The team behindBilly the Hillbilly: Billy’s Back!reserved the entire space at Counter Reformation for the after-party. Counter Reformation is a sort of Paris tabac hidden behind massive jewel-toned doors and sculptures of potted golden palm trees. I gained access from yet another security guard solely because my name was on a list.
Your name mustalwaysbe on a list in Hollywood or you are invisible.
A tower of canapés, almost too pretty to eat, arrives before us. I raise a glass.
“Thank you so much for inviting me. It’s been such a wonderful night, I still can’t believe we ran into each other after all this time,” I say. “Congrats on all your success, Kyle.”
“Thanks, Barry.”
Kyle clinks my glass.
I take a sip of champagne.
“Was that a convincing monologue?” I ask with a smile, letting my facade drop. “I wanted it to sound sincere, but I’d be lying if I said I weren’t a tad jealous and a little bit bitter that this never happened for me.” I take another sip. “And I’m still confused by our breakup. We were so young, but we were so in love.”
The end comes out like more of a begging question:Weren’t we so in love?
“I’d also be lying if I said I hadn’t followed your career and personal life,” I press on. “God, therapy has turned me into a loquacious oversharer. I should be performing Shakespeare.”
“Therapy, huh?” Kyle asks, sipping his champagne. “Over me?”
His burly hands hold the fragile flute tenderly, and I think of when he used to hold my face that way.
Stop it, Barry. You’re just pathetic.
“To think we both started out living in that tiny apartment over the Blockbuster,” he continues. “You worked at the mall, right?”
I nod at the memory. “And you delivered Domino’s,” I add. “Free pizza, remember?”
Kyle nods. “Do you know how hard it was to deliver a pizza in LA in under thirty minutes, man? That was amuchmore stressful job than I have now.”
I laugh. “Those were the days.”
Tribal music thumps quietly in the background like a heartbeat.
“You know you fucked up when you broke up with me, right?”
“But I didn’t break up with you,” I say softly. “You told me I was selfish for taking a role I didn’t deserve and threw a champagne bottle at me.” I nod at the one before us. “You told me you hated me and hoped that I would fail. Am I remembering that correctly?”
“Perspective is the architect of fate, Barry,” Kyle says with a smile. “From my point of view, you essentially not only broke up with me when you accepted the role of Coco, but your life changed for the worse almost immediately because of it. If you look at it from my perspective, I was right, Barry, and you should have listened to me from the beginning. I always know best. I always take care of those I love.”
My years of therapy with Dr. Doolan set off alarm bells in my head that chime,Control freak!andRun for your life, Barry!
But then Kyle’s arm brushes mine, and my skin immediatelyignites like a match at his touch. I half expect a fire to start in the soft fur of his forearm.
Kyle reaches out and slowly grazes my fingers holding the flute.
The beast inside is now controlling me once again.
“I forgive you, Barry,” Kyle finally says, his fingers remaining on mine. “I forgive you.”
The thrumming in my head grows louder.
For what?
Kyle leans closer and whispers, “Now I know you’ll never leave me again.”
He sits back and reaches for the champagne bottle, and I flinch.
