs off it’s tracks. Kiss me, try to fix it, could you just try to listen? Hang up…give up…for the life of us we can’t get back.” The popstar sang. A small sad smile appeared on her face, as they finished. She stood up from her seat, “That was beautiful.” She told the other, taking a seat on the piano’s bench next to her. “Sky is it?”

Since Sky was a little kid, she’d always loved music. It was an escape for her. Her life wasn’t rainbows and butterflies. Then again, who’s life actually was? Sky was pleased with herself. Alison Haynes thought her music was beautiful. Bloody wicked. And she knew her name. Even better. “Those lyrics are gorgeous too.” She could relate to them all too well right now. Which sucked. She loved Sam more than anything, and wanted him back, but...she couldn’t have him right now. That hurt like nothing had ever hurt before. If anything, this breakup hurt Sky more than their first breakup. She knew Sam was hurting too, which, of course, made her heart pang. “Sky King.” She introduced herself with a smile. 

What Sky was about to say next was bold, but she was slowly starting to enter the world that Alison Haynes lived in and she needed some advice or some insight. She paused for a moment, pressing her lips together and thinking how to phrase her next question. “Can I ask you a question?” She asked, her hands falling from the keys as her head turned towards the pop star. “Have you ever had a celebrity friend who was in a relationship as a PR stunt. Or have you ever done any type of PR stunt yourself? Sorry...” She paused. “Never mind. You don’t have to answer that. You don’t even know me.” She sighed. “Anyway...congratulations. Your babies are gorgeous.” She forced a tiny smile. 

     ellie looked at sky and remembered the days where she had the time and energy to make herself up that much and she couldn’t help but miss it a little — it wasn’t like she downright couldn’t or didn’t want to, she had just started to embrace a sense of practicality and comfort when it came to her clothes and appearance. her hair was in a ponytail and she was wearing a little bit of makeup, a chic coat covering up an oversized tshirt and jeans. she knew that it maybe wasn’t her best look, but she couldn’t be bothered to put on something tighter or put on a full face of makeup ( not that there was enough concealer to fully cover up her raccoon looking eyes anyway,) let alone do her hair in a more complicated do. she kept sipping her iced coffee as sky started speaking, feet up on the couch. the young mom just wanted to go snuggle her baby and take a few hours to rest, and yet here she was. when sky told her she knew she was jealous of them, ellie couldn’t help but chuckle. “jealous? of what? a secret relationship based on codependency? i might have gotten epically dumped but i’m not that desperate either.” she replied, shaking her head lightly. “sky, the truth is that i don’t really care enough about you to try and drive sam away from you. i know that maybe you’re not used to hearing this, but this isn’t about you. what i care about is sam, and i didn’t convince him to break up with you. you and i both know he’s selfless when it comes to love and he would do anything for those he loves — all i did was remind him that he deserves someone who loves him that way back, and personally, i don’t think you do. but he’s a grown man who can make his own decisions, and breaking up with you was his choice. the fact that you don’t like it is more of a you problem.” ellie said, keeping her voice calm and collected.

Alison had been really sad lately, but she covered it up well. Her career made it really easy to do that, she spent a lot of time perfecting the fake smile for the cameras, so it made it easy to do it to other people. Her life had changed so much in the past year. All she could do was reflect back on it. There was a whirlwind of a romance with someone she thought she loved, but seeing him leave her before the birth of their twins showed his true colors. Really, she could think back on all of the fights the two of them shared, fights that she hid so easily and made everyone around her think their relationship was perfect.

But now, Alison was raising her twins alone and she was just sad. She wanted to be happy. She had released an album before the twins birth, an album that was doing very well, she had two beautiful babies and an energetic six year old. She had the best group of friends she could ask for, but inside the pop star was still struggling with the emotions she felt.

Alison sat on the theater stage, there was no one there. Just her and her guitar. Alison hoped doing what she loved – playing music – something she hadn’t done much of since the twins were born would make her feel a bit better. The girl strummed her guitar and let her voice fill the room with a song she had been working on since she got to the theater.

Distance, timing, breakdown, fighting, silence, the train runs right off it’s tracks.Kiss me, try to fix it. Could you just try to listen? Hang up, give up for the life of us we can’t get back.

Alison felt warm tears streaming down her face as she sang. This wasn’t exactly working the way she planned. Then she glanced up, seeing someone standing in the theater. She hadn’t heard anyone come in. “Oh, I’m sorry.” The pop star said, quickly wiping her face of any remaining tears. “Did you need the theater? I can go.”

Sky had been really struggling lately, and the theatre was the place she went to when she needed to figure things out. At this point, the theatre was honestly her second home. Her second home was Sam’s apartment, but...not anymore. The breakup had been really hard on Sky. Mostly because it could have been preventable. She could have prevented it by never taking that fucking job in the first place. 

