by Sofia Sawyer
Better late than never.
Jackson ran a hand through his hair, his mind completely blown.
There it was: the silver-lining in his bleak day. He could feel the resentment for his father ease. His family wanted him home. And he wanted to be there with them. To patch up the hole torn between them. To make up for lost time.
As if the irony wasn’t lost on him. Now, he finally had a reason to stay, but he couldn’t. Not yet, at least.
He stood, ready to face his father. “Thanks, Mom.”
If he couldn’t stay for now, at least he could set things right so that when he did return home for good, they’d be in a better spot.
He wouldn’t give up, even if it took all night to get through to his father.
28
Elena
“Where’s Jackson?” Christopher asked as he passed Elena a glass of champagne.
“He’s running late. Last-minute packing for his trip tomorrow.”
The wrap party had officially started half an hour ago. It was a beautiful affair, taking place at a swanky rooftop bar overlooking downtown Charleston. The space had been outfitted with decor that reminded Elena of an upscale New Year’s Eve party, full of sleek black, silver, and gold. It was all so glamorous.
Even Elena looked the part with her sweeping updo, classic makeup, and a floor-length shimmering black gown that highlighted all her best features. She had picked it out days ago, hoping Jackson’s beautiful blue eyes would scan her slowly, the sight of her leaving him breathless. But as she stood there alone on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, she just felt like the pathetic girl playing dress up as she’d always been.
Elena slipped away from the crowd to look out to the city, finding comfort in the rising church steeples and the warm glow from the gas lanterns lining the buildings below. All night, everyone had asked her about Jackson, and she’d give them the same response. As the minutes ticked by, she wondered if he was going to show up at all. She’d waited all day for his call, but heard nothing.
She feared maybe silence was her answer. He wanted nothing to do with her anymore.
But he said he’d be here.
She hoped he’d follow through.
Everyone was at the party. All the couples, crew members, Celeste, Rachel, Christopher, and bigwigs from Berkshire Media. They also allowed select members of newspapers, digital news, and magazines to attend. Celeste had called all her contacts, offering them the scoop on the upcoming Always, Ella TV mini-series, and books. The media had to sign NDAs, promising not to expose Elena’s true identity before the TV reveal.
That, of course, had them buzzing. Maybe they couldn’t write about it yet, but the excitement of knowing the woman behind the viral relationship advice blog was enough to get them there. Connecting with Elena would get them on her radar so they could call on her for interviews prior to the launch, capitalizing on the book and show promo when they could finally share the news.
Celeste sauntered over to where Elena stood alone, a look of absolute self-satisfaction across her face. “Ella, quite a turnout, huh?” She lifted the champagne flute to her lips.
“Yeah, it’s all pretty exciting.” As much as she tried to muster up the energy she was supposed to have for such an important moment in her writing career, she couldn’t. It felt meaningless without Jackson there.
Elena looked at the growing crowd, spotting Maritza, Natalie, and Ana all taking shots and giggling, their boyfriends staring on with complete adoration.
Guilt tugged at her. Tomorrow she’d tell the couples the truth at the farewell brunch. Rachel and Celeste had been right about making her wait. She couldn’t take this moment from them, not when they looked so happy.
Rachel joined them. “Looks like your ‘beau’ finally showed up,” she said while ogling him over her champagne glass. “Well, if you were going to pick a fake boyfriend, thankfully, it was him. He’s absolutely gorgeous.”
Celeste nodded. “He was perfect for the show. I watched some of the footage earlier, and he’s got a face for TV. I bet we’ll get even more viewers because of him.”
Elena wrung her hands. “So, I didn’t mess this all up?”
Rachel rolled her eyes. “You didn’t exactly make our jobs any easier, that’s for sure. But we’ve got a good team at Berkshire. We’re confident your little faux paux won’t get out.”
“The couples will have to sign an NDA before you tell them, of course,” Celeste added and leaned in closer. “And besides, fake boyfriend or not, there’s no denying the chemistry between you two. That certainly wasn’t a lie.”
“Elena.” Jackson’s voice was low behind her, sending her nerves on overdrive and a chill down her spine.
Rachel raised an eyebrow, a small grin lifting her lips. “Have fun,” she said before she and Celeste went to mingle with the rest of the crowd.
Elena slowly turned to face him. Her gaze traveled up the length of him, pausing on the lips she ached to kiss before resting on his guarded eyes.
“You look beautiful,” he breathed out, the tension on his face relaxing a fraction.
“I didn’t think you were coming.”
“I made you a promise. I would never break that.” A pained look crossed his face. “I’m sorry I was late and made you worry. I got caught up at my parents’ house and accidentally left my phone there, so I couldn’t give you a heads up.”
“It’s okay, Jackson. You’re here now.” She sucked in a breath, trying to find the nerve to finally put herself out there and tell him how she felt. “I need to talk to you about what I said at the cafe.” She touched his arm and looked into his eyes. “You have to know I didn’t mean it. I know I already apologized, but it wasn’t enough.
