“You’re right.” I’ve potentially ruined his life and he doesn’t even know it.
“Where is Lover Boy anyway?”
“I don’t know. Gone. He had a meeting, but I don’t know where.”
“Did you exchange contact details?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I thought I’d have time to say goodbye, but Zara cornered me. And by the time I finally escaped, it was too late.”
“Do you at least know the name of his charity?”
I shook my head.
“Such a rookie,” Jamila gently teased. “I guess you could track him down through his mom if you really wanted, but it’s probably for the best that it ended like this. And I’m sure if Zara takes action against him, he’ll find a way to track you down.”
“That is not comforting.”
“Will you come back to my room? I can’t handle the idea of you not having windows in here.”
“I’ll manage.”
“Please? I’m lonely. And I want someone to drown my sorrows with if this is the last day I have before my life publicly implodes.”
“Fine.”
“Thank you. You want to get drunk? I need hair of the dog to make me feel normal again.”
I glanced at my watch. It was only 10am.
“Sure. If we’re going down, we might as well have some fun on the way.”
Chapter Fifteen
By four in the afternoon, Jamila and I were very, very inebriated. We’d gone through several bottles of Dom Pérignon and had been alternating between dancing to the eighties music clips we’d found on the in-house music channel, and sunning ourselves on the suite’s private balcony. I was also mourning the end of my non-relationship with Wells.
Jamila and I had forgiven each other, although I was still worried about Patrick, and I wondered if I should go and track him down to see if he’d been in trouble yet. But I figured I would know for sure soon enough when Zara came knocking.
Which she did, just before 5pm.
I let her in, knowing nothing we said or did from this point on would make a difference to the outcome. She was either going to bury us, or realize she was going after the wrong people.
Jamila stayed on the couch, eyeing Zara warily. I tried to ascertain what Zara was about to say, but she wasn’t the kind of person you could push if they weren’t ready.
She made a big show of getting comfortable on an armchair before opening her mouth.
“So, I did some digging…”
“And you realized you’d been targeting me for all the wrong reasons?” Jamila piped up, unable to help herself.
“Actually, yes. And I’m sorry. I got my guy to look into two things for me, and one was whether Uma was the one to tell Lars’ wife about me. Turns out it was true.”
“I told you I didn’t say anything!” Jamila cried triumphantly. And then she softened. “I was your friend, Zara. I didn’t want you to get fired. I just wanted you to be careful.”
Zara sighed, all the fight gone out of her. “I know that now. And I apologize for doubting you. But hopefully I can make it up to you with some good news. My guy also looked into Seth, and Jesus Christ, the dude is messed up! Jamila! How on earth did you put up with that creep for so long?”
“I don’t know. I guess it was the whole charisma thing.”
“Yes, but…sheesh.” She shook her head. “Anyway, you’ll be pleased to know my guy is forwarding some interesting evidence to both the police and media, so you should be off the hook in just over forty-eight hours. I told him to time it so you’d be able to get back to the rehab center before the news broke. No one has to know you skipped out for a few days, and now that I know everything, I totally don’t blame you.”
Jamila gaped at Zara. “You did all that for me?”
“Hey, I know I can be a bitch, but I can’t stand injustice. Especially from a total douchebag like Seth Ericsson. By the time the media is done with him, his career will be as dead as Harvey Weinstein’s.”
Jamila looked thoughtful. “You know, even though he did what he did, I don’t think I’ll feel happy about seeing him crash and burn. He’s clearly got an addiction problem. I hope he can get help with that and learn from his mistakes.”
“You’re way too nice for your own good,” Zara said. She then turned to me. “And it was kind of you to take all those risks for Jamila.”
My cheeks heated up. “Actually, Jamila offered to pay me, so it wasn’t very noble.” I looked at Jamila. “But just so you know, I’m not taking the money.”
“Yes, you are. You helped me out way more than you needed to. You could have just left me to suffer this morning, and let Zara think the worst, but you fought for me, even when you were mad. And rightly so.”
“Don’t worry about your brother,” Zara said. “I’m not going to get him fired. I met him today and he seemed like a real sweetheart. And I know with someone like Jamila throwing herself at him, he never stood a chance.”
“I know, right?” I laughed. “Jamila is the female equivalent of Chris Hemsworth. If he was from South America. And had dark hair. And boobs.”
“Stop it, you guys,” Jamila said, swatting her hand at us.
“Do you like him?” I asked seriously.
“Who? Chris Hemsworth? Yeah, he’s a hottie, but if we’re talking Thor movies, I prefer Tom Hiddleston as Loki…”
I swatted her arm. “Stop it. You know I mean my brother.”
She laughed and then looked at me earnestly. “Actually, I do. But I’m not sure how a relationship could work between us. He told me how often he’s at sea.”
“True love will find a way,” Zara said magnanimously. “Now, are you going to offer me a glass of that champagne? We need to celebrate Jamila’s freedom, and the downfall of a terrible man.”
I poured her a glass and handed it over.
