By His Play

59. Effie

59

EFFIE

I don’t call in sick to work unless I can’t drag my ass out of bed.

But this morning, I was really tempted to.

Returning to the world after my weekend of solitude and heartbreak was terrifying.

Putting it off wasn’t going to get me anywhere, though. So, I forced myself to do my morning yoga flow in the hope it would give me some motivation, before getting ready for work.

Everyone in the office greeted me as if everything was normal. As if my world hadn’t completely imploded over the past few weeks.

I go through the motions of dealing with emails, returning phone calls and attending meetings.

Physically, I’m present. Mentally, I’m fucked.

Throughout the day, I get messages from Brax, Tate, and Lori checking in on me. I reply because it would be rude not to, but I don’t tell them the truth. Instead, I lie and say that I’m coping, that work is a welcome distraction.

It’s not.

I’m not sure anything would be a good enough distraction from the pain in my chest.

All I wanted to do was make Grams happy in her final weeks.

It was one simple lie that I didn’t think would change anything.

But look at me now.

I’ve lost everything.

My hand lifts to my necklace, and a sob bubbles up my throat.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I fight to keep my tears at bay.

Blowing out a shaky breath, I focus on the email I was writing.

I only manage a few more sentences before the phone on my desk rings.

“Good afternoon, Effie. I have someone down at reception for you.”

My brows pinch in confusion.

I don’t have any external meetings today.

“O-oh, um…”

“Lunch date, apparently,” the receptionist says cryptically.

My heart lurches.

My head knows that it won’t be Kieran, but my heart…that battered thing needs a little more convincing.

“I’ll be right down,” I confirm.

My heart is in my throat as I descend through the building.

Despite meeting him later for our dance class, I figure that I’m probably about to find Brax waiting for me.

But as I spill from the elevator and turn toward the reception desks, my breath catches in surprise.

Kieran’s mom stands there with an empathetic smile playing on her lips.

The emotion I was battling with upstairs returns full force.

Seeing it, Elizabeth rushes forward, wraps her arm around my shoulder, and ushers me out of the building.

In only seconds, she has me in the back of a town car, hidden away from the world.

“Oh, sweetie,” she whispers, pulling me into her arms. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

Her warm embrace is the final straw, and I completely fall apart.

With Grams gone, and my own mother cold and distant—even when she is trying—Elizabeth is the closest thing I have to a mom.

I didn’t realize how much I needed one until this moment.

Uncaring about the mess my makeup is making on her designer dress, she holds me against her, her hand gently rubbing up and down my back.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” she muses. “It’s okay.”

I don’t know how much time passes, but when I finally suck in a shaky breath and sit back, I discover that we’re no longer outside work, but instead, the car is sitting in front of The Broadway.

It’s been a long time since I’ve spent any time in the luxury Callahan spa hotel.

“I-I need to get back to work,” I stutter, my voice rough from crying.

“I’ve sorted everything with Henry, don’t worry.”

Her driver holds the back door open for us, and with her hand locked in mine, she gently tugs me out of the car.

I keep my head down, not wanting anyone to see what a mess I am.

Thankfully, we don’t stop at reception. We don’t even have to wait for the elevator.

As we step out on the lower floor, I find the spa completely empty.

Memories of the morning Kieran took me to the new spa in St. Louis come back to me.

He was trying so hard to do something nice for me, and all I wanted to do was get back to Grams.

I didn’t appreciate what he’d done for me at all.

“W-what’s going on?”

“My eldest son owed me a favor,” she explains, before leading me toward the ladies’ changing rooms.

The moment the door opens, laughter hits my ears.

My initial reaction is to cringe, but then familiarity trickles through me and I relax.

“Oh shit,” Tate exclaims the second she sees me, and before I know what’s happening, I find myself as the filling in a Tate and Lori sandwich.

“Aw, I have the world’s best daughters-in-law,” Elizabeth muses.

No one points out that Tate is her only official one. Lori is close; she and Kian are engaged.

But me…right now, I couldn’t be further from joining their family.

“What’s going on?” I ask once I’ve been released, despite the fact I can guess.

“We made King close up shop for the afternoon,” Tate says with a smirk.

Lori holds her arms out wide and spins around with a smile on her face.

“This place is all ours for four hours.”

“Seriously? He allowed that to happen?”

“It’s amazing the power that my best friend has over that man,” Lori teases. “There is nothing he wouldn’t do for her.”

“The fewer details about how she’s managed to achieve that, the better,” Elizabeth laughs.

“Now, now,” Tate teases. “We know you possess the skills as well.”

Elizabeth blushes. “Back in the day, maybe.”

“Are we going to stand around in here talking all afternoon, or are we hitting the spa?” Lori asks.

She and Tate are already in fluffy white robes, and Elizabeth is busy getting ready.

“I don’t have?—”

“You’re cute,” Tate says before thrusting a tote bag at me.

“Thank you,” I whisper, my emotions beginning to get the better of me again.

Thankfully, when I pull the swimsuit from the bag, I find that it’s a little more appropriate than the one Kieran selected for me.

That very first morning when his eyes ran down the length of my body was probably the start of everything going wrong.