“I reacted badly to the gossip site and Brittany’s threat,” she continued. “I’m so sorry for shoving you away and blaming you for it. More importantly, I’m sorry for downplaying your business success, just like your father did. It was wrong. It was awful of me to make you feel like you didn’t matter. If anything, it’s the complete opposite. You’ve shown me I deserve so much more. That I could be so much more. I know it’s too late though,” she rambled, “you’re leaving and—”
A tap on the mic sounded, pulling their attention to the makeshift stage across the space. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention.”
Elena froze. That voice was so familiar.
As the crowd parted just enough to give Elena a clear view of the speaker, her stomach dropped.
Brittany.
29
Elena
She was going to throw up. How did Brittany get in? More importantly, why was she at the mic?
When Brittany’s eyes scanned the crowd and stopped on Elena, a slow smile spreading across her lips, Elena knew exactly why Brittany was there. The sinking feeling in her stomach somehow got lower as Elena waited for Brittany to completely blow up her life in the worst way possible.
In all the madness of fighting with Jackson and doing damage control with the Berkshire team, she never gave Brittany her answer.
And now she was going to pay for it.
“Ah, Ella. There you are,” she cooed into the microphone while raising her drink in a toast. Turning back to the audience, she continued. “I want to say how privileged I am to have worked under such a talented writer. Ella—or as I know her, Elena Lucia—is a senior copywriter at the ad agency where we work together and has taken me under her wing these last two years. In seeing her quality of work, which was mediocre at best, you can imagine my surprise when I found out she was the woman behind the ever-so-popular Always, Ella blog.”
Some members of the crowd gasped while others whispered to the person next to them. A few people held up their phones and started to record.
“Of course, I was so shocked.” Brittany put a hand to her chest, feigning surprise as she continued. “I thought I knew everything about Elena since we worked closely and all. But as I read through the responses sh
e’d shared to build such a loyal fan base and to afford her this amazing opportunity, I learned something else about dear ol’ Elena.”
Jackson took Elena’s hand and squeezed. “We’ll be okay,” he whispered in her ear, the phrase he’d used all week to ground her, and every time he’d been right.
Just like now. She held her head high, ready to face what Brittany was going to share. Elena would get through it, she knew she would.
The crowd, now both confused and captivated by Brittany’s mysterious story, hung on to her every word. “You see, Elena got this book deal because of the success with her blog, especially in regards to relationship advice.” Brittany pointed at the couples sitting near the bar. “For people like you, right?”
Christopher saddled next to Elena. “How did she get in?” she asked.
“She has a press pass.”
Elena realized Brittany must have tapped her contacts at the newspaper for it.
Christopher leaned closer. “Do you want me to take care of her? I’ll pull the mic out of her hand.”
Elena shook her head in resolve. “Thank you, but no. You can take the mic away, but she won’t stop until she says what she has to say.”
“I could understand why Elena would hide this side of her,” Brittany continued. “A lot of writers aren’t confident enough to share their work with the world when they first start out. But that wasn’t it.” She laughed dryly. “It’s because she’s a liar.”
Christopher left Elena and moved through the crowd, whispering into the ear of the security team standing nearby.
“Elena Lucia is a fraud. She pretended to be an expert in love and relationships when she didn’t even have a successful one herself. Her real boyfriend ditched her a year ago for other women because she didn’t have what it takes to keep him happy. And that guy standing next to her,” Brittany pointed at Jackson, “is not her boyfriend. It’s pathetic that she’d made up a boyfriend for the advice column, but it’s a whole other level of pitiful when she has to convince her best friend’s brother to keep up the charade. There you have it, folks. You’ve been duped.” She raised her glass up before swallowing the rest of her champagne.
The crowd went utterly silent as everyone turned to look at her. Elena wanted to die. Disappointment from the execs. Hurt from the couples. And smug expressions from the press all surrounded her. She knew it would be bad, but going through it, and the mixed reactions, made it feel so much worse.
Everything in her screamed to turn and run, but before she could take a step, Jackson gripped her hand harder. He looked down at her with determination and pride. Even after everything that happened between them, he was still in her corner. He still believed in her.
It was enough to give her the courage she needed to face this head-on. Her worst fears had just come to light, and now everyone was looking for answers.
Elena gave Jackson’s hand one last squeeze before letting go. She slipped away from him and walked towards the stage. The audience parted like the Red Sea, eagerly awaiting her response. Would she bolt? Would there be a catfight? Would she try to explain it all away?
This was her moment.
Elena took the microphone from Brittany, who still looked pleased with herself. “You didn’t win,” Elena whispered to her, causing Brittany’s smile to falter just a moment before she stepped to the side.
All eyes were on her.
“I’m not going to deny what Brittany said. And for that, I’m sorry,” she said, addressing the couples. It pained her to see the tears in Maritza’s eyes. “Always, Ella started by accident, really. It’s true that my boyfriend cheated on me with other women, and I turned to writing as a way to make sense of it all. I had no intention of sharing it with the world and had no way of knowing people would write to me looking for help. But they did, and I felt compelled to respond.
