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“Who says? I bet he puts his pants on the same way every man in the world does, scratches himself when he thinks no one’s looking, and pees in the shower. He’s not so special, Nicole. He’s not God. Don’t put him on a pedestal. You belong in his world as much as he belongs in yours.”
“Daddy, our worlds are in two different solar systems.”
“My advice to you: be an asteroid.”
She was quiet as she absorbed his words. “I’ll think about it.”
“Good. Now pick up your pen and write some more. I want to know what happens to the Count.”
She laughed. “I will. Thank you, Daddy.”
“Anytime, baby, anytime.” He left the office, returning to the customers out front.
~ ~ ~
Nicole sat at the desk in her room, staring at her laptop. She’d been feeling blank for a while, wondering if she was all dried up? What if the spark was gone? What if the writing well had run dry?
She tapped the pen against the page of her notebook, unsure where to begin. She leaned forward, studying her collage frame. It was covered with snapshots of her and Reece at the beach. There were shots of him wrestling with Tugger and of her and Tugger chasing seagulls and then getting dive-bombed. Reece had snapped a shot of her feeding the gulls and another of the birds following her like pets. There was a shot of him digging in the sand to find hermit crabs. There were so many fun memories captured on film.
Then there were the quiet shots. There were selfies of them snuggling under a blanket as they watched the sunrise, a shot of her as she stared out at the waves, and a shot of him as he studied her with a look of adoration. Those were the moments she missed the most.
She didn’t want him because he was great in bed, although that was a factor. She didn’t like him because he was a movie star. She was over that.
She missed him because he was the one guy who saw the real her, warts and all, and still liked what he saw. She didn’t have to pretend with him. There was no façade. What he saw, was what he got, and vice-versa. He was Colin, her best friend and lover. Wasn’t that the way it was supposed to be?
She picked up her pen, starting to write. It was not a fictional love story, but it was the one she had lived with him. She wrote down every emotion she had experienced with him, good and bad, happy and sad. She wrote of the excruciating loneliness she felt when they parted. She wrote of how she wished she could have another chance to explain—to make it right.
Nicole wrote for hours, her hand cramping in pain, but she didn’t stop. She poured everything out on those pages, nearly filling the notebook with her scribbles.
By three in the morning, her eyes were scratchy with exhaustion, and her body cramping from sitting in the chair for so long. Lindsey was groaning about the light in her eyes. She turned off the desk lamp, falling across the bed—sleep coming almost instantly. She dreamt of standing on the cliff beside the cottage, watching the sunset, and wearing a beautiful white dress with the wind blowing her hair around her face. She was holding flowers in her hand. She looked down to admire the ring on her finger. She smiled, knowing she was blessed to have found her soulmate. When she felt a pair of arms slide around her waist, she snuggled into her new husband’s embrace, nuzzling the underside of his jaw with her face as a feeling of completeness washed over her.
Nicole cried in her sleep because no matter how beautiful the dream, there was no chance of it ever coming true.
~ ~ ~
Reece caught a flight to England after filming on his latest movie wrapped up. He didn’t stay for the after-party. He wasn’t in a celebratory mood. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts.
All through the filming, he wanted to walk off the set and never come back. It was going to be the worst movie ever made, which meant it was probably going to be a box office success. He didn’t want to do it anymore.
On his off time while sitting in his trailer between takes, he made calls to his mentors in the theater, discovering a role in the upcoming production of Twelfth Night was empty. He asked if he could read for the part, and he was delighted when he was offered the spot. He was going to play the Duke of Illyria. He was relishing the opportunity to prove his acting chops.
He wished he could tell Nicole of his new role, but she had stopped taking his calls long ago. The number to her cell phone had changed shortly after their disastrous beach breakup. He’d left dozens of messages for her editor, Audrey, but she never returned his calls—the phone lines remaining silent. He figured they had decided he wasn’t worth their time.
His flight had touched down, and he was waiting to exit the plane. His phone rang. He checked the display, hoping by some miracle it was Nicole, but it was Marcus. He rolled his eyes. He’d skipped town without notifying his manager—again. “Yes, brother, what is it?”
“Where are you? Why did you run off like that?” There was a moment of silence. “Are you on an airplane?”
Reece smirked. “Not anymore. I’m currently walking through the terminal.”
“What airport?”
“What does it matter?” He could feel his brother’s frustration through the line.
“Just tell me where you are, Reece.”
“I’m in London,” he said as he stepped outside, hailing a taxi. One came directly to him. He hopped inside.
“Are you sitting down?”
