by Emma Collins
“Sure.”
Riley desperately wanted to kiss her, to let Laura know that last night meant something to her, because Riley wasn’t going to vocalize those feelings right now. She’d definitely end up crying if she did, but Laura had simply hugged her when she could have leaned in to kiss her goodbye.
Laura was about to brush past her when Riley’s hand found hers, her fingers closing around Laura’s wrist, giving her another second to think. She couldn’t let Laura go without doing this. Riley gently spun her towards her, into her arms practically, and Riley reached up to cup her cheek, her eyes fluttering closed as she parted her lips against Laura’s.
Laura didn’t pull away. She wrapped her arm around Riley instead, deepening the kiss, her tongue darting into Riley’s mouth, causing her to sigh. Riley’s hand slid into Laura’s silky dark hair as she hungrily kissed her back, matching her intensity, and Riley wished that this kiss would make Laura change her mind, make her realize that she didn’t have to go back, not for a few more days anyway, but Laura broke the kiss, putting some space between them.
“I better get going,” Laura breathed, her eyes saying the opposite, but Riley didn’t challenge her. If she wanted to go, Riley had to let her.
“Happy birthday,” Riley said as Laura left, loneliness already setting in.
Today was Laura’s birthday and her coming out day, and instead of celebrating the two milestones, they’d be spending the day apart.
Chapter 29
Laura had every intention of spending the evening on her own. She’d picked up a bottle of Pinot Grigio and a pepperoni pizza from her favorite Italian on her way home from Riley’s, but Amanda had called her just after she’d finished eating and insisted that they catch up and celebrate her birthday together. Even though Laura wasn’t in the mood, she could never turn her best friend down, and maybe it would do her good to say it out loud.
Laura took another sip of wine. ”I slept with Riley.”
“What?!” Amanda said, almost choking on her beer. “You slept with Riley Hill??”
Amanda had only been in her house for fifteen minutes. She knew something was up, and she also knew that Riley came out just a few hours ago. That was how Amanda greeted her as she came inside with a case of beer, ready to celebrate: “Riley Hill came out!!”
“I mean,” Amanda started, “I knew you were the woman in the photo. That was obvious. To me anyway, and I knew you were spending a few days with her, but... Sleeping with her? What?? I thought maybe she’d been drinking or...”
“Gee. Thanks.”
“No,” Amanda said, swatting at her arm playfully. “That’s not what I meant. I thought it was a bit of fun... I didn’t think you two would...”
“I know. It just happened... I was drawn to her, but I guess, I thought maybe it was the fame thing or something... I don’t know. I don’t think when I’m around her.”
“So... This just happened, but yet you’re here...?”
“We both ignored our phones last night... Until this afternoon really, and Riley’s manager showed up when she couldn’t get a hold of her. That photo was all over the internet, and she was concerned about what Riley was going to say. She wanted to put out a press release.”
“But why did you leave?” Amanda asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she took another drink. “I don’t get it.”
“Her manager is also her ex.”
“Oh. Ohh,” she said again, and Laura could practically see the gears turning inside her head. “You’re jealous.”
“No. Not really.”
“It’s okay if you are... Or was this just a onetime thing?”
The idea of that night never happening again made Laura’s stomach turn. “I hope not, but I don’t know. I mentioned seeing each other again, you know... When she has time. She’s starting filming soon. She needs to get her lines down, and I didn’t want to distract her by staying.”
“So she’s with her ex now?”
Laura nodded, realizing she might have made a huge mistake by leaving, but she hated the idea of being clingy, and Riley did need to focus on her work. But what if Maria stayed, and what if they had a few drinks... What if Maria wants to get back with Riley?
“Maria was my age,” Laura said, thinking out loud. “I don’t know why, but I expected her to be younger. I mean, I know she’s her manager, but I just didn’t think…”
“That’s a good thing though, right? She’s dated someone older before.”
“I guess...”
“So, why did you really leave?”
Laura sighed. “You know I run when things get complicated.”
“You didn’t run when Grace was going through everything.”
“That was different. I loved her... I did run after though. I couldn’t stay at home. I spent weeks at your place, too afraid to go home and deal with my new life without her.”
Laura took a sip of her wine. That seemed like a lifetime ago now. Her phone buzzed on the glass top of the patio table, keeping her thoughts from drifting back there. She was going to ignore it, but it vibrated again and again a few seconds later. Amanda cocked her eyebrow as they both stared at it, like it was possessed, the humming only slowing down for a second or two before it moved again. Laura never had more than an occasional text or notification light up her phone. This was something else. Not even her birthday would get her this much attention.
Laura reached for her phone, the screen covered in notifications from all of her social media accounts along with her email. She’d been hoping at least one of them would have been a text from Riley. Laura had texted her when she got back a few hours ago, and Riley had replied, telling her to enjoy her night, but that was it. She hadn’t heard from her since.
“What is it?” Amanda asked, her leg bouncing as she waited for Laura to say something.
Laura’s eyes scanned over the messages, clicking on one of the articles that was mentioned.
