Chapter Sixteen
ALEX
The rest of the evening was a blur of laughter, celebration, and easy chatter with my friends.
By the time Matt and I returned to my place, it was late.
He stayed over again, and oddly enough, I didn’t mind.
In fact, I liked it. I’ve never had anyone stay the night at my apartment before—not ever.
But every time with Matt, it feels… natural.
Waking up early on a Sunday with a slight hangover made the thought of heading into the gallery less than appealing.
Still, I knew what I was signing up for when Ria hired me—seven days a week, no exceptions.
So, no use complaining. Matt, being ever helpful, drove me in on his way to check on Nate.
We even stopped for breakfast burritos on the way, a ritual that’s somehow become our thing.
I’m not sure why it feels special, but it does.
Comfortable, like everything else with him.
As the day winds down, though, I can’t ignore the nagging thought in the back of my mind—I promised to help Nate, and I haven’t done nearly enough.
At work, I make it my mission to lighten his load, but personally?
I could be doing more. That’s why I’m sitting in the back of a cab, heading straight to a certain celebrity A-lister’s mansion.
Ria needs to hear me out. She needs to understand what she’s doing to Nate—how he’s drowning every single day—and she needs to finally give him some clarity.
One way or another, I’m going to make her talk to him.
The cab pulls up to Ria’s sprawling estate, its gates towering like something out of a movie.
The security detail leans down to peer into my window, their stern expressions softening when they recognize me.
Through the windshield, I catch sight of Donald, Ria’s head of security, breaking into a bright smile.
It’s impossible not to smirk back. Something about Donald always makes me think he belongs more on the Jersey Shore than guarding a Hollywood mansion.
“Hey, Alex, good to see you again,” he announces as he presses a button to open the gate.
“Hey, Don, right back at ya!”
The cab driver pulls in, stopping next to the giant fountain.
I pay him, along with a “thank you,” and hop out into the warm night air.
It’s a beautiful night, and the stars are on show, glistening in the blackened sky.
I sigh, wondering how this is going to go down, but I step forward and knock on her expensive-looking doors.
I don’t have to wait too long before she answers. The door opens with ease, and Ria stands before me looking gaunt, pale, and like she’s definitely lost more weight. Shaking my head, I slump as she looks at me and frowns, gesturing with her hand for me to come inside.
Walking in, I turn back to really take her in. She’s wearing a simple robe and bare feet as she’s closing the door behind me. She looks less like the elegant actress and more like the sickly friend I’ve become accustomed to.
“Ria, are you eating?” I ask, and she winces at the mere mention of food.
She sighs and leads us through the foyer to her living room. “I try, I do. I eat as much as I can, but honestly, it mostly comes back up. I’m trying to just keep hydrated only at this point.” She leads me to the sofa, where we sit down.
I face her as I sink into the plushness of the cushions.
Reaching out, I grasp her hand. “Okay, so I’m going in for the tough love approach here, Ria.
You look like death. You’re not coping. You’re not well.
And Nate, God love him, he’s much the same.
He misses you so badly. Sure, he’s working, he’s painting and losing himself in his art, but all he paints is you. That’s clear and obvious.”
She sinks further into her sofa, her head turning down as her eyes droop, she exhales a long breath.
“I know you want to hide this from him, and I know you think it’s for the best. But, Ria, you need him. You need him to help you through this, and he damn well needs you. Plus, you don’t want the baby not to have its father growing up, right?” I go for the low blow.
She grunts and shifts her shoulders. “Alex, I love you, but I’ve made up my mind.
I thought I’d made that clear to you. Nate needs to move on without me.
He needs a life where he’s not bogged down by doctor’s appointments and spending all his time focusing on the baby and me.
He’s too young to stop his career right now for a family.
I can’t do that to him. I’ve had my career, he needs his. ”
Rolling my eyes, I shake my head. “But what if he can find a balance? Work, life, family? What if you guys can make it work?”
“Alex, enough! I’ve made up my mind. I need you to tell Nate once and for all that he must move on.
