Glad you could be there to support her tonight!
I scrolled to the top of the stream, only now noticing the description of the video: ‘Let’s watch my girl take on the night!’
His girl?
A pit grew in my stomach at the thought.
As far as I knew, Odette wasn’t with anyone. She did keep her private life very much private on social media, but I felt like I would have seen a few signs if she were seeing someone. How we’d acted with each other last night hadn’t seemed like she was.
Fuck, I hoped she was actually single.
I shook my head, trying to get thoughts of her with Parker out of my head, and went back to focusing on Odette in the video.
She was on stage giving her speech. There were a few more awards before the last few of the night, which were in honor ofLeague of Witches.I knew I should probably wait a little whilelonger, closer to one of the times Lisa gave me, but if I left right now, I’d get to see Odette sooner.
I texted Lisa my plan, and she gave me the thumbs up. I peeked out the door of the control room as a group of security personnel nonchalantly walked past. Walking down with them toward the exit, I dipped into a side room that had a suit for me to change into. Just in case, I always came with a second if I needed to deter onlookers who might be watching too closely backstage.
Luckily, this suit matched Odette’s dress perfectly. I’d gone with a dark green like I’d done last night.
I looked out of the room before walking down the back hallway toward the side curtains to the main stage. The crowd applauded, claps ringing through the auditorium, and I shortened my steps, taking just a little longer than needed to get to my destination. Odette could be seen leaving the main stage and was promptly bombarded by photographers and people who were conducting interviews.
While I was hoping to see her backstage, I headed to my table, knowing I’d get to see her there. During the bustle of the next presenter taking the stage and leaving, I snuck onto the floor and quickly made my way over to where Beckett was seated.
“You made it.” Beckett pushed a glass of water in front of me.
“Finally.” I had spent far too much time backstage tonight for my liking.
I looked around, seeing exactly how the theatre was decorated. We were in the middle of a short break, and others were up and mingling.
“Did you know about this?” I pulled out my phone, showing Beckett Parker’s live stream and the description. He raised an eyebrow and gave me a finger to hold. He ducked and snuck overto the table in front of us. Jemma turned around to see me, and her eyes went wide with whatever Beckett was telling her.
He came back just as quickly. Jemma’s eyes hadn’t left me, and she took out her phone, quickly typing away. She looked panicked, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was here or what Beckett had been talking to her about.
“They broke up three years ago, were together for almost six years. He’s a dipshit asshole in her terms.”
“You got all of that from just a few seconds?”
“Jemma seemed pretty forthcoming with information on Parker.” He shrugged.
I looked back over to Jemma, who was no longer looking at our table but still on her phone. It looked like she was in a heated texting conversation. Maybe she was texting Odette.
Odette.
I looked around to see if she had come back to the main floor, a small weight having been lifted from my shoulders, knowing that she was, in fact, not seeing Parker. But I still didn’t like the fact that he was openly calling her his.
The lights flickered around us, giving a warning of five minutes before the show started up again.
She should have been back on the floor by now.
As if on cue, there she was, walking through the side door and straight to her table. That was until she looked over and caught my eye. Her pace quickened, maneuvering around tables and heading for me.
I stood to meet her.
“Hi.” She stopped in front of me, her voice shaky, out of breath, but she was smiling at me like I was the only person in the room.
“Hello.” I smiled down at her. She was standing there in her dress, which was far more stunning in person than on a livestream or photo. I wanted to reach out to touch her. “You look stunning.”
Odette smiled but diverted her gaze to Jemma, who stood and came over to Beckett. She tugged him out of his chair and to their table, leaving us alone.
