The Last Thing

by Gaitan, Briana

  “He isn’t scheduled back at the studio for another week, but I hope they kill his character off…again,” Ginger mumbled. Her eyes crinkled in anger and she let out a small huff, but there was something more to it. The mood lightened at Ginger’s joke.

  “Anything is possible on a soap opera.”

  “Maybe they will let my character kill him off this time.”

  “Everything is fine,” I insisted, “I’m fine. Just please don’t say anything and let it go.”

  “How can I let this go? I invited you here so that your life would get better and you could leave all that depressing stuff behind, and you come here and I let you get knocked up!”

  “I’m an adult. It isn’t your job to look after me. I made the bad choice. And really, what did you expect from me? My life is just a series of bad choices.”

  Ginger pursed her lips together unhappily and shrugged. “Fine, I won’t say anything, but I’ll be damned if he thinks I’m letting him get near another girl again. I am so gonna cock-block him.”

  The only thing I could do was laugh. Oddly enough, the thought of Chase being with another girl irritated me. I shouldn’t have gotten this upset because he wasn’t mine to claim. Nonetheless, I couldn’t shake my attraction to him. From the second I laid eyes on his mysterious face to the way he’d confidently smirked at me, I’d been captivated. His body had hardened at my touch, and he’d held me against him, clutching on to me for dear life as we both enjoyed the waves of pleasure. He was something else entirely.

  “I must say,” Ginger pointed out, “you’re taking this pregnancy news pretty well.”

  It just didn’t feel quite real yet.

  “I can handle this.”

  “Are you sure? Because we can get you someone to talk to. Another psychiatrist, maybe?”

  “We’ve already had this conversation. I’m fine.”

  “You’re not fine. I can see it in your eyes. You’re not the same girl I left in Tennessee two years ago. You’ve changed.

  “I’ve grown up, Ginger. People change. You aren’t exactly the same either. Look, I gotta get going,” I pushed past her to grab my purse off my bed. I proceeded to look for my keys. Having a car was convenient, but it had taken all of my money. I still panicked each time I sat in one of those metal death traps, but after a while, the anxiety had lessened to tolerable. I would need to save for a deposit on an apartment. Then I would need baby things and a sitter. Ugh, the list was never ending.

  “Aha!” I pulled my keys out from under a pile of magazines.

  “I wish you wouldn’t work. Just stay at home, enjoy this pregnancy. You can stay here for as long as you want.” Ginger followed me around like a lost puppy trying to guilt me into quitting.

  I gave her a wistful smile. That kind of life would have been nice, but I couldn’t let everyone treat me so delicately anymore.

  “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

  “No, we aren’t shooting today.”

  My cell phone vibrated against my hip causing me to look down to see who it was. My heart stilled. It was my mom. I hadn’t heard from her since I’d gotten here. Reaching out to press ignore, I hesitated. At the last second, I decided against it.

  “It’s Mom,” I told Ginger, waving my cell phone in the air. She gave me a thumbs up and walked away to give me a moment of privacy.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said. My mom’s shrilly southern voice came through the speaker. We had a complicated relationship, one that involved me being solely responsible for ruining her marriage.

  “Quinn, honey. How are ya’ll?”

  “Fine.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Are y’uns stayin’ out of trouble? Do ya lock the car doors?”

  I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see me. It was so typical of her to worry over everything. She believed I was incapable. That was why she had been thrilled to see me go.

  “Yes, Mom.”

  “I’d hoped that you’d call when you were settled in, but seeing as you forgot about your own mother…”

  I groaned in annoyance. She was trying to make me feel bad. Why? She didn’t even want me back home.

  “Sorry, Mom,” I told her, but she didn’t answer. Some muffled talking in the background preoccupied her.

  “Are you and Ginger coming home for the holidays?”

  That was months away, and I would be showing by then. There was no way.

  “No one wants me there.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic, Quinn. I told ya this would all blow over. By the time Christmas comes, you’ll be old news.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Good. I have to go. Talk to ya later, Quinn.”