I’d never seen that kind of heat directed at me before.

It threw me for a loop. Although, I can’t use his reaction as an excuse for why I didn’t tell him the truth while we were in that jacuzzi.

I should have done it.

How differently would all of this have gone if I’d told him the truth?

As much as I like to think it would have changed things, something tells me we would have always ended up here.

The media may never have gotten involved, and I may not have hurt him like I did. But I think we were always meant to have that weekend together.

Maybe without all the drama, we’d have been able to put it behind us and continue with our friendship…

Or you’d both have been in a better place to embark on your romantic relationship.

I let out a heavy sigh.

“We’ll leave you to get ready,” Elizabeth says, now also dressed in her robe.

“If you’re not out in ten, we’ll come and get you,” Tate warns softly before the three of them disappear.

I stand there for a few seconds with the swimsuit clutched in my hands and my head spinning out of control.

Numbly, I strip out of my work clothes and pull on the swimsuit. Just like I knew it would, it fits like a second skin, and despite looking demure in my hands, it’s actually quite sexy.

I pull my robe on, and I’m about to put my purse into a locker when I feel my cell vibrate.

Pulling it out, I find a photo memory on the screen.

My heart aches as I stare at mine and Kieran’s smiling faces from four years ago.

We both look so young, so happy.

We were carefree college students with our whole lives ahead of us.

He surprised me with a trip to Mexico, and we had the best time.

Just the two of us hanging out. We spent the entire trip laughing.

Sadness rushes through me.

Before I can stop myself, I have our conversation up on my screen.

There hasn’t been a message since he told me he was heading home on Friday.

But I’m about to change that.

Effie: I’m sorry. I love you, and I’m sorry x

I stand there staring, waiting for it to be delivered, and maybe even read.

But it never happens.

Refusing to regret reaching out, I stuff my cell back into my purse and secure it in the locker.

As I walk out to join the others, my head spins with all the reasons it may not have been delivered.

“There she is,” Lori sings from the jacuzzi. All three of them have glasses of bubbles in their hands and wide smiles on their faces.

Shrugging off my robe, I climb into the jacuzzi and reach for the fourth glass.

“Best idea we’ve had in a long time,” Tate sighs before sipping her drink.

The next four hours pass in a blur of heart-to-heart, laughter, champagne, and relaxation.

All three of them obviously want details about what’s happened with Kieran, but they didn’t linger on the subject. Instead, they distracted me with tales of the other Callahan brothers, of Prince, of work, and everything in between.

It’s amazing. And the perfect reminder that while I might be feeling lonely after losing Grams and all this shit with me and Keiran, I’m not actually alone.

I have three formidable females who are willing to shut down an entire spa to help me relax.

I have a friend who is willing to take a punch in the face for me.

And a best friend who…may have lost his title.

The whole time we’re laughing and enjoying ourselves, the message I sent to Kieran still lingers in my mind.

Has he read it now? Has he responded? Or have I been blocked and it’ll never be seen?

That final thought is like a kick in the chest.

Surely, he won’t have blocked me over this?

He just needs time.

As much as I’m looking forward to my dance class, I’m nowhere near ready to leave when Elizabeth points out that our time is nearly up.

These few hours of escape have been everything I didn’t know I needed. I feel lighter. Of course, my heart still feels like it’s been through a blender, but there is a little positivity seeping back in.

Thoughts of not belonging here have vanished, and my motivation is returning.

Despite telling myself that I’ll wait until I’m alone to check my cell, it’s the first thing I do the second I open my locker.

Hope builds within me.

But it all comes shattering down again when I discover that I don’t have a reply. And when I open the message thread and see that it’s been read, all the good work that had happened in the spa vanishes.

After saying goodbye to Tate and Lori, Elizabeth delivers me back to the office so I can collect my things and my car.

She hasn’t asked what happened since stepping into the changing room, but it’s obvious that something has.

Instead, she gives me a hug, tells me to call her if I need anything, and lets me climb out.

I’m on autopilot as I return to my office, tidy up my desk, then go and change again.

If I’d had any warning about our spa trip then I could have taken my dance clothes with me. I guess that would have ruined the element of surprise.

The drive to the studio is a disaster. The entire city seems to be gridlocked, and by the time I pull up in the parking lot, I’m frustrated and tense.

So much for the spa.

I park beside Brax’s fancy Maserati and rush toward the building.

I wave at the receptionist to let her know I’m here before crashing through the doors with only a minute to spare.

Brax is in his usual spot on the other side of the room, lacing his shoes, but despite the noise I made entering, he doesn’t turn to look.

I race over, pulling my dance shoes out of my bag as I go, and once I’m beside him, I toe my sneakers off.

“Sorry. The traffic was a nightmare,” I explain.

I glance over, but he doesn’t respond. He also doesn’t lower his hood or acknowledge my arrival in any way.

“Brax?” I question, my brows knitted together.

It takes another second for him to move, but when he does finally turn, it’s like the world has been pulled from beneath me.

“Y-you’re not?—”

“Okay, are we ready to get started?” Maria says, her soft yet commanding voice filling the studio.

He holds his hand out, but I’m frozen.

“May I have this dance, Luck?”