“Vera can see you if she wants to. But not in my apartment.”
Well, that was convenient. It’s our apartment until I invite Brody in and then the place is Eli’s again.
“What’s going on?” Brody asked, turning to me in disbelief. “Wait. Do you two live together? Are you two a thing? My god, Vera. You can’t be serious. This asshole?”
“He’s not an asshole,” I said.
“I sort of am,” muttered Eli.
“Not helping,” I told him. “Brody, let’s talk outside.”
He threw his arms up like I’d seen him do so many times when he needed me to come and fix something. A publicist he didn’t want to fire himself. A costume that he didn’t like. A company that stopped making his favorite undershirts. (Yes, really.) “You just told me to come inside!” he said.
“And now I’m telling you to gooutside.” My voice was firm and unyielding. It was a tone I’d used plenty of times on behalf of Brody, but never directed at him.
Eli stood with his arms crossed just in front of the door, so that Brody would have to squeeze past him, which was very childish. But then in an equally childish move, Brody let his shoulder ram into Eli’s as he walked by.
A vein in Eli’s neck twitched, but he didn’t move.
“I’ll be right back,” I told him.
“I can make him leave,” Eli said quietly. “Just say the word.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be right back,” I said again. “Can you please take a breather? This whole macho energy is not helping.”
“Sorry for not being more chill about seeing that fucking piece of shit inside my house with his hands—” He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring. “Never mind.”
I had to fight every urge to ask him to continue and lean into every animalistic tendency and describe in detail what it felt like for him to see me with Brody.
But then he sunk down onto the couch and closed his eyes. “Just go.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Let’s get out of here, Vera,” Brody said as he opened the driver’s-side door and then motioned to me expectantly. “Get your shit. Get Marlon. Let’s go home. I’ll even have someone come out and drive your car back. We can talk things out on the way back to LA.”
“What?” I stood on the sidewalk, my feet so heavy they felt like they might sink into the concrete at any moment.
He slammed the car door shut and walked back over to me. “I know you lied about the script, okay? And I don’t care. I can explain about the restructure in the car if you’ll just give me the chance, but first come back with me. Let’s get you out of this place. What are you even doing here with all these old people? It’s depressing as hell, honestly.”
Was this really it? The moment I’d always dreamed of when Brody wanted me. The moment when he would pick me and sweep me off my feet. And I could only describe it as... disappointing.
“What do you want, Brody?” My voice broke. “Which Vera is it that you’re trying to get back? Your assistant who saves your ass? The one who you planned on firing to trim the fat from your payroll? Or is it the friend who keeps your secrets and never lets you feel alone? How about the girl you’ve slept with for years but have never taken on a date? Take your pick.”
I balled my fists to stop my fingers from trembling. Somewhere deep inside of me, I thought I’d always have Brody. I might never have him in the way I’d wanted him for all those years, but I could always be hisVera who saved the day and remembered he was allergic to pineapple and that he liked to stock up on old iPhones from eBay because he missed the home button.
His face twisted with confusion, and that angered me even more. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Vera. You want a raise? You want me to help circulate your script? We can talk about all those things and... and all the other stuff too. I know this feels complicated. But it doesn’t have to be.” He pointed back and forth from me to him. “We work, Vera. And yes, I didn’t appreciate you like I should have. I shouldn’t have even entertained letting you go. We can talk about—”
“You need to go,” I said too softly. There was no more use in fighting.
“What?”
“You need to go,” I repeated again with assurance. Whatever we had become wasn’t worth fighting for. “You need to go back to LA, Brody.”
He pointed to the door of Eli’s apartment. “Whoever you think he is, you’re wrong. He’s always looked down on you, Vera. On both of us. You have to know that.”
“This isn’t about you or him,” I told Brody. Especially when neither of them was even capable of being what I wanted. “It’s about me.”
He paused for a long moment, then nodded to himself. “Please answer next time I call. This conversation isn’t over. It can’t be.” My heart pulsed erratically in my chest as he got into his stupid expensive car and I watched him drive away.