Riley Hill’s Mystery Woman Revealed
Last night Riley Hill (30) was spotted dining out with author, Laura Foley (44), and the two couldn’t keep their hands off one another, having an intimate moment (photo above) before they got in their car.
According to our sources, Hill has written the film adaption of Laura Foley’s book, Chasing Time, and is set to star in the upcoming movie titled the same.
Earlier today, the award-winning actress came out to her millions of fans via her Twitter account.
Laura stopped reading, pressing the back button and swiping away all of those notifications. “Everyone knows it’s me in that photo,” she said, meeting Amanda’s eyes. “I can’t believe she did this. I specifically asked her to leave me out of this.”
“She did. In her coming out statement, anyway. How do you know she did this? Her manager might have leaked it... Drum up some publicity for the movie before it’s even started.”
“I don’t have my birth date on any of my social media accounts. That article I just read said I’m forty-four.”
“Oh. Shit.”
“Yeah,” Laura said, reaching for her glass. “Only close family and friends would know that... And Riley. I should have known that her career was always going to come first.”
“I don’t know what to say, Laura.”
“Me neither... Other than, I’m glad I’m here with you tonight. I made the right choice coming home. Clearly, whatever we had... It was more important to me than it was to Riley.”
“I’m sorry,” Amanda said, giving her a sad smile. “I really am.”
“It’s probably for the best. I doubt that it ever would have worked... We’re too different. Our lives are too different... It might have helped me move on though.”
“You always find something positive to hold on to.”
“I have to.”
Chapter 30
Riley put down her script, letting it rest on her lap as she stretched her hands over her head. She’d spent the last two hours, lounging by the pool and memorizing her lines. She th
ought this process would be easier since she wrote the screenplay, but it wasn’t. She still needed to internalize all of those lines. Then she could start crafting the scene in her mind, toying with her inflection and running through the scene from different angles. She had to get the lines down first though.
She picked up her phone, lifting her sunglasses to see the screen properly, but Laura still hadn’t replied to the text she’d sent yesterday or the one she’d sent this morning. Her phone was on Do Not Disturb. It had to be. Since she came out, her phone hadn’t stopped chiming. She only had a handful of numbers white listed, and Laura was one of them.
Riley had stayed away from social media, as tempting as it was, because she knew that for every positive response, there would more than likely be a negative one. There would be people, just like her brother, who would hate her simply for being gay, for living her own life. She hadn’t heard from her family, and she didn’t expect to. They would disown her, but it didn’t matter. She’d already disowned them.
Maria had flown home this morning, happy with how everything went. She’d calmed down a bit, when Riley explained that she was ready to come out, that this wasn’t a disaster. She didn’t want this to be a publicity stunt either, and Maria agreed to help her put what she wanted to say into words without bringing up her new movie or Laura. This needed to be about her. She’d kept her word to Laura. The statement didn’t mention her name.
That was two days ago. That morning, she’d woken up in Laura’s arms with the feeling that they’d started something special, but she didn’t know what to think. Things were too crazy right now. She had to be ready for filming, and even though the world knew her secret, today felt no different than any other day. She didn’t care if Maria was right, and she did miss roles over this. Riley was officially retiring after this movie.
This whole process had helped her finalize that decision. Writing was what she wanted to be doing. It was new. It was incredibly scary, but she had to do it.
Her phone rang in her hands, and she swiped her finger across the screen. She always had time to talk to Adam even though they had a long chat yesterday. Plus, she could use a break. She pushed herself out of the lounger as she said ‘Hello’ and slid her feet into her flip-flops.
“Hi. Just checking in...”
“Has the reaction been bad?” Riley asked as she paced the concrete surrounding the pool. “I haven’t checked... I can hear it in your voice.”
“No. Not really. It’s been mostly positive. I was just wondering how Laura’s taking it?”
“Laura? Why would she care?” Riley asked, stopping in her tracks.
She never told Adam about what happened between them. She didn’t know if there was anything to tell him about beyond that night, and even though he was her best friend, from a professional point of view, Adam probably wouldn’t be happy with that development. There was no way he could tell it was Laura from those photos. It was dark. It could have been anyone.
“She’s probably getting just as much attention as you are, and she wouldn’t be used to it. Is she there or have you heard from her?”
Riley knew her brain was fried from reading the same lines over and over again, but she couldn’t make sense of what Adam was saying. “No. She’s not here, and I haven’t talked to her. Why would she be getting attention?”
“Why wouldn’t she? She’s been seen kissing you!”
“But that photo is... There’s no way people could identify her from it.”
“Well, someone did. There’s blog posts analyzing the whole thing, wondering how long this has been going on. The author of the original book and the screenwriter adapting it. It’s a pretty good story.”
“Adam, what!? This is my life. You’re just as bad as Maria sometimes.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that. I thought you knew... Or that you did it. Like you said, you can’t really tell who you’re kissing in that photo... By the way, do you have a thing for older women?”
