I gave her a crooked grin. “I have my ways.”
“Ugh!” April snarled. “You are so infuriating! I see why Victoria would get so pissed off when talking about you.” April placed her hands on her hips. “Look, it’s obvious your little stunt didn’t work. So you’d better just head on out. I don’t know what Christine will do about this, but I hope she puts your nuts in a vice. You need to be taught a lesson.”
I shook my head. "I'm not leaving until I talk to her. At this point, I don’t care what happens.”
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this," April sighed. She made a flipping motion with her hand. "Gabe, please get security."
Gabe looked reluctant. “Why don’t we just . . .”
"Gabe!" April cracked. "Now!"
"Alright!" whined Gabe, slowly getting up. "Don't get your panties all in a bunch."
He made it couple of steps before I said sternly, "Wait."
Gabe paused, turning around to regard me, his eyebrow raised.
"Hear me out," I said to April. "Just let me tell you my side of the story and I'll leave."
April pursed her lips, undecided.
“Five minutes,” I urged. "I just want Victoria to know that I . . .” A lump appeared in my throat, making it difficult to speak. "That I love her," I finally managed. It was hard to say it. I’d been thinking it for a long time, but my words were carefully chosen. I knew it would give April pause.
Shock etched across April's face at my announcement, exactly what I was hoping for. Even I was surprised by it. It felt very strange to have those words come out of my mouth, especially after I'd sworn to never fall in love with a girl again.
“Wow,” April gulped. “I was almost convinced. But not quite.”
“Go on,” Gabe persuaded. “That can’t be all?”
“Gee, thanks for your support,” I muttered.
Gabe winked.
“Promise me that if I don’t like what you have to say, you’ll put an end to this and never bother Victoria again.”
I grinned. “Promise.”
April stared at me suspiciously for a long time before letting out a huge sigh. "Fine, but make it quick."
Chapter 26
Victoria
How dare he show up like that? I thought, standing before the large window of Christine’s office with my arms crossed and looking out at the darkening skyline.
After I’d run from the auditioning room, crying my eyes out, I made it back to the top floor, locking myself in Christine’s office. There I felt safe, away from everyone. I'd gotten myself together and resumed my duties, working to try to forget what happened.
Still, there'd been a part of me that wanted to run back down and confront Tyler just as fast as I’d run out, to call him the scum of the earth, a lying bastard. It took all of my discipline, repeating an empowering litany over and over in my head, to stay put.
No, I was better off without him in my life.
A knock on the wall jolted me back from thought. "Hey Miss Boss Lady!"
April walked into the office, a concerned look on her face.
"Hey," I replied. I hadn't seen April since I ran from the auditioning room, and I wondered if she was mad at me. "How'd everything go?"
April walked over and set some papers down on Christine's desk and sighed. "Awful. I had to call off the rest of the audition. It's being rescheduled for tomorrow. I've already called Christine and confirmed. She was angry about it, but I think she has too much on her plate right now to worry about it. That is, as long as everything gets taken care of tomorrow.” April twisted one of her side ponytails around her index finger, looking thoughtful. "Something about Patty White is giving her an ulcer."
I know all about it, I thought.
"What about Tyler?" I asked. I hated how eager I sounded.
April stopped fooling with her hair and looked at me. "I sent him away."
"Did you have to call security?" For some reason that was important to me. I liked the idea of Tyler fighting with security guards and getting thrown out on his ass. It would show his cocky ass right.
April shook her head. "No, he left on his own."
"Oh." I sounded so disappointed.
April walked over to stand next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, looking me directly in the eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern.
For a moment, I thought about lying, but then I thought better of it. Since my ordeal with Tyler, April had been a great friend. She only wanted what was best for me.
"At first I wasn’t,” I replied. "I cried and cried, but then I slowly pulled it together." I sniffed. "Someone had to do the work around here."
"That's good," April said softly. "But I have a question."
"Huh?"
"Did you ever give Tyler a chance to explain why that girl was there that day?”