“I look really good in pink,” I said to Brianna as I pulled a pink bridesmaids dress off of a rack to check it out.
“You also look really good in purple,” she replied. I rolled my eyes but smiled at her.
“Whatever you say, Mrs. Getzlaf.”
We continued looking at dresses and then through catalogs that contained even more options. She narrowed down her choices, but it was our third trip to a bridal store and she hadn’t even come close to picking what dresses she wanted the bridesmaids to wear. She also hadn’t tried on a single wedding dress.
“Is it time yet?” I asked as we made our way towards the front of the store. She stopped and sighed.
“I guess I have to do it sometime,” she groaned. Brianna had told me she had a serious fear of picking out a dress that just wasn’t right for her.
“So I’ve been thinking about the bridal shower and bachelorette party a little more,” I commented to her as we rooted through dresses. She had asked me to be the maid of honor and I accepted gladly.
“Lia, the wedding isn’t for another year. Taking things slow is kind of the point,” she shot over at me.
“Then why are we looking at dresses right now?” I shot back. She stuck her tongue out at me and continued to look. “Anyway, I was thinking about it when something hit me. You totally only asked me to be maid of honor to use my celebrity to get into all the nice places.”
“Would you shut up?” she said with a laugh. I pulled a hideous dress off of the rack and turned it for her to see.
“I think you need to try this on,” I told her, waving my hand at it like a game show girl.
“It’s horrible,” she replied, making a face.
“Exactly.” She laughed and took the dress out of my hands. She gave it another look before putting it on the rack.
When we had a couple of dresses pulled for her to try on, Brianna made her way into the dressing rooms. I sat in a chair, camera in hand, waiting for her to come out. Her mother couldn’t make it in to LA for a while so I agreed to take pictures of Brianna in any dresses to send to her.
“What do you think?” Brianna asked, walking out in the first dress.
The minute I saw her I felt my heart drop and tears fill my eyes. Suddenly, I wasn’t seeing Brianna, I was seeing myself. If I hadn’t left Corey I would be married by now. I would have done this already. I hadn’t realized how badly I’d wanted to marry him until this moment. Now all I felt was regret for leaving.
“Jesus, Amelia, what’s wrong?” Brianna asked rushing over to me. I pulled back from her.
“I’m sorry, I’m crying. My makeup. You can’t get anything on the dress,” I explained as I wiped tears off of my cheeks. I avoided answering her question as I stood up. She just looked at me with concern and confusion in her eyes.
“Is it that bad?” she asked looking down at herself.
“No, it’s beautiful. I just need some air.”
I turned and walked away from Brianna and out of the store. I leaned back against the building trying to fight the tears. It was no use since they fell anyway. Like a lot of little girls, I’d always dreamt of what my wedding would be like. I had an image of the dress, the ceremony, and the reception in my mind. It had always made me smile.
Now all I felt was pain. It was pain stemming from the fact that I could have had my dream day already. Instead I was trying to date the man I knew I wanted to spend my life with in the public eye, which just made things so much worse. It had been just over another month since Corey and I had gotten back together, and it was now public knowledge that we were dating.
I thought again of the ring he’d shown me that should be on my finger right now next to a wedding band. I thought about the dress I should have already worn and the flowers I should have already picked out. I thought about how my name should read Amelia Perry instead of Amelia Larson in the credits for the movies I’d done.
“Amelia, are you okay?” Brianna asked rushing out the door in her regular clothes. I wiped away the last of the tears and nodded, attempting to smile.
“I’m fine. It’s just some past stuff, that’s all. It’s over,” I told her.
“I didn’t even think. I’m so sorry. I should have remembered.” I could see from the look on her face that she understood what I was talking about.
“No, don’t worry about it. I think maybe I’m done looking at wedding stuff for today, but I’ll be fine, really,” I assured her. She put her arm around me and led me to her car.
“We need to get home anyway. We have a double date to get ready for,” she reminded me. I smiled when I remembered that we were meeting Corey and Ryan for dinner tonight. As upset as I was I knew that seeing him would make me feel better.
Corey threw out a string of curses as he stormed through his house searching for his wallet. Where the hell had he put it? He tore open drawers and pulled cushions off of furniture. He saw Ryan standing in the foyer tapping his foot impatiently. He knew they were running late because of this.
He moved into his room and pulled the pillows off the bed and the sheets back. No wallet. He cursed again as he moved to the dresser. He started to pull open drawers and dig through clothes. He finally hit something solid and smiled in relief. He pulled the object out and was about to shove it in his pocket when he realized it wasn’t his wallet.
He looked down at the box holding the engagement ring for Amelia. He had forgotten about the ring in the last month or so. When he and Amelia had gotten together he shoved it in the back of the drawer he hardly used so he wouldn’t see or think of it. He wanted a new beginning for them and didn’t want to think about their past.
He opened the box and looked at the ring again. It would look amazing on her he decided. Maybe he was just being stupid about the new beginning. Everything with them was the way it had been before. All feelings had come back immediately and he hadn’t really ever been happier. They were both living their dreams and were doing it together.
Maybe it was time to give this ring to her.
“I found it!” Ryan called to him. Corey snapped the box closed and shoved it back into the drawer before making his way to Ryan.
“Where did you find it?” he asked.
“The pocket of a pair of jeans in your laundry,” Ryan replied with an eye roll. How the hell had he not though of that? They made their way out to Corey’s car and drove to the restaurant.
“About time,” Brianna joked when they finally got to the table. He noticed Amelia and Brianna already had half empty wine glasses in front of them and cringed.
“I couldn’t find my wallet,” he apologized.
“Sounds about right,” Amelia replied. He shot her a look and she grinned at him. He leaned over and kissed her.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered. Her grin grew.
“Thank you. You’re looking pretty good yourself.”
“So, I don’t think I ever heard the story on how you two met,” Ryan said a bit later while looking at Amelia and Brianna. Corey hadn’t either.
“She took the poor stray in,” Amelia responded. Corey felt his stomach turn. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to hearing about the time when Amelia had left him.
“The poor girl was here alone with no job or friends. I felt bad for her,” Brianna continued.
“I saw an ad in the paper saying a girl was looking for a roommate. I went, we hit it off immediately and Brianna chose me. We’ve been inseparable ever since,” Amelia finished.
“I told her when she got famous some day she couldn’t forget me. And she didn’t. She put me to work.” Everyone laughed at that comment.
When dinner was over they split up. Ryan went with Brianna to her car while Amelia followed him to his. He reached for her hand and smiled when he felt her take hold. Hand holding may seem a bit juvenile, but he’d take any chance to touch Amelia. He looked over at her and smiled. She smiled back before stretching up to kiss him.
“Amelia! Corey! Over here!” they heard as a light flashed. He’d never get used to this.
“Hi!” Amelia called with a wave as more flashes went off.
He didn’t know how she could be nice to these parasites. He continued to walk next to her as she responded to questions with a smile on her face. He tried his hardest not to look annoyed but knew it was going to show. It always did. He found himself grateful that playoffs were starting in two days. He and Amelia wouldn’t be going out as much which meant he didn’t have to deal with paparazzi for a while. He couldn’t wait.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Chapter 26
I woke up with my head resting on Corey’s chest. I stretched, which caused Corey to stir. He groaned and pulled me back to him. With a smile I went willingly. It had been a week since he’d ended things with Ileana, and I couldn’t be happier. I placed a kiss on his chest and looked up at him.
“Did the alarm go off and I missed it?” he asked, without opening his eyes.
“No.”
“Then why the hell are we awake?” I smiled and held back my laugh.
“For someone who has to wake up by 8 every morning, you sure are grumpy,” I joked.
He made some sort of whiny noise, pushed me off his chest and rolled over, turning his back to me. I wasn’t deterred. I rolled towards him, slinging an arm around him and placing my head on his shoulder. He repeated the whiny noise.
“What? I thought you liked morning sex?” I asked. He immediately shot around to face me.
“Oh, I do,” he said with a smile as he shoved me onto my back. His lips connected with mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
A little while later I cooked him an omelet for breakfast and then said goodbye as he left for practice. I cleaned up the kitchen and got ready to meet my trainer. After a workout that should have been tough but seemed ridiculously easy I walked out of the gym and headed to my car.
“Amelia! How are things going with Corey?” I heard someone yell.
I turned around to see who was asking, stunned. We hadn’t gone anywhere in public since the argument and no one had announced our relationship. I was greeted by a guy holding a camera in my face. I rolled my eyes, glad I had sunglasses on to disguise it.
“Fine,” I responded as I continued on to my car.
“Are you two a couple now after the last blowout? I heard you used to date back in high school!” he called. It never ceased to amaze me the kind of information people could get about you.
I chose not to respond and got into my car, shutting the door before the guy had a chance to say anything else. I shook my head as I drove out of the parking lot. Dealing with paparazzi was one part of my job I’d never get used to.
I’d considered going out to dinner with Corey that night, but changed my mind. I wasn’t ready for the media circus that would surround us quite yet. We were still getting back into being a couple, and that was the last thing we needed to deal with.
Not wanting to be alone, I drove over to Brianna’s instead of going home. She was on the phone when I got there. She put a hand up to me to tell me to hold on, so I made my way into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. When she hung up she came to find me, grabbing a bottle herself.
“Romantic comedy or drama?” she asked me, taking a seat next to me at the table. I raised my eyebrows in interest.
“Tell me about them.”
Brianna explained the premise for each of the offers, but it was too early to make a decision. I asked her to have scripts sent over as soon as possible for me to read them. She said she would, then asked me about Corey.
“It’s everything it always was before, except better,” I told her with a grin on my face. She smiled back. That was when something shiny caught my attention. “What the hell is this?” I asked grabbing her hand and looking at the enormous diamond sitting on the ring finger of her left hand.
“It just happened last night!” she squealed. I did too, and threw my arms around her in a hug.
“Congratulations, Bri! I’m so happy for you guys! Tell me all about it,” I demanded.
“I can do you one better,” she said as she stood up. Confused, I followed her out of the kitchen and into her living room. She turned on the TV, hit a button, and a video popped up. “I’ve been watching it all morning.”
I watched as Brianna and Ryan appeared on the screen. She was standing at the entrance of the ice at the practice arena and shaking her head. Ryan was obviously trying to coax her out onto the ice and she didn’t want to go.
“Sweetie, come on. I won’t let go, I promise,” Ryan said. Brianna finally gave in and grabbed his hand. She took a few tentative steps on the ice before Ryan gave her instructions. She followed them and began to skate around the rink hand in hand with him.
“It’s not so bad,” Brianna joked as they went.
“You’re a natural,” Ryan returned. They skated over to the boards where Ryan grabbed a hockey stick and a puck.
“What is that?” Brianna asked.
“You’re kidding, right?” Ryan returned. Brianna smacked him on the shoulder.
“Why are you holding out a hockey stick to me?” she asked.
“You’re going to shoot this puck into that net with this stick,” Ryan replied pointing to one end of the ice. It took Brianna a little more coaxing to agree to do it.
