9. Wesley
CHAPTER 9
WESLEY
W esley pulled up to Lauren’s apartment, dressed in his jogging gear as usual, and waited for her to emerge like he’d done every morning since he’d been assigned to her. Five minutes passed, and he began to get irritated. She was rarely late. He didn’t want to worry and wished she would have at least texted him to let him know she was going to be late this morning. Not that she owed him that. Ten minutes later, he was done waiting.
He grumbled the entire way to her apartment building’s main entrance. She was forcing him to deal with the front desk, which he did not appreciate. There was no chance she had snuck out the back again, was there? She had to know better by now.
“I’m here for Lauren Bartlett,” he said to the concierge.
Luckily, the man seemed to remember him. He rounded the desk and headed straight for the elevators without a word to Wesley, who spent most of the ride up to her floor worrying about what her not showing up for her morning jog could possibly mean. He worked himself into a panic by the time he reached her front door and wound up pounding on it with more force than was probably necessary.
She didn’t open the door.
Wesley knocked again, harder, but there was no response from inside. “Lauren, I’m not knocking again. You have ten seconds to open the door before I open it for you.”
Luckily, she had given him a key. If she hadn’t, he would have been forced to kick the door down, and he wouldn’t have hesitated to do so. This whole situation was really starting to freak him out. He unlocked the door and made his way inside, his hand near his weapon, at the ready. The place was too quiet. The kitchen was a mess, and an empty half pint of ice cream still sat on the coffee table alongside an open bottle of vodka and a shot glass.
“Lauren?” he said. “If you’re here, this isn’t funny.” He made his way down the hall, his hand even closer to his weapon now.
Wesley slipped into Lauren’s bedroom half expecting to draw his gun. Something wasn’t right here. His heart was pounding in his chest as he eased his way around the door. A lumpy shape was buried under the comforter in Lauren’s bed, and Wesley breathed a huge sigh of relief when he heard it breathe and saw it shift. She was fine. She was just… He listened again. She was crying?
“Lauren?” he said. “Are you okay?”
From deep within her blanket cave, Lauren whimpered. “Go away. I don’t want to see you right now.”
He let his hand fall back to his side and willed his adrenaline to slow down. “I thought you were in real danger. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” She launched a crumpled, used tissue out from under her comforter. “Just go away already.”
Wesley wasn’t hearing it. He sat at the foot of the bed and made himself comfortable. “I’m going to sit right here until you come out with the truth.”
Slowly, she emerged from her blanket fort. Her face was red and puffy, her eyelids swollen and crusted with dried tears. She had clearly been crying most of the night. “It’s stupid,” she finally said. “I’m just a stupid, immature, spoiled princess. You were right from the beginning. I think way too highly of myself.”
He scooted closer to her. “What happened?”
“I didn’t…” She gulped and fought back fresh tears. “I didn’t get the part.”
“What?” That didn’t seem right.
“They called last night. They gave it to the other girl.”
“But they told you that was just a formality,” he recalled. “Didn’t they? They told you that you already had the part.” The fact that he cared as much as he did was as surprising to him as it probably was to her.
She bawled. “I know! And I was so stupid to believe them. They probably just told me that so I wouldn’t nag them for an answer.”
None of this struck Wesley as normal, but he didn’t have much experience in the realm of theater or film. Maybe this was how they treated each other in that world. If so, he didn’t see why Lauren was so eager to be part of it. “I’ll be right back.” He got up from the bed and started toward her kitchen. “You need to eat something.”
“No way!” she called after him. “I’m on a diet.”
“You’re hungover,” he said. “From crying, at least, but judging by the bottle on your coffee table, from a little comfort drinking, too. You need to eat breakfast, and drink some fluids.”
“I can handle it,” she said.
“I know you can.” He knew better than to treat her like a helpless princess. As much as he liked to joke with her about her apparently lofty position, he could tell that independence was important to her, especially in moments like these. “I just want to help. It’ll make me feel better about barging in on you this morning.”
He heard her groan and make her way to her bathroom. “Ugh, fine. Do whatever you want. I’m taking a shower.”
Once he heard the water running, Wesley laid his palms against the kitchen counter and willed his heart to slow down. His panic had gone deeper than he’d thought, and he needed to take a minute before cooking anything to avoid burning the kitchen — and subsequently the entire apartment building — to the ground. He leaned further over the counter, letting his head come to rest on his forearms. “Breathe,” he muttered to himself. “Just breathe.”
