Tomorrow, I promised silently, feeling sick to my stomach. I’ll call tomorrow.
Sure enough, Connor was on both Jimmy Kimmel and Leno – at the same time. Sebastian really was good.
I flipped back and forth between the channels, watching Connor appear in two different places seemingly at once. Ah, the magic of pre-taped shows.
Both shows had all the same things in common – the sexual innuendoes. The wink-wink-nudge-nudge jokes. The astonishment over his family’s involvement in the blackmail. Connor’s 30-second pitch on bringing clean, cheap energy to everyone in America.
And, of course, the same questions about me.
“So, you guys are in love, I understand?”
“Is this the future Mrs. Templeton, do you think?”
And the same desperation in Connor’s eyes, the same forced smile, the same rote answers.
I clicked off the TV halfway through and checked my phone one last time.
He still hadn’t called.
I went into the bedroom, turned off my phone’s ringer, and cried myself to sleep.
49
I woke up early and checked my phone for messages.
None from Connor. About fifty more from numbers I didn’t recognize, though.
I felt too sick to check them, and I couldn’t go back to sleep. The bed was too empty, and my heart was too sad to lie still and think, so I got up and took a shower.
When I walked into the main room at 8AM, Sebastian was already at work, pacing and talking into his cell phones, plural – one in each hand, alternating between them. Occasionally he would stop by his laptop on the coffee table and rattle off an email, then start dialing and pacing and threatening people again.
All he said to me was, “Well look who slept in.”
I stuck out my tongue, but he had already turned away.
I didn’t know what to do. I turned on the television, but the scandal wasn’t all over the place like it was yesterday. Which I was thankful for, don’t get me wrong… but there was a weird feeling of… incompleteness or something. Like, Oh, they moved on without me…
I know that’s messed up. I mean, all I wanted yesterday was for it to all go away. But now that it had started to wane, for the first time ever I think I got a glimpse of why certain celebrities (cough, cough, Lindsay Lohan) self-destruct in public. When everybody pays attention to you – even if you don’t want it – it’s kind of strange and unsatisfying when they don’t anymore.
Like I said – messed UP.
I checked the onscreen menu for The View, found out it would be on at 10 AM, then ordered breakfast from room service – fruit and croissants. I could only pick at it when it came. Sebastian actually ate more of it than I did as he paced back and forth.
I considered going out to the pool on the balcony – until I noticed the black dots hovering in the skies above, like slow insects against the cloudless blue.
Helicopters.
I couldn’t hear them through the glass, but that’s definitely what they were. A couple got close enough for me to read their TV station call sign letters.
This is unreal…
“Don’t go out there,” Sebastian ordered, a cell phone plastered to his ear. Obviously he was talking to me, but it became harder to tell after that. “No, Shia, not you. That’s all they need, a photo of you in a bikini by the pool,” he said, obviously speaking to me again.
“I’m not. I’m not blind, you know.”
“No, I can’t check with him because he’s not here,” Sebastian said, apparently to Shia whoever. “I know. No, I’m babysitting,” he snarled, throwing a venomous look my way.
“The baby’s old enough not to be babysat,” I snapped.
He covered the mouthpiece of his cell and scowled. “I certainly know that – ”
“Well then, take it out on your boss, ‘cause the baby’s tired of your bitching,” I said as I walked out of the room.
I noticed he didn’t come back with a snappy reply.
50
I waited for Connor to call all morning, but he never did.
Then The View came on. I guess Sebastian decided to call a truce, because he didn’t throw any nasty looks or comments my way as he sat down on the couch beside me. He didn’t stop taking phone calls, but he became much more brusque, and ended them as fast as he could.
He watched the show like a hawk, hanging on every word. Every so often he would smile proudly at one of Connor’s one-liners and say, “I told him to say that.”
I won’t go into it. It was more of the same, although the women alternately grilled him harder and swooned harder. Whoopi came to his defense over and over, making some incredibly funny jokes about the situation. If I hadn’t been so depressed, I might have laughed a couple of times. As it was, I barely smiled.
And, of course, they brought me up.
“Why haven’t we seen her?”
“Where are you hiding her?”
“When is she going to talk to the press?”
“You’ve got to have her come on here, Connor.”
And they also asked him about our relationship.
He was a little less stressed when he answered – maybe that’s what being 2500 miles away from me did for him – but only a little. The discomfort was still there.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Sebastian glancing at me worriedly whenever Connor gave his plastic answers about his ‘girlfriend’ and ‘marriage.’ Sebastian didn’t look worried that I might break my word on the NDA; instead, he looked almost… sympathetic.
So I’m not imagining it, I thought, which was cold comfort.
About five minutes after the show was over, Sebastian’s phone rang, and his eyes glowed as he answered it.
“We just watched it – perfect, you were absolutely great!” Then the snarky Drama Queen snuck back in. “Although it would have been better if I were there.”
Connor.
My stomach twisted.
He called Sebastian before he called me.