“Why am I doing this?” she asked as she lined up at the hash marks.
“If you miss, you get what’s in the left hand. If you score, you get what’s in the right. Trust me, you want to score.” She looked at him skeptically but then concentrated on the puck. A minute later she took a swing and the puck didn’t even come close.
“Alright, what do I get?” she asked as Ryan skated over to her.
He took his left hand out from behind his back. Brianna’s annoyed expression turned to one of surprise as she saw the tiny box. She took it from his hand and hesitated before opening it. Then her face went from surprise to confusion.
“It’s empty,” she said to him.
“You missed,” he said simply. He turned and started to skate away.
“Hey, I can’t skate on my own, you bastard!” she yelled at him.
“If you can skate over here on your own, you can have what’s in this hand,” Ryan said, holding up his right fist.
“You’re on.” Brianna looked like she’d been skating for years as she made her way to him. Ryan opened his hand and slipped the ring onto Brianna’s finger.
“I can’t believe that after only a few months I’m doing this, but I guess that goes to show the kind of effect you have on me. I love you, and I want nothing more than to have you be a part of the rest of my life. Will you marry me?” he asked.
“Only if you promise to get me off the ice and out of these skates,” she responded. He laughed and pulled her to him, capturing her lips in a kiss. The video ended with them walking down the runway, hand in hand.
I looked over at Brianna with a giant grin on my face. It was perfect for them. They were both the biggest smart asses I’d ever met. A big romantic gesture just didn’t suit their relationship. I pulled her into another hug, congratulating her again.
“Did you know someone was filming you?” I asked. She shook her head.
“No idea. Ryan said he needed proof that I’d said yes when I came to my senses and tried to leave him.” We both laughed and I looked down at her ring again. I began to get a bit giddy. I loved weddings.
“Did the alarm go off and I missed it?” he asked, without opening his eyes.
“No.”
“Then why the hell are we awake?” I smiled and held back my laugh.
“For someone who has to wake up by 8 every morning, you sure are grumpy,” I joked.
He made some sort of whiny noise, pushed me off his chest and rolled over, turning his back to me. I wasn’t deterred. I rolled towards him, slinging an arm around him and placing my head on his shoulder. He repeated the whiny noise.
“What? I thought you liked morning sex?” I asked. He immediately shot around to face me.
“Oh, I do,” he said with a smile as he shoved me onto my back. His lips connected with mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
A little while later I cooked him an omelet for breakfast and then said goodbye as he left for practice. I cleaned up the kitchen and got ready to meet my trainer. After a workout that should have been tough but seemed ridiculously easy I walked out of the gym and headed to my car.
“Amelia! How are things going with Corey?” I heard someone yell.
I turned around to see who was asking, stunned. We hadn’t gone anywhere in public since the argument and no one had announced our relationship. I was greeted by a guy holding a camera in my face. I rolled my eyes, glad I had sunglasses on to disguise it.
“Fine,” I responded as I continued on to my car.
“Are you two a couple now after the last blowout? I heard you used to date back in high school!” he called. It never ceased to amaze me the kind of information people could get about you.
I chose not to respond and got into my car, shutting the door before the guy had a chance to say anything else. I shook my head as I drove out of the parking lot. Dealing with paparazzi was one part of my job I’d never get used to.
I’d considered going out to dinner with Corey that night, but changed my mind. I wasn’t ready for the media circus that would surround us quite yet. We were still getting back into being a couple, and that was the last thing we needed to deal with.
Not wanting to be alone, I drove over to Brianna’s instead of going home. She was on the phone when I got there. She put a hand up to me to tell me to hold on, so I made my way into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. When she hung up she came to find me, grabbing a bottle herself.
“Romantic comedy or drama?” she asked me, taking a seat next to me at the table. I raised my eyebrows in interest.
“Tell me about them.”
Brianna explained the premise for each of the offers, but it was too early to make a decision. I asked her to have scripts sent over as soon as possible for me to read them. She said she would, then asked me about Corey.
“It’s everything it always was before, except better,” I told her with a grin on my face. She smiled back. That was when something shiny caught my attention. “What the hell is this?” I asked grabbing her hand and looking at the enormous diamond sitting on the ring finger of her left hand.
“It just happened last night!” she squealed. I did too, and threw my arms around her in a hug.
“Congratulations, Bri! I’m so happy for you guys! Tell me all about it,” I demanded.
“I can do you one better,” she said as she stood up. Confused, I followed her out of the kitchen and into her living room. She turned on the TV, hit a button, and a video popped up. “I’ve been watching it all morning.”
I watched as Brianna and Ryan appeared on the screen. She was standing at the entrance of the ice at the practice arena and shaking her head. Ryan was obviously trying to coax her out onto the ice and she didn’t want to go.
“Sweetie, come on. I won’t let go, I promise,” Ryan said. Brianna finally gave in and grabbed his hand. She took a few tentative steps on the ice before Ryan gave her instructions. She followed them and began to skate around the rink hand in hand with him.
“It’s not so bad,” Brianna joked as they went.
“You’re a natural,” Ryan returned. They skated over to the boards where Ryan grabbed a hockey stick and a puck.
“What is that?” Brianna asked.
“You’re kidding, right?” Ryan returned. Brianna smacked him on the shoulder.
“Why are you holding out a hockey stick to me?” she asked.
“You’re going to shoot this puck into that net with this stick,” Ryan replied pointing to one end of the ice. It took Brianna a little more coaxing to agree to do it.
“Why am I doing this?” she asked as she lined up at the hash marks.
“If you miss, you get what’s in the left hand. If you score, you get what’s in the right. Trust me, you want to score.” She looked at him skeptically but then concentrated on the puck. A minute later she took a swing and the puck didn’t even come close.
“Alright, what do I get?” she asked as Ryan skated over to her.
He took his left hand out from behind his back. Brianna’s annoyed expression turned to one of surprise as she saw the tiny box. She took it from his hand and hesitated before opening it. Then her face went from surprise to confusion.
“It’s empty,” she said to him.
“You missed,” he said simply. He turned and started to skate away.
“Hey, I can’t skate on my own, you bastard!” she yelled at him.
“If you can skate over here on your own, you can have what’s in this hand,” Ryan said, holding up his right fist.
“You’re on.” Brianna looked like she’d been skating for years as she made her way to him. Ryan opened his hand and slipped the ring onto Brianna’s finger.
“I can’t believe that after only a few months I’m doing this, but I guess that goes to show the kind of effect you have on me. I love you, and I want nothing more than to have you be a part of the rest of my life. Will you marry me?” he asked.
“Only if you promise to get me off the ice and out of these skates,” she responded. He laughed and pulled her to him, capturing her lips in a kiss. The video ended with them walking down the runway, hand in hand.
I looked over at Brianna with a giant grin on my face. It was perfect for them. They were both the biggest smart asses I’d ever met. A big romantic gesture just didn’t suit their relationship. I pulled her into another hug, congratulating her again.
“Did you know someone was filming you?” I asked. She shook her head.
“No idea. Ryan said he needed proof that I’d said yes when I came to my senses and tried to leave him.” We both laughed and I looked down at her ring again. I began to get a bit giddy. I loved weddings.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Chapter 25
“He what?!” Brianna exclaimed when I told her about Corey and the engagement ring.
“Yeah, he was going to propose,” I told her again.
“I can’t believe that. You’re a real dumbass.”
“Hey!” I yelled in protest.
“Well, come on, Amelia. How could you have no idea that was coming?” she asked. I thought about it for a minute. After going through it all in my head I still couldn’t think of anything that would imply that Corey was ready to propose.
“I didn’t think we were at that point. I was only 21!” I exclaimed.
“Would you have turned him down?”
“Of course not. I loved him.”
“Well, I’m glad that things seem to be working out. He’s ending things with Ileana?” she asked.
“That’s what he said. Somehow I don’t think he’d show me the ring and tell me all that if he wasn’t going to go through with it this time.”
Brianna agreed and we went over everything one more time. By the end of the conversation I was grinning and Brianna was excited at the prospect of all the double dates and hanging out we could do. We hung up a while later and I debated calling my sister to tell her. In the end I decided to wait until things were definite and under control in case of anything else going wrong.
I had a lot of pent up energy with nothing to do, so I decided to go for a run. As I ran I went over everything from the start. My life had been complicated from the minute Corey walked into grade 11 history class. I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off of the new kid. I wondered what had brought him to my school, but knew the answer as I watched him walk down the hall after class. He played hockey.
It was obvious in the way he walked and carried himself. Also by the hockey butt that all hockey players are famous for. I wasn’t the most outgoing girl ever, and there were plenty of girls throwing themselves at the London Knights, so I kept my crush on Corey secret. That was until my friend Lindsey started dating one of the goalies on the team.
She brought me to one of their parties one night. I hadn’t wanted to go, and found myself sitting alone in the corner sipping on a soda instead of the beer everyone else seemed to be consuming. I watched as girls in slutty outfits monopolized the time of every guy on the team giggling at everything they said. Then I nearly jumped out of my own skin when someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Hey, aren’t you in my history class?”
I turned and saw Corey standing there with a goofy grin on his face. I’d barely managed to choke out a response. Corey didn’t seem to mind, and sat down on the couch next to me. He started talking about our teacher and our upcoming project. Most of what he said hardly registered as I continually thought that this could not actually be happening. Hockey players in London didn’t hang out with the quiet theater geeks. At some point I managed to find my voice and participate in the conversation. We were inseparable from then on.
As I ran I smiled, thinking back on my last two years of high school. Corey had changed my life. Now after too long, we were finally going to be able to continue what we’d started that night. I finished up my run and took a shower. Feeling much more relaxed I sat down to watch a movie and have some dinner.
Corey drove back to his house to see if Ileana was still there. After a thorough inspection of his house he found that she was gone. She’d even cleaned up a little, although there was still stuff scattered all over his house. He got back into his car and headed over to her place. She opened the door just seconds after he knocked.
“Corey?” she asked surprised.
“We have to talk about today,” he told her. She nodded and let him walk past her into the apartment.
“I told you I was sorry about going through your stuff,” she started.
He put a hand up to signal that she should be quiet. He took the ring box out of his pocket so she could see it. Her eyes opened wide and a smile began to form. He felt bad that she obviously thought he was going to propose right now when he was doing the exact opposite.
“This ring was not bought for you.” Ileana’s expression drastically changed. She looked like she’d been shot. She shook her head and looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. “I bought this ring for Amelia years ago before we broke up.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ileana whispered angrily.
“I’m sorry that you found it and thought it was for you, but it’s not.” He didn’t try to sugar coat it. That just wasn’t his style.
“Then why the hell do you still have it?” she spat at him.
“Because I never wanted to let go of Amelia.” Ileana sat down on the chair behind her.
“I’m going to be sick,” she stated. Corey decided to just come out with it and get it over with right now.
“I still love her, Ileana. I never stopped. I can’t string you along anymore. It’s Amelia I want to be with, not you.” It was harsh, but he figured it would make it easier for Ileana to get over him if he wasn’t nice about it.
