“I can’t. Sorry. I’m flying to Seattle tomorrow, so I can interview 22 Goats on Friday.”
Sorry,she said. Was that a figure of speech, or is she really sorry to miss the chance to have dinner with me? “When will you be back from Seattle? We’ll do it then.” I’ve managed to keep my tone casual, I think. But, inside, my body is a riot of excitement and hopeful anticipation.
“I’ll be back from Seattle on Saturday,” she replies, her tone as breezy and casual as mine.
“Great. I’ll take you to dinner on Saturday night, and then to New York on Sunday morning.”
“Excuse me?”
My heart is racing. But there’s no turning back now. I’m taking my shot. “I promised to take you to an RCR concert this summer, remember? Well, RCR is playing at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night. Your birthday is at the end of this coming week, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, we’ll call the trip a birthday present. I’ll get tickets to some Broadway shows, too. How aboutHamilton? You should see that one, if you haven’t.” I hold my breath, awaiting Georgie’s reply. For the first time since I dropped an atomic bomb onto my own happiness, I feel hopeful. I feeloptimistic.
But then I hear Georgina’s voice, and I know I’m sunk.
“Reed,” she whispers on an exhale. “We shouldn’t do this.”
“Why not? You said yourself, we’re friends now. Well, let me take myfriendto New York City as a birthday present.”
“If I go on this trip with you, and let you try to ‘seduce’ me again, then what? It won’t end well. We’re doomed. So, what’s the point?”
We’re not doomed, I think.We’re destiny. “Please, Georgie. I won’t hurt you again. I promise.” She’s silent. And I’m desperate. “All right, then. This trip isn’t a birthday present. It’s a work obligation. I’ve got full discretion as to when and where I make my artists available for interviews. And I’m only making RCR available to you backstage before their concert at Madison Square Garden. Take it or leave it.”
She scoffs. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Wow, great plan, Mr. Rivers. Bully me into falling in love with you again.”
My heart stops.It’s the first time Georgina’s used the “L” word. And it only makes me want to come at her that much harder. “Take it or leave it, Miss Ricci,” I say sternly. “You can still interview Dean, individually, in Malibu, like we discussed. But this is the only way I’ll serve up RCR to you, as a full band.”
I can practically hear her eye roll over the phone line. “Fine, ya big dickhead. I’ll take it. But I won’t have dinner with you on Saturday night. And I won’t fly to New York with you. I’ll meet you backstage at the concert on Sunday, with my press pass around my neck.”
“God, you’re even more stubborn than me. I want to take you to my favorite restaurant in Manhattan.”
“And I want to punch you in the face. Sometimes, we can’t have everything we want in life.”
I chuckle, despite my misery. “Georgina, this is stupid. Every time we talk, the chemistry between us is through the roof, and you know it.”
“So what? Chemistry is a shortsighted thing to chase. If I can’t trust you with my heart, there’s no point in moving forward. Honestly, I wish I could trust you with my heart again, because, apparently, it still belongs to you, whether I like it or not. Along with my body. But I have to get over you, Reed. For my own good. You’re nobody’s Prince Charming. And yet, that’s how I started thinking about you when I was following you around like a smitten puppy for a week. Is that really whatyou want? For some pie-eyed smitten puppy to start imagining you’re her Prince Charming?”
Yes.The word pops into my mind, unbidden.Yes, yes, yes.That’s exactly what I want, as long as the pie-eyed smitten puppy isyou.
Georgina continues, “Now, stop trying to bully my affection out of me. Stop trying to buy it. And stop trying to wear me down with all this sweet-talk and razzle dazzle. The answer isno.”
“Georgina, you’ve got to know turning a ‘no’ into ‘yes’ is my favorite thing to do, when I want something badly enough.And what I want is you.”
“No, you don’t. You want theoldversion of me. The one who let go for you, completely, the night of the necklace. Well, guess what? I won’t be able to let go like that again, because I’ll be imagining you screwing Isabel in that garage.”
I feel too defeated to speak. Too full of despair and remorse. For the hundredth time since this disaster happened, I think about doing that thing... the thing that would almost certainly exonerate me... but also risk unleashing the kraken on me, and on Isabel, too, in a way I’d live to regret. Yet again, I decide I simply can’t risk it.
“I’ll see you in New York, Mr. Rivers,” she says, breaking the thick silence. “Backstage at the RCR concert on Sunday night.”
“I’ll book your travel.”
“No. It’s official business, remember?Rock ‘n’ Rollwill cover it.”
