Chapter 29

Corey walked out of the rink after practice. They were up in the series against San Jose 2-0 and game three was tomorrow night. They were in a good position to win the series and he was sure they were going to. Because he was sure, he was in a good mood. That meant he wanted to go straight to Amelia’s and see her.

“Corey! Turn this way!” someone yelled. He turned around with a smile, thinking it was a fan. He was wrong. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the photographers following him to his car, snapping away.

“How are things with Amelia?” another asked. Rage shot through him as he turned away from them and continued on to his car. She wasn’t there and they knew it. They were here for him.

“Do you two have any plans today?” a third called after him. That was it.

“Why can’t you people just leave me alone?!” he yelled as he spun around on them. He watched them all grin and continue to take pictures. He immediately recognized his mistake. Without another word he got into his car and drove away.

As he drove he couldn’t clear his mind of everything in the recent past. Those fucking paparazzi assholes were everywhere. At first it had just started when he was out with Amelia. But now they were around taking pictures of just him. He hadn’t signed up for that. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

He stopped someplace for lunch, hoping it would calm him down, but it didn’t. It only made him angrier. Was he ever going to be able to go anywhere with Amelia again without being stalked? He was sitting outside and he knew. They’d never be able to sit outside anywhere without having their picture taken.

He didn’t need this. It was the fucking playoffs and he had other things he had to worry about. This was not something he should have to put up with. And it was all Amelia’s fault. She’d done this. She was the reason this was happening.

He left money on the table without finishing lunch or waiting for the bill. He needed to go to Amelia’s and it had to be now. They had plenty to talk about. He got into his car and drove to her house, anger pulsating through him. The closer he got, the angrier he got. He pulled into her driveway and walked right into her house. She came around the corner from the kitchen and smiled when she saw him.

“We need to talk,” he said firmly. Her smile faded and she looked concerned.

“Corey, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“This isn’t working.”










I felt my stomach turn. What wasn’t working? What was Corey talking about? Everything had been going really well with us. There were no fights and it felt like normal. We felt like us. I was blindsided and I had no idea where he was coming from.

“What isn’t working?” I questioned, noticing a tremble in my voice.

“This. Us. Everything.” He started pacing and I could see him clenching and unclenching his jaw. He was pissed, but I didn’t know what I did.

“That’s a little vague. I have no idea where this is coming from.” I could feel tears starting to build as I began to panic. He continued to pace, but didn’t say anything. “Corey! Tell me what I did! What did I do?”

“It’s playoffs Amelia. It’s fucking playoffs!” he yelled, balling his hands into fists.

“I don’t understand! Please just tell me,” I begged, tears now streaming down my face.

“They’re always around. Those fucking scumbags are always taking pictures,” he replied. I suddenly understood.

“Corey, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything about that. What do you want me to do?” I asked.

“I just can’t do it, Meels. I can’t live my life like that. I thought I could. I tried, but I can’t. I’m in the middle of playoffs. I shouldn’t have to deal with them when I have other things to worry about,” he told me.

“I know. God, do I know. I don’t like them either. I wish they’d all just go away and leave everyone alone, but they don’t. It’s part of the deal.” He shook his head.

“I didn’t sign up for it,” he spat at me.

“Yes, you did,” I said quietly. I could feel myself starting to get angry too.

“What?”

“Yes, you did! What did you think, Corey? Did you think we’d start dating and they’d leave you alone? That’s not how it works!” I yelled at him.

“Then make it stop!” I just shook my head at him. What the hell was his problem?

“I can’t! There’s no way to make them stop!” I argued.

“Yes, you can. You can quit. You can quit acting and they’ll go away.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He couldn’t be serious. I tried to tell myself he wasn’t, but I took one look at him and knew. He meant every word that he said. It was why I’d left him the way I had years ago. I was afraid he wouldn’t like it and he’d ask me to give up my dream. Now he really was.

“I’m not quitting. It’s what I love to do. It’s my life!” I told him.

“Then you can live your life without me.” He turned and walked towards the door. “I thought you loved me.” With those last words he closed the door and walked out of my life.

I wanted to go after him. I wanted to chase him down and tell him that I did love him, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. There was no way I was going to give up acting just because he didn’t like having his picture taken. What I wanted mattered too.

Instead of chasing after him I collapsed onto my couch and cried. I kept thinking he’d cool down and come back. He’d at least call. When I woke up still on the couch without any word from Corey, I knew that he’d meant it. If I wasn’t going to quit acting he wasn’t going to be in my life.

I felt sick and the tears came again. I’d cried all of the previous night, but apparently I wasn’t done. I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was that I couldn’t stay there. Without thinking about it I picked up my phone and called my sister.

“Hey, Meels,” she greeted cheerfully.

“Can you get off work?” I asked.

“Yeah, why? What’s wrong?” she asked in concern.

“Corey left. I need to get out of here. How does Hawaii sound?”

When I hung up with Ticia I called Brianna. She came over immediately and I told her what happened. After going off on him for 15 minutes she made the necessary phone calls to book Ticia and I a place to stay and our flights. Before she left for the game that night she promised me that no matter what, she wouldn’t tell Corey where I was. Not that I thought he’d even care.

The next morning I walked into the airport and met Ticia as she got off her first flight. We didn’t talk much after boarding the plane. I wasn’t in the mood to talk and I knew that she could sense that. When we landed we took a car to the resort and she checked us in. When we were settled into the room I crawled into bed, pulling the comforter over my head, and fell asleep.

I awoke to the smell of food and made my way out into the main living area of the suite. Ticia was sitting on the couch munching on a carrot and watching TV. She smiled up at me as I sat down next to her and filled a plate with some of the food she’d gotten.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said to her between bites.

“I wasn’t going to ask,” she replied. I nodded and continued to eat. “Should we make plans for tomorrow or do you just want to hang out?”

“Let’s just hang out. I’m not up for activities right now.” She smiled sadly at me and nodded in understanding.

We ordered movies all night and had drinks sent up. I’d only intended on having one or two, but by the end of the third movie I realized that I was drunk. At that point I simply didn’t care and continued to drink. Ticia tried to warn me off of it, but I didn’t listen. As I leaned over the toilet an hour later I knew that I should have.

When she finally managed to get me into bed I began to internally yell at myself. How could I let Corey do that to me? I didn’t drink to the point of getting sick. Ever. The crying came then. Ticia simply held me as I cried and cried before finally falling asleep from exhaustion.