“You’re an asshole,” she said. He put the ring back in his pocket and turned to walk out the door.
“I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you. It was never my intention,” he said over his shoulder.
“It doesn’t matter. You couldn’t have afforded me in the long run anyway,” she returned.
He felt the anger start to course through him. Apparently he'd overestimated Ileana's feelings about him. He wanted to turn around and respond to her, to tell her off, but he didn’t. Instead he walked out her front door. He sat in his car for a minute before starting it. He’d pack up anything of Ileana’s he found at his place and send it over to her so he wouldn’t have to see her again.
He drove back home and put the ring back in its place. Then he cleaned his house putting everything back, and shoving Ileana’s things into a box. When he was done he closed the box and drove to the post office where he shipped it off. He didn’t even enclose a note. It wasn’t necessary.
When he took care of all of that he drove over to Amelia’s. She answered the door in shorts and a t-shirt, with wet hair. The minute she saw him she smiled. This time he was able to smile back at her.
“It’s done,” he said.
He couldn’t say anything else. As soon as those two words were out she was in his arms, her mouth on his. He walked her backwards into her house, closing the door behind them. Then he carried her upstairs to her bedroom where he was able to make love to her without feeling guilty for the first time in a long time.
“Yeah, he was going to propose,” I told her again.
“I can’t believe that. You’re a real dumbass.”
“Hey!” I yelled in protest.
“Well, come on, Amelia. How could you have no idea that was coming?” she asked. I thought about it for a minute. After going through it all in my head I still couldn’t think of anything that would imply that Corey was ready to propose.
“I didn’t think we were at that point. I was only 21!” I exclaimed.
“Would you have turned him down?”
“Of course not. I loved him.”
“Well, I’m glad that things seem to be working out. He’s ending things with Ileana?” she asked.
“That’s what he said. Somehow I don’t think he’d show me the ring and tell me all that if he wasn’t going to go through with it this time.”
Brianna agreed and we went over everything one more time. By the end of the conversation I was grinning and Brianna was excited at the prospect of all the double dates and hanging out we could do. We hung up a while later and I debated calling my sister to tell her. In the end I decided to wait until things were definite and under control in case of anything else going wrong.
I had a lot of pent up energy with nothing to do, so I decided to go for a run. As I ran I went over everything from the start. My life had been complicated from the minute Corey walked into grade 11 history class. I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off of the new kid. I wondered what had brought him to my school, but knew the answer as I watched him walk down the hall after class. He played hockey.
It was obvious in the way he walked and carried himself. Also by the hockey butt that all hockey players are famous for. I wasn’t the most outgoing girl ever, and there were plenty of girls throwing themselves at the London Knights, so I kept my crush on Corey secret. That was until my friend Lindsey started dating one of the goalies on the team.
She brought me to one of their parties one night. I hadn’t wanted to go, and found myself sitting alone in the corner sipping on a soda instead of the beer everyone else seemed to be consuming. I watched as girls in slutty outfits monopolized the time of every guy on the team giggling at everything they said. Then I nearly jumped out of my own skin when someone tapped me on the shoulder.
“Hey, aren’t you in my history class?”
I turned and saw Corey standing there with a goofy grin on his face. I’d barely managed to choke out a response. Corey didn’t seem to mind, and sat down on the couch next to me. He started talking about our teacher and our upcoming project. Most of what he said hardly registered as I continually thought that this could not actually be happening. Hockey players in London didn’t hang out with the quiet theater geeks. At some point I managed to find my voice and participate in the conversation. We were inseparable from then on.
As I ran I smiled, thinking back on my last two years of high school. Corey had changed my life. Now after too long, we were finally going to be able to continue what we’d started that night. I finished up my run and took a shower. Feeling much more relaxed I sat down to watch a movie and have some dinner.
Corey drove back to his house to see if Ileana was still there. After a thorough inspection of his house he found that she was gone. She’d even cleaned up a little, although there was still stuff scattered all over his house. He got back into his car and headed over to her place. She opened the door just seconds after he knocked.
“Corey?” she asked surprised.
“We have to talk about today,” he told her. She nodded and let him walk past her into the apartment.
“I told you I was sorry about going through your stuff,” she started.
He put a hand up to signal that she should be quiet. He took the ring box out of his pocket so she could see it. Her eyes opened wide and a smile began to form. He felt bad that she obviously thought he was going to propose right now when he was doing the exact opposite.
“This ring was not bought for you.” Ileana’s expression drastically changed. She looked like she’d been shot. She shook her head and looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words. “I bought this ring for Amelia years ago before we broke up.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ileana whispered angrily.
“I’m sorry that you found it and thought it was for you, but it’s not.” He didn’t try to sugar coat it. That just wasn’t his style.
“Then why the hell do you still have it?” she spat at him.
“Because I never wanted to let go of Amelia.” Ileana sat down on the chair behind her.
“I’m going to be sick,” she stated. Corey decided to just come out with it and get it over with right now.
“I still love her, Ileana. I never stopped. I can’t string you along anymore. It’s Amelia I want to be with, not you.” It was harsh, but he figured it would make it easier for Ileana to get over him if he wasn’t nice about it.
“You’re an asshole,” she said. He put the ring back in his pocket and turned to walk out the door.
“I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you. It was never my intention,” he said over his shoulder.
“It doesn’t matter. You couldn’t have afforded me in the long run anyway,” she returned.
He felt the anger start to course through him. Apparently he'd overestimated Ileana's feelings about him. He wanted to turn around and respond to her, to tell her off, but he didn’t. Instead he walked out her front door. He sat in his car for a minute before starting it. He’d pack up anything of Ileana’s he found at his place and send it over to her so he wouldn’t have to see her again.
He drove back home and put the ring back in its place. Then he cleaned his house putting everything back, and shoving Ileana’s things into a box. When he was done he closed the box and drove to the post office where he shipped it off. He didn’t even enclose a note. It wasn’t necessary.
When he took care of all of that he drove over to Amelia’s. She answered the door in shorts and a t-shirt, with wet hair. The minute she saw him she smiled. This time he was able to smile back at her.
“It’s done,” he said.
He couldn’t say anything else. As soon as those two words were out she was in his arms, her mouth on his. He walked her backwards into her house, closing the door behind them. Then he carried her upstairs to her bedroom where he was able to make love to her without feeling guilty for the first time in a long time.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Chapter 24
Corey walked out of the rink and skipped past all of the autograph seekers. He had other things on his mind. He didn’t feel bad as people called after him. Most of these people were here everyday. How many autographs did they need? Probably just one. He knew that most people got multiple autographs and then sold them. He hated people like that.
He also skipped out on grabbing lunch anywhere. He just wasn’t hungry. He thought about what he was going to do with Ileana and Amelia. He knew that no matter what was going on, he needed to end things with Ileana. He wasn’t happy with her, and it had finally occurred to him that stringing her along because of her grandmother was just going to hurt her more. He also knew he had to figure out a way to make everything up to Amelia. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to do that.
He pulled into his driveway and saw Ileana’s car parked in it. He groaned, but was almost glad. He could get this over with right now and only focus on Amelia. He parked his car next to hers and walked into his house. What he saw when he walked in the door shocked him. It looked like a tornado had hit the inside of his house.
As he made his way from room to room he noticed all of them looked like that. What the hell was Ileana doing? He heard her sobs coming from down the hall and realized she was in his bedroom. He braced himself for whatever was making her cry this time and walked in. He thought he’d been shocked when he saw the rest of his house. That shock didn’t compare to this one. He felt his heart stop.
“I can’t believe this,” Ileana choked out when she saw him enter.
She’d done to his room what she’d done to the rest of his house. Only there was something in his room he’d never wanted her to find, and unfortunately she had. She was sitting on the floor in front of his dresser holding the small box that held the engagement ring he’d bought for Amelia. He didn’t know what to say or do.
“Ileana,” he started. She glanced up at him and he froze. He didn’t know what her reaction was going to be. Would it make it easier or harder to end things with her?
“I can’t believe this!” she yelled this time. She jumped up to her feet and made her way over to him. She didn’t look angry, just surprised. “I had no idea you were planning on asking me to marry you!”
Corey’s eyes widened and he felt sick to his stomach as Ileana flung her arms around him. Jesus, he’d never even considered that she’d think that. Now that he knew what she thought, he panicked. What the hell was he going to say to her?
“What the hell have you done to my house?” he asked. He wanted to avoid the topic of the ring right now until he could figure out what to do about it.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I went to see Amelia this morning. She said some things. I guess I just got mad and started going through you’re stuff. I had to know how you felt about me. I wanted to make sure you weren’t hiding anything else. Except you were. You were hiding this.” She had a smile on her face. He was frowning.
“You shouldn’t have gone to see Amelia and you have no right to go through my things!” he yelled at her in anger. Her smile began to fade.
“Corey, I’m sorry. I just freaked out. I know this probably isn’t how you wanted me to see the ring, but I did. There’s no way around it. Amelia just said-” He snatched the box out of her hand. She recoiled a little at the action.
“I don’t care what Amelia said to you! You shouldn’t have gone through my stuff!” He found himself brushing off the box as if Ileana holding it had dirtied it.
“Corey, I’m sorry. I’ll just pretend I never saw it. You can ask me on your own time, the way you wanted to,” she told him. He had a million thoughts racing through his mind.
“I need to go,” he said to her. He left her standing alone in his bedroom and walked out the front door. He made his way to his car and got in. He wasn’t thinking clearly, and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop himself.
I saw on the couch in my living room after Brianna had left. I was exhausted. Today had already been a busy day and it was only 2:00. I’d spent the last couple of hours talking to Brianna about what I should do as far as my stupidly public argument with Corey went. Then we talked about the fact that Ileana now knew and what I should do about that.
Now that she’d left I didn’t really feel any better. I still didn’t know what kind of statement was going to be released about yesterday, but Brianna said she’d talk to Zane and take care of it. I knew that whatever they said would be fine. Unfortunately, that was the only thing that was going to be fine. I felt like absolutely nothing else in my life was fine right now.
Despite what I’d said to Corey the day before, I didn’t want him out of my life completely. It was just the opposite. I was angry, and who wouldn’t be, but technically speaking I was the other woman, not Ileana. Corey had never lied to me, and I didn’t know why he’d start now with something that major.
There were three reasons running through my head that made me want to forgive Corey and give him another chance. The first was Ileana. I wanted to take Corey from her. I wanted to win. It was purely out of my hatred for her, but it still counted. The second was because I loved him and I knew I always would. That wasn’t ever going to go away.
The third reason was Brianna. She’d given me some great advice. After telling me that if it had been any other guy she would have insisted that I end things and get as far away from him as possible, she then told me that I needed to hear him out. Corey was Ryan’s best friend which meant she’d spent time with him. Even before all of this had been going on she’d known that Corey was in love with me. She said it was written all over his face every time my name came up in conversation. She also told me that Corey had told Ryan he still loved me.
