“Hey. What do you have to be sorry about?” He lowered me to the ground but didn’t let go of my waist.
“You quit,” I said.
“I know.”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I told him. “Not because of me.”
“It had to be done.” He didn’t look sad, quite the opposite in fact. He seemed … triumphant. “I tried to call you but—”
“My phone died.”
“I lost track of time with my buddies from the crew,” he said. “And then I wanted to find you but couldn’t. You must have left with Sol at that point. Lucie, what Ralf did to you—”
“I know, it’s horrible.”
“And then RJ … he didn’t evencare,” he went on, “said something about doing whatever it takes to get ahead, and it was like …fuck, where’s your integrity?”
“He said the same to me,” I murmured.
“So I just let him have it. When I think of everything that I’ve done for him, the late nights, the lost weekends …” Elliotshook his head. “I chose work over Mom so many times, thinking it would pay off, and look where it got me.”
“So why quit when you were so close?” My throat felt thick with emotion.
“Was I, though?” he said. “He was so pissed about theWoodstockthing. And when I challenged him on what Ralf and Vivian did, when I saw he didn’t care how that hurt you, it all became so clear. I’m a great assistant – I get promoted away from that role, he’s fucked.”
“You think he was never going to let you have a directing job on his movie,” I said.
“I asked him outright,” Elliot said. “It wasn’t an immediate yes. So I quit.”
“Elliot …” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Elliot shrugged. “I don’t care. I can’t work for a man like that, not anymore. Even if he offered the directing job to me … I wouldn’t take it.”
“I don’t think anyone has ever stood up for me the way you just did,” I choked. “So what will you do now? What aboutWoodstock?”
“I need to call the network in the morning,” he said. “But I figure we can work something out.” He swallowed, eyes shining. “There’s something else.”
“What?”
He took a deep breath. “I’m moving to LA.”
“You’re joining Stoof?” I guessed.
“Yeah,” he said. “I called my buddy, Josh. He has a spare room for me and more work than the Collective can cope with. Mom got a place in a residential rehab program over in Bridgeport and I think she’s actually ready to make it work. It’s time.”
“Elliot, this is the best news,” I said truthfully.
He folded my hands in his, clutched them to his heart. “Come with me.”
I blinked, unsure if I’d heard him correctly. “To LA?”
“Yes,” he said. “Please.”
I stared at him. He’d already given up so much because of me and even now, on the cusp of an amazing opportunity, he was still trying to put me first.
“You know I have to go back,” I said.
“For Bex.” He squeezed my hands. “And I told you, I understand. But that won’t be forever. A few months, maybe?”
