Cierra sniffled, trying to give a weak smile. Erik just nodded, gently holding her wrist without a hint of judgement in his eyes.
“Sounds like you have a real trade-off here. It makes sense why you’re having a strong reaction to it all. I can really relate, it’s tough.”
“And what would you know about money worries?” she asked snidely, unable to resist pointing out the discrepancy between their situations. “You have the option to live in a mansion for free whenever you want.”
At that comment, he turned to her defensively. “Uh, because it happened to me, too? Remember?”
“It’s not the same for you. Don’t act like you didn’t have tons of help from your family. My choices are literally giving up my dreams or going into serious debt and probably losing my relationship with my sister. What wouldyouknow about that?”
Erik laughed. “Do you think this has been my life?”
“I mean . . . well . . . yeah?”
“Well, it hasn’t. I racked up student loans and credit card debt just like everyone else. Elliot and I come from middle-class backgrounds — Zelda is the one with the money. And it’s relatively new for her, too; everything changed a few years ago, once the business started taking off.” He shook his head. “I took a massive pay cut leaving my last job, and it took me a lot longer to get financially on track because of it, but that was a decision I was willing to make. I don’t know what you think about me, but you’re not the first person on Earth to be faced with a tough decision, okay?”
Speechless, and with a mix of embarrassment and confusion, she muttered, “I didn’t realize.”
“Well, now you do.” He ran his hands through his wind-tussled hair, looking around before facing her again. At least ten seconds passed in awkward silence.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “To be fair, you do look like a Brooks Brothers model.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, it’s actually a little annoying.” They both chuckled, and Cierra smiled, seeing him warm up to her again.
“It’s fine, I know how I look. And besides, I’m still a privileged little shit,” he joked, lightening the mood. “And pretty soon you’ll be a celebrity and a rich little shit yourself.”
Cierra grimaced. “This audition . . . God. You know, I already auditioned once before, right?”
“No, you never mentioned it.”
“Yeah, well, I did. Nearly a year ago, last season. Obviously, I didn’t get it, and it was kind of the end for me. It was part of the reason Harry dumped me. This opportunity withPlatedis my last shot at—”
But before she could finish her sentence, a memory flashed before her eyes. It was so vivid her head snapped up as she gazed forward, lost in a moment that happened nearly ten years ago.
“What is it?” Erik asked. “What are you thinking about?”
“Reading Week.”
“Huh?”
Cierra shook herself out of the vision, then looked at Erik. “When I was in college, I was seeing this . . . idiot. It was a bad situation. Not, like, abusive or anything. But I was so infatuated with him, and he knew it. Strung me along for a long time. I don’t know if I ever said anything, but, my dad passed away when I was in school.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Cierra smiled weakly. “It’s a long time ago, now. But the last week he was alive, it was Reading Week. I was thinking about the last phone call I ever had with him. He was asking if I wanted to visit, since I didn’t have classes to go to. We used to watchPlatedtogether, and he even mentioned that he hadn’t watched any of the new season. He was waiting for me to come home.”
Cierra wiped away tears that were now quietly falling as she told the story. Erik held her hand, gently stroking his thumb against the smooth of her palm as she continued.
“But I was young and selfish and only thinking about this boy I was seeing. We had plans to hang out. So, I told my dad no. That I’d see him in a couple of weeks and we could watch it then. That was the last time I ever spoke to him.” Her voice broke.
“Colton — the idiot — stood me up, anyway. And later that week, Lisa called with the news.” Cierra let out a deep sigh. “I wasted my last chance to see my dad on someone who didn’t give one shit about me.”
Erik let a few seconds pass before saying anything. “Cierra, you know that wasn’t your fault, right? You couldn’t have known.”
“I know. I’m just so . . . angry.”
“At Colton?”
