“Yeah, yeah.” Sol turned back to me with an eye-roll. “You heard me, right? We’re friends.”
Of all the things I’d expected to gain on my visit to New York, a movie-star friend was not one of them. “I heard you.”
Sol blew me a kiss. “Stay in touch,Lucita.” And with that, she slid out of the car, promising to call me the next time she was in London.
“Where to?” the driver said as he pulled off the tarmac and headed to the exit.
“Can you take me back to the Botanical Gardens?” I had my phone pressed to my ear. Elliot hadn’t replied to any of my messages and, dammit, the calls were now going straight to voicemail. Perhaps his phone had died, or he was in a dark area. The battery on my phone was starting to get low – I needed to find him, urgently.
“I can, but there’s been an accident on the I-95,” he said, tapping at his satnav. “Gonna take a while.”
“Whatever it takes,” I muttered, texting Elliot another urgent request to call me.
By the time we made it back to the party, it was after 11 p.m. and the after-party was still in full swing with a BBQ station churning out burgers to partygoers looking more than a little worse for wear. My stomach rumbled at the scent of grilled meat, but I couldn’t stop. I had to find Elliot. It had been hours since I’d learned what RJ had done and I’d still not spoken to him.
Riley came pelting across the lawn towards me. “Lucie!”
“Have you seen Elliot?” I asked. “I haven’t heard from him in hours, and I need him.”
“That’s just it.” Her eyes were wild. “He’s gone.”
“You mean, he left the party?” I looked at my phone – nope, still no messages. What was going on?
“Well, yeah.” Riley wobbled, clearly having enjoyed the free-flowing champagne. “But also, he quit.”
I froze. “What?”
She let out a big sigh. “I told him about what Vivian did to Noah and he was furious. Said he was going to get Vivian and Noah fired, that he was going after Ralf, that Ralf was a thief …” She shook her head. “He went to RJ.”
“Oh no.” Ralf’s actions would have unlocked some deep-rooted rage in Elliot.
“I know,” Riley agreed. “I told him to talk to you, but he was steaming. So he went to RJ, but RJ …”
“Didn’t give a shit?” I supplied.
“Yeah.” Riley’s face darkened. “And when Elliot saw that RJ wasn’t outraged, they started yelling and … Elliot quit.”
“Oh my God.” I needed to find Elliot. I may have had my pitch stolen, but Elliot had lost much bigger, real opportunities. Because of me. He’d jeopardized hisWoodstockdirector role, and as for the second director job he’d been promised,well, I couldn’t imagine RJ giving it to him now. “Did Elliot see Ralf?”
Riley shuddered. “Ralf had the sense to stay hidden.”
“Good.” I dreaded to think what Elliot would have done to him. “Where is Elliot now?”
“Well, of course I ran after him, asked if he was okay, but, Lucie, man, he looked so fucking sad,” she said. “I offered to sit with him, talk it out, but he just wanted to leave.”
“He went home?”
Riley shrugged. “I guess. He said he needed to think.”
“That’s what he said?” I demanded. “He needed to think?”
She looked at me strangely. “Those were his words.”
I let out a long exhale. I knew exactly where he’d gone. I wasn’t entirely sure how to get there at this time of night, but I’d work it out. “Okay, thanks. I’m going to find him.”
“I hope he’s all right,” she said. “He’s the best.”
“He is,” I agreed. I turned to leave, then stopped. “What about you and Noah?”