  Typical. Just another half-hearted conversation with my mother. “Bye, Mom.”

  I pressed end on my phone and leaned back against the wall. I guess I’d been expecting it to go differently. She didn’t inquire about my life or anything personal.

  Ginger popped out from behind the doorway.

  “Well? What’d she say?”

  “She wants us to visit.”

  She scrunched her nose. “Hell to the no. What’s wrong with her?”

  “She thinks that everything will blow over.”

  “Doubtful.” I shuddered at the thought. Strangers staring at me in the streets, friends turning their backs. They only reinforced my belief that people always leave.

  I spotted a few magazines on the coffee table and leaned over to pick one up. The tabloids that Ginger hadn’t yet learned to quit reading. Chase was on the front of one. He was stumbling out of a club with a blonde on his arm. The date on the magazine read last week. My body burned with jealousy. I tore the cover off the magazine and ripped it up into tiny pieces. Screaming in frustration, I threw all the pieces in the trash. No more. My attraction for Chase wouldn’t control me anymore.

  Chase

  Stepping out of the limo with Chloe James on my arm was the highlight of my night. Her hips swayed seductively in her white dress, as heads turned her way. It was nice, even though she technically wasn’t my date. It was just a business dinner with our new director. The paparazzi outside swarmed with excitement as the limo door slammed shut behind us. My publicist insisted we arrive together, to build up buzz for the movie. Hey, I wasn’t complaining. I wouldn’t mind a fake relationship with Chloe. She was tall, gorgeous, barely eighteen, and a newbie to the silver scene. She turned to me and tucked some of her short blonde hair behind her ear. A man with a camera got right up on us and started filming.

  “Chloe, Chase. Have you started filming yet?”

  I was prepared to ignore them, but Chloe’s blue eyes filled with excitement.

  “Not yet, but soon.”

  “How ‘bout that off-screen chemistry?”

  Chloe giggled and looked up at me. Rumors would fly. It was inevitable.

  Unfortunately, for her, I didn’t have room on my list for another fuck buddy. I had trouble keeping track of my current ones. We moved past the photographers and entered the restaurant.

  My eyes centered in on a familiar brown head that made my insides curl in delight. Quinn. Did she work here? Her dark hair, that I loved so much, was pulled back into a bun. She tapped her pencil against the podium as she stared off into the distance. She wore only a minimal amount of makeup on her face, but she was still the most gorgeous girl in the room. Probably the most interesting too. I smiled slightly, this night was about to get exciting. Typically, I didn’t care to make other girls jealous, but I felt like having some fun. After all, I was Chase Crowley, and she was the cousin of some nobody soap star. I could do better, even if I didn’t want to.

  She glanced up briefly as we approached; her eyes did a double take as she recognized who I was.

  “Hi…..” Quinn said uncertainly. I gave her a big smile, which caused her to drop her pencil.

  “Aww. You have a fan, Chase,” Chloe cooed in my ear. I laughed as Quinn stood from picking up the pencil. I lightly pulled the writing
utensil out of her grip and grabbed a piece of paper from the podium.

  “Looks like I do. No need to ask. I’ll sign your paper.” I bent over to scribble my name on the paper. I was being a jerk, but I didn’t care.

  “Who should I make it out to?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

  Quinn swallowed hard and her lips drew together to make a tight line.

  “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

  I was about to come back with a smart-ass answer, but was cut short by Chloe’s shrilling laughter.

  “That’s a good one. I really like you,” Chloe told her before elbowing me in the ribs. I dropped the pencil on the podium and straightened back up.

  “We are here for the Danner party,” I told Quinn. I wouldn’t acknowledge that I knew her; she could squirm for all I cared. Her eyes moved back and forth between Chloe and me, no doubt trying to decide what we were doing here. Her gaze turned icy before looking down at her reservation list.

  “Um, sure—party of five,” she stumbled with her words, “Party of five, yep. She grabbed a few menus from the metal shelf behind her and turned around to show us to our seat.