We both agreed that guys didn’t always make the right decisions, but that didn’t mean they were bad guys. We also both agreed that the current situation was not something everyone experienced. That alone meant that I couldn’t just write him off forever. She also made me realize that Corey got one more chance. If he screwed up again I had to end it. Guys only get so many chances.
The sudden sound of my front door being flung open and slammed shut caused me to break out of my thoughts and jump up off the couch with a scream. My heart started to race and my breathing quickened at the adrenaline rush the shock of the noise caused. When I saw the culprit turn the corner it did nothing to make me feel better. Corey was standing there with a glare fixed right on me.
“What the hell did you say to Ileana?!” he yelled. My jaw dropped. I didn’t even know how to respond.
“Excuse me?”
“Ileana. She came here. What did you say to her?” he demanded. I paused and thought back for a second.
“Are you defending her?!” I yelled back.
“You just need to tell me what you said.” His voice was steadier this time, but he still seemed ready to snap.
“She came here, okay? She started demanding that I stay away from you. She said that you’d chosen her and I had to deal with it. I was angry.”
“Amelia,” he said impatiently. I took a deep breath.
“I told her it only took you four months to tell me you loved me when we were together. I asked her how long it took you to tell her.” I cringed as the words left my mouth. It had been a serious low blow. I almost felt bad. He let out a growl of frustration when he heard me.
“So that’s what everything was about,” he said more to himself than to me. I waited for an explanation but none came.
“What are you talking about?” I finally asked.
“She went through my stuff. All of it. She tore my house apart.” Maybe it hadn’t been right, but why the hell was he angry enough to have stormed into my house unannounced to demand to hear what I’d said to her. “She found this.”
At the last words Corey tossed something to the couch next to me. My eyes travelled down to the object. My breath caught in my throat when I saw the tiny box. I didn’t need to open it to know what was inside. My stomach lurched when realization struck me. He’d bought Ileana an engagement ring.
Everything Brianna and I had talked about earlier went out the window. You don’t buy someone you don’t love a ring. Tears built up as I realized that he’d been lying to me the whole time. I was angry at him for telling me this way, by rubbing the ring in my face. I wanted to look away from the box, to tell Corey to leave, but I couldn’t. My eyes were fixed on it.
After a while I couldn’t help myself. I picked up the box and opened it. Not that I’d thought I was wrong, but seeing the ring inside confirmed my fears. A hand flew to my mouth as I tried to stop the sobs that had begun to escape from me. The ring was beautiful. It was an enormous solitary princess cut diamond on a platinum band completely encircled with smaller diamonds. It was exactly the kind of ring I would have wanted someday.
I snapped the box closed. It was too painful to look at. Knowing that Ileana would be wearing my dream ring was too much to handle. I dropped the box to the floor in front of me and collapsed down onto the couch. My legs could no longer hold me up. I couldn’t look at Corey and I wouldn’t let myself look at the box on the floor. Instead I squeezed my eyes shut and let the tears come.
“Why would you show me that?” I choked out between sobs.
“Because that ring was meant for you.”
I snapped my head up to look at him. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe. Instead I just stared at him, searching his face for any sign that would tell me if he was lying or telling me the truth. He was pacing, which made it difficult.
“She found it and now she thinks I bought it for her. I don’t know what to do. I bought that ring for you in Portland before you left and now she thinks it’s hers.”
“Oh, God,” I managed to say when I heard that.
Corey was going to propose to me in Portland? I let my head fall into my hands. He was going to propose and I left him. I thought I’d gotten it. I thought I understood how much pain I’d put him through by leaving, but I didn’t have a clue. I’d never know exactly how badly I’d hurt him. How do you recover from something like that?
“I can’t let her think that. I can’t even let her touch it. I don’t know why I still have it. For some reason I just couldn’t get rid of it when you left. I couldn’t let you go.” He was still pacing.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never.....I’m so sorry,” I said to him. He stopped pacing and turned to look at me. Then he picked up the box.
“I have to fix things,” he said staring down at it.
“I don’t know how you could ever forgive me for what I did to you.”
“I already did. A long time ago.” Our eyes met. “I have to talk to Ileana. I have to tell her this isn’t for her and that we’re over.” My heart skipped.
“Corey, just do what’s going to make you happy. Don’t worry about anyone else.”
“I am. You make me happy, Meels. It’s always been you.”
He kissed me softly and wiped the tears from my face. He smiled at me and then turned and walked out of my house. I stared at the door long after he was gone. It took a while, but my smile eventually came. When it did, I couldn’t make it go away. Things were finally turning around.
He also skipped out on grabbing lunch anywhere. He just wasn’t hungry. He thought about what he was going to do with Ileana and Amelia. He knew that no matter what was going on, he needed to end things with Ileana. He wasn’t happy with her, and it had finally occurred to him that stringing her along because of her grandmother was just going to hurt her more. He also knew he had to figure out a way to make everything up to Amelia. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to do that.
He pulled into his driveway and saw Ileana’s car parked in it. He groaned, but was almost glad. He could get this over with right now and only focus on Amelia. He parked his car next to hers and walked into his house. What he saw when he walked in the door shocked him. It looked like a tornado had hit the inside of his house.
As he made his way from room to room he noticed all of them looked like that. What the hell was Ileana doing? He heard her sobs coming from down the hall and realized she was in his bedroom. He braced himself for whatever was making her cry this time and walked in. He thought he’d been shocked when he saw the rest of his house. That shock didn’t compare to this one. He felt his heart stop.
“I can’t believe this,” Ileana choked out when she saw him enter.
She’d done to his room what she’d done to the rest of his house. Only there was something in his room he’d never wanted her to find, and unfortunately she had. She was sitting on the floor in front of his dresser holding the small box that held the engagement ring he’d bought for Amelia. He didn’t know what to say or do.
“Ileana,” he started. She glanced up at him and he froze. He didn’t know what her reaction was going to be. Would it make it easier or harder to end things with her?
“I can’t believe this!” she yelled this time. She jumped up to her feet and made her way over to him. She didn’t look angry, just surprised. “I had no idea you were planning on asking me to marry you!”
Corey’s eyes widened and he felt sick to his stomach as Ileana flung her arms around him. Jesus, he’d never even considered that she’d think that. Now that he knew what she thought, he panicked. What the hell was he going to say to her?
“What the hell have you done to my house?” he asked. He wanted to avoid the topic of the ring right now until he could figure out what to do about it.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I went to see Amelia this morning. She said some things. I guess I just got mad and started going through you’re stuff. I had to know how you felt about me. I wanted to make sure you weren’t hiding anything else. Except you were. You were hiding this.” She had a smile on her face. He was frowning.
“You shouldn’t have gone to see Amelia and you have no right to go through my things!” he yelled at her in anger. Her smile began to fade.
“Corey, I’m sorry. I just freaked out. I know this probably isn’t how you wanted me to see the ring, but I did. There’s no way around it. Amelia just said-” He snatched the box out of her hand. She recoiled a little at the action.
“I don’t care what Amelia said to you! You shouldn’t have gone through my stuff!” He found himself brushing off the box as if Ileana holding it had dirtied it.
“Corey, I’m sorry. I’ll just pretend I never saw it. You can ask me on your own time, the way you wanted to,” she told him. He had a million thoughts racing through his mind.
“I need to go,” he said to her. He left her standing alone in his bedroom and walked out the front door. He made his way to his car and got in. He wasn’t thinking clearly, and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop himself.
I saw on the couch in my living room after Brianna had left. I was exhausted. Today had already been a busy day and it was only 2:00. I’d spent the last couple of hours talking to Brianna about what I should do as far as my stupidly public argument with Corey went. Then we talked about the fact that Ileana now knew and what I should do about that.
Now that she’d left I didn’t really feel any better. I still didn’t know what kind of statement was going to be released about yesterday, but Brianna said she’d talk to Zane and take care of it. I knew that whatever they said would be fine. Unfortunately, that was the only thing that was going to be fine. I felt like absolutely nothing else in my life was fine right now.
Despite what I’d said to Corey the day before, I didn’t want him out of my life completely. It was just the opposite. I was angry, and who wouldn’t be, but technically speaking I was the other woman, not Ileana. Corey had never lied to me, and I didn’t know why he’d start now with something that major.
There were three reasons running through my head that made me want to forgive Corey and give him another chance. The first was Ileana. I wanted to take Corey from her. I wanted to win. It was purely out of my hatred for her, but it still counted. The second was because I loved him and I knew I always would. That wasn’t ever going to go away.
The third reason was Brianna. She’d given me some great advice. After telling me that if it had been any other guy she would have insisted that I end things and get as far away from him as possible, she then told me that I needed to hear him out. Corey was Ryan’s best friend which meant she’d spent time with him. Even before all of this had been going on she’d known that Corey was in love with me. She said it was written all over his face every time my name came up in conversation. She also told me that Corey had told Ryan he still loved me.
We both agreed that guys didn’t always make the right decisions, but that didn’t mean they were bad guys. We also both agreed that the current situation was not something everyone experienced. That alone meant that I couldn’t just write him off forever. She also made me realize that Corey got one more chance. If he screwed up again I had to end it. Guys only get so many chances.
The sudden sound of my front door being flung open and slammed shut caused me to break out of my thoughts and jump up off the couch with a scream. My heart started to race and my breathing quickened at the adrenaline rush the shock of the noise caused. When I saw the culprit turn the corner it did nothing to make me feel better. Corey was standing there with a glare fixed right on me.
“What the hell did you say to Ileana?!” he yelled. My jaw dropped. I didn’t even know how to respond.
“Excuse me?”
“Ileana. She came here. What did you say to her?” he demanded. I paused and thought back for a second.
“Are you defending her?!” I yelled back.
“You just need to tell me what you said.” His voice was steadier this time, but he still seemed ready to snap.
“She came here, okay? She started demanding that I stay away from you. She said that you’d chosen her and I had to deal with it. I was angry.”
“Amelia,” he said impatiently. I took a deep breath.
“I told her it only took you four months to tell me you loved me when we were together. I asked her how long it took you to tell her.” I cringed as the words left my mouth. It had been a serious low blow. I almost felt bad. He let out a growl of frustration when he heard me.
“So that’s what everything was about,” he said more to himself than to me. I waited for an explanation but none came.
“What are you talking about?” I finally asked.
“She went through my stuff. All of it. She tore my house apart.” Maybe it hadn’t been right, but why the hell was he angry enough to have stormed into my house unannounced to demand to hear what I’d said to her. “She found this.”
At the last words Corey tossed something to the couch next to me. My eyes travelled down to the object. My breath caught in my throat when I saw the tiny box. I didn’t need to open it to know what was inside. My stomach lurched when realization struck me. He’d bought Ileana an engagement ring.
Everything Brianna and I had talked about earlier went out the window. You don’t buy someone you don’t love a ring. Tears built up as I realized that he’d been lying to me the whole time. I was angry at him for telling me this way, by rubbing the ring in my face. I wanted to look away from the box, to tell Corey to leave, but I couldn’t. My eyes were fixed on it.
