“I-I just asked if he was glad to see everyone,” I said softly.
Embarrassment burned my cheeks as I felt Harrison and Emma’s eyes on me. I frowned at the place where Charles had just been standing. Had I assumed too much closeness? I had thought … I don’t know what exactly. Maybe I’d subconsciously conflated years ofthinkingabout him with actually knowing him. Maybe I’d talked to him like we were friends when I had no right to. I thought it was a safe question, but the second I’d found Pete talking to the Intrepid Trio, I hadn’t felt anything but anger radiating off Charles. Had he recognized me from when I’d been listening to him earlier and thought I was a weird obsessive fan? Was I a weird obsessive fan? Probably.
I had naively thought that maybe Pete had said something off-color in his drunken state, but the way Charles refused to look at me said the angry vibes were more about me than anybody else. No matter the reason, I blew it with Charles.
“He just had to take a call,” Emma lied smoothly.
I blinked up at her. She smiled sweetly at me, but I felt like the floor had been tugged away, and I was at risk of falling through.
I plastered a smile on my face but it twitched at the corners. I was close to tears.
Harrison and Emma exchanged a look, and Harrison said, “Excuse me.”
Emma made a polite excuse too, leaving Pete and me alone.
Pete sighed loudly. “They’re shorter than I expected. Don’t see what all the fuss is about really.”
He threw back the rest of his drink until the ice fell and hit his teeth.
“I want to go back to the room,” I said numbly. I was too close to crying and that realization caused another wave of humiliation.
“Yeah, thispartyis lame.” He exaggerated the word party.
I was numb as we made our way back up to the room. Distantly, I heard Pete going on about his conversation with Harrison. “… I think I made an impression. Maybe I can put in a good word for you …”
I slipped out of the dress I had put on only a few hours earlier. Back when I had been so filled with hope and naïveté.
Pete went into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed my computer and sent a quick email to RC. It was the most inauthentic email I’d ever sent him but just writing helped soothe my nerves.
When Pete came out, I closed my laptop and went into the bathroom to wash up.
I slowly removed the makeup from my face and that’s when the tears came. I’d done exactly what I’d told RC that I wouldn’t do. I built up tonight in my head. What had I thought? Charles would be so blown away by my amazing conversational skill that he would just … What?
I scoffed and rolled my eyes at my reflection. “You’re pathetic.” I sniffed, and my face crumpled.
Running the water, I bent to splash my face clean. The image of Emma kissing Charles’s forehead appeared behind my eyelids. The surge of jealousy I’d felt at that moment had shocked me. The media had always paired them up, but I’d always felt they were just friends. Honestly, the media had connected Emma with all the members of the cast at some point. Even the actor Wesley Cole who played Max Malachi, the mortal enemy of the Intrepid Trio. And Wesley Cole was married.
I stared at my reflection as water dripped from my nose and eyelashes. Why did I even care? I didn’t actually know any of these people. I was creating entire fantasies in my head. I shook my head into the towel, growling at myself.
I needed to get my perspective in check. I had been invited to a party with the cast and crew of my favorite TV show ever. I got to meet my childhood idols. I got to ride in a limo and eat free food. That was all amazing, and really, how many people could say that? After all this, I would go home, and I would focus on what really mattered. I would continue writing and tonight would make a great story for a cocktail party one day.
So, I had made a total ass of myself? Who cared? Charles probably forgot about my existence the second he walked away. He met people all the time. I was nobody. My jaw clenched as I thought of his face again when he finally looked at me.
It was almost tortured. Like looking at my face caused him actual pain. Maybe he had heard about some of my fan fiction and was one of those people who thought it was trash. I didn’t know why that thought cut to the quick when I didn’t even know the man.
Pete knocked loudly on the door. “Kate?”
His voice jarred me, almost aggressive with its high-pitched nasal tones. I closed my eyes and gathered my strength. The issue here wasn’t Charles at all. It was Pete. Even if the evening had gone as planned, one thing was cemented solidly in my mind. Bringing Pete had been a mistake, and I needed space.
I took a gathering breath and opened the door to find Pete standing with arms crossed.
“What’s this about?” he asked before I could even open my mouth. He gestured tomylaptop, sitting open on the bed, my latest sent email on the screen.
“Did you go through my computer?” I asked in disbelief and stormed over to it. I grabbed it from the bed and quickly shut it down with shaking hands. I couldn’t wrap my mind around such a betrayal. It didn’t seem possible that this was the same man who had been so charming at first.
“You shouldn’t be hiding things from me.” He leaned against the corner of the wall; his tone thick with condescension.
“You had no right,” I said.