“What?” Riley said, her heart hammering in her chest. She could hear the smile in his voice. He was only trying to lighten the mood, but Riley couldn’t joke about this.
“Well, Maria’s what... Forty-five ish? Laura’s fourteen years older than you. There’s a pattern there. You wanted there to be more of an age gap in the movie than in the original book, too.”
Riley’s jaw clenched. This isn’t what she needed to hear today. She had to break her rule and go online... See what Adam was talking about.
“I’ll try and get in touch with Laura,” Riley said, ignoring his question about her type and hung up.
Riley opened up a celebrity news website and, of course, it was on the homepage.
Riley Hill’s Mystery Woman Revealed
Last night Riley Hill (30) was spotted dining out with author, Laura Foley (44), and the two couldn’t keep their hands off one another, having an intimate moment (photo above) before they got in their car.
According to our sources, Hill has written the film adaption of Laura Foley’s book, Chasing Time, and is set to star in the upcoming movie titled the same.
Earlier today, the award-winning actress came out to her millions of fans via her Twitter account.
Riley’s stomach turned. No wonder Laura wasn’t answering her texts. She asked Riley to keep her out of this, and she couldn’t even do that. What if Laura thought she did this? Where did this article even come from? There’s no way anyone could make that assumption based on the photo. Laura wasn’t even famous. She was an indie lesbian romance writer who had about five photos of herself on her social media accounts. There was no way someone could have made that connection without being here, without spying on her or being involved in Riley’s personal life.
Riley almost threw her phone in the pool when it hit her.
Maria.
She’d been so hellbent on making this a promotional tool for the movie. Riley had no proof that Maria did this, but she wasn’t above an anonymous tip, and she was the only one who knew what happened with Laura.
Riley paced the pool area. She’d kept her circle of friends close over the years, but business always got mixed in, and sometimes, those lines blurred. This was betrayal though. Riley had made it clear that Laura was to be left out of this, and Maria went behind her back, throwing Laura right in the middle of it.
Riley had to explain, to let Laura know that this was a mistake, that she never wanted this to happen.
Laura probably hated her right now. Riley couldn’t even imagine waking up to that kind of news. Laura was practically unknown, and now... Her name was out there. People would be searching for her online, wondering who she was, what she was like. Riley was used to that, to having her personal life on display for the world. Laura wasn’t.
Riley marched past the script and up the stairs, letting her bikini fall to the floor as she got into the shower. She had to go see Laura.
If she was going to ignore her messages, Riley had to go to her.
Chapter 31
Laura opened her laptop and took a sip of her flat white. She usually got right into work mode when she got to her favorite coffee shop, sat in her seat by the fireplace, and had her caffeine at the ready, but she wasn’t so sure that would happen today. She opened up a blank word document. The first few paragraphs were always the toughest, but this would be different.
So much had changed since she published her last book. Riley Hill had happened, but it wasn’t just that. Her name was out there now, and even if it wasn’t, it would be once the movie was released. Every book from now on would have to match Chasing Time and be even better. It was a lot of pressure, and Laura didn’t know if she could handle it.
She didn’t even need to write this next book and definitely not so soon after the last one. Signing over the rights to Chasing Time had landed her a sizable chunk of money, but if she wasn’t writing, she didn’t know what else to do.
She was restless after everything that had happened with Riley. Laura had thought
that she’d go back to Riley’s rental when she had a few days off, but after seeing her name all over the internet, Laura couldn’t see how they could pick up where they left off. Riley had completely disregarded her wishes to stay out of this, but Maria probably convinced her to include Laura’s name for the sake of the movie.
If that was what they were after, it worked. There was so much attention on this movie, and they hadn’t even started filming it yet. The studio released an official statement saying that Riley Hill and Julie McCoy would be starring in a movie adaption of Chasing Time. It was strange, reading her name next to two mega stars, but this was her new reality.
Luckily, around here at least, no one was treating her any differently. She could go to the local farmer’s market or the deli and no one bothered her. People who knew her didn’t mention anything about Riley or the movie, but maybe they didn’t know. Not everyone read magazines or celebrity news sites.
The only thing Laura knew was that she needed to get on with her life. She’d just turned forty-four, but being with Riley, even for just those few days, had snapped her out of years of grief... Loyalty, really. She’d had Grace’s blessing to find someone else, but Laura never thought she would. Even if it wasn’t going to be Riley, Laura felt like she was given a second chance, like she could start over, and that was exactly what she planned on doing.
She’d start a new book. She stared at the blinking cursor with confidence. She could do this. She had an outline that she’d been working on, but today was the first day that she was actually sitting down to get it started. She reached for her coffee, taking a sip, trying to clear her head. The door chimed, and Laura glanced over at the door.
It was like déjà vu. Riley’s eyes locked onto hers as she pushed her sunglasses on top of her blond hair. She didn’t bother ordering herself a coffee. She came right over to Laura’s table.
“Hey,” Riley said, running a hand through her beach waves. “Can I join you? Just for a minute.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for filming?”