After Connor’s conversation, a bad dream, and a heavy counseling session, I had a breakthrough—I think. I want your friendship because you care for me, not because you need to save me—or pity me. When would you like me to vacate?
Good night or day, wherever you are,
Becca xoxo
To: Bex
From: Dan
Re: oops… try not to let it happen again—security issue.
I refer to swiping the card. You can invite whoever you want home, no need to ask. So it’s a yes. The Kesslers are nice. William works for me.
About listening to the conversation… I don’t like Connor.
A wall, you say…. There’s no wall. We need this separation. I couldn’t have said it better. I don’t want you to think I’m with you because I pity you, or to save you. I’ve always cared about you. I NEVER pitied you. But I’m afraid you aren’t ready for my extremely overwhelming-overbearing persona. And I can’t go back to the way I was with you.
I don’t need you to move, stay where you are. We’ll talk later. I’m not coming back for another three or four weeks.
It’s night, so have a good night. I miss you too.
D
PS Give the lunch details to Bryan, please.
Chapter 12
During the week, Dan had not only childproofed the terrace, but also ordered Mary to prepare enough food to feed the entire building. I regretted inviting the Kesslers over, but it was a little too late—five minutes till noon to be exact. Everyone had worked so hard to put this together, it would be rude to cancel. Still, the anxiety was eating me alive with every minute that passed. Then there was the problem of preparing the meat. I argued with myself about it. Dan didn’t let anyone use his grill. Should I call him, text him, email him, or let it go and just use the thing? All those questions became moot when the door of the apartment opened and Dan walked in with Barb and Vince behind him.
He wore a gray top coat, my favorite navy blue Henley shirt, and a pair of loose jeans. He needed a haircut—his dark brown hair was tousled, with a few strands coming all the way down to his gray-blue eyes. The idea of him coming home did a little number inside my heart. Vince carried Junior, while Barb held a chocolate cake. I loved her.
“Hi,” I managed to utter in disbelief. “You’re here?”
“I thought you needed help with the grill, baby.” The boyish half-smile made my heart flutter.
“Or you didn’t trust me with your baby.” I smiled playfully at him, but didn’t move.
“Nah, I trust you with everything.” He closed the distance between us and picked me up in a bear hug.
I hugged him back tight enough to make sure he was real.
I missed you. This feels better than eating chocolate.
His husky voice whispered so close it made me shiver. “Guess what, princess? I missed you too.”
Did I say that out loud?
When he didn’t let go, I rested my head next to his heart.
Nate’s voice through the intercom broke the moment.
Dan put me down and authorized the Kesslers access to our floor, and then turned back to me. “Can you walk?”
I nodded, he linked his fingers with mine, and we walked to the door to receive our guests.
“Mr. Brightmore.” Will’s wide eyes scanned the place, and Dan. “I didn’t—”
“Please, call me Dan.” He shook Will’s hand and made the introductions.
Dan went to the fridge to pull out the meat, and called us to follow him outside to the terrace. On our way, Barb and Pam stopped a few times to compliment the furniture and decorations and admire the paintings. I’d done most of the decoration, though I didn’t mention it. I tugged the sleeves of my sweater and nodded agreeably to what they said. It sounded stupid to say I did most of it for my friend.
“Dan, we thought you were in Argentina.” Pam’s animated voice changed the topic of her pregnancy—thank God—and a gossipy voice took over. “There’s a picture of you and an actress circulating over the internet. The article said you had dinner with her yesterday night, and looked very cozy. I didn’t know—” She eyed her husband, after he cleared his throat twice. He shifted his gaze very deliberately to me. Panic hit her face.
Dan pulled his phone from the back pocket of his jeans, within two touches he was transformed from lounging Saturday next door boy, to the business man. “Sanders.” Dan’s menacing voice made everyone jump. “Me, Argentina, an actress, and no, it’s not the beginning of a joke. Well, if he needs help, then hire another person; bill me. I’ll pay from my personal account, I’m sure I can afford you. The last time I visited Argentina?” Dan concentrated on my face before he continued his conversation. “It was with Becca. She and I stayed at The Four Seasons…. Two years ago, right, Bex?” I nodded trying to make sense of the one sided conversation. “No, I’d remember. Nope, she’s not, but still. Yeah, for the weekend…. Need to go, we have guests. You do the same. Give our love to Ash and the kids.”
