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Iris: That’s cold. So wait, we’ve got arranged marriage, potential fake dating, and forced proximity? And family betrayal? Okay, I’m intrigued.
Kane: Thanks for your help. I can’t tell you how delighted I am to be writing again. Catch up with you later. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Iris: So you’re just gonna leave me hanging?
Kane: That’s my job. We call those cliffhangers.
Iris: Rude.
Kane: I like to leave them wanting more.
Iris: **middle finger emoji**
Kane: **blows kisses**
There, Kane thought, pleased with the text interaction. They were on even ground again, having moved past the kiss, and she’d even placed some nuggets of the storyline in his brain for him to mine. Opening his computer, he pushed all thoughts of Iris aside and dove into his story with enthusiasm. Hours later, the buzzing of his phone finally pulled him from his work, though not without annoyance. Blinking at the screen, he saw several missed calls from his agent.
“What’s up, man?” Kane asked, sighing as he rolled the tension out of his shoulders. Pushing back from the table, he stood and snagged his mug before walking to the kitchen to put the kettle on.
“I’ve been worried about you. You haven’t been responding to emails,” Grant said. A horn honked in the background, and Kane wondered if Grant conducted all of his phone calls while commuting instead of from his office.
“That would require me to sign into my emails. Which I haven’t,” Kane said cheerfully as he rinsed out his mug. “Because I’ve been writing.”
“Finally!” In what Kane could only assume was gratitude, Grant swore profusely into the phone and then let out a whoop. “I’ve been waiting to hear this. I’m really happy for you, man. In that case, um, best not to open your email then.”
Kane stilled. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Of course he’d open his email now that Grant had put this in his head.
“Just tell me,” Kane ordered.
“Ah, well, you probably won’t be much bothered. But I’d rather you hear it from me than someone else,” Grant began.
“And by hearing it from you…you mean in an email? Is that how you break news to me?” Kane asked. He was already across the room and back at his makeshift desk. Clicking out of his manuscript, he opened his email box.
“Well, yes, this news. Because, if you’ll notice, you’ve ignored my last like thirty calls. Plus, since it was a news piece, I figured it best to just send the article along. Either way, let me rip the Band-Aid off. Alison got married.”
“My…wait, already?” Kane’s mouth dropped open. He clicked on Grant’s email and immediately on the link to the news article. At the top of the article was a photo of a beaming Alison next to the man who had edited every one of his best-selling books. Alison looked beautiful in a classic white dress, with white flowers, in a white-on-white reception hall.
Did she really get to use all white when she’d cheated with her now-husband? It wasn’t exactly what one would call a pure start to the relationship, was it? Kane sniffed, annoyed at his thoughts. Alison had been a mistake he shouldn’t have made, yet this news article still rankled. Maybe it was because of how quickly she’d moved on.
Well, she’d moved on before the end of their relationship, hadn’t she? Either way, Kane couldn’t help but feel like a fool. He didn’t want to be the person who begrudged someone else their happiness. Still, he was having a tough time thinking any kind thoughts toward the happy couple at the moment.
And frankly, good editors were hard to find.
Shoving back, he tuned in to Grant’s voice.
“You okay, man? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” Grant said.
“It’s not bad. It’s just annoying, is what it is. Like…what was the rush? She’d already been awful to me. It’s like adding insult to injury,” Kane said.
“Cheaters often do that, you know. It validates the cheating. That way, they can say they cheated out of finding true love and all that bullshit. Trust me, I know it,” Grant seethed. He did, at that. While Grant could be a jerk, a cheater he was not. Kane had been through a few divorces with Grant to know the man’s views on liars and cheats. He might not be an easy husband, but he wasn’t one to lie to his wives. It was another reason Kane continued working with the notoriously difficult agent. Under the tough exterior lay a good heart.
“Thanks for telling me,” Kane said. He sighed and went back to the kitchen to pour the boiling water over a tea bag in his mug. “It is what it is.”
“Tell me about the story.” Grant switched subjects, and Kane was grateful for it. They spent the next twenty minutes kicking around more story ideas, and then Kane hung up. Suddenly, he felt deeply drained, as though he’d run a marathon, and he dropped onto the couch and stared out at the misty rain that blanketed the harbor.
For a moment, he just dropped his face into his hands and breathed, trying to get a read on his feelings. He didn’t miss Alison. But he did miss being in a relationship. He spent so much time alone in his thoughts during the day that he missed the companionship of having someone to speak to when he finished work. Even if Alison had been the wrong partner for him, something he’d come to realize over the past few months, what she had done to him still hurt.
Betrayal hurt. Pure and simple.
