“But I’ll be forever in debt to that man…for finding you that night.” His voice quivered.
“What do you want to say, Dad?”
“I’m saying that you have two choices here. Either you move on for real, and by that I mean you throw away those goddamn DVDs and allow another man, a decent one, into your life. Or…you go back to Mike.”
“You know I can’t go back to him.” My voice rose, and I hated how emotional I was, especially while talking to Dad.
“Why not? Because of me? I don’t want anything more than to see you happy. Because of you? You’re still in love with him, Maggie. Just as much as you were five months ago.”
I curled my arms over my head, blocking out the words I knew were true. “It’s not just that.”
“Is it because of your mother? She’s gone now,” he said. “Baby, I’ll never forget that day you came to my office telling me about the engagement. I saw a glimmer of happiness in your eyes that I’ve never seen there before or after. You can’t let her take that away from you. She ruined your life when she was alive, and she did what she did to herself to ruin your future, too. Don’t give her what she wanted. Don’t let her have that power on you anymore.”
I sniffled. “It’s just not that easy.”
“I know, and it’s going to take a lot of work. You have to understand one thing, though. The only person standing between you and your happiness now, sweetie, is you. Allow yourself to be happy, Maggie, because you deserve it.”
Scene 89
Maggie
The last day on set was almost always the same. The easy schedule. The pranks. The cake. The sentiments. The goodbyes.
“Congratulations, Kid. You finished yet another masterpiece,” Jim said.
I raised my brows. “That’s a big word.”
“You’re a big artist.”
“Thanks, Jim. You, too. I really enjoyed making this one.” I loved my job. It was my crutch. The only motivation left to keep going, holding on to life. Much to my luck, producers still saw something in me after what happened, and I received offers that would keep me going for a while longer. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Yes, you could have.” His lips curved up. “With a certain Italian.”
I picked at my cuticles. I had no fingernails left to bite. “I’m gonna…head to my trailer.”
“Do you mind if I come with? I’d like a word with you in private.”
“Sure.”
Once inside, I turned on the air conditioning and closed the door. “So, what do you wanna talk about?”
He sat in a chair across from me. “Um…you sure heard the rumors.”
“Which ones? The Oscars or the on-set romance?” I chuckled.
“You think we’ll be nominated?”
“I don’t think. I know you’ll win this year.”
“I know you’ll win, too.”
My laughter filled the trailer. “If I make it to the ceremony this time, I’m already a winner.”
“I’ll make sure you do.” His voice lowered, his face determined.
Unsure where this conversation was going, I just smiled. “Thanks.”
