Once I’m in the hallway, I swipe to answer. “Hello?”
“Thank God I caught you,” Will says.
For some reason, my eyes fill up with tears at the sound of his voice, and I hurry down the hall to a sleek wooden bench. “Are you all right?” I ask.
“Good, yeah. Well, I’m okay. How are you doing?” Will says, his voice filled with the same desperation I’m feeling.
“I feel absolutely awful about what happened, and I really need to see you so badly. When will you be here?”
He pauses for a second. “First, let me say how much I miss you, because honestly, it’s enough to fill this entire airport with mushy, gooey emotions. Second, I want you to know that now that I’ve had some time to cool off, I’m not upset about what happened. I totally understand why you were so confused and upset. It’s okay, really.”
“No, it isn’t,” I say, my voice cracking. “I can’t believe I levelled those accusations at you. I can barely sleep, I’m so angry at myself. I wish I could take it all back and handle the whole thing over again like a normal, reasonable person.”
“Honestly, Belle, I think we may have underestimated Dylan’s ability to mess with us,” Will says. “And the pressure you’re under is insane with the show and the constant public criticism. Add a disapproving older brother, and it quickly adds up to too much for anyone to handle – even a reasonable person, which you are.”
I blink quickly, forcing the tears back into my head. “No, I don’t think I am, but thank you for saying it anyway,” I answer. “I so badly needed to hear that. To be honest, things are not going well with the conference. The press has followed me here and they’re ignoring the cause and focussing on my stupidity. Plus, I’m a total disaster. I keep freezing up and have yet to provide any sort of value in any way.”
“I’m sure you’re being too hard on yourself,” he says, and the soothing sound of his voice makes me even more desperate to see him so he can wrap his arms around me.
“Unfortunately, I’m afraid my assessment of my performance thus far is quite accurate,” I say. “If you weren’t on your way here, I honestly think I’d be ready to pack it in. When do you land? If it’s in the evening, I can come to the airport to get you.”
“Yeah, here’s the thing,” he says in a tone that tells me I’m not going to like whatever ‘the thing’ is. “I have to go straight to Valcourt.”
“What? Why?” I close my eyes tightly as disappointment coats my insides like thick paint.
“I can’t get into it right now but believe me when I tell you that if I hadanychoice at all, I’d still be on my way to see you right now.”
Keep it together. Keep it together. This is not a crisis. War is a crisis. Being forced to flee your homeland to escape certain death is a crisis. This an opportunity to show I can be both reasonable and supportive when life takes a turn.“What happened?”
“Nothing I can’t fix but I have to do it immediately.”
“So, something baddidhappen?” My heart squeezes at the thought of anything else going wrong.
Down the hall, the door to our conference room opens up and Dr. No Brows comes walking in my general direction.Oh perfect.
I turn my attention back to Will who is saying, “…so sorry, sweetheart. I miss you so much, and if there was any possible way I could be on my way to Vienna right now, I promise I would be. But don’t worry about me, okay. You’ve got enough on your plate. Just focus on the conference and know you’re there for the right reasons and that they’re lucky to have you. You’re smart and kind and you’ve got so much to offer them. Just trust yourself.”
“Thank you,” I say, even though inside, my brain is screaming, ‘wrong!’
“My flight is about to leave, but I want you to know how much I love you and how sorry I am about everything.”
“Yes,” I say, glancing up to see that No Brows is within earshot, so I can’t very well tell him I love him back. “Thank you for bringing me up to speed on all of this. Do let me know how things progress,” I say in a very formal tone. With that, I hang up.
Well, that was just great, wasn’t it? I pulled the Queen Elizabeth handshake when a little Prince Charles ran to her for a hug.
I sigh, then quickly text him.I’m sorry about the overly formal goodbye. I pretended I had to take an urgent call to get me out of the meeting. One of the other attendees was walking past right when we were wrapping up. What I meant to say is, “I love you so much it hurts, and I cannot wait to be with you again.”
Text from Will:Back at you, Belle. Go get ‘em.
20
A Deal with the Dylan
Will
“Will! The man of the hour,”Dylan sings, standing up at her desk. “Come sit. I was thrilled when I got your email. Have you seen the ratings? They are off. The. Charts! And, I have somebigthings coming down the pipe for you, young man! Huge!”
She gestures to a round table in the corner of her office and walks toward it, stopping at the mini-fridge for a can of Red Bull. “Drink?”