“No, no, just follow the schedule, you’ll be fine,” Sebastian said, and rattled off a series of times, names, and addresses. “You’re good for another thirty minutes, but after that your schedule gets jam-packed, so make sure to eat something. After Letterman the jet will be waiting to bring you back to – what?”
I peered at Sebastian harder. His voice had taken on a decidedly alarmed tone of voice as he listened to whatever Connor was saying.
“…are you sure?” he asked, glancing at me quickly. “I don’t… alright, if you think that’s… yes, she’s here…”
As soon as he said that, my heart leapt a little – but my stomach immediately took a nasty dip at Sebastian’s wary tone of voice.
“…alright, hold on…”
Sebastian handed the phone over to me. He looked a little guilty when he did it.
“Hello?” I asked, my voice trembling.
“Hey.”
Connor’s deep, resonant voice filled my ear, and suddenly I felt ten times better.
“I heard you watched The View.”
“Yeah. You were great, as always.”
“Thanks. They went easy on me.” There was an uncomfortable pause. “So, how’d you sleep?”
“Fine,” I lied. I’d slept fitfully at best, waking up and tossing and turning several times during the night.
“Good. Look… I won’t be coming back to LA tonight.”
It felt like the sofa dropped out from underneath me.
“…what?”
“I need to go back to Nevada and secure the politicians. Actually, I’m flying to D.C. tonight to schmooze the Senators and Congressmen, and then I’ll fly to Carson City and meet with the governor and the major state representatives tomorrow.”
“…Carson City?”
“Yeah, last time they came to me in Vegas. Now, with the situation being what it is, I’ve got to go to them. But I think they’ll all still be on board, especially when I pull out my checkbook for their
reelection campaigns.”
My head was swimming. “But you… you said…”
“I know. I’m sorry. But phone calls aren’t enough, I’m really going to have to be there in person to make sure the deal is still on.”
It was reasonable. Everything he was saying was reasonable. So I tried to find a compromise. “Okay, well… we could come meet you in New York… or Washington… or Carson City – ”
“Lily.”
I stopped talking. I could already hear it in his voice.
The panic started in earnest.
“I think it would be better if you stay there in LA.”
My eyes stung with tears. I didn’t want Sebastian to see, so I turned away from him.
“You said you just needed a day,” I whispered.
A long, painful pause.
“…I know. But I need a little more time.”
“A-are you coming home tomorrow night?”
“No… probably not.”
I closed my eyes. I could feel a tear roll down my cheek.
“…but I’ll see you on Saturday.”
“When?”
“I don’t know… but I will. I promise.”
“You said one day,” I whispered, my voice not much louder than a breath.
Silence. Then, finally…
“Saturday. I promise.”
Pause.
“I need to speak to Sebastian again.”
“Okay… good-bye…”
“I’ll see you Saturday.”
“Okay…”
I handed the phone back to Sebastian, my movements slow, my eyes glazed over. He had obviously been listening to the whole thing. His face was drained of color, and he was watching me like I was on suicide watch.
Sebastian took the phone back, stood up, and went into another room and closed the door before he said a word. He sounded angry, though I couldn’t make out what he was saying.
I hoped that he was chewing Connor out on my behalf, but it was probably something about having to babysit for an extra couple of days.
I went back into the bedroom, curled up in the bed, closed my eyes, and let the tears come.
51
I came out of the bedroom close to dinnertime. Before I walked out, I splashed tons of cold water on my face to bring down the puffiness around my eyes, but I knew I wouldn’t be fooling anybody.
Sebastian was sitting on the sofa watching another interview with Connor with the sound down low. As soon as I walked in, he shut off the TV with the remote.
“It’s okay,” I mumbled.
“I am sick to death of listening to Connor,” he announced.
I laughed, though it sounded more like a hiccup. “That’s rough, considering it’s part of your job.”
Sebastian ignored my comment, and instead gestured at the blank TV screen. “The man has too high an opinion of himself already. This just feeds it like a forest fire.”
I stopped in my tracks and raised my eyebrows. “HE’S got too high an opinion of himself?!”
“MINE is completely justified,” Sebastian said as though he were highly offended. Then he turned casual – almost warm. “What do you think about watching a movie tonight?”
I stared at him. “What about work?”
“Fuck work,” he said airily.
“What about Connor?”
“Fuck Connor.”
I laughed in disbelief. “What?!”
“Fuck Connor,” he repeated for emphasis.
“What about Javier?” I asked slyly.
“Johnny would make some sort of dreadful joke at this point, but I’m not vulgar like he is.”
“Something about ‘Fuck Javier’?”
“Apparently someone else is vulgar, too,” Sebastian said primly, “although I could have already told you that from the photographs.”
I burst out laughing in spite of myself.
It was nice to have the old Sebastian back.
Or… was it the old Sebastian?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Did Connor put you up to this?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Really,” I said, not believing him.
“In case you haven’t noticed, Lily, Connor can be something of a jackass sometimes.”
