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“Okay.”
“Okay? You’re just gonna agree with me?” he smiles at me, and it takes my breath away.
“Yeah, I think I am. Is that the wrong choice?”
“Not at all.”
“Are we going to talk about the pictures?” I find myself asking. Ridge shakes his head.
“Not tonight, we’re not. That’s for another day. Just know that I got you, Olson. Nothin’ is gonna happen to you while I’m here.” I nod my head. For some reason, I can feel it. I can feel the safety Ridge offers.
17
Ridge
Ididn’t particularly want information from her in this state, but I will take whatever I can get. She’s going to be pissed come tomorrow, not that I don’t care about that, I do, but I need the information from her too.
“You’re so cute,” she slurs as she brings the glass to her lips once more. I grin at her. I can’t help it. Her cheeks are pink, her eyes glossy. She’s pretty damn drunk, and it’s about time I get some answers out of her.
“So, your family will be here in a few days,” I tell her. I’m not drunk. I don’t drink much when I want information, and now is one of those times.
“Yeah. Fun times,” she says sarcastically and rolls her eyes.
“It should be. It’s Christmas, after all.”
“Fuck Christmas, Ridge. It’s just another excuse for them to come over here and ruin my life,” she slurs. There we go. She’s going to talk.
“How so?”
“That’s what they do. They ruin my life. Did you know I didn’t even want to be an actress? Hated it. Hated the idea ofeveryone knowing who I was and seeing me on screen. I don’t like attention,” she tells me. I nod. I can see that about her.
“Then why do it?”
“My mom always wanted me to. She always wanted me to be in the spotlight. Didn’t matter how much I hated it. The only child, the breadwinner. The one who has to be perfect all the time,” she says as she waves her glass through the air. I had no idea she felt that way. I didn’t realize her mom was like that.
“And you went along with it?” I ask her.
“I didn’t have a choice. This is my life now, Ridge. This is what I have to do to live.”
“Who are you livin’ for, Olson? Them or you?”
“Sure as hell not me. I hate this. I hate every second of this. I mean, it’s fun to get out there and pretend to be someone else. It’s a release of sorts, but I don’t want this,” she says once more.
“Then quit.” Now, she laughs loudly.
“That isn’t an option.”
“Why not? It’s your life,” I tell her.
“I have a contract. I owe them more. More shows, more of my fucking time. More everything,” she slurs as she drops her head back against the couch.
“You should do what you want to do, Olson. This isn’t a life you’re livin’. You’re wastin’ every single day for nothin’.”
“You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t think about what life could be like if I didn’t have to do this?”
“I don’t know what you think,” I tell her honestly.
“I think I want a simple life. Hell, I’d work at a fucking grocery store, Ridge. That would make me happy,” she says as tears fill her eyes. She blinks them away before they fall.