Dan put his phone back and turned towards the Kesslers who were now standing close to the play area, whispering to each other, bodies stiffened, and tension spreading from their discussion. “Thank you for catching it, Pam.” He tried to ease up the strain between the couple. Then tilted his head, trying to get a read from me. “You okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” He shrugged and went back to tend his grill.
But on second thought, I didn’t like it. I was annoyed by everyone looking at me like I should be behaving differently, and confused because it bothered me that I didn’t know where he had been. Relief, which made less sense, since I didn’t care who he dated. Right? What could I make of all these nameless emotions that swirled around in my brain? I let everything go for the moment, I had guests, and the opportunity to be with Dan after too many weeks apart.
Before I began to truly enjoy myself, my cell rang.
“Hey, Ty,” I answered.
“How’s it going?” His fake-casual tone came out odd.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need you to calm him,” he said, and I got up and went inside the house, seeking privacy. “There’s a big problem down in Argentina. I have Henry and everyone working on it, but thought you should know before Dan. Today’s article is a Photoshopped masterpiece from a two-year-old picture. An actual picture of him and a girl—you—coming out of an Argentinean restaurant. Someone got hold of it and doctored it perfectly. There’s a second one taken on the Igazu falls.”
“Who took them and what do they want?”
“The pictures are her proof. She’s claiming to be pregnant with his baby.”
“That’s bull.” Rage brewed inside me. “Who is she, and how far along is her fake pregnancy?”
“I’m aware it’s shit-talk. It’s been more than a year since my boy whored around. Anyway, her name is Rosario Cardone, she’s a model-slash-actress, of course, and she’s claiming to be ten weeks pregnant. The article has a brief description of their Christmas together—their tryst, they’re calling it.” I pulled my iPad from my purse to search for the now famous pictures, but on second thought I let it go and put it back, moving to the kitchen. Childishly, I opened the fridge to check if the cake frosting was up to the correct chocolate standards. “We’ll sue her and seek damages.” Ty continued his rant. “And we’ll bury her alive in the end, but Dan’s going to explode when he learns about it. For now, let’s avoid Armageddon. We all have different assigned jobs, and we’ve decided yours. You’ll keep him calm. Don’t let him browse the news, watch TV, or receive any calls.”
“How am I supposed to pull that one? Especially the calls part, Ty.” I could take away his phone, I’d done it in the past. “We don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“You do, little sister. Hence this ridiculous break from each other.” He sighed. “Tell him then. Or don’t. I don’t care as long as you keep him off my ass and everyone else’s. Can you help? Please?”
I gave him my own sigh. “How
long do you need?”
“A week.” He responded, and his playful voice came back. “No, kidding. Give me as much as you can. A day, at least.”
I ran a hand over my face. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Okay, good.”
Something Dan said came back to me. “Ty, can you tell me, honestly, who is the she Dan was talking about during your phone conversation with him? The one you’re obviously trying to fix things for?”
“You, Bex. He’s worried you’ll be upset. Mostly because you haven’t known his whereabouts as you usually do. This brings me to…. Please, Becca, convince him you aren’t affected by any of this.” He paused for a moment, and his voice was more tentative when he asked, “You aren’t, are you?”
“I’m…. No. It just rubs me in the wrong way that someone is trying to frame him. But we’ll fix this. We’re a team. Keep me posted.”
* * * * *
Dan closed the door behind our lasts guests, and I sat on the sofa, ready to make my next move to keep him from leaving. “How long are you staying?” I asked after Vince and Barb finally left around eight o’clock. They’d done the job I assigned them to perfection—be the perfect guests, and stay over as late as they could.
