“Ah, fuck.”
Aiden slaps my back. “Hey, it could be worse. All you have to do is think about what she could’ve meant when she was angry with you for ‘missing the party.’” He makes heavy scare quotes in the air with his fingers.
I get two more drinks, then call for a ride because Aiden has to get up early to get ready for some court thing.
It’s driving me crazy that she went to see a dossier guy today. This burning knot in my gut is something I’ve never felt before. I don’t want her to meet anybody. A date? With which one of the hundred men?
I lie down on my bed and stare at the ceiling. It really doesn’t matter which asshole she saw today. He’s never going to put her first like she wants. He’s going to be an overeducated workaholic who won’t—
Oh, shit. That’s it!
I jackknife up. She thought I missed the party because I didn’t put her first. To her, me choosing a meeting over her is a slap in the face.
Even I agree that I shouldn’t have gone. Tim got the offers from Melvin and Josh, and he’s looking them over for me before getting Aiden involved. But the meeting itself isn’t what got me the offers. The directors wouldn’t have offered me the roles if they didn’t think I was perfect for them, no matter how much ego was at stake. At the end of the day, Hollywood is about money. The directors know they’re only as good as their last movie, just like the talents they work with. And “good” means box office.
I knew it was her birthday and I said I’d be there. But I didn’t go. That’s not putting her first.
And a simple apology isn’t going to cut it. I can’t believe how much I screwed up. Argh. I’m an idiot!
She fled her country to avoid marrying someone who didn’t care about her. She said it was that important. And I remember the soft look in her eyes when she was gazing at her friends at the hospital when Ivy had her babies. Yuna wants that for herself—that love, that special bond.
What if I tell her I love her? I’ve known it for a while now. Would it reassure her that I’d never abandon her like that again?
No… She won’t accept that. Not so easily. I saw how she was that ex-boyfriend waiter guy. She was meat-locker cold with him.
And to make things worse, she might think I’m just saying, “I love you,” to get back in her good graces. That’d be worse than the situation I’m in now. Just thinking about it feels like a burning coal in my gut.
But…wait. She said she’d have forgiven him if he’d played a Chopin waltz!
That’s what
I need to do! Play a good, wholesome waltz by Chopin. I’ll pick the most famous one, so she knows I put in the effort. That should soften her toward me.
I search for the most famous one. Google says it’s Waltz in A-flat major, opus 42. I watch the YouTube video that pops up…and my heart sinks. Jesus. It sounds hard.
Should I still try to wing it?
No. Yuna ripped apart that song Melvin’s daughter played, which I thought sounded fine. She’ll cover her ears and run in the other direction if I butcher the waltz.
Maybe I should settle for something a bit less famous. But how many waltzes are there?
Back to Google. Turns out there’s a lot. I sample a few, and they all sound really complicated. What if Yuna doesn’t like some of them? She might think I half-assed it and get offended.
I sigh. I can’t figure this out on my own. I need expert help. Somebody who knows what I need and also knows Yuna well enough to steer me in the right direction.
But all of Yuna’s friends are mad at me. And I don’t know if anybody can…
Wait. Ivy.
Yuna said she met her at Curtis. And Ivy has a piano. Which means she understands what I need.
Given how furious she was the last time I went over, she might kick me in the balls instead. But I’ll get up and let her do it again if it’ll get her to help me.
Because winning Yuna back is what matters. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to prove that I’m the man for her.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Declan