Jamila looked thoughtful for a second. “I want to help you two ladies out.”
Zara and I glanced at each other.
“Okaaayyy…” I said.
“With my show being cancelled…”
Zara’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”
“Oh, yeah. I got the email yesterday. Legal Lies is over. But anyway, I’ve been thinking of starting my own production company when I get home, and I want you two to be a part of it with me.”
Zara looked dazed. “I can’t believe Legal Lies is being cancelled.” And then she seemed to catch up to the rest of the conversation. “You know what? I like that idea. We can be like Drew Barrymore’s Flower Films. How awesome would that be? I have a bit of money saved from an inheritance. It’s not as much as it used to be, since I had to use some of it to live on recently, but there’s still at least a mill in there.”
“As in one million dollars?” I asked, my mouth falling open.
“Yeah. Jamila probably has more than that, though.”
“If you count a few of my endorsements, then I do. But in cash, I’ve probably only got a couple,” Jamila explained.
I shook my head. “Again, as in million?”
“That’s right. And don’t worry, babe. I don’t expect you to chip in any money. Unless you want to use the twenty-grand I was going to pay you for this week?”
“That’s still your money, so that’s a given. And I would love to include some of my own, but just before I left Australia, my ex drained my bank account. So I’m afraid I don’t have much at all right now.”
“You never told me that!” Jamila scolded.
“It was embarrassing. I shouldn’t have given him access to my money.”
“And letting your ex set you up for drugs isn’t as bad?”
“Ladies, ladies, let’s just agree that you both had deadbeat exes and there’s nothing we can do about it now,” Zara said. “Although, if your guy was based in the States, I could find a way to ruin his life,” she said to me.
“Aw, that’s so sweet,” I said. “I actually would love for Damien to experience
some sort of repercussions for his behavior, but it isn’t worth wasting any more energy on him.”
“For the record, how much did he take?” Jamila asked.
“About three thousand dollars. But that’s not including the money I shelled out to support him over the past year. That would have equaled close to fifteen thousand.”
“What an asshole. Well, you know what? I want you to come and stay with me in LA for a while. I have plenty of room at my place. And once we’ve established our production company, you can rub it in his face.”
I laughed. “I would love to. But you’ve already been way too generous.”
“Just let me help you. You can repay me by, I don’t know…cooking or whatever.”
“You don’t even know if I can cook!”
“Can you?”
“Actually, I’m not bad at it,” I admitted.
“Good, then that’s settled. Zara, you want to crash at my place for a while, too? It might be more convenient if we’re all in the same location, and I know you live near Venice. I don’t want either of us to have to spend all that time in traffic getting between there and my house at Silver Lake.”
“I could come visit for a bit,” Zara agreed.
“Excellent.” She clapped her hands together. “This is awesome! I wish we were back in Miami already so we could get stuff happening.”
“I think we should enjoy the last few hours of relative peace,” Zara said. “Because the paparazzi are going to be all over you once the story with Seth breaks.”
“I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be free press for our new business venture.”
“I love how you see the bright side of everything,” I said admiringly.
“You know, despite everything that’s happened, I still think it’s the best way to be.”
“I’m starting to come around to your philosophy,” Zara laughed.
“Thank you so much for including me in this,” I said. “I don’t feel worthy at all.”
“We’ll soon change that.” Jamila held up her glass. Zara and I copied. “To three kick-ass women who are going to change the world!”
In that moment, I believed it was possible.
Chapter Sixteen
Day Six: At Sea
On the last day at sea, Jamila, Zara and I camped out in Jamila’s suite and brainstormed our new production company. We wrote down a whole bunch of people who Jamila thought she’d be able to approach for either funding, or a working role. It was crazy she wanted me to be a part of it, but according to her, my experience working with a bank was a positive thing.
“You’ll be able to do all the money stuff!” she said.
“You know I’m not an accountant, right?” I warned.
“Sure, but you must understand how to manage finances.”
“Sort of. I mean, I work in communications, but that means I need a decent understanding of how banking works in general.”
“Either way, I know I can trust you to do the right thing.”
I loved her faith in me and hoped I could do the team justice.
At one point in the afternoon, Jamila disappeared temporarily and came back, holding a small gift bag that she handed to Zara.
“What’s this?” Zara asked, surprised.
“Open it and see.”
Zara slowly opened the bag and pulled out its contents. It was a brand-new iPhone. “I knew it!” she squealed. “You were the one who stole my phone and purse the other day!”
“I’m sorry, babe. I just couldn’t risk you going to the media before you knew everything. This is the newest model, and I’ve pre-paid your bill for a year to apologize.”
Zara examined the box. “Does it have a case?”
“I’m not sure.”
“If you throw in a Louis Vuitton cover when we get home, I’ll forgive you.”
“Done.”
Zara looked like she was still piecing a couple of things together. “Hang on. They didn’t find norovirus in the business center either, did they?”
“Sorry.” Jamila jumped up and kissed Zara on the cheek. “How about you get to be the lead in the first film we make?”