She walked into the theatre, and heard a familiar voice almost immediately. Alison Haynes. She had stopped by the theatre a couple of times before and was obviously good friends with Roman. Or whatever. They had met a handful of times, and they ran in the same circle considering that she was “dating” Mat Berinut, the actor. Maybe Alison could actually understand a bit about what she was going through. She noticed that Ali was crying, something Sky had been doing for nearly a week straight except when she had to be at appearances with Mat. And there was also that one night that she and Sam spent together...

The music that she was strumming was gorgeous, and they immediately caught Sky’s attention. “No...no...stay.” Sky could hear a piano melody in her head, and she just needed to get it out. She ran up on the stage and opened up the piano. “That’s gorgeous...Instead of that C...try...” She started playing a melody on the piano and humming the sounds that were in her head. 

Tommy couldn’t remember the last time he saw Sky in person. They still tried to keep themselves up to date with each other’s lives through texts but it was hard when they were both so busy lately, Tommy with getting himself more clients and Sky with some new job that she had taken up. Althought he didn’t have much details about it except that it paid very well. So when he saw her at the bar during a Halloween party, Tommy just had to go up to her and catch up. Too bad the music was so loud that they could barely even hear each other. “I said, how have you been?!” he yelled, trying to be heard over the loud thumping of music. Something told him his idea of catching up wasn’t going to be very successful.

Tommy. Thank god. If there was anyone who could even begin to understand what she was going through, it was her long time best friend. She didn’t want to use him as a therapist, but she knew he would understand. Sorta. Her situation was so unique. There probably wasn’t a single person in the world who was going through what she was going through. Then again, there were probably plenty of other beards in the acting world that she just didn’t know about. Which meant they were doing their job. That was something that sky was determined to do. She wasn’t a quitter, but - fuck - if Sky didn’t sign this contract she’d be out in a second. “Terrible!” She shouted. Sky shook her head because she wasn’t going to have this conversation here. She ordered drinks for the both of them before dragging him outside to the smoking area where it was quiet. “Better.” She sighed, pulling him in for a hug.

Chasity loved Halloween, but that was because she could dress u pas whoever she wanted and put on a show. Something she absolutely adored. She had heard a nearby club was having a Halloween throwdown, so naturally the blonde dressed up as a princess. Not any princess in particular, just a princess and headed down to the club. If Chasity wasn’t an actress, or a writer, Chasity wanted to be a princess. Almost every Halloween, the blonde dressed up as a princess. She noticed a familiar face at the bar, and made her way over. She wanted to check in on Sky, knowing things weren’t doing all to great between Sky & her brother. “Hey! I said, lets dance!” Chasity shouted.

Sky and Chas actually had so much in common. So it made sense that they were friends. They were singers and actresses, enjoyed the finer things in life, and had a great work ethic. She was so happy to be the Joanne to her Maureen in RENT. She wanted them to be role models for queer girls everywhere. Sky was actually so glad to see Chas at the bar. Despite the issues she had been having with her brother, Sky and Chas’ relationship never faltered. It was weird, considering that sky considered Chas a little sister, and now she was “dating” her brother. Hmph. “Oh!” She exclaimed, finishing her drink and grabbing both of the blonde’s hands. “Let’s go!” She shouted, already dancing as she pulled her towards the dance floor. She wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to dance.

a lot of people had tried to convince cillian to invest in a car. or at least consider public transport. but cillian preferred to bike. it was probably partially due to the fact that he was terrified of letting go of his childhood and riding his bike was one more thing that could solidly ground him in the past and make him feel like really, he wasn’t all that much older after all. either that or the fact that his calves looked amazing. anyways, he was out riding around, headed into the city after getting of work one evening when the inevitable happened. the chain on his bike broke and he was suddenly out of control, riding straight into a bush. “fuck,” he grumbled, trying to asses himself for any injuries. he hadn’t been wearing a helmet, but the bush had cushioned his fall. aside from a few bruises of scratches, he felt a-okay. he stayed where he was in the bush for a moment, picking debris out of his hair. “hey, you!” he called out to a nearby pedestrian. “mind helping me out of this bush?”

The term ‘shop til you drop’ had never been more applicable than right now. Sky was exhausted, and these bags were heavy. She was dramatic and probably went a little too over board with the retail therapy thing. Oh well? Sky was also very alert. As a former sex worker, she always had her guard up and was aware of what was going on around her. So, the actress watched the whole thing happen. Right in front of her eyes. She laughed to herself for a moment before deciding to go help the poor man up. A difficult decision, because that meant she had to put all of her bags down. On the ground. Gross. But she wanted to do the right thing. She wanted karma on her side for once. She held out her hand. “You alright there, babes?” She asked, trying not to laugh.