“I’m leaving tonight,” he said matter-of-factly.
Oh no, I thought when he said for the weekend, while talking to Ty, he was referring to his stay at home. How was I supposed to stall him when he was about to jet out to who knows where? I thought about his phone inside the dryer, and knew it would only take him less than fifteen minutes to find it if he needed to leave. Think, Becca, think. Tell him to fix the… nothing was broken. Not one lie came up to mind, I really never lied to him. The least in front of him, he’d catch me in the act. I can’t, I had only ever kept one, huge critical secret from him. Not a thousand, as Tyler presumed.
“Do you know a woman named Rosario Cardone?”
“I do, but I don’t,” he frowned, and I narrowed my eyes as we both searched for answers. “She’s some actress somewhere on planet Earth. A friend tried to set me up with her a few months ago, when I was in… shit, I can’t remember. But I told them I wasn’t interested. A few weeks ago, I got a call from the same friend with the same request. I declined again. So… long story short, I’ve never met her. Why?”
I opened and closed my mouth a few times. Where should I start?
Remember Fatal Attraction? Or, better yet, Obsessed? It’s like that, but you never met the woman.
Before releasing all the details Ty had given me, I made him promise to listen until I finished. He would behave rationally and stay for one night.
“How long?” he asked. I must have looked confused, because he explained. “Have you known something’s wrong? And how long do I need to stay rational?”
I burst into laughter because he lacked rationality. “Ty told me earlier today, and they need a day.”
“The pictures?”
I nodded and told him the rest, not leaving anything out.
Dan walk from one side of the living room to the other twice, stopped in front of me, and gave me an impassive look. “You okay?” Back to the same question, why wouldn’t I be? His eyes softened, and worry came through them, and the other unfamiliar emotion I chose to ignore, appeared too. “I’m asking because your face is telling me everything, and nothing.”
First, I shut my eyes, and then covered them with the heels of my hands to avoid the Eye-Spanish-inquisition. Childishly, I shook and nodded my head at the same time. After taking a few deep breaths, I calmed myself enough to think about today’s events and Dan’s question. Was I ok?
Keeping my breath steady, I talked it through with him. “I’m not sure. There are too many things going through my head, which confuses me. Usually I don’t care who you date.” Did I? Because the last time I saw him with a hot model, I saw red. Not my best moment, and of course I wouldn’t bring it in the conversation. “Ty pointed out, that you pointed out…. Oh, I’m not making sense.”
Another deep breath, and I continued arranging my thoughts about his actress baby mama. “The truth is, we’re out of touch, and the shark-media dropped a huge bomb that shook me to the bone. I’m privy to everything you do, well, I was. Before, your itinerary appeared in my calendar—no surprises. Now you could be staying at the four seasons a few blocks away and I wouldn’t know. The gossip kills me because I hate to miss what’s going on with you. You’re my best friend. Simply…, I’m affected by it. Which shouldn’t happen!”
The last three words came out too loud. I opened my eyes, scared of my own reaction and the possibility of having feelings for him. Which was crossing the imaginary line that would ruin our friendship. He shoved his hands inside his pockets and waited for me to continue. The distance he put between us weeks ago remained, even when he was right in front of me. The space could be a foot, but for my body, which was used to being held by him when I was in a crisis, it felt like he was galaxies away.
“Because… it has never affected me, what you do. Your man-whoring ways aren’t my business—” I paused because it felt like my business… and when had that happened? “And claiming she’s expecting your baby… a baby, what the fudge? You wouldn’t make a baby with just anyone.”
Would you? I frowned waiting for a mental no, but it never came.
“You were with me during Christmas break.” I poked myself in the chest for emphasis, leaving a tender place just over my heart. “Not her, me.” Exasperated, I took off my sweater. The temperature in the room had risen by a hundred degrees. “I mean….” I rubbed my legs, trying to calm the ridiculous outburst. Finally, I stood up and walked towards the kitchen. I needed chocolate. “Did I mention the baby?” I look up from the cabinets where my secret stash of chocolate was hidden. Next to the drying towels. Dan stared at me, and one corner of his mouth twitched up slightly. “I bet if you weren’t you, she’d be calling Brad Pitt. The child could be fatherless for all she cares. She’d be flipping lucky if you had agreed to father her babies—and not for the money. This is happening to you because of your whoring streak.”
