I pulled out my phone and logged into my email. My manuscript was ready, attached, and waiting, but my fingers hovered over the send button.
What if it wasn’t good enough?
No. I was done letting fear win.
I took a deep breath, pressed send, and watched the email disappear into the digital void.
The weight I’d been carrying for weeks began to lift, like a storm finally breaking apart to let sunlight through. I stood and looked out at the river, the golden rays of the sun spilling across the water in soft, shimmering light.
A breeze brushed past me, gentle and freeing, as if the world itself was whispering:It’s time to stop being afraid.
Feeling lighter, I sat back and opened Instagram to scroll mindlessly, but a notification fromEntertainment Tonightpopped up on my feed. Against my better judgment, I tapped on it. The video auto-played: Luke walking on an LA street, flanked by Tom and Hal, his hoodie pulled up.
Not just any hoodie.My hoodie.
The lavender Muses hoodie, oversized and a little worse for wear, with that faint stain from the rum-and-Coke spill. My heart stopped.
The reporter’s bubbly voice played over the clip: “Luke Fisher was spotted ahead of his big premiere.”
The camera zoomed in as a paparazzo called out, “Luke, what’s the fashion statement here?”
He stopped mid-stride and gave one of those charming, lopsided grins that could sell a million movie tickets. “No fashion statement. Just something that makes me happy.”
I froze.Happy?
The reporter pressed further. “Is it sentimental? A gift?”
Luke paused, his gaze flickering to the camera as though weighing how much to say. Then, with a half-shrug, he added, “You could say that. It’s from someone who means a lot to me.”
Someone who means a lot to me.Means. Present tense.
The reporter’s voice chimed back in as the video cut to a studio shot. “Well, there you have it. Luke Fisher, Hollywood heartthrob, keeping it real. In lavender.”
I stared at the screen, my heart racing. Of all the things he could’ve worn, he chosethat. The thought sparked something deep inside me, a flicker of hope I didn’t know I still had.
Maybe he missed me as much as I missed him.
Sure, it was scary. He might reject me outright. But I was done letting fear hold me back. I was done letting fear keep me trapped in New Orleans.
I missed him more than I wanted to admit. But I wanted to challenge my fears. Whatever came next, I was ready to face it.
52
LUKE
Yesterday’s shoothad been a disaster.
I slept, but not well. It was the kind of restless sleep where you wake up feeling just as tired as when you went to bed.
Today, I had to nail it. Not just for Fargo or the crew, but for myself.
By the time I got to the soundstage, the usual buzz of activity surrounded me—lighting adjustments, hushed conversations, the clatter of equipment. The final scene was on the schedule, the one I’d been botching all week.
I walked onto the set during a break and picked up the script I’d discarded the night before. The lines stared back at me, mocking me. It wasn’t just about the words, though; it was about what they represented.
You’re miserable because you left Anna.Topher’s words rattled around my brain like an unwelcome guest.
He was right. I’d spent my life hiding behind roles, using them as armor against anything real. With Anna, it had been different. She didn’t care about the Hollywood shine. She saw me. The real me.
