“How do you look this calm?” Sabrina demanded. “You’re far more in love with him than I am.” Her eyes narrowed at that.

‘Honey, stop dreaming. You don’t love him. Because you don’t know him. And nobody can love him as much as I do,’ she wanted to say, but she refrained.

“I am?” Katherine pretended to be stupid.

“You draw him all the time and your phone wallpaper is a picture of him sleeping.” She trailed off and suddenly remembered something. “Which movie is that from, though?” She turned to Katherine with curiosity.

Katherine wanted to smack herself. Indeed, she had taken a picture of him sleeping and put it as her wallpaper. She just hadn’t changed it before coming here. She hadn’t thought someone would notice her wallpaper for god’s sake.

“Exclusive fanclub,” Katherine commented without thinking.

“How do I get in?” Sabrina asked, grabbing Katherine by the forearm.

“Invitations only.” Whatever that meant. Sabrina seemed to take that answer and went back to her original line of questioning. “Again, why aren’t you screaming yet?”

“Of course I am excited! The love of my life is in the same building as I am. This is a dream come true.”

The suspicion in Sabrina’s eyes seemed to fade thanks to Katherine’s exaggerated show of enthusiasm.

“We need to meet him somehow. If only we could find where he is staying…” She trailed off and started searching on her phone. In the meantime, Katherine texted Cage about this.

“He must be staying at a fancy hotel. So we could stakeout at the possible one. If only we knew how long he will be staying.” Katherine looked at her weirdly. “What? People call hotels to ask about celebrities all the time.”

Seemed like a horror movie. So, this was what Cage had to go through on a regular basis. His safety was compromised every second he breathed.

“I don’t think he’ll register under his own name,” she supplied helpfully.

“Buckle up. You aren’t being as enthusiastic as needed.”

“I have a boyfriend,” she stated lightly. “I don’t need to chase him.”

Sabrina huffed, not sensing the wordplay at hand. She proceeded onto calling the hotels and being sorely disappointed at not finding out where Cage was staying.

Thankfully, one of the staff members shouted. “Places!”

At exactly that moment, Katherine’s phone buzzed.

C: Best of luck. See you soon!

She put her phone on silence and shoved it back inside her pocket. As the participants marched in and took their seats, Katherine tried to look for him. She couldn’t exactly see him yet, but she was looking for the sunglasses in the crowd.

Sabrina almost tripped over thin air while searching for him. “Is that him?” she kept asking.

Katherine didn’t respond.

Laurence was up at the center, welcoming everyone and talking about how grand the occasion was. Katherine’s mind wandered to what Cage was seeing at the moment and her anxiety lessened. Anxiety she didn’t know she had.

As individual names started being called and people introduced themselves, she heard the crowd go wild. Sabrina was still looking for Cage amidst the crowd.

“After we wrap up, we’re going to search for him,” Sabrina hissed.

Katherine thought it best to just go along with her. “Sure.” Instead, she would be wrapped up in the arms of the man Sabrina was trying to find, probably having wild sex with him after so many months apart.

“Welcome on stage, Katherine Austen.” Finally, it was her turn. The crowd went wild, but over everything else, she seemed to hear Cage’s voice. She zoomed in towards the location and searched for a brief moment before she located him.

She started to introduce herself, taking time to connect with the crowd before returning to the seat.

From there on, it was war. She played her heart out, forgetting completely about the man watching her. She concentrated on winning this championship. She didn’t know how, but with the help of Sabrina, she demolished every candidate that came near her.

It seemed she really had improved in the past couple of months. Cage’s constant support and his initial training had also come in handy. She wouldn’t say she could take on a professional player, though. They were a different breed altogether. Their hands moved too fast and their strategies were precise.

She was at an advantage because most of the novices couldn’t keep up with their professional partners or follow properly. Her practice with Sabrina had paid off in that manner because their strategies and moves were aligned by that point.

– – –

“Well, you saw your girl in her big moment. How do you feel?” Anna asked, eyes twinkling with excitement. Before the closing ceremony of the day could start, the three had left the auditorium. The hallway was empty, giving the family the privacy they needed to chat.

Cage smiled. “I’m so proud of her. I know this was unplanned, but it means a lot to her.” Henrick was looking at his cellphone and had a calculative look in his eyes. Seeing that, Cage continued, “I plan on taking her with me for the next filming.”

Anna’s eyes widened and she bit her lip as she thought.

“Do her parents know?” she asked, slightly panicked.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll have to ask her.” He sighed. “She wants to be with me and I want nothing else. Staying apart has been so difficult. We did look at the long distance thing, but… it’s not working out for us.”

“That is great!” Anna chimed. She squeezed Cage’s hand. “Her work is remote so she can do it online. I’m so glad…” She trailed off.

“I’m beyond excited,” he admitted sheepishly.

“And I am excited for you. She’s a lovely girl, Cage. And she’s just as much love with you. I could undeniably feel it.” She patted his arm.

“I love her more than anything. I can’t wait to start our lives together.” He had a goofy smile on his face.