She shrugs. “The readers will love it!”
“Charlie, seriously, why would you do this to me?”
She flares her nostrils and rolls her eyes. “Matt, this whole time I’ve been building us up, working toward us being together, and when you had your chance to prove to me thatwecouldbe together, you failed. You still chose her. So, now sure… I don’t get you, but I do get my big break. Unless…”
I listen to her ramble as she pauses at the end, and I decide to bite. “Unless what?”
“I change my story to something you want. Something that’s more of a hero piece for Recoil, and I get it published somewheremuchbetter than my lousy paper.”
“And howexactlyis that going to happen?”
She smirks. “You’re hooked up. Get me a column in an issue of Rolling Stone, and I’ll write you a glowing article, which you can approve before publication, and this allgoes away.” She sing-songs the last two words.
“Great! This is just fucking great!”
“Can you do it?” Charlie’s eyes light up like she’s hopeful.
The excitement in her voice annoys the shit out of me.What the hell!She cares more about her career and what she can get out of me than the damage she’s causing me right now.
“Sure,” I murmur as I wave my hand through the air in agreement. “But all this, all this info you have on me, stays fucking here. You can’t take it with you.”
“Okay, fine. I have it on my computer at home anyway.”
“Charlie!”
“Okay, fine, I won’t use any of it. I’ll do the piece on how you guys are having a break from music at the moment, but you’re going to be going back to it once Danger is back from wedded bliss. Right?”
“Yeah. We’re going to start recording again, then eventually, we’ll do another round of touring to promote that album.”
“Okay, this is going to be great…” Her smile is so wide it makes me want to slap it right off her damn face, but I wouldn’t of course, I would never hit a woman. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t make me see red, though.
“Why aren’t you happy, Matt? This is a win-win for everyone. Can’t you see? I get a piece in Rolling freaking Stone, and you guys get an article slanted in your favor.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “Was this your angle all along?”
“No, I came in wanting to be with you, Matt. But I could see early that you were way too into someone else for it to go anywhere. So I made the decision to get as much out of you as possible and see where it could take me. It worked, hey?” Charlie’s so damn happy she’s bouncing up on her toes.
“I think it’s time for you to leave.”
“Okay, you’re angry, I get it. I do. But in time, you’ll see this as a blessing, Matt.”
“Not fucking likely, Charlie. I thought Madeline was bad, it seems like you’re even worse. Now get the fuck out,” I say, grabbing her arm. Charlie picks up her bag on the way and simply walks with me. She doesn’t fight or argue as we head to the door.
Charlie turns to face me. “For the record, I think we could have been good together.”
“For the record, I don’t do conniving psychopaths.” I open the door, and she smirks, walking through it.
“I’ll be in touch.”
“Contact Tillie Marks, she can handle everything from now on. I’ll let her know you’re doing a story on us, and she’ll give you everything you need.Refrainfrom contacting me again,” I say, slamming the door in her face.
I take a deep breath and turn, slamming my body against the door and scrubbing my hands against my face. “What the fuck!” I yell.
I bang my head against the door, wondering how the fuck my life got to this? Fangirls, hookers, thugs, crazy reporters?What the hell is next?
I couldn’t have strayed further off course if I tried. Losing Alex was the breaking point, the moment everything fell apart. And now, on top of it all, the harsh truth settles in—I had Alex in my life, and now I have nothing. The weight of that realization is almost unbearable.
My friends? Nearly nonexistent.