  “Right this way,” she said. We followed her through the hallway into a large private room. Special guests had preferred seating away from the windows and normal customers. It was distracting to have fans bothering you, and people snapping photos on their phones. This restaurant was indeed very elite. The ceiling was made of glass so clear that we had a flawless view of the cityscape. We walked past rooms with red chairs and golden cushiony walls with hundreds of chandeliers dipping from the ceiling to provide a minimal amount of light. It was quiet because of the privacy of each booth but some sort of classical music flowed in the background. As I walked behind Quinn, I couldn’t help but notice how nice her ass looked in that uniform. The black slacks hugged her curves in all the right places, and to my dismay, a small bit of arousal stirred inside of me. No way. Been there, done that. I was over her. Quinn wasn’t going to get under my skin again. She turned and ushered us into a private booth. The director, Jordan Danner, threw his hands about wildly while explaining something to my publicist and manager, Rhea.

  Chloe glared at Quinn before sitting down. She must have caught on to the way I kept staring at her.

  “Ya’ll have a nice meal,” she told Chloe. Chloe ignored her and pulled on my arm to make sure I sat next to her. When Quinn turned to me, her smile disappeared. Something flashed in her eyes, a look of hurt, not jealousy. For the briefest moment, I detected a bit of guilt creep through me for coming in here with another girl. I gave her a playful wink, causing her faced to flush a slight pink before she turned and stomped away.

  “Chase, look at me. I need to get a few photos of you and Chloe,” Rhea said. She had her phone out snapping photos. She’d proudly sell these to a reporter with the headline “Chase and Chloe, Hollywood’s Hottest New Couple” or something equally untrue.

  “Chase, put your arm around Chloe and cuddle up like you’re having a good time,” she demanded. I obliged, only because she was always trying to find a way to get me on the cover of a magazine. She did her job, and I paid her well for it. I attempted to smile for the photos but my mind kept wandering back to Quinn. Chloe didn’t fit in my arms like Quinn did. Chloe felt awkward and too small. Quinn had seemed genuinely hurt and that tugged at a part of me I didn’t know existed. No, I wasn’t supposed to care about girls’ feelings. So why did I care so much about hurting Quinn?

  Chapter six

  Quinn

  It was pointless, but I hid out in the bathroom like a coward. When Chase walked in with that stunning model on his arm, I wanted to reach out and tear out her fake blonde hair. In the past ten minutes, I’d already thought of fifteen different ways I could hurt her. Slip some laxatives in her food or trip her as she walked out the door. Hollywood was Chase’s life, and I needed this reminder of how different our lives really were. When he’d pretended not to know who I was, I could almost feel the steam pouring out of my ears. After I seated them, I’d told my manager I was going on break and then cried on the toilet like a big baby. My pregnancy hormones were all over the place.

  I blew my nose with a tissue and dried my eyes. It wasn’t as if I was expecting Chase to fall into my arms, but he’d treated me so coldly. If we couldn’t even get along, how could we deal with a baby? I walked over to the sink and splashed some cold water on my face. I willed myself to stop crying, walked to the mirror and stared at my reflection.

  “You can do this, be strong. You don’t want to be that girl again,” I said out loud. This constant reminder normally worked, but it was too late.

  Bash threw one arm over my shoulders while the other held his football helmet. I nestle into his shoulder and sigh.

  “Ready to go, baby?”

  I lean back to look up into his blue eyes. His long blonde hair falls across his tanned face.

  “Can we go home?”

  “No way! This is a celebration. We won the game. One party then I’ll take you home. I can’t sit still. Please?”

  I bit my lip. I don’t want him to go alone. Someone has to be there to watch over him. The weight from my shoulder disappears. Startled, I look around to find Bash gone.

  “Don’t leave me, Quinn.”

  His voice replays inside my head till I throw my hands over my ears. I’d forgotten for the briefest moment about that night. A little over one year ago, the night that changed my life forever. The football stadium disappears and I find myself inside the car.

