A tiny flicker of hope appears in my chest, and I search her face for meaning. It takes me a second to realize she’s talking about her family’s secret, not ours. “You’re referring to the audio recordings.”
“Yes,” she says, her face filling with emotion. “I realized I never did properly thank you for what you did for my family, and that was wrong of me.”
“Don’t worry about it.”Don’t worry about it? That’s all you have to say? How about “Too little too late, Your Highness,” or some other snippy thing that lets her know she hurt me.
“I do worry about it. It was a big sacrifice you made, and I…think about it a lot.”
And you’re still in love with me and you want to get back together. Say that.“It’s a great career move for me, honestly.”
“Anyway, you’re right. We should be honest if they ask us about our relationship status. We can give them the whole ‘we’ve parted ways amicably and we wish each other well, but our lives are taking us in different directions at the moment.’”
“Sounds like utter bullshit, but I imagine it’s the classy way to go, isn’t it?” I ask with a slight grin.
She laughs, and for a second my whole world lights up, then her face grows serious again. “I realized I still have that sweater of yours that I borrowed.”
I nod. “You mean when we went to that Yoda Guy exhibit in St. Maarten?”
She smiles and nods. “Remember that woman with theI May Be Wrong but I Doubt Itshirt?”
“God, she hated me.”
At the same time, we both say, “You’re not meant to touch the swords!”
We laugh at the memory, and everything feels perfect for a second, followed by the most excruciating pain.
When the moment passes, Arabella clears her throat. “Anyway, I’ll have someone return it to Dwight’s…I mean, if you’re still staying there?”
“At the moment, yes.” I stare a little too long and feel my resolve slipping. Fucking Dwight ditching me like that. “Keep the sweater,” I say, managing a grin. “If you don’t, I’ll feel like I have to return the yacht.”
Arabella busts out laughing and shakes her head. “You owe me nothing.”
There’s a knock at the door and Dylan comes barging in, wearing a headset and carrying her iPad and a Monster Energy drink in one hand. “Here are my stars!”
She makes a beeline for Arabella and tries to go in for a one-armed hug, but gets cut off by a palm out.
“Don’t even,” Arabella says in a warning tone. “Not after what you tried to do to my family.”
“I get it, believe me,” Dylan says. “You’re a fighter, and I threatened to hurt your family.Of courseyou would react like that. It makes nothing but sense for you to be upset with me.”
“Precisely. Now, say what you came in here to say and get out because you and I are done.”
“I wasn’t going to stick around anyway,” Dylan says. “There is justso muchto do when you’re running a production this big. You have no idea. Anyway, super excited about tonight, although now that I’m in here, I have to say, your energy is not what we’re looking for.” Dylan wrinkles up her nose. “I need happy faces. I need excitement. I need the two of you being proud of yourselves and proud of each other, and I need Will to be absolutely incredibly excited about the world’s best challenge coming up.” She sings that last part. “You really have to sell it, Will, because the network is spending a fortune on it.”
Arabella and I exchange a look of irritation which Dylan seems to catch because she falters slightly, then says, “Anyhoo, I gotta get back out there. I just wanted to make sure my two stars were all lined up.”
She pokes me on the chest with one finger and says, “Especially you. Because you are the biggest star in the night sky. And by that, I mean primetime.”
With that, she rushes out the door, leaving a waft of strong fruity perfume lingering in the air.
“I thought you were going to punch her there for a minute,” I say
“You know that’s not my style,” she says with a grin. “I’m more of a ‘shove her in the face’ type of girl.”
Do not do it, idiot. Do not even think about saying it. She’s the one that broke up with you and not the other way around. She’s the unreasonable ender of things, and your only job tonight is to protect what’s left of your heart.“How are things at the UN?”
Arabella smiles. “Wonderful. Very challenging, lots of work, I love it.”
And I still love you. “Did they go with your motto in the end?”