After a while I couldn’t help myself. I picked up the box and opened it. Not that I’d thought I was wrong, but seeing the ring inside confirmed my fears. A hand flew to my mouth as I tried to stop the sobs that had begun to escape from me. The ring was beautiful. It was an enormous solitary princess cut diamond on a platinum band completely encircled with smaller diamonds. It was exactly the kind of ring I would have wanted someday.
I snapped the box closed. It was too painful to look at. Knowing that Ileana would be wearing my dream ring was too much to handle. I dropped the box to the floor in front of me and collapsed down onto the couch. My legs could no longer hold me up. I couldn’t look at Corey and I wouldn’t let myself look at the box on the floor. Instead I squeezed my eyes shut and let the tears come.
“Why would you show me that?” I choked out between sobs.
“Because that ring was meant for you.”
I snapped my head up to look at him. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe. Instead I just stared at him, searching his face for any sign that would tell me if he was lying or telling me the truth. He was pacing, which made it difficult.
“She found it and now she thinks I bought it for her. I don’t know what to do. I bought that ring for you in Portland before you left and now she thinks it’s hers.”
“Oh, God,” I managed to say when I heard that.
Corey was going to propose to me in Portland? I let my head fall into my hands. He was going to propose and I left him. I thought I’d gotten it. I thought I understood how much pain I’d put him through by leaving, but I didn’t have a clue. I’d never know exactly how badly I’d hurt him. How do you recover from something like that?
“I can’t let her think that. I can’t even let her touch it. I don’t know why I still have it. For some reason I just couldn’t get rid of it when you left. I couldn’t let you go.” He was still pacing.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never.....I’m so sorry,” I said to him. He stopped pacing and turned to look at me. Then he picked up the box.
“I have to fix things,” he said staring down at it.
“I don’t know how you could ever forgive me for what I did to you.”
“I already did. A long time ago.” Our eyes met. “I have to talk to Ileana. I have to tell her this isn’t for her and that we’re over.” My heart skipped.
“Corey, just do what’s going to make you happy. Don’t worry about anyone else.”
“I am. You make me happy, Meels. It’s always been you.”
He kissed me softly and wiped the tears from my face. He smiled at me and then turned and walked out of my house. I stared at the door long after he was gone. It took a while, but my smile eventually came. When it did, I couldn’t make it go away. Things were finally turning around.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Chapter 23
Corey was jolted awake by a simultaneous ringing of the phone and his doorbell. He noticed his headache from the day before wasn’t even close to being gone. In fact, it was worse. He wasn’t sure what to answer first. He glanced at the phone and saw Ileana’s name on the call ID. He decided to get the door first. It was pretty much a no win situation for him when he opened the door and saw Ileana standing there, cell phone pressed to her ear, with one pissed off look on her face.
“We need to talk,” she demanded as she walked past him into the house. He groaned and shut the door. Worst morning ever, he thought.
“What about?” He feigned ignorance only because he didn’t know what else to do.
“You slept with Amelia!” she yelled at him. He wanted to slam his head off of something.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Don’t fucking lie to me!” she shouted. Just as she yelled, she threw something at him. He only had enough time to duck. When he turned around, he saw it was her phone that had been aimed right at his head.
“What the fuck, Ileana?!” he called out. He knew he didn’t have any right to be mad at her right now, but she’d thrown a fucking phone at his head.
“Just tell me the truth for once!” He stayed silent, which was enough proof for Ileana. She let out a scream he didn’t think a human could possibly make. He managed to duck in time to avoid the wallet that was thrown at him next.
“Okay, fine. I slept with Amelia. I’m sorry!” he confessed. She screamed again. This time the makeup compact hit him in the chest. No ducking that one.
“You couldn’t even tell me! You let me find out on fucking TMZ!” Okay, not his smartest play ever. He should have realized that the first thing she did upon waking up was check that website.
“I’m sorry!” he apologized again. She didn’t throw anything this time. Instead she walked up to him and slapped him across the face. He’d seen it coming.
“You were really going to leave me for her?” she asked. Her voice was quiet this time. He’d hardly heard her. Jesus, he felt like shit right now.
“Ileana-“ He couldn’t finish. He didn’t know what to say.
“You didn’t though,” she said. He froze in his tracks. Had her voice just become less angry?
“No,” he said cautiously. He really didn’t want anything else to get thrown at him.
“So you chose me.” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was she forgiving him? And what the hell did he do now? He needed to just tell her. As he was finding the words to end things she flew into his arms. “I knew you loved me!” Shit.
He hugged her back simply because he didn’t know what else to do. It’s not like he’d ever been in this situation before. He didn’t love Ileana and he knew it. Even so, it was hard for him to leave her right now. First her grandmother, who he knew she was close to, was dying. Now she’d found out he’d cheated on her with his ex. Even so, she’d decided to forgive him for God knows what reason. He was in deep.
“We’re not okay, but eventually we will be,” she told him when she pulled away. He just stood there speechless. She took that as meaning that things were going to be okay between them. “I have some things I need to get done. I’ll come back over later. Things definitely need to be discussed.”
He just nodded. She kissed him quickly before collecting the stuff she’d thrown and walking out the door. She called out a goodbye over her shoulder and shut the door. He fell back on the couch with his head spinning. He’d never understand women.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” I said into the phone to my publicist. Unfortunately I hadn’t been very intelligent the day before. My outburst towards Corey was all over the internet, and probably the television soon enough.
“I get that, but we need to figure out how we’re going to spin this,” Zane said. Brianna was also in on the conference call.
“Maybe you should just say that you two know each other from home, not mention the dating, and say that the conversation was completely out of context,” she suggested. Both Zane and I groaned. That was totally not going to work.
“I don’t know. All I know is the guy I’ve been in love with since I was 16 years old is still fucking someone else,” I spat into the receiver. There was no response for a minute.
“We could say that you two have been friends for a while and he came to you for advice. You got mad at him for some kind of indiscretion,” Zane offered up. Again, I was less than impressed.
“Is that seriously all you can come up with?” I yelled into the phone.
There was silence for a few minutes as the three of us tried to think of any sort of excuse that could play that whole situation in my favor. I’d made a mistake. A big one. I really needed to have stayed calm and not done that in front of people that were going to report it, but I’d been stupid and too caught up in my emotions to care.
“Can you think of anything?” Zane asked. I’d had it with this phone conversation.
“Hey, publicity is what you are trained to deal with. This is your job, not mine. Do it,” I snapped. I hung up the phone as soon as I’d said it.
I fell back onto my bed. I felt like an idiot. What the hell had I been thinking? Not once, not ever, had I felt the need to do anything like that in a public setting. Even so, yesterday afternoon had been different. There was no stopping me then. I guess I was just a product of my emotions, just like everyone else. It was also not something I could necessarily afford since I was in the public eye.
My phone rang a few more times, but I ignored it. I didn’t even bother to see who was calling. The last thing I needed was a lecture of any sort from Zane or Brianna. I eventually just turned my phone off, not interested in anything anyone had to say. When my doorbell rang a little bit later I fully expected to see one of the two of them standing there.
“What the hell do you want?” I asked in shock when I saw Ileana standing in front of me on my doorstep.
“I think we need to talk,” she said simply. I shook my head and began to shut the door in her face. She stopped the door with her foot. I looked at her in surprise.
“I’m not in the mood to talk,” I told her.
“Well, too bad. I am.” I glared at her, and she stared right back at me. This was it. We were about to have it out.
“Then say what you have to say and get the hell off my property.” I was over pretending that I liked her.
“Corey told me you two slept together. I was pissed. I threw things at him. Then I realized something. He’s still with me.”
“Yeah? How long do you think that’s going to last? I’m not going anywhere,” I returned. She smirked at me.
“All I need to know is that he came home to me. He’s not here with you, comforting you over this whole thing. Instead he let me into his house and comforted me. Have you talked to him since this all happened?” I wanted to smack the grin off her face. Even so, she had me there.
“It’s kind of hard to talk to someone you’re not speaking to,” I retorted. It was lame, and I knew it. I was still in shock that she’d shown up at my door.
“Right, I’m sure that’s why. I just came here to tell you to stay the fuck away from my boyfriend. You blew your chance. You left him. You disappeared out of his life. He moved on and he chose me. Learn how to deal and get over it.”
I stared at her in complete contempt. It took every ounce of strength to not punch her. God, I wanted to. She gave me another one of her stupid grins before turning to walk back to her car. That was when I noticed Brianna getting out of her car and looking back and forth between the two of us.
“When was the last time Corey told you he loved you?” I called after her. I saw her body stiffen as she froze in her tracks. I hit a nerve and knew it. She turned to look back at me.
“And how is that any of your business?” she called back with her hand on her door handle. I shrugged.
“I guess it’s not.” I paused and watched her open the car door. “It only took Corey four months into our relationship to tell me he loved me. How long did it take him to tell you?”
It was a cheap shot and I knew it. Corey had told me he’d never told Ileana that he loved her. Ileana glared at me but didn’t say anything. Despite the lack of response, or maybe because of it, I knew that I’d won this battle. She gave me one last dirty look before getting back in her car. I watched her car pull out of the driveway with a smile on my face. Even though I was more than pissed off at Corey for everything, this had become war.
“Was that last comment really necessary, Lia?” Brianna asked walking up to me.
“Hey, she came here. I didn’t seek her out. She deserved every word of it.”
“You’re trying to steal her boyfriend,” she reminded me. I rolled my eyes at her and closed the door behind us.
“We need to talk,” she demanded as she walked past him into the house. He groaned and shut the door. Worst morning ever, he thought.
“What about?” He feigned ignorance only because he didn’t know what else to do.
“You slept with Amelia!” she yelled at him. He wanted to slam his head off of something.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“Don’t fucking lie to me!” she shouted. Just as she yelled, she threw something at him. He only had enough time to duck. When he turned around, he saw it was her phone that had been aimed right at his head.
“What the fuck, Ileana?!” he called out. He knew he didn’t have any right to be mad at her right now, but she’d thrown a fucking phone at his head.
“Just tell me the truth for once!” He stayed silent, which was enough proof for Ileana. She let out a scream he didn’t think a human could possibly make. He managed to duck in time to avoid the wallet that was thrown at him next.
“Okay, fine. I slept with Amelia. I’m sorry!” he confessed. She screamed again. This time the makeup compact hit him in the chest. No ducking that one.
“You couldn’t even tell me! You let me find out on fucking TMZ!” Okay, not his smartest play ever. He should have realized that the first thing she did upon waking up was check that website.
“I’m sorry!” he apologized again. She didn’t throw anything this time. Instead she walked up to him and slapped him across the face. He’d seen it coming.
“You were really going to leave me for her?” she asked. Her voice was quiet this time. He’d hardly heard her. Jesus, he felt like shit right now.
“Ileana-“ He couldn’t finish. He didn’t know what to say.
“You didn’t though,” she said. He froze in his tracks. Had her voice just become less angry?
“No,” he said cautiously. He really didn’t want anything else to get thrown at him.
