I don’t think it’s the same thing, but saying that will only prolong the argument, and I really need to make things right with my boyfriend. However, I do need to tell him this. “I think you’re wrong. I think she has set her sights on you, and let’s not forget she has a history of stealing other women’s men.”
“Baby, please, believe me when I say you couldn’t be more wrong.” He sits up, looking earnest as he comes closer to the screen. “I have told her point-blank how much I love you. She knows you’re the one, and she’s happy for me because she’s my friend, in the same way all of my costars are my friends. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better crew. We all get along famously, and there are no airs or graces, especially with Saffron. If we weren’t in this situation, I think you would really like her and you two would be good friends.”
I bark out a bitter laugh. I can’t help it. Are all men this blind? “I can safely say that will never happen.”
He closes his eyes briefly. “Viv, I need you to listen to me and listen good. She’s twenty-one, and I’m eighteen. I’m like her little brother.”
A little brother she kisses, touches, and fakes sex with on-screen.
I instantly think of “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo. She apparently wrote the song about her messy breakup with her boyfriend who left her for an older woman. As the lyrics bounce around my head, they couldn’t be more apt.
“I know she’s not interested in me like that because she’s told me,” Reeve continues, when I don’t comment, “and she’s fucking the thirty-year-old assistant director.”
I get what he’s implying—that she’s only into older dudes. But Reeve refuses to see what I see. It’s not their age. It’s their status and influence in Hollywood. Frankly, I would’ve thought an assistant director was beneath her, but he must be serving some purpose. I could continue pressing my point, but it’s not going to get us anywhere, so I focus on the crux of the matter.
“It hurt knowing she picked my gifts,” I quietly say, lying down on my side and tucking my knees into my chest. “It really hurt, Reeve. How could you do that?”
His face contorts in a fresh wave of pain, and his eyes glimmer with remorse. “I didn’t stop to think about it. I wanted to buy you lingerie, but I was bombarded by all the choices, and I was struggling to pick things you would like. She offered to help, and I accepted without thinking it through.”
“You know me better than anyone, Reeve. Whatever you would’ve chosen for me would’ve been perfect.” Pain rattles around my chest. “And girls know that helping someone’s boyfriend with a gift is a no-no. Especially something so intimate. Unless it’s the girl’s bestie and there’s an established friendship between friend and boyfriend like with you and Audrey.” If Reeve needed help, why didn’t he call my best friend?
“It wasn’t intentional, babe, and the last thing I ever want to do is hurt you. I swear.”
“I believe you. It’s her motives I don’t trust.”
He exhales heavily, and silence fills the distance between us in more ways than one.
“I was going to burn the underwear,” I admit after I can’t take the heavy silence any longer. “But I couldn’t bear to destroy such beautiful garments. However, I can’t wear them either. I’m going to return the unworn items to you so you can get a refund.”
“Babe, please, don’t, I—”
“I can’t wear things some other woman picked out for me, Reeve,” I hiss, rubbing at my temples. “How would you feel if I got Nate to help me choose gifts for you? Would you ever be able to look at them without seeing his face?”
Silence engulfs us again, and my heart is so tormented it feels like it’s cracking apart.
“That was low, Viv, but I get the point. Send it back to me, and I’ll return it.” He worries his lower lip between his teeth. “You had better send the makeup back too,” he adds, and at least he has the decency to look ashamed.
He won’t be able to get a refund on the makeup after it’s been used, so I’ll just toss it or see if Audrey wants it. “Not the purse or the bracelet?” I inquire, because I have to be sure.
He shakes his head. “She wasn’t involved at all in those purchases.”
I nod, averting my eyes, because I’m not sure I won’t cry. While he deserves to know how much he has hurt me, I’m aware of the stress he’s under, and I never want to add to it. I want to draw a line under this and try to put it behind us. Yet it’s easier said than done. I thought talking to him would make me feel better, but I’m just feeling sadder.
“Vivien. Look at me, babe.”
I lift my troubled eyes to the screen.
“I’m sorry, Viv. I just wanted to make your birthday special, and instead I ruined it. If I hadn’t upset you, you wouldn’t have gotten drunk and that degenerate wouldn’t have put his toxic lips on you.”
“Why were you like that on the phone last night?” I ask, because he needs to know the way he spoke to me was also upsetting. “If you had just talked to me, this could’ve been avoided. And how could you hang up on me knowing I was upset?”
“I didn’t have the privacy to talk to you properly about it, and the guys were leaving and calling for me. The few beers I had probably didn’t help either. I don’t know what else to say except I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.”
As apologies go, it’s lukewarm, at best, but I’m done talking about this. I’m emotionally exhausted from thinking about it all day, and I want to move forward and pretend like it never happened. “We have both made mistakes,” I say, reaching out to touch the screen. “But this won’t define us. Let’s agree to put it behind us and not let anything like this happen again.”
“I love you, baby. So, so much, and it’s killing me being away from you. Especially now. If I was there, I would hold you in my arms all night, kissing you and making love to you until I’d banished every single doubt and every molecule of pain I have caused.”
I needed that reassurance, and a layer of stress lifts from my shoulders. “I miss you like crazy, Reeve. It’s so much harder than I thought it’d be.” Tears spill down my cheeks as I can no longer keep my emotions trapped inside.
“I know, babe. I know. But we are nearly at the halfway point, and I’m going to see you in less than a month for prom.”
“I can’t wait.” I manage a smile through my tears. “Just promise me one thing, Reeve.”
“Anything, my love.”
“I don’t want her in your room with you alone or you in hers. The thought of it makes me ill.”
He places his hand over his heart. “I promise she won’t be in here unless the guys are with her. Same goes for her room. If that’s what you need to feel reassured, I can give you that.”
“Thank you.”
“I love you, Vivien Grace Mills. You are my heart. My soul. My world.” He blows me a kiss. “Please never doubt my love. It will always only be you.”
His words soothe the remaining frayed edges of my soul, and I sink into the bed, feeling lighter than I have all day. “I love you too, Reeve, in all the same ways. Let’s never fight like this again.”
“Amen to that.” He smiles, and his entire face lights up, heating me from the inside out. We chat for a few minutes about normal stuff before ending our call, and I fall asleep dreaming of him, grateful it’s all blown over and that everything is going to be all right.
My cell rings, waking me from slumber, and I’m instantly awake the second I see his face light across my screen.
“Are you on the plane?” I ask, forgoing a greeting.
“Viv. About that.”
The edge to his tone has me on instant alert, and I jerk upright in bed, smoothing a hand over the tight pain spreading across my chest. “No, Reeve. Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say.”
It’s the morning of prom, and he had a flight booked for noon eastern time, which is around now. It’s due to land just after three, and I was planning on surprising him at the airport.
“I’m so sorry, baby, but I’m not going to be able to make it after all.”