“Well, considering how you knocked, I suspected my card might have been declined. What’s wrong? Did something happen withJace?”
It was just like my mother to find a nerve and dig right intoit.
“Don’t even say hisname.”
I had to deal with one thing at a time. First, my feelings toward her. Then, the pain of knowing it was over between me and the only man I’d ever allowed myself to get closeto.
“I think I deserve an explanation for this attitude you’re bringing in here. I was just minding my own businessand—”
“Did you agree to interview with MelissaFairfax?”
Serena’s expression sobered. “My, my, doesn’t news travel fast?” She glanced at herself in the mirror on the wall beside her, then averted her gaze from her reflection as though she didn’t want to look at it long enough to judge herself for hercrime.
“Answerme.”
“Dax, what could thatpossibly—”
“You did, and you won’t fess up to it. God, just say it! Don’t you see that’s all I ever wanted? I don’t want to play games or beat around the bush. This is just like when I was a kid. Talk to me, for Christ’s sake! Be honest with me for once in yourlife.”
“Yes, I did agree to an interview, Dax. How did you even find out aboutit?”
“My assistant gets around,” I said quickly before getting to the heart of my discord. “Fuck you, Serena. Fuck you to hell. I told you not to take any interviews, and then the moment you found a way to get yours out of this, you jumped at theopportunity.”
She opened her mouth like she was about to defend the undefendable, but she sealed her lips just as quickly, as though she was going to let me finish my thought beforeinterrupting.
“I should have known when you wanted to meet the guy,” I went on. “When the fuck have you ever wanted to meet anyone I was seeing? Of course, since he was some hot insta-celebrity and you found a chance to throw yourself in front of a few cameras, that was enough for you. And now you have this big interview where you can have the lights and cameras all over you and all the attention…no matter how cheap of an excuse it may be. All that, I can look past. All that, I can fucking chalk it up to you being exactly who I always knew you were.” The fury within me climbed effortlessly as I recalled her time at the hospital. “But if you’re thinking you’re gonna go on prime time and give some sob story about how you were there to console Keegan in his time of need, if you reveal anything he told you in confidence about his dead father, I will fuckingruinyou. Do you understandthat?”
A single tear escaped her right eye and rushed down hercheek.
“Cut the act,Mom. The cameras aren’t inhere.”
I made sure to stress the title she was so unworthy of—at so many points in her life, but especially in thatmoment.
She folded her arms and shook her head. “A part of me really wanted to stop you from making an ass of yourself, but then I thought, no, I want to know what you think of me. And there it is.” Her eyes continued to water, and though I blamed it on performance, I knew she wasn’t that good an actress. “You really think that’s the kind of person I am? That I would exploit that poor family for another minute offame?”
“You did it to yourson.”
“I loved it, Dax. I loved everything about this business, and I wanted to share it with you. Was that acrime?”
“No,thatwasn’t a crime, but leaving me for extended periods of time so you could shoot up heroin with your boyfriend of the moment, taking my money so that you could afford your own life, those things weredisgusting.”
“I wasn’t a good person back then, I know that. And I wasn’t good to you. I was a wreck, and most days I hardly even wanted to stick around on this planet, let alone get my life together. I needed help, but the thing about heroin is, the thing that makes it so goddamn good is that the whole world can come crashing down around you, and everything feels like it’s alright. That was why it was so hard to let go, because everything was quiet and serene, and I didn’t even know how bad it was even when it was the worst. It wasparadise.”
“While you were in paradise, your son was in hell, but don’t worry, I’ll be fucking fine. I’ve been doing just fine all thistime.”
I started past her for thedoor.
“Dax—”
I spun around. “All I ever wanted was that for once in your fucking selfish life—that was all about the roles and the men and the drugs—you wouldchooseme.”
I started to turn again when she took my arm. “No, Dax. That isn’t true. I did chooseyou.”
“I’m tired of your lies,” I said, defeated, and continued toward thedoor.
“No, no, no.” She sprang to the desk and snatched her phone before sliding between me and thedoor.
“Serena, get out of my way. I’m done withyou.”