“So you chose me.” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was she forgiving him? And what the hell did he do now? He needed to just tell her. As he was finding the words to end things she flew into his arms. “I knew you loved me!” Shit.
He hugged her back simply because he didn’t know what else to do. It’s not like he’d ever been in this situation before. He didn’t love Ileana and he knew it. Even so, it was hard for him to leave her right now. First her grandmother, who he knew she was close to, was dying. Now she’d found out he’d cheated on her with his ex. Even so, she’d decided to forgive him for God knows what reason. He was in deep.
“We’re not okay, but eventually we will be,” she told him when she pulled away. He just stood there speechless. She took that as meaning that things were going to be okay between them. “I have some things I need to get done. I’ll come back over later. Things definitely need to be discussed.”
He just nodded. She kissed him quickly before collecting the stuff she’d thrown and walking out the door. She called out a goodbye over her shoulder and shut the door. He fell back on the couch with his head spinning. He’d never understand women.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” I said into the phone to my publicist. Unfortunately I hadn’t been very intelligent the day before. My outburst towards Corey was all over the internet, and probably the television soon enough.
“I get that, but we need to figure out how we’re going to spin this,” Zane said. Brianna was also in on the conference call.
“Maybe you should just say that you two know each other from home, not mention the dating, and say that the conversation was completely out of context,” she suggested. Both Zane and I groaned. That was totally not going to work.
“I don’t know. All I know is the guy I’ve been in love with since I was 16 years old is still fucking someone else,” I spat into the receiver. There was no response for a minute.
“We could say that you two have been friends for a while and he came to you for advice. You got mad at him for some kind of indiscretion,” Zane offered up. Again, I was less than impressed.
“Is that seriously all you can come up with?” I yelled into the phone.
There was silence for a few minutes as the three of us tried to think of any sort of excuse that could play that whole situation in my favor. I’d made a mistake. A big one. I really needed to have stayed calm and not done that in front of people that were going to report it, but I’d been stupid and too caught up in my emotions to care.
“Can you think of anything?” Zane asked. I’d had it with this phone conversation.
“Hey, publicity is what you are trained to deal with. This is your job, not mine. Do it,” I snapped. I hung up the phone as soon as I’d said it.
I fell back onto my bed. I felt like an idiot. What the hell had I been thinking? Not once, not ever, had I felt the need to do anything like that in a public setting. Even so, yesterday afternoon had been different. There was no stopping me then. I guess I was just a product of my emotions, just like everyone else. It was also not something I could necessarily afford since I was in the public eye.
My phone rang a few more times, but I ignored it. I didn’t even bother to see who was calling. The last thing I needed was a lecture of any sort from Zane or Brianna. I eventually just turned my phone off, not interested in anything anyone had to say. When my doorbell rang a little bit later I fully expected to see one of the two of them standing there.
“What the hell do you want?” I asked in shock when I saw Ileana standing in front of me on my doorstep.
“I think we need to talk,” she said simply. I shook my head and began to shut the door in her face. She stopped the door with her foot. I looked at her in surprise.
“I’m not in the mood to talk,” I told her.
“Well, too bad. I am.” I glared at her, and she stared right back at me. This was it. We were about to have it out.
“Then say what you have to say and get the hell off my property.” I was over pretending that I liked her.
“Corey told me you two slept together. I was pissed. I threw things at him. Then I realized something. He’s still with me.”
“Yeah? How long do you think that’s going to last? I’m not going anywhere,” I returned. She smirked at me.
“All I need to know is that he came home to me. He’s not here with you, comforting you over this whole thing. Instead he let me into his house and comforted me. Have you talked to him since this all happened?” I wanted to smack the grin off her face. Even so, she had me there.
“It’s kind of hard to talk to someone you’re not speaking to,” I retorted. It was lame, and I knew it. I was still in shock that she’d shown up at my door.
“Right, I’m sure that’s why. I just came here to tell you to stay the fuck away from my boyfriend. You blew your chance. You left him. You disappeared out of his life. He moved on and he chose me. Learn how to deal and get over it.”
I stared at her in complete contempt. It took every ounce of strength to not punch her. God, I wanted to. She gave me another one of her stupid grins before turning to walk back to her car. That was when I noticed Brianna getting out of her car and looking back and forth between the two of us.
“When was the last time Corey told you he loved you?” I called after her. I saw her body stiffen as she froze in her tracks. I hit a nerve and knew it. She turned to look back at me.
“And how is that any of your business?” she called back with her hand on her door handle. I shrugged.
“I guess it’s not.” I paused and watched her open the car door. “It only took Corey four months into our relationship to tell me he loved me. How long did it take him to tell you?”
It was a cheap shot and I knew it. Corey had told me he’d never told Ileana that he loved her. Ileana glared at me but didn’t say anything. Despite the lack of response, or maybe because of it, I knew that I’d won this battle. She gave me one last dirty look before getting back in her car. I watched her car pull out of the driveway with a smile on my face. Even though I was more than pissed off at Corey for everything, this had become war.
“Was that last comment really necessary, Lia?” Brianna asked walking up to me.
“Hey, she came here. I didn’t seek her out. She deserved every word of it.”
“You’re trying to steal her boyfriend,” she reminded me. I rolled my eyes at her and closed the door behind us.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Chapter 22
About a week had passed since Jordan and I had ended our relationship. It had become public knowledge now and everyone wanted to ask me about it. Thankfully it hadn’t been a bitter or angry break up so it was more annoying than painful to answer the questions. Seriously, how many times can you reiterate that it was an amicable breakup to people?
I also hadn’t heard anything from Corey about his talk with Ileana. She was supposed to be home the day after Jordan was so I couldn’t figure out what was going on. He’d said he was going to end things with her. Why wasn’t he calling me to tell me that he had? I didn’t have a good feeling about the whole thing.
I was tempted to call him and ask him, but I was scared. What if I called and he hadn’t done it? I decided just to wait until he called me, because then I would know that it was over between them. At least I hoped so. It was another couple of days before he finally did call.
“Are you free for lunch tomorrow?” he asked. I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face.
“I am. What did you have in mind?”
He gave me a place and a time and I couldn’t contain myself for the rest of the night. This was it. We would finally be able to be together without any problems. I put a lot more effort into getting ready than I had in a long time. I wanted to look good for our first day back together. When it was time I got in my car and drove to the restaurant. I got there first and had to wait for Corey to meet me after practice.
“Hey!” I called jumping up from my seat when I saw him. I hugged him and gave him a quick kiss before sitting back down.
“How is everything?” he asked as he sat down across from me.
“Good. Great. Fantastic,” I gushed, grinning ear to ear. He smiled back at me. The waitress came over and took our orders a minute later. “It was much easier with Jordan than I expected it to be.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked as he took a sip of his water.
“Jordan actually was thinking the same thing. He’s the one that brought it up.” Corey looked surprised.
“He wanted to break up with you?” he asked. I nodded.
I told Corey about the conversation that we had. He didn’t talk much, or interject a whole lot while I was talking. I figured it was because I was just so happy that I couldn’t make myself shut up. What I didn’t fail to notice by the time our food got there was that he hadn’t mentioned ending things with Ileana yet. I wondered if he’d had a really bad experience doing that.
“You haven’t told me how it went with Ileana,” I finally pushed when we were almost done with lunch. He sighed and took a drink of his water.
“That’s why I asked you to lunch.” I felt my heart stop for a minute. What the hell was going on? “Things with Ileana are complicated.”
“What do you mean, they’re complicated?” I asked, my voice rising a little.
“Her grandmother’s dying.”
I wasn’t sure how to take that. On one hand I felt terrible for her. I knew what it was like to lose a family member and as much as I disliked Ileana, I’d never wish for anyone to go through that. On the other hand I was wondering what the hell that had to do with Corey breaking up with her.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that, but what does that have to do with this?” I asked.
“Meels, I can’t break up with someone who has a family member dying.” My eyes widened and I sucked in a breath. He hadn’t ended things with her.
“So, what, you’re still dating?” I spat at him.
“What do you want me to do?” I saw a glimmer of something in his eyes. I couldn’t figure out what it was. He looked guilty. Well, he should.
“Corey, it’s been over a week since we agreed to do this and you’re just telling me now?!” I yelled. I noticed a few tables turn their attention to us, but right now I didn’t care. I was angry.
“We had games, and Ileana’s been around a lot and I just didn’t have time.” They were excuses. I struggled to think of something to say when realization hit me. I knew what that look in his eyes was.
“You slept with her!” I screamed out. A hush fell over the restaurant as I saw the look on Corey’s face. He looked busted.
“Amelia, this is not the place,” he started. I didn’t want to hear it.
“Fuck you, Corey! You brought me here.”
I got up from my seat and grabbed my purse. Without another word I turned and walked out of the restaurant. Let him pay the whole bill. It’s not like he couldn’t afford it. I was seething when I got outside. I could see some members of the paparazzi standing outside waiting for me. I handed my ticket to the valet and waited for my car to come around while ignoring the questions being shouted at me.
“Amelia, let’s go somewhere and talk,” I heard Corey say as he walked out next to me. I spun around on him.
“I have nothing to say to you right now.” He sighed as I glared at him.
“Yes, you do. I’ll just follow you home and we’ll talk about this.”
“Right, sounds good. Come on over, Corey. You can pretend that you want to talk to me, but we both know it’ll be about five minutes before you’re trying to get me in bed!” I yelled. Cameras were flashing and video was rolling. Right now I didn’t care.
“Amelia, come on,” Corey said looking nervously at the paparazzi who were recording the whole exchange.
“Don’t tell me to come on! You slept with Ileana!” I screamed.
“She’s my girlfriend!” he yelled back. I saw my car being pulled up.
“One you were supposed to be breaking up with for me! What the hell is wrong with you? You’re a fucking liar. You sat there and told me that you loved me. I left Jordan for you!”
“You said you were ending things with him anyway. You said he wanted to do the same!” Corey yelled incredulously.
“That’s not the point. The point is you lied to me. You’re an asshole. I don’t want to see or talk to you ever again.”
I ripped the car keys out of the valet’s hand and threw some money at him. Then I got in my car and tore away from the restaurant nearly running over a few members of the paparazzi on the way. They would have deserved it.
Fuck. Shit. That was all Corey could think when he’d finally come clean to Amelia. He couldn’t remember her ever being that angry at him before. He was shocked when she started yelling at him. Even so, he knew he deserved it.
Fuck. Shit. That was what he thought when she continued to yell at him outside while those tabloid leeches recorded and snapped photos of them. He was in deep shit with both Amelia and Ileana and it was now public knowledge.
He ignored the questions directed towards him as he got into his car and drove away. He debated whether he should go after Amelia or not. His decision was to just go home. She’d never yelled at him like that before. And to think, he’d been scared of Ileana. Ileana’s anger didn’t even touch the venom coming from Amelia.
He pulled up to his house and groaned when he saw Ileana’s car in the driveway. This was really not the time. He thought about driving right past so he wouldn’t have to deal with her until he saw her getting out of her car and waving at him. Fuck. Shit.