  Metal crunching, like nails on a chalkboard. The memory plays on inside my head. Someone is screaming. I want to pull myself out of the reminiscence, but I can’t. As the water fills up the space around me, I squeeze my eye shut. I have to break out of this memory…

  I’m pulled out of that night, out of that car, and into the present. I squinted up at the white ceiling. Large tears spilled down my freshly cleansed face as I laid on the bathroom floor. Was I crying? No, I was sobbing uncontrollably. This was why I didn’t think about Bash. I never thought about him or the past. This always happened. He was a reminder of how my life had gone terribly wrong. The guilt weighed heavily on my shoulders.

  The bathroom door cracked open just slightly. In popped Chase, sliding in through the crack and shutting it behind him. Startled by his presence, I scrambled up from the floor and hid my face so that I could wipe the tears away.

  “What do are you doing? This is the woman’s bathroom?”

  “Quinn, are you okay? Your coworker told me you were in the bathroom. I thought I heard crying and I—I wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt.” There was genuine concern in his voice, but he was an actor. It was probably all an act.

  “What if I’d been peeing? You can’t just barge into the bathroom like that.”

  “You’re not peeing, and I didn’t barge in. I slipped in.”

  “What do you care? You acted like you didn’t even know me back there.”

  “I know. I was mad.”

  “I’m fine. Please go. I want to be alone,” I told him with my back turned to him. This was humiliating. Here I was, crying over an ex-boyfriend in front of the father of my child.

  “Quinn, I hope you’re not crying because of how mean I was back there. I’m a complete jackass.”

  I laughed at him and smiled before agreeing.

  “You’re a jackass.” Suddenly, things didn’t seem so bad anymore. I wiped away my tears and turned around to face him.

  “Look. I came to find you because I felt bad for pretending like I didn’t know you. I was acting childish… Dammit, I’m not good with apologies. I don’t usually have to do things like this.”

  “Let’s just forget it okay. And FYI I’m not crying because of you.”

  “Did someone hurt you?” he asked. The muscles in his neck tightened and he frowned at me. He reached out and pushed a stray piece of hair off my face.

  I couldn’t help but feel a bit of delight from the way he was acting. Ma
ybe Chase wasn’t as conceited as I’d originally thought. My eyes traveled from his face down to his broad shoulders. I let myself think about what his skin had done to me. I even wondered if he still smelt like mints.

  Bad idea, Quinn. Don’t go there again.

  “No,” I shook my head, “I’ve got a lot going on. Not everything in this world revolves around you, ya know.” My words were cruel, but we hardly knew each other and it wasn’t any of his business anyway. I pushed past him to open the bathroom door, but spun around when something tugged on my arm.

  “Please tell me you forgive me, I don’t think I could live knowing that you hate me.”

  He dramatically put his hand over his heart and stuck out his bottom lip. Normally, I would have rolled my eyes, but he looked so cute standing there. Like a little lost puppy. Maybe I should give in before he started humping my leg.

  “Oh, you would survive, but you’re forgiven.” I was letting him off the hook too easy, but I didn’t want to fight anymore. I wanted us to get along. I figured he’d accept my answer and go on his way, but he didn’t. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth like he was trying to gather the courage to say something important.

  “Why didn’t you ever call me back?” he blurted out.

  I didn’t know what to say. Did I blame the whiskey? No, I wasn’t that wasted. Did I blame my fear of commitment? Possibly. We both knew the answer to his question. He didn’t want me.

  “And you never called me back either. You promised.”

  “I was busy.”

  “You don’t like me. You only like the idea of me. You think I’m fascinating and different from the other girls you spend your days with. Even if I’d called you back, nothing would have changed. We may have exchanged a few flirty text messages, but that would have been the extent.”

  “ I can’t get you out of my head. I just need to see where this can go. Can I see you tonight?”

  My mouth went dry. Was Chase really asking to hook up again? I should have screamed no. I should have pulled my arm from his grasp and never turned around. We needed to talk, though it wouldn’t be the night he had in mind. I had to tell him before I lost my nerve.