In my ear:Units on site.He will be arrested as soon as we clear the doors.
“It is,” I said.
They turned him toward the service hall.He lifted his chin like a man walking out by choice.The door swung.I released a big breath I didn't know I was holding.
For a beat, everything was quiet.And then the voices beyond the curtains grew louder and louder.
In my ear:Your call, Cassidy.We can skip the reading.
My hands were steady.“We’re not skipping anything,” I said.“Open the curtain.”
Marin appeared at the curtain, “I'm with you,” she murmured, eyes bright.
I’d spent so long thinking closure meant forgiveness.It didn’t.It meant walking away with nothing of him left to carry.So, I let the pain and the fear...everything I had held onto that involved Andrew leave with him.
And I stepped into the lights.
The applause rose with the crowd.
“Hi,” I said, and my voice came back honey warm.“I’m Cassidy Morgan.Thank you for being here.”
We did the night as planned, the Q&A and the signing.People didn't know what to do with what they had heard.But they had heard it all, recorded it and shared it with the world.Phones buzzed in pockets, alerts, shares, and clips of the backstage conversation.
Back in the greenroom, the door shut, and the noise thinned to a hum.Marin sat on the arm of the couch, studying me.
Her phone started buzzing again, "I already reassured him you are ok, but I don't think he will stop calling until he hears your voice."
Brody.
She handed me her phone with a soft smile on her face.
"Cassidy?"His voice sounded hoarse.
“Hi,” I said, and the relief in that syllable almost undid me.
“Oh my god, I was so scared.”His voice was gravel and air, the way it gets when he’s trying not to cry.“Are you okay?”
A laugh shook out of me, light and real.“I’m okay,” I said.“I handled it.”
He exhaled so hard I could feel it against my ear.“I saw, or I guess heard,” he said softly.“Half the town has sent me the clip.Your mom has been fielding calls all evening.Chase has already called the police, asking what happens next.And Mr.Novak just left after he assured your dad that Andrew was locked up and can't get to you again.”His voice went rougher.“I’ve never been so scared that I wasn't there to protect you, but also so, so proud of you.”
“I’m proud of me, too,” I said, and heard the truth in it as it left my mouth.
“Do you want me to come?”he asked.“I can be there by morning.”
I looked at Marin.She was watching me like she wasn't sure what I would do next.“No,” I said, gently.“I want to finish.On my terms.”
A beat.Then a smile in his voice.“I’ll be here waiting for you.”
“I know.”
We breathed together for a moment, the kind of quiet that says everything.“I love you,” he said.
“I love you too.”
We hung up.Marin cleared her throat, business reassembled.“We can cancel tomorrow.”
“We don’t need to,” I said.“I’m finishing this.”