“Hey, Hun!” she called when he got out of the car. He grimaced when she kissed him. “You’re home later than normal. Where’d you go?”
“Lunch,” he replied walking past her and into the house. She followed him in.
“You should have called me. I would have gone with you.”
“Too late.” He sat down on the couch and rubbed at his temple where a headache was forming.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked. Everything.
“I’m not feeling great. I have a headache.”
“Aw, anything I can do for you?”
“Leave.”
“Excuse me?” She sounded shocked, angry, and disappointed. He didn’t care right now. He needed to figure things out.
“I’m going to take a nap. You should probably go.”
She glared at him, but stood up. Without a word he watched her walk out the front door. He got up too and went to his bedroom. He stripped down to his boxers and fell into bed. He wondered how long it would take Hollywood gossip queen Ileana to find out about his lunch.
I also hadn’t heard anything from Corey about his talk with Ileana. She was supposed to be home the day after Jordan was so I couldn’t figure out what was going on. He’d said he was going to end things with her. Why wasn’t he calling me to tell me that he had? I didn’t have a good feeling about the whole thing.
I was tempted to call him and ask him, but I was scared. What if I called and he hadn’t done it? I decided just to wait until he called me, because then I would know that it was over between them. At least I hoped so. It was another couple of days before he finally did call.
“Are you free for lunch tomorrow?” he asked. I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face.
“I am. What did you have in mind?”
He gave me a place and a time and I couldn’t contain myself for the rest of the night. This was it. We would finally be able to be together without any problems. I put a lot more effort into getting ready than I had in a long time. I wanted to look good for our first day back together. When it was time I got in my car and drove to the restaurant. I got there first and had to wait for Corey to meet me after practice.
“Hey!” I called jumping up from my seat when I saw him. I hugged him and gave him a quick kiss before sitting back down.
“How is everything?” he asked as he sat down across from me.
“Good. Great. Fantastic,” I gushed, grinning ear to ear. He smiled back at me. The waitress came over and took our orders a minute later. “It was much easier with Jordan than I expected it to be.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked as he took a sip of his water.
“Jordan actually was thinking the same thing. He’s the one that brought it up.” Corey looked surprised.
“He wanted to break up with you?” he asked. I nodded.
I told Corey about the conversation that we had. He didn’t talk much, or interject a whole lot while I was talking. I figured it was because I was just so happy that I couldn’t make myself shut up. What I didn’t fail to notice by the time our food got there was that he hadn’t mentioned ending things with Ileana yet. I wondered if he’d had a really bad experience doing that.
“You haven’t told me how it went with Ileana,” I finally pushed when we were almost done with lunch. He sighed and took a drink of his water.
“That’s why I asked you to lunch.” I felt my heart stop for a minute. What the hell was going on? “Things with Ileana are complicated.”
“What do you mean, they’re complicated?” I asked, my voice rising a little.
“Her grandmother’s dying.”
I wasn’t sure how to take that. On one hand I felt terrible for her. I knew what it was like to lose a family member and as much as I disliked Ileana, I’d never wish for anyone to go through that. On the other hand I was wondering what the hell that had to do with Corey breaking up with her.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that, but what does that have to do with this?” I asked.
“Meels, I can’t break up with someone who has a family member dying.” My eyes widened and I sucked in a breath. He hadn’t ended things with her.
“So, what, you’re still dating?” I spat at him.
“What do you want me to do?” I saw a glimmer of something in his eyes. I couldn’t figure out what it was. He looked guilty. Well, he should.
“Corey, it’s been over a week since we agreed to do this and you’re just telling me now?!” I yelled. I noticed a few tables turn their attention to us, but right now I didn’t care. I was angry.
“We had games, and Ileana’s been around a lot and I just didn’t have time.” They were excuses. I struggled to think of something to say when realization hit me. I knew what that look in his eyes was.
“You slept with her!” I screamed out. A hush fell over the restaurant as I saw the look on Corey’s face. He looked busted.
“Amelia, this is not the place,” he started. I didn’t want to hear it.
“Fuck you, Corey! You brought me here.”
I got up from my seat and grabbed my purse. Without another word I turned and walked out of the restaurant. Let him pay the whole bill. It’s not like he couldn’t afford it. I was seething when I got outside. I could see some members of the paparazzi standing outside waiting for me. I handed my ticket to the valet and waited for my car to come around while ignoring the questions being shouted at me.
“Amelia, let’s go somewhere and talk,” I heard Corey say as he walked out next to me. I spun around on him.
“I have nothing to say to you right now.” He sighed as I glared at him.
“Yes, you do. I’ll just follow you home and we’ll talk about this.”
“Right, sounds good. Come on over, Corey. You can pretend that you want to talk to me, but we both know it’ll be about five minutes before you’re trying to get me in bed!” I yelled. Cameras were flashing and video was rolling. Right now I didn’t care.
“Amelia, come on,” Corey said looking nervously at the paparazzi who were recording the whole exchange.
“Don’t tell me to come on! You slept with Ileana!” I screamed.
“She’s my girlfriend!” he yelled back. I saw my car being pulled up.
“One you were supposed to be breaking up with for me! What the hell is wrong with you? You’re a fucking liar. You sat there and told me that you loved me. I left Jordan for you!”
“You said you were ending things with him anyway. You said he wanted to do the same!” Corey yelled incredulously.
“That’s not the point. The point is you lied to me. You’re an asshole. I don’t want to see or talk to you ever again.”
I ripped the car keys out of the valet’s hand and threw some money at him. Then I got in my car and tore away from the restaurant nearly running over a few members of the paparazzi on the way. They would have deserved it.
Fuck. Shit. That was all Corey could think when he’d finally come clean to Amelia. He couldn’t remember her ever being that angry at him before. He was shocked when she started yelling at him. Even so, he knew he deserved it.
Fuck. Shit. That was what he thought when she continued to yell at him outside while those tabloid leeches recorded and snapped photos of them. He was in deep shit with both Amelia and Ileana and it was now public knowledge.
He ignored the questions directed towards him as he got into his car and drove away. He debated whether he should go after Amelia or not. His decision was to just go home. She’d never yelled at him like that before. And to think, he’d been scared of Ileana. Ileana’s anger didn’t even touch the venom coming from Amelia.
He pulled up to his house and groaned when he saw Ileana’s car in the driveway. This was really not the time. He thought about driving right past so he wouldn’t have to deal with her until he saw her getting out of her car and waving at him. Fuck. Shit.
“Hey, Hun!” she called when he got out of the car. He grimaced when she kissed him. “You’re home later than normal. Where’d you go?”
“Lunch,” he replied walking past her and into the house. She followed him in.
“You should have called me. I would have gone with you.”
“Too late.” He sat down on the couch and rubbed at his temple where a headache was forming.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked. Everything.
“I’m not feeling great. I have a headache.”
“Aw, anything I can do for you?”
“Leave.”
“Excuse me?” She sounded shocked, angry, and disappointed. He didn’t care right now. He needed to figure things out.
“I’m going to take a nap. You should probably go.”
She glared at him, but stood up. Without a word he watched her walk out the front door. He got up too and went to his bedroom. He stripped down to his boxers and fell into bed. He wondered how long it would take Hollywood gossip queen Ileana to find out about his lunch.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Chapter 21
I paced around my house nervously. Jordan was going to be over in a little while. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was nervous about. I just knew that I was nervous. I’d never broken up with anyone before. Sure, I’d left Corey, but I hadn’t really broken up with him. I’d disappeared instead. There was a knock on the door and I opened it to see Jordan standing on the other side.
“Hey, Hun,” he said throwing his arms around me. I hugged him back.
“How was your trip?” I asked him after a kiss. I closed the door as he made his way into the house.
“It was fine. The usual. How has everything been here?” Hm, where to start.
“Kind of crazy,” I told him. Hey, I wasn’t lying.
“That’s what happens after filming a pretty major movie.”
There was a kind of awkward pause between us after that. I was struggling to think of how to breach the topic. Even as I did so I could tell that something was a little off with Jordan as well. Something was definitely up with him too.
“Can I ask you something?” he finally asked, breaking the silence.
“Sure, what’s up?” He cleared his throat before saying anything.
“How do you see things going between us?”
I jerked my head up in surprise. I hadn’t seen that question coming. I paused for a minute trying to figure out what he meant by asking that. Was he trying to elevate the relationship or did he want to break up too? I decided that honesty was definitely the best policy in this case.
“Truthfully, I kind of see us as being more friends than anything,” I told him. He let out a deep breath.
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.” I smiled at his response. In any other situation I probably would have been offended, but not this time.
“You feel the same way,” I said. It wasn’t a question. He nodded.
“Things have just been so hectic. You filmed a movie and weren’t around. Now I’m filming and won’t be around. I don’t know when it happened, but at some point we reverted into just being friends.”
“I completely agree.”
There were no hard feelings. I wasn’t in love with Jordan, and he wasn’t in love with me. I also didn’t hold any grudges or regret anything that happened between us. There had never been a major fight and we weren’t fighting now. Those were really signs that we were truly only meant to be friends.
“Well, I promised you a nice dinner when I got home. Still up for it?” Jordan asked. I smiled and laughed.
“Definitely.”
“I’ll pick you up at 7.”
He stood up and gave me a hug before heading to the door. He turned back one last time and smiled at me before leaving. When he was gone I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I don’t know what people were so nervous about. Breakups weren’t that hard.
I thought about calling Corey right away and telling him, but when I looked at the clock I realized that wouldn’t be a good idea. It was the middle of the afternoon and it was a game day for him. While I didn’t know for sure, I figured his game day routine was still relatively similar to what it had been in London. That meant he’d kill me if I called and woke him up from his nap right now.
Instead I called Brianna and told her the news. Even she sounded a little relieved to hear it. When I got off the phone with her I decided to go for a run. I’d skipped my normal workout that morning because of my nerves and now I felt guilty. I changed and grabbed my iPod before heading outside.
Almost an hour later I was back at the house showering and getting ready for dinner with Jordan. It was a little strange to be getting ready to go to dinner with him as just a friend. When he picked me up he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek. It wasn’t any different than when we’d been together.
We sat down to dinner and there was never a lull in the conversation. Before when we’d been dating there had always been pauses. Now it was just one flowing conversation. I couldn’t explain it and neither could he. We talked about his prep work for the film and about the interviews and photo shoots I’d been doing. I’m sure to anyone in the restaurant it looked like we were still together.
When he dropped me off he gave me another kiss on the cheek and said he’d call to catch up soon. Based on how dinner had gone, I believed him. I even hoped that he would. We’d always been close, and I didn’t want to lose that just because we weren’t together anymore.
I changed into pajamas and checked the score of the game. I smiled when I saw that the Ducks had won. I wondered if I should call Corey but then remembered Ileana was going to be home tomorrow. I decided to just leave him alone for the night. He’d call me later when he’d finished talking to her. I got into bed and fell asleep with a smile on my face.