I laughed again, once, and nodded ruefully.
“He’s in full-on jackass mode right now,” Sebastian continued. “And I don’t like him very much when he’s a jackass. So, no, he and I haven’t discussed anything besides work.”
I sighed and sank down on the sofa next to him. “But it’s Friday night. Don’t you want to go out with Javier?”
“He’s on a long shoot today. A commercial. Can’t get together. Already checked.”
“Oh.”
I wasn’t sure if Sebastian was lying or not… but if he was…
“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do – ”
“Hush, or you’ll ruin it. I’ll order up some dinner for us, and after that some popcorn and sodas. We’ll make a night of it.”
“You can get popcorn here?” I asked, incredulous.
“Lily, the man I work for owns the hotel. I can get any damn thing I want, even if they have to drive to a movie theater to get it.”
“Oh… yeah.”
“What do you want to watch?”
“What do you want to watch?”
“You’re the one being babysat.”
I considered for a moment. “Nothing with show tunes.”
Sebastian stared me down hard. “Stereotypes? Really? Really.”
I grimaced. “Sorry.”
He shook his head and rolled his eyes, then settled back to normal. “We could watch reruns of Glee,” he suggested.
“That’s the exact same thing!” I shouted and laughed at the same time.
“No it’s not,” he said petulantly.
“Basically!”
“No, it’s not.”
“No, you’re right, it’s just people doing versions of show tunes.”
“They’re contemporary hits,” Sebastian sniffed.
“Yeah, staged as big song and dance productions.”
“Sung by cute guys.”
“…okay, I’ll give you that one. But I’m not really feelin’ it tonight.”
“But – ”
“Who’s the baby?”
Sebastian went silent and glowered at me a little.
I decided to throw him a bone. Metaphorically, that is. “Speaking of people singing contemporary hits, have you seen Pitch Perfect?”
Sebastian suddenly turned into a twelve-year-old girl.
“Oh my GOD, like seventeen times, I LOVE Anna Kendrick,” he squeed.
I grinned at him, eyes wide, totally taken aback.
Flustered, he looked away. “Well, I do. And the Indian boy is cute, too, although I have no idea why he likes that psychotic little Asian girl.”
“That’s interesting.”
“What’s interesting?”
“He’s kind of geeky. The Indian guy. I thought you would have gone for the British DJ with the six-pack.”
“Oh, he’s definitely nice… but a little too conventional for my tastes.”
First Javier… the Indian guy… and I remembered what he said about Bruce Lee…
“Ohhhh… you have a thing for dark meat, huh?”
“I am not dignifying that with a response.” Sebastian paused for a second. “We could watch something romantic… Pride And Prejudice with Kiera Knightly?”
I love that movie.
But I knew there was no way I could watch it and not think of me as Elizabeth and Connor as Mr. Darcy and keep from bawling my eyes out.
“…I kind of need to laugh tonight,” I said. “Do you mind watching Pitch Perfect for the eighteenth time?”
“Honey, I could watch that boy sing I Got The Magic In Me all night long.”
“Another missed opportunity for one of Johnny’s inappropriate jokes.”
“Hush. What do you want for dinne
r?”
52
Dinner was a delicious Chicken Kiev with baby potatoes and grilled asparagus. Sebastian ordered the popcorn and cokes afterwards, and once they came we settled down to watch the movie on the hotel’s cable service.
He had to excuse himself ‘to go to the little boys’ room’ two-thirds of the way through, so I paused the movie. Coincidentally, it was the scene where the heroine goes to apologize to the hero for being a jerk – but he shuts her out because she keeps hurting him.
I guess it got me thinking.
When Sebastian came back and sat down, I said, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Oh God, here it comes,” he muttered.
“What?” I asked, both surprised and slightly offended.
“The therapy section of the babysitting.”
Now I was just offended. “Fine. Never mind.”
I hit ‘Play’ on the remote and started the movie.
“No, no… go ahead,” he grumbled.
“No, I’m – ”
Sebastian snatched away the remote, hit ‘Pause,’ and turned to me. “Just ask the damn question.”
I pouted for a few seconds… and then gave in to my curiosity.
“Why’s Connor shutting me out?”
He sighed in total world-weary, put-upon fashion. I almost expected him to start belting out ‘Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen But Jesus.’
“I was afraid of this,” he said.
“What, of me asking?”
“No, that I’m just annoyed by.”
“Give me the remote – ”
“Shush,” he said, holding the controller out of my reach. “Do you want to know the answer or not?”
“…yes.”
He stretched out on the couch and squinted at the ceiling. “It’s complicated.”
I waited a few seconds for more. When it didn’t come, I tilted my head forward a little. “…and?”
He flipped over on his side, facing me, and rested his head on his fist like we were gossiping at a slumber party. “First off, Connor’s afraid of commitment.”
“Yeah, well, most guys are.”
“Most guys can’t get Victoria’s Secret models.”
All That He Loves (Volume 2 The Billionaires Seduction) Page 14