When he’d settled his nerves, he opened the fridge and found eggs. He grabbed fruit and bread from the counter and started putting together a breakfast of scrambled eggs, cut fruit, and toast. Lauren came out from the bathroom just as he finished plating the meal. She sat at her breakfast bar, and he set the plate in front of her before pouring her a glass of orange juice.
“No coffee?” she grumbled.
“I’ll make you some. Just eat what’s there, or as much of it as you can without throwing up.”
She glared at him. “I never throw up.”
“Good for you.” He nudged the fork closer to her. “Now eat.”
She finished her breakfast in silence while Wesley made her coffee.
“Cream or sugar?” he asked. She shook her head, and he gave it to her black. Then he sat beside her. “I know it probably feels hopeless right now, but they wouldn’t have told you that you had the part if you weren’t talented. Even if they went another route in the end, there will be other auditions, right? Don’t give up.”
Lauren washed her toast down with coffee. “Easy for you to say.”
“You just need to pick up where you left off. Don’t let it get to you. Like… why did you skip your jog this morning? Endorphins would be good for you right now.”
“I’m done with working out,” she said bitterly. But Wesley could tell she didn’t mean it. “There’s no point.”
Wesley shook his head. “The point is to stay healthy because you feel better when you’re healthy.”
“Silly assumption.” Lauren left half her food on the plate and wandered to the couch, where she flopped down and buried her face in the cushions. “I choose to wallow in self-pity.”
Wesley couldn’t stand to see her so low. “You have three hours to wallow,” he said. “I’m taking you out tonight. Until then, do you want to watch a movie?”
“I don’t want to deal with people today,” she mumbled into the cushions. “Don’t make me.”
“I promise, you won’t have to talk to a single other person, okay? Come on. Trust me just this once. Now what movie do you want to watch?”
* * *
Wesley spent the morning with Lauren while she watched another comfort-film and periodically moped. He let her have some time to put herself back together, but by the time the afternoon rolled around, he finally put his foot down. “Get dressed. We’re going out.”
“Why are you still here?” Lauren said.
“Because if I’m going to be your fake boyfriend, I’m going to be a good fake boyfriend, damn it. I take some pride in my work.”
But that was only a partial truth. The whole truth was he didn’t want to let her cry alone, only he didn’t dare say it. The whole truth was he cared for her, and the thought of her sad and alone hurt him just as much as the thought of himself sad and alone. Wesley missed her smile, her enthusiasm, her playful nature, and he wanted to bring them all back however he could.
“Wear shoes you could hike in and layer everything else,” he told her.
Lauren was still too exhausted to sass him, which was another thing he wanted to give her back. Even that part of her personality, he missed. She slouched and shuffled into her room. When she came out again, she was dressed for a hike. Wesley filled a backpack he found in her coat closet with snacks and water, and then he dragged her to the elevator and across the street to his car.
“Where are we going?” she muttered, clicking her seatbelt into place.
“It’s a surprise.” He started the engine and drove. As soon as he saw that she’d missed her morning jog due to her depression, he knew exactly where he was going to take her. “It’s somewhere I go when I’m feeling down. You’ll like it. Trust me.”
Lauren didn’t respond. Instead, she leaned her head against her window and stared out it for the majority of the trip. Wesley drove them to his favorite hiking trail. It was not an easy trail, which would be perfect to distract her from her troubles. And it was the most rewarding trail he’d ever hiked, with an unbelievable view at the peak. What he hoped was that she would be handed a few endorphins from the hike, and then be dazzled by that view enough that her problems would be put into perspective. That’s what it always did for him anyway.
He pulled into the lot feeling hopeful, and then he felt kind of good about himself for knowing her well enough to think of this.
The hike started out quietly, and Wesley allowed the quiet to sink in before he tried to talk to her about her troubles. Eventually, though, he brought it up. “Lauren, you need to know how talented you are. Please, tell me you know how talented you are. Those acting lessons you gave me before the audition? Those were amazing. And I heard you reading your lines. I’m no expert on acting, but I’m pretty experienced in being human. You read those lines like you really were the character. How do you say it? You brought that character to life. You made her seem human, and I would have believed you were her if I hadn’t known you were reading lines. Surely that counts for something.”