Corey groaned when his alarm went off the next morning. He was dreading today. It hadn’t been easy talking to Ileana the last couple of days on the phone knowing that he was ending things with her when she came home. It especially wasn’t easy knowing she was probably going to throw something at him when he did.
He finally pulled himself out of bed and grabbed some breakfast before heading to the rink. He went through his usual routine before practice. He was a little distracted on the ice. He played it off to the guys like he was just tired from the night before. For whatever reason he just didn’t want anyone to know about what he was doing until it was done.
He passed on offers from some of the guys for lunch, choosing instead to just go home. He needed to think about what he was going to say to Ileana and how he was going to say it. They’d been together for about a year at this point. He felt he owed it to her to not be an asshole about the whole thing.
He turned his phone on and saw he had a voicemail. For a second he wondered if it was Amelia. Jordan was supposed to be back yesterday. He wondered if Amelia had talked to him yet and if so, how she’d gotten through it all. He was tempted to call her and check, but decided to just worry about himself right now. He clenched his teeth when he heard Ileana’s voice in his voicemail.
“Hey, sweetie. I just landed and I’m back in town. Can you come over as soon as you get out of practice? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. Love you!”
He cringed at the last couple of words. She always said that to him. He’d never said it back. Did that make him an asshole? He didn’t think so. It’d be worse if he lied to her and did say it, right? He’d gotten around it by saying “you too” or something along those lines. Okay, maybe he was a bit of an asshole. Nothing he could do about it now.
He took a deep breath before starting up his car. When he did he decided it was best to just head over to Ileana’s like she wanted. The longer he put it off, the more he was going to psyche himself out. He pulled up and got out of the car. He’d hardly knocked on the door when it was pulled open. She flew into his arms with a squeal and he felt bad all over again.
“Thanks for coming right away,” she said as she followed him into the living room. He just smiled and nodded. He wasn’t good at this whole pretending thing.
“How was your flight?” he asked, trying to be polite. It was also just him trying to gain the courage to get this over with. He realized he was kind of scared of her.
“Ugh, it was awful. Turbulence the whole time. I thought I was going to be sick,” she complained as she fell down next to him on the couch.
“I’m sorry,” was all he could manage to say. She just shrugged.
“How was practice?” she asked.
“It was practice.” God, he felt like someone had cranked the heat up to 150. Come on, Corey, just get it over with.
“I need to talk to you about something,” they said in unison. He looked at her in surprise. She gave him the same expression back.
“You go first,” he insisted. Hey, maybe she was going to break up with him. Wouldn’t that make things easier?
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “My grandmother’s dying. I’m going to be in and out of town for the next little bit. They don’t know how much time she has left.”
He felt awful. He felt guilty. Was this really happening? He couldn’t break up with someone who had a family member dying. He realized she was looking at him strangely when he didn’t respond.
“I’m really sorry, Ileana,” he said. He couldn’t even form words right now. All he could think was that Amelia was going to kill him.
“The doctors said it could be weeks or it could be months. They’re just kind of taking the wait and see approach. Basically all they can do now is try to make her as comfortable as possible.” He nodded because he didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m so sorry,” he said again, lamely, a few minutes later. She curled up on him, laying her head on his shoulder.
“I know what you can do to make me feel better,” she whispered in his ear.
He squeezed his eyes shut. This was not happening, he told himself. Sure enough, when he opened his eyes she was giving him that look. He knew what that look meant. He should tell her no. He couldn’t do that to Amelia. It was bad enough that he’d decided he couldn’t end things with Ileana because of the situation with her grandmother. He couldn’t sleep with her too.
Of course, how was he supposed to stay with Ileana and not sleep with her? He seriously wished that he’d be struck by lightning, or that something, anything, would happen to him right now. Ileana grabbed his chin and forced him to turn towards her. She kissed him and he wished that Amelia would somehow find a way to understand as he kissed Ileana back.
“Hey, Hun,” he said throwing his arms around me. I hugged him back.
“How was your trip?” I asked him after a kiss. I closed the door as he made his way into the house.
“It was fine. The usual. How has everything been here?” Hm, where to start.
“Kind of crazy,” I told him. Hey, I wasn’t lying.
“That’s what happens after filming a pretty major movie.”
There was a kind of awkward pause between us after that. I was struggling to think of how to breach the topic. Even as I did so I could tell that something was a little off with Jordan as well. Something was definitely up with him too.
“Can I ask you something?” he finally asked, breaking the silence.
“Sure, what’s up?” He cleared his throat before saying anything.
“How do you see things going between us?”
I jerked my head up in surprise. I hadn’t seen that question coming. I paused for a minute trying to figure out what he meant by asking that. Was he trying to elevate the relationship or did he want to break up too? I decided that honesty was definitely the best policy in this case.
“Truthfully, I kind of see us as being more friends than anything,” I told him. He let out a deep breath.
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear that.” I smiled at his response. In any other situation I probably would have been offended, but not this time.
“You feel the same way,” I said. It wasn’t a question. He nodded.
“Things have just been so hectic. You filmed a movie and weren’t around. Now I’m filming and won’t be around. I don’t know when it happened, but at some point we reverted into just being friends.”
“I completely agree.”
There were no hard feelings. I wasn’t in love with Jordan, and he wasn’t in love with me. I also didn’t hold any grudges or regret anything that happened between us. There had never been a major fight and we weren’t fighting now. Those were really signs that we were truly only meant to be friends.
“Well, I promised you a nice dinner when I got home. Still up for it?” Jordan asked. I smiled and laughed.
“Definitely.”
“I’ll pick you up at 7.”
He stood up and gave me a hug before heading to the door. He turned back one last time and smiled at me before leaving. When he was gone I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I don’t know what people were so nervous about. Breakups weren’t that hard.
I thought about calling Corey right away and telling him, but when I looked at the clock I realized that wouldn’t be a good idea. It was the middle of the afternoon and it was a game day for him. While I didn’t know for sure, I figured his game day routine was still relatively similar to what it had been in London. That meant he’d kill me if I called and woke him up from his nap right now.
Instead I called Brianna and told her the news. Even she sounded a little relieved to hear it. When I got off the phone with her I decided to go for a run. I’d skipped my normal workout that morning because of my nerves and now I felt guilty. I changed and grabbed my iPod before heading outside.
Almost an hour later I was back at the house showering and getting ready for dinner with Jordan. It was a little strange to be getting ready to go to dinner with him as just a friend. When he picked me up he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek. It wasn’t any different than when we’d been together.
We sat down to dinner and there was never a lull in the conversation. Before when we’d been dating there had always been pauses. Now it was just one flowing conversation. I couldn’t explain it and neither could he. We talked about his prep work for the film and about the interviews and photo shoots I’d been doing. I’m sure to anyone in the restaurant it looked like we were still together.
When he dropped me off he gave me another kiss on the cheek and said he’d call to catch up soon. Based on how dinner had gone, I believed him. I even hoped that he would. We’d always been close, and I didn’t want to lose that just because we weren’t together anymore.
I changed into pajamas and checked the score of the game. I smiled when I saw that the Ducks had won. I wondered if I should call Corey but then remembered Ileana was going to be home tomorrow. I decided to just leave him alone for the night. He’d call me later when he’d finished talking to her. I got into bed and fell asleep with a smile on my face.
Corey groaned when his alarm went off the next morning. He was dreading today. It hadn’t been easy talking to Ileana the last couple of days on the phone knowing that he was ending things with her when she came home. It especially wasn’t easy knowing she was probably going to throw something at him when he did.
He finally pulled himself out of bed and grabbed some breakfast before heading to the rink. He went through his usual routine before practice. He was a little distracted on the ice. He played it off to the guys like he was just tired from the night before. For whatever reason he just didn’t want anyone to know about what he was doing until it was done.
He passed on offers from some of the guys for lunch, choosing instead to just go home. He needed to think about what he was going to say to Ileana and how he was going to say it. They’d been together for about a year at this point. He felt he owed it to her to not be an asshole about the whole thing.
He turned his phone on and saw he had a voicemail. For a second he wondered if it was Amelia. Jordan was supposed to be back yesterday. He wondered if Amelia had talked to him yet and if so, how she’d gotten through it all. He was tempted to call her and check, but decided to just worry about himself right now. He clenched his teeth when he heard Ileana’s voice in his voicemail.
“Hey, sweetie. I just landed and I’m back in town. Can you come over as soon as you get out of practice? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. Love you!”
He cringed at the last couple of words. She always said that to him. He’d never said it back. Did that make him an asshole? He didn’t think so. It’d be worse if he lied to her and did say it, right? He’d gotten around it by saying “you too” or something along those lines. Okay, maybe he was a bit of an asshole. Nothing he could do about it now.
He took a deep breath before starting up his car. When he did he decided it was best to just head over to Ileana’s like she wanted. The longer he put it off, the more he was going to psyche himself out. He pulled up and got out of the car. He’d hardly knocked on the door when it was pulled open. She flew into his arms with a squeal and he felt bad all over again.
“Thanks for coming right away,” she said as she followed him into the living room. He just smiled and nodded. He wasn’t good at this whole pretending thing.
“How was your flight?” he asked, trying to be polite. It was also just him trying to gain the courage to get this over with. He realized he was kind of scared of her.
“Ugh, it was awful. Turbulence the whole time. I thought I was going to be sick,” she complained as she fell down next to him on the couch.
“I’m sorry,” was all he could manage to say. She just shrugged.
“How was practice?” she asked.
“It was practice.” God, he felt like someone had cranked the heat up to 150. Come on, Corey, just get it over with.
“I need to talk to you about something,” they said in unison. He looked at her in surprise. She gave him the same expression back.
“You go first,” he insisted. Hey, maybe she was going to break up with him. Wouldn’t that make things easier?
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “My grandmother’s dying. I’m going to be in and out of town for the next little bit. They don’t know how much time she has left.”
He felt awful. He felt guilty. Was this really happening? He couldn’t break up with someone who had a family member dying. He realized she was looking at him strangely when he didn’t respond.
“I’m really sorry, Ileana,” he said. He couldn’t even form words right now. All he could think was that Amelia was going to kill him.
“The doctors said it could be weeks or it could be months. They’re just kind of taking the wait and see approach. Basically all they can do now is try to make her as comfortable as possible.” He nodded because he didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m so sorry,” he said again, lamely, a few minutes later. She curled up on him, laying her head on his shoulder.
“I know what you can do to make me feel better,” she whispered in his ear.
He squeezed his eyes shut. This was not happening, he told himself. Sure enough, when he opened his eyes she was giving him that look. He knew what that look meant. He should tell her no. He couldn’t do that to Amelia. It was bad enough that he’d decided he couldn’t end things with Ileana because of the situation with her grandmother. He couldn’t sleep with her too.
Of course, how was he supposed to stay with Ileana and not sleep with her? He seriously wished that he’d be struck by lightning, or that something, anything, would happen to him right now. Ileana grabbed his chin and forced him to turn towards her. She kissed him and he wished that Amelia would somehow find a way to understand as he kissed Ileana back.
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