“I thought that was a given already,” she said, winking.
“Well, we need to make sure our girl here has a good start,” Jamila said, tilting her head in my direction.
“Oh, no. I’m totally fine to stay behind the scenes,” I assured them.
“No way. You convinced two doctors you were a rehab nurse,” Zara said. “You’re getting top billing in our first movie.” She tapped a pen to her mouth. “Who says we can’t have three leading ladies? Drew did it with the Charlie’s Angels remake.”
“Yes! I love it!” Jamila started madly scribbling notes on some paper in front of her.
“I think we should take a break,” I said nervously. The idea of plotting a movie was kind of overwhelming.
“Good idea,” Jamila said. “I heard there’s a talent show on tonight. Maybe we should go check it out. It might provide a bit of creative inspiration.”
“As long as we’re not actually entering it, I’m all for it,” I said.
“Great. Let’s go.”
Zara linked her arms with the two of us and we headed out into the hall.
I had a feeling life was never going to be boring with these two.
When I spied Miami in the distance the next day, I started to experience a whole range of emotions. Excitement, because I was only returning to Australia for a short time before I flew back to LA to stay with Jamila. Anxiety, because I’d started thinking about Damien again, and I wasn’t sure whether to confront him or just pretend nothing ever happened. And a bit of fear, because I was basically resigning from my job and leaping into a very unpredictable and unknown world.
Also, I was sad, because once I stepped off the ship, it would mean my memories of Wells would start to fade. He wouldn’t even have a way to look me up, because he didn’t know who I really was. It would be too much to expect him to try and track me down through Jamila. I doubted he would even be that eager to be reunited after I skipped out on him without properly saying goodbye.
Jamila was one of the first people to leave the ship. I was going to stay behind for a bit longer to see Patrick.
“You look after yourself, babe,” she said. “I can’t wait to show you around LA in a few weeks!”
“You’re not afraid of the press once the whole Seth thing goes down?”
“Nope! I can’t wait! And I’m sure everyone will forget about it soon enough. By the time you show up, it will be old news. Anyway, I’ll see you soon!”
She gave me an air kiss and disappeared.
I didn’t know where Zara had gone, but I knew I would also see her again. I was pleasantly surprised by how cool she was. Last night, the three of us had watched a highly entertaining cruise talent show, featuring a special performance by the pop star Evan Parker—who I hadn’t even realized was onboard—and a girl singing with him who was trying to impress a guy. She looked vaguely familiar, but I assumed I had just seen her around the ship. Plus, the final act had consisted of the most eye-popping pole dancing routine I had ever seen, starring a very talented woman and her male partner. It had never occurred to me that guys could pole dance, but he was very, very impressive. And when they kissed at the end, I knew the Oceanic Aphrodite had struck again. Another match.
Patrick couldn’t stick around for an extended goodbye, but he had enough time for me to tell him where I’d be going after this. I’d never seen his face light up so much.
“I might have to come and visit you in LA, sis,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Of course you will.”
“Just don’t do anything that will get you kicked out before I arrive.”
“I’ll try.”
I gathered up my bags and made my way to the exit. A perky crew member handed me a cardboard folder. It looked like some sort of marketing information offering a discount on future cruises. I tucked it under my a
rm and headed off the ship. I was going to try my luck with a taxi to the airport, although I hadn’t thought ahead and imagined how many other people might also want to go there.
I waited at a taxi stand. It would be some time before one of those yellow cars would be for me.
And then I looked over to the other side of the road and my heart skipped a beat.
It was Wells, standing there, holding up a sign with the name Nina Turner on it.
I gave up my place in the line and awkwardly ran over with all my bags. Wells’ face broke into a happy grin when he saw me.
“I was worried I’d missed you!”
I didn’t know whether to respond with my normal accent, or with the other one and then ease him into the truth.
I figured the easing was better.
“What are you doin’ here?” I asked.
“I had my meeting in Cozumel and decided to come back to Miami to see if I could catch you when you got off the ship. And here you are!”
“How did you get back so quickly?”
He laughed nervously. “I, uh, flew.”
“You flew for me?”
He tried to downplay the sacrifice. “It was only a couple of hours, so I could handle the cramped space.”
“But you did that for me?” I repeated.
He nodded shyly.
I was so happy and so nervous, all at the same time. I reached up and kissed his mouth. It was only going to be a quick peck, but Wells held on and extended it into a proper make-out session.
After at least two minutes, I reluctantly pulled away. “Let’s go get a drink. We have a lot to talk about.”
“Oh? That sounds ominous.”
I almost second-guessed myself. I mean, it was awesome that Wells had come back, and there was a chance we might have a few more hours together, but in the end, any future for us was impractical—even if I was staying in LA for a while. Maybe I shouldn’t tell him…
No! I had to. He got on a plane just for me. And I hated secrets. I was going to tell him.
He took one of my bags and led me down the street to a small café.
I Thought It Was You (Oceanic Dreams #4) Page 10