“What is it about Calla that makes you so sure?”
He didn’t waver as he spoke. “She’s genuine. She heard all the crappy rumors surrounding my life but still just wanted to know the real me. She’s never once judged me. I feel safe with her.”
“I feel safe with you, too,” I murmured. We stared at each other for a few moments before Diana shifted in her seat. I had almost forgotten she was in the room.
“That’s fantastic. I’m so thrilled you two have worked on yourselves and forged a real connection during this process.” She wrote down a few notes in her leather-bound notebook. “But now I’d like to go into what’s next. Let’s talk about your future.”
My stomach did a little flip. Now? We had to discuss our future now, in front of this stranger? We’d barely talked about it ourselves.
“Eli, you live in LA. Calla, you’re in Chicago. How will you nurture a long-distance relationship?”
“I’m not really interested in a long-distance relationship,” Eli said. My heart pounded at how easily he delivered those words.
“You a-aren’t,” I stuttered.
His eyes widened. “No, not like that. I just meant that I’m not interested in being separated.” He turned so he could face me fully. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I want to come out to Chicago after this. I want to see where you live and spend time in your city—your space. I know that trying to get my screenplay made could take me back to LA, but I was hoping, if that happens, you’ll come with me. I know it might not be your scene, but I live only a few miles from the ocean. I thinkyou’d really like it. Plus, I have this balcony I could totally picture you writing on in the mornings.”
I wanted to cry happy tears for once. He had taken so many details into account. He wanted to come to Chicago. He wanted me with him. He’d already thought about how I’d fit into his life.
I couldn’t stop it. The tears were flowing now.
A panicked look took hold of Eli. “What’s wrong? What did I say? Do you not want to come to LA? I swear, it’s not as bad as you might think. I could show you some pretty amazing places.”
A breathy laugh escaped my lips. “No, it’s not that. I just can’t believe you already thought all this through.”
“It’s basically been the only thing on my mind lately.” His lip twitched. “I was kind of hoping I could fly straight to Chicago with you from here. I can have someone ship me some things. But if that’s too much...” His voice trailed off as he studied my expression.
“That sounds like just enough,” I said, and relief flashed across his face.
“Good. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do if you turned me down.”
“Calla,go hang out in the lounge until we’re ready to grab you for an interview. Eli, we need you now,” Shay instructed.
Eli squeezed my hand and planted a quick kiss on my lips.
“I’ll see you later,” I said.
“I can’t wait for the moment when we’re not forcibly removed from each other anymore,” Eli responded.
Shay huffed. “Okay Romeo, let’s move it.”
My head still buzzed from the conversation we’d just had. I now knew undoubtedly that Eli wanted a future with me. He’d already made so many plans for us. My heart swelled with excitement at thoughts of us strolling my neighborhood together. Or having dinner with my family at our favorite restaurants. Or walking along Lakeshore Drive and just wandering the city together. I couldn’t wait. It felt like I had the whole world in front of me.
And writing. I was eager to get my laptop back and write down all these ideas that had been spinning around in my head. It had been years since I’d last felt this inspired. My next novel was rising to the surface of my mind, dying to get out.
The lounge was empty, except for Arnie sitting in one of the chairs by the expansive windows. I knew Trace and Danny would be in counseling for a while, since they’d walked in after us. Everyone else must be doing interviews. Walking over, I slumped in the seat beside him.
“Can I join you?”
Arnie adjusted his glasses and sat up straighter. “Of course. How did yourcouple’s counselinggo?” He threw air quotes around the words.
“As much as I was dreading it, it actually kind of went amazing. What about you and Rachel?”
“I was also resistant to the idea of opening up to a counselor who probably got licensed solely for the purpose of being on reality TV, but yeah, ours went well too.” He sighed and looked out the window. “I think we might have a future. Which sounds so insane to admit out loud. I still think back to that first day and how nervous I was to be here. I never thought in a million years I might meet my person.”
“Arnie, that’s amazing.”
“It really is,” he said. “After being cheated on, I neverthought I’d meet someone. I thought I was unlovable. But Rachel makes me feel worth something. She’s so strong and opinionated and tough. She’s a wonder to be around and I feel so lucky that she wants to be around me, you know?”
