I want you to stay! I want us to be together. To rebuild the life we could have had. I want you to know that I love you desperately. That I’ll never be able to love anyone else, only you.
Out loud, I say nothing, because whatever she needs, it’s not the words that communicate the feelings she already knew seven years ago. Feelings that didn’t stop her from leaving then and won’t stop her now.
She will take your soul and crush it without a thought.
I stroke my thumb over her bottom lip. Under my touch, it quivers. “Come here,” I murmur, pulling her to me. “We might as well make the most of the time we have left.”
We make love, and it’s only later, when she’s asleep in my arms, that I notice the tears on her cheeks.
Chapter Thirty Six
Liz
“Liz, are you sleeping with your director?”
“Liz, when are you returning to L. A?”
“Liz, why are you leaving the play?”
“Liz, are you having an affair with Aidan Court?”
The questions batter me as soon as Percy opens the door. I climb out of the car and let him shield me with his body as we hurry to the stage door. Rope barricades line the path to the door to protect me, but as the reporters hurl the words across like missiles, each new one makes me flinch.
The door closes behind me and I breathe in the relative peace and silence inside the theater. The security guard touches his cap in a silent greeting and goes back to the book he’s reading.
“You’re all right?” Percy asks.
I nod.
He heads back outside. It’s been like this for days. Ever since the pictures came out. The frenzy is draining. The paparazzi follow me from my apartment to the theater and back, taking pictures and screaming questions at me.
On TV, it’s no better, the entertainment networks show the pictures of me and Aidan on the balcony over and over again, and we have to listen to suggestive comments about his perfect ass. Aidan isn’t fazed, apart from arranging for extra security at both our buildings and at the theater, he ignores the frenzy and the paparazzi like they don’t exist.
I hurry toward my dressing room to prepare for my last performance. After the press release went out two days ago about my departure, there were protests on the website and on my social media accounts, and a flurry of returned tickets. I’m almost too ashamed to face anyone on the production, but I have to leave, for my sanity.
Natalia is waiting outside my dressing room.
“Here you are,” she says drily. She’s mad at me too, but she understands a lot more than the people outside.
“Here I am.” I give her a tight smile and unlock my door.
She follows me inside. “When are you leaving?”
I frown. “You already know my last performance is tonight.”
“I’m not talking about the play.” She waves a dismissive hand. “When are you leaving New York?”
I shrug. “In a few days…maybe sooner.”
“What about Aidan?”
I swallow. “What about him?”
She gives me an impatient look. “Is he okay with it?”
I sigh. “I don’t know. He hasn’t asked me to stay…And you know how he was before. He could barely stand to be in the same room with me until my dad died…” I take a deep breath. “Now, he’s…I have no idea what he feels.”
“You’re such a fool,” Natalia rolls her eyes. “We’re all fools though, when it comes to love.”