Dan took a look at me, waited for me to settle, and began to defend himself. “I stopped sleeping around a long time ago.” He pointed at me, and his sharp gaze fixated towards mine. “You knew my schedule, I can’t believe you still bring up the media news.” Dan was right. Up until Aspen, he’d texted, Skyped, or called every night. Unless it was necessary, he avoided going to events with models. “I’ll give them until tomorrow night before taking charge. I trust them, and I promised you. But I’m leaving tonight. I’ve got a meeting on Monday afternoon in Tokyo, and don’t see a reason to stick around.”
A thick knife punctured my heart; the pain inside my chest was unbearable. “Me?” I needed him more than anything, and wanted to plead for a few more hours with him.
“You?” He smiled and shook his head. “You’re a good reason, but you need me to go.”
“I don’t.” I closed my eyes, trying to hold in the tears and the truth, but they were wet when he pulled me into his lap and held me tight.
“You’re a bigger mess than before, Princess.” He caressed my hair and sprinkled it with small kisses. “Yet, for the first time since I’ve known you, you made a friend, Pam, all by yourself. Tomorrow you’re visiting your Mom, and the Patricks. It’s the Becca show. My presence will be distracting. Add to the mix my new macho persona, as Ty likes to call it, and emotionally you might crack.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Remember it happened a few weeks ago?”
“But if you leave, then I’m going to miss you,” I sighed, and hugged his waist, resting my head on the left side of his chest.
He lifted me and carried me to the bedroom. “I’ll miss you more, baby.” Dan gave me a lingering kiss on the cheek before speaking. “Go get ready for bed and we’ll watch a movie.”
* * * * *
Far, far away, One Republic’s song, Secret, played again and again. I didn’t have a background theme, but if I could
pick one, that would have been it. After it kept playing the same segment for a while, my brain kicked in; waking me up. I picked up my cell phone from the night stand. The screen read seven missed calls, five missed Facetimes, and three unread texts from Ty. I checked Dan’s side of the bed, and it was empty. He left for another few weeks, “to be determined,” he said.
I dialed Ty’s number. “Morning. Are you aware that it’s noon?” He answered after the first ring. “One job, Rebecca. One job and you couldn’t do it right. What happened? You told me you were fine—”
“No, I said I’ll deal, which I confess I did poorly. But he promised to give you a day, and went to Tokyo…. Didn’t he?”
Dan had traveled to Tokyo, after taking a small detour to California. He’d woken the Sanders household at five that morning, and they’d finished solving the issue. The actress had retracted her statement. Dan was suing her for emotional distress, and had made a few calls to end her career. Randy had taken a plane to Argentina to find the original photographer and sue him too. After making sure everything was lined up properly, Mr. Brightmore had left for the Far East.
I left the bed and went to the kitchen for milk.
Bex,
I broke my promise. I had to fix my non-love child issue; don’t be mad. Good luck with today’s reunion. Don’t let her get to you, please!
Miss you,
D
“Oh, look, he left me a note.” Ty growled, and I rubbed my eyes and poured a glass of milk. “I’m sorry, but I tried.”
“Breaking down isn’t trying. He told me why he came, Bex. Are you okay? Can I do something to help? I’m here for you, talk to me.”
“Ty, he shut me down. One day he got so pissed at me that he left his own home to avoid me.” I took a deep breath, letting out what bothered me from the separation Daniel created. “Dan put this wall between us. Betsy used to synchronize his calendar with me. Now she’s not allowed to confirm if he had tea with the Queen, even when it’s on the news. So, yes, I broke down yesterday when I asked him to stay and he said no. He’s my person, Ty, and now I have no one.”
Where Life Takes You Page 11