“I thought it would fizzle out. The world is full of content, and things like blogs die in an instant. Somehow, it continued to grow. No longer were only the heartbroken writing in, but those in committed relationships were also looking to hold on to the love they had. Again, I felt obligated to respond.”
Christopher’s nod encouraged her to keep going.
“It’s also true that the boyfriend I wrote about to provide examples didn’t exist. Not entirely anyway. He was a man formed from good memories I’d had with my ex, examples of my friends’ boyfriends, and what I believed would be an ideal man and relationship. After being treated badly for years, I wanted the people coming to me to look at their own relationships and make sure they were not only being treated right but that they were treating the person they cared for right, too.” She laughed quietly to herself. “I just didn’t truly realize what that meant until this week.”
She looked at Jackson, relief warming her body. “Jackson St. Julien is my best friend’s brother, yes. He was also a childhood friend growing up. I’ll admit, he was probably one of the last people I would have chosen to be my stand-in boyfriend for this show. But you need to know that I care about the people who I write to, or in this case, coached live. I didn’t want my personal failures to make them lose faith in me when all I wanted to do was help. I can see how wrong that was now. Maybe I should have taken my own advice about honest and open communication for once. I should have just been upfront about my relationship with him.”
Maritza wiped a tear away and listened with renewed interest. The hurt on her face was no longer there, now replaced with a flash of understanding. Elena turned to the other couples who all offered her slight nods or smiles.
Elena’s gaze swept back to Jackson. He stood tall, the look of adoration in his eyes gave her the strength to continue. If she was going to tell the truth, it was time to tell the whole truth. Maybe this wasn’t the setting or the way she wanted to go about it, but this might be the last chance she got. She wasn’t going to waste it.
“In going through the exercises with the couples this week, something happened. It was incredible to watch them grow and connect with their loved ones. But I, too, have fallen in love again. When Jackson first agreed to go along with this, I had asked him to fall into the role of the man I described in the blog. He immediately said no, of course, because that’s Jackson—utterly and completely self-confident. And I’m glad he refused because he showed me how a real relationship could work.
“They’re messy and unpredictable. They aren’t made to be put in a nice neat box, tied with a perfect bow.” She smiled to herself, thinking back to the beginning when Jackson had said something similar.
“The person you’re meant to be with should push you to grow and celebrate you for who you are, no matter how imperfect that is. More importantly, they’ll be by your side to support you and hold you up even on the days when you don’t feel like you deserve it. This week made me fall in love with Jackson St. Julien.” Elena watched his face drop in shock. Keeping her eyes trained on him, she continued. “Every situation we went through on the show not only let me learn more about him and how good relationships work but showed me who I really was too.”
“Oh God, you’re not going to believe this bullshit, are you?” Brittany said, rolling her eyes.
Elena glared at her. “Hiding behind the name and the blog meant I wasn’t being fully authentic. And I’m sorry for the pain I might have caused because of it. I was just trying to be perfect. To be worthy of the people who turned to me for help. But whether you believe it or not, this week has shown me how to be comfortable in my own skin and love myself, and that in by being imperfect, I can connect with and help others even better. A huge part of that realization was because of the people I was surrounded with and because of Jackson.”
She turned back to him. “I know you’re leaving, and it’s too late, but I need you to know that I love you, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I’m sorry, I got scared. I know it will take work to find the courage to be myself when life wants to challenge me, but I’m going to fight for it every day. I couldn’t have
gotten to this point without you. I’ll forever be grateful for that, Jackson.”
Before Jackson could speak, Natalie pushed her way onto the stage. “Ella—Elena—I think I could speak for the rest of us when I say that boyfriend or not, you helped us all significantly.”
Elena turned to the couples, all who nodded in enthusiasm.
“You helped me and Max see that we need to make more time for each other. We want to take our relationship to the next level, so we’re going to work to coordinate our work schedules better. And if all goes well, we’ll consider moving in once my lease is up at the end of the year,” Maritza said before laying a big kiss on Max.
“Same here,” Zach added while pulling Ana to his side. “Being here reminded us of the early days in our relationship before we got so focused on work. We had a ton of fun. It renewed the spark between us.”
“Yeah. I actually felt a little more like myself this week,” Ana confirmed. “I didn’t even check my email more than once a day! That’s insane.” Zach shot her a look. “Okay. Okay. Twice a day.”
Natalie shared a sheepish smile with Hari across the space, tears misting her eyes. “And Hari and I have decided to call it quits.” The crowd gasped. “Oh, no, no. This is a good thing. As much as we love each other, it became clear that we wanted different things, and neither of us is willing to budge. As much as it hurts to have to say goodbye to such a wonderful man, we both owe it to ourselves to be happy. Hopefully, we can find what we’re looking for.” She turned back to Elena. “This couldn’t have happened without you. You need to know that.”
Excited chatter surrounded them, further pissing off Brittany. She stomped her foot down. “How are none of you furious that Elena lied to you?” She pointed at Rachel. “You signed with a fraud. How will that affect your brand? Maybe these people are fine with it, but what about the rest of her followers? They could easily ban you and her books.”