He heard Lauren sigh behind him. “Sure. I’ll just write that on my next resumé. My mom’s bodyguard thinks I’m good. I’m sure that’ll win them over.”
“The point is to win you over,” he said. “So you don’t give up. Nobody succeeds without failing a little first. You’re good, princess.” He turned back to see her smile a little when he used the nickname he’d given her. That made him smile, and he quickly turned back again so she wouldn’t see how much it affected him. “You’re great at what you do. And they’re going to notice it sooner rather than later. Believe me.”
Again, she heaved a deep sigh behind him. “You’re wrong,” she said, “but it’s still nice to have someone believe in me. Even if he’s only a farm boy.” She chuckled a little, and Wesley considered it a win. If she was laughing — even if it was at him — she could be cheered up.
“I’ll put my money where my mouth is, then,” he said. “You’ll get a big role sometime in the next year, or I owe you… a hundred dollars?”
She laughed. “Is that all? You really are poor, aren’t you?”
“Dirt poor, princess. But I’m proud to manage with what I have.”
She went quiet again, and Wesley let her take the lead. This way he could know where she was at all times without needing her to do a lot of talking.
By the time they reached the peak, Lauren was actually panting. “Jeez,” she said, doubling over with her hands on her knees. “You trying to kill me or something?”
He shook his head. “I jog with you every morning. I know what you can handle physically.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “Interesting way to put it,” she said with a grin, and Wesley actually blushed.
“I didn’t mean?—”
“It’s fine.” She laughed again. “We’ll just say you were playing your boyfriend role extra well.”
“Right.” He sat down on his favorite boulder. “Now, here’s the point of the hike. Look. The sun is setting.” He pointed to the horizon and then patted the spot next to him, inviting her to sit.
She joined him and stared out at the sunset. It really was beautiful. Even the more mediocre sunsets looked gorgeous from this spot. Tonight’s, though, was particularly gorgeous. The sky was a golden orange color, fading to pink in the clouds overhead, and when the sun finally dipped below the horizon, all the colors deepened to reds and purples. But Wesley couldn’t help looking away from the colors to steal a glance or two at his hiking partner, who frankly put the sunset to shame.
“Feel better, princess?” he asked quietly.
She nudged him with her elbow. “Yeah, I do. Thank you. This really is beautiful. You weren’t kidding. Well, that or I’m exhausted from the torture you just put me through and hallucinating the whole thing.”
“Would it matter?” he asked.
She smiled. “Not really, I guess. As long as you’re seeing the same thing I am.”
“Don’t worry. I am.” For some reason her last comment touched him. On some level, it was just friendly banter, but on another, she was thinking of him. Even in their joke scenario, she was thinking of him. He really had misjudged her, assuming she was some spoiled little rich girl. She was always thinking of people other than herself. Even the way she lived her life was more for her mother than it was for herself.
One more time, he turned to steal a look at her with her short hair mussed from the hike and the sweat glistening on her shoulders. She wore a fitted tank top under her sweatshirt, which she had recently removed and tied around her waist. He couldn’t help noticing her figure and felt a little guilty for it. But before he could look away, she turned back to him. Their eyes met, and he held her gaze a few seconds longer than he should have.
Instinctively, he wanted to lean in and kiss her. He did lean in, but not enough, and she didn’t close the space between them. Her mouth looked delicious, but the last thing Wesley wanted to do was take advantage of her. Not when it was his job to protect her.
He cleared his throat and said, “We should probably get going. It’ll be dark on the way back.”
“Oh, no.” She stood and wobbled on the spot, but Wesley caught and steadied her. “Are we going to be okay?”
“We’ll be fine,” he said. “I know these trails really well. I’ve walked them in the dark before. You’ll be safe with me.”
She was digging around in her backpack. “I don’t see a flashlight. I wonder if I have enough battery to use my phone.”
Wesley put a hand on her shoulder to calm her. “It’s not really advisable to use a flashlight if you’re night hiking. It ruins your night vision. Just let your eyes adjust as it gets dark. You’ll see better than if you had a flashlight. Seriously, princess, I won’t let anything happen to you. You can even ride on my back if you get too tired.”
It was true, and not just because he was being paid to keep her safe. He really had grown to care about her. Even if it wasn’t his job, he knew he would do whatever it took to protect her.