“There’s nothing to fix. We just don’t belong together. I need someone who loves me for who I am, not despite who I am.”
His hands fell limp. “And you think he does?” Bitterness dripped from his strained voice.
“Yes.” I answered too quickly and bit my lip in regret.
“He’s going to hurt you, Maggie.”
I shook my head. Mike was the only person who wouldn’t.
“Yes, he is, but you’re too stubborn to listen.”
I sighed, wishing this conversation over. This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have let him come up.
“I know nothing I say now will change your mind. You once told me you had to try things out first before you made your decision, so go ahead. Give it a shot. You’re a smart woman. You’ll see that I’m the right choice for you.” He stepped closer, his gaze level with mine. “So make no mistake, I’m not saying goodbye just yet. And when he breaks your little heart, I’ll be waiting to fix it once and for all.”
Scene43
Mike
Against his better judgment, Mike turned on the TV and flipped through the entertainment news. He knew better than to keep up with whatever was being said about Maggie and him, however; something told him when he called her last night, and she was in tears and didn’t say why, it was bad press related.
His eyes narrowed as pictures and clips of Maggie going into her apartment building flashed around the screen. “Together Again or Not?” was all he needed to hear to send his emotions into a downward spiral. He locked the trailer and returned to his chair, watching what the tabloids had to say.
“Our reporters confirmed that Maggie Dawson AKA The Kid, the young director from L.A., had finally returned to her apartment after she fled her birthday party with Mike Gennaro three days ago. While the Italian Heartthrob spent the past weekend in his Bel Air Mansion, allegedly alone, before he flew back to Newark this Monday, Dawson’s whereabouts for those days remain a mystery.
“Shortly after her return, Kyle Burley, the handsome twenty-six-year-old broker and Dawson’s was-to-be fiancé was spotted entering the apartment building from the back entrance, wearing a cap and a black hoodie,” the brunette host said and pictures of Kyle replaced Maggie’s.
“He stayed in for more thantwenty minutesbefore he came down with a suitcase. Unlike Dawson, who refused to comment on any of our questions, he gave our reporters this statement.”
A clip of Kyle played, one foot already inside his car as he talked to the press. “Ms. Dawson and I, like any couple in the world, go through some difficult situations sometimes. We both agreed to take some time off to figure things out and hopefully reconcile our differences. We appreciate it if you’ll give us the privacy to do so.”
Mike turned the TV off and hurled the remote onto the table in front of him. It slid and landed on the floor in pieces. “The fucking prick!”
He stared at the wall in his trailer and tried to think of harmless reasons why Maggie hadn’t told him about Kyle’s visit. When he found none, he grabbed his cell and called her. She answered, out of breath. Her huffs into the phone made him lose his mind for a second. “Am I interrupting something?”
“What?”
“Why are you out of breath?”
“I kinda ran to my trailer to talk to you in private,” she answered. “I missed you, babe.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. He was crazy to be so jealous, but he was crazy abouther. “I missed you more, vita mia.”
“You all right?”
“Not really,” he replied, rocking his leg. “Why didn’t you tell me about Kyle?”
She paused. “I didn’t think it mattered. Wait… How did you know about that?”
“It’s all over the tabloids. What the fuck was he doing at your place at midnight?”
“What do you… Mike, this is ridiculous.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “I know. Amore, just…don’t hide stuff from me, okay?”
“Stuff like what? Kyle waited for me to come home so he could get some of his things. He didn’t want to let himself in when I wasn’t there because the apartment wasn’t his anymore. He’s…decent that way.”
“Decent?!” He was past rage all of a sudden. “He gave the reporters a very articulate statement about how the two of you are taking some time to think things through and reconcile your differences.” He scoffed. “He didn’t blink, Maggie, as if he had prepared the speech all along.”
