The screening party has been going relatively fine until I watched Samantha Calloway fawn over every bullshit line that came out of Scott’s mouth. He complimented her brown hair three fucking times, and Rose’s mother was close to melting at his feet. At least her father is on my side.
He texted me: I don’t like him. – Greg
To the point, a heart with good intentions. No bullshitting around. That’s Greg Calloway. His wife isn’t as benevolent, intelligent or non-judgmental. She has a WASP elitist mentality that would make my mother internally roll her eyes.
It’s mostly Rose’s parents that have my stomach in knots. Because even though I’ve appeared only twice in the show, edited to look disinterested in my own girlfriend, it’s their opinions that matter to me, not the public, not strangers—just people that I need to impress. Because one fucking day, I plan to marry that girl, and I want them to realize that I’m the best man for Rose. And that no one else can come even marginally close.
Rose’s anxiety is sedated with five glasses of champagne, and she relaxes into my chest while I hold her around the waist. Since the aired footage has been mostly about the “love triangle” for the past fifteen minutes, Lily bottles her emotions and finally emerges from Lo’s shirt, her cheeks tear-streaked and pink. I have a feeling Lo will be carrying her out of the venue. Most likely in a front piggy-back.
We’re nearing the last five minutes. I think they’ll end with a Lo and Lily clip, but as soon as Scott Van Wright’s face fills every big screen with the caption—Heartthrob. Rose’s ex-boyfriend—I realize they’re going to continue to capitalize on the love triangle.
So here we go, Scott. What do you have left for me?
“I think about her all the time,” he says with an insincere, wistful smile. “She’s a firestorm that I won’t ever smother. I’m the one who inflames her, who riles her to a new, confounding degree. She’s my perfect match.”
My face falls. And I unwillingly let everyone see my shock. I can’t hold it in this time.
Because those last lines are mine. I said them in an interview.
And he stole them from me.
“I hate him,” Rose says under her breath, her eyes narrowed. She can’t see my reaction since she stands in front of my body while I hold her from behind.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“He plagiarized you.”
I let out a breath. “Comment peux-tu le dire?” How can you tell?
“Who riles her to a new, confounding degree?” she repeats. “Only you would say that…and maybe me.”
I kiss her cheek and wrap my arms tighter around her waist. She eases back into me. He can’t come between us.
“I’m still in love with her,” Scott says. “And I can’t help what I feel, but it’s there. I love Rose the way she deserves to be loved. I just…” He shakes his head like he’s filled with worry. “I just don’t see Connor being the best thing for her. He’s too self-absorbed to care for that girl the way I do. And I hope, over the course of living with her again, she’ll realize that we’re meant to be.”
“Murder is still illegal in Pennsylvania, right?” Rose asks.
“And the United States, and the world,” I tell her.
“Dammit.”
And then the screen fills with me.
Back in the study room where I sit on a desk chair:
“What do you think of Scott?” Savannah asks.
I stay complacent. “I find him comparable to a little teenager jimmying the lock of my house.” I stare right at Scott in the room, who’s off screen, hovering over Savannah’s shoulder as she films me. I add, “He’s nothing more than a petty thief, trying to take what’s mine. Is that honest enough for you?”
“And what about Rose?”
“What about Rose?” This is where I said what Scott just did. I called her my perfect match, but it’s edited out completely.
“Do you love her?” Savannah asks.
The abrupt cut makes me look more callous than I am. More inhuman and unfeeling than I ever want to be. I stare off for a long time as I gauge my answer, picking my words carefully. To tell the truth. Or to lie.
“Love is irrelative to some.”
Most people let me stop there. They never make me elaborate.
But Savannah says, “And is it to you?”
I have a couple fingers to my jaw, and I smile, something that looks empty and soulless on screen. “Yes,” I say. “Love holds no meaning in my life.”
The show fades to black with that last line. In the full-length interview, I added, “But Rose is at the epicenter of my world, whether I allow myself to love her or not.”
It was all cut.
And as the large crowd claps and talks amongst themselves about the show, Lo and Ryke turn on me with dark scowls. Rose grabs another champagne glass off a tray and leans back into my chest, unaffected by my words like them.
“So was that the real Connor Cobalt?” Lo asks, his arm around Lily who stares at me with the same furrowed brows. She glances at her sister with more concern. They’re on Rose’s side. As they should be.
“I spoke honestly,” I say. “And that wasn’t the first time I’ve done so.”
“So you’ve never loved anyone?” Lo asks. “Not another girlfriend, not your mom, your dad or a friend?”
He wants to know if I think of him more than just a contact like Patrick Nubell. Am I using Loren Hale for his father’s company, the multi-billion dollar baby product franchise? At first, yes. Now, no.
He’s my real friend. Maybe my first one ever.
But have I loved him the way a friend loves another friend? I don’t think I’m wired that way.
“No,” I say. “I’ve never loved anyone, Lo. I’m sorry.”
Rose points to Lo, her champagne glass pinched between her fingers. “Let it go, Loren. I have.”
“Why,” Lo asks, “because you’re both cold androids?”
Rose shoots him a look that would be harsher if she didn’t drink so much tonight. I need to get her to bed before she passes out. “It’s just how he is. If you even understood half of Connor Cobalt’s beliefs, your head would spin.”
“Rose,” I say, worried she’s going to fracture my relationship with Loren. While he doesn’t know me like she does, I’ve never lied to him. I just haven’t shown him all of me. And that shouldn’t be a bad thing. Some people are naturally private. I am.
She tries to defend me, stepping towards Lo and skillfully staying upright. I hold her by the waist to steady her movements. “No, Connor has done nothing wrong.”
“He doesn’t love you,” Lo sneers. “He’s been with you for over a year, Rose.”
“Lo,” Lily warns.