I don’t want him pining over me. He needs to get on with his life, a life without me, because I don’t want him waiting for me.
I’m done, Alex. My future doesn’t include Nate.
He has his life to live, and I have to think of my baby and me. ”
I scoff. “It’s his baby, too.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
“He will.”
“Only if someone tells him. I’m not going to. Are you? Will you ruin his career, Alex?” she asks, and I take a deep breath and purse my lips.
“I don’t like this, Ria. I don’t like lying to Nate, or Matt, either, for that matter.”
“You’re not lying, Alex. You’re simply not telling them.
There’s a difference. But you’re being my friend in the process, and I think, after all this time, Alex, that our friendship means something to you.
I’m not trying to pull the ‘we were friends first card’ here, but, Alex, I’m begging you to please do this for me.
Please tell Nate we’re done and to let me go…
for his sake. I’m doing this for him. You have to see that?
” Tears well in her eyes, and I understand what she’s saying and why she feels like bogging Nate down with an instant family is detrimental to him and his career.
But I know him well enough that his love for her would make him want to stand by her.
He would want this baby.
He would do anything to keep Ria by his side.
So, yeah, I know Nate would give up the band in a heartbeat if he needed to.
Unfortunately, for this reason alone, I see Ria’s reasoning is valid.
I get it.
I do.
I don’t like it, but I get it.
Simply nodding, I clench my eyes before opening them again. “Okay, I’ll take him out somewhere, just him and me, and tell him to let you go. I’ll be brutal and quite clear with him that you don’t want him. Just know that once I do this, there might be no coming back from it.”
“Good. It needs to be truly over in his mind.”
Shaking my head, I lean in and pull her into an embrace as a tear rolls down her cheek.
“I’ll do this on one condition.” She nods. “You let me come over as often as I can to help you, seeing as you won’t let Nate. Let me be your support.”
She sniffles and nods.
I hate that it has come to this. That my friends are so far gone they can’t work their shit out, despite loving one another. It kills me a little more that I can’t fix this mess, no matter how hard I try. They’re too stubborn for their own good.
***
It’s been a month since I told Nate he had to let Ria go, and the fallout was exactly as expected—messy and explosive.
At Inflatable Land—a chaotic wonderland of oversized slides, obstacle courses, and bouncing chaos—let’s just say things escalated quickly.
Nate, already teetering on the edge, ended up destroying a few inflatable attractions.
It was pure carnage—rubber walls deflating like wounded balloons and us trying to dodge the fallout.
Tillie, in true Tillie fashion, swooped in and smoothed everything over, charming the owners and settling the bill.
Still, the damage wasn’t just to the inflatables.
Nate’s mood has been in a permanent downward spiral since then.
Even now, as we close the gallery and head to his house, he’s quiet, brooding in the way only Nate can.
I know better than to push, so I let the silence stretch between us, a familiar weight that I’ve learned to carry.
When we pull into his driveway and step inside, we’re greeted by an unexpected sight. Matt is in the kitchen, holding a smoking sage stick like some kind of domestic shaman. I glance at Nate, raising an eyebrow in question, but he groans, his expression saying don’t ask.
The deeper we venture into the house, the more surreal the scene becomes. Whisper is in full theatrical mode, darting around the living room and singing “Hava Nagila” at the top of his lungs. His arms flail dramatically, and his flowing shirt gives him an almost ethereal quality as he rushes about.
“Whisper, what the hell are you doing?” Nate grumbles, rubbing his temples like this is the last thing he needs today.
Whisper spins toward us, beaming. “Feng Shui, darling!” He waves a hand over Matt’s chest in an exaggerated, almost mystical gesture.
“The energy in this house is stale. And you two sexy boys radiate some serious bad juju. We need to realign the qi, get love flowing, and banish negativity. Trust me, it for your own good.”
Matt tries to stifle a laugh, but it comes out as a snort. Nate, on the other hand, looks like he’s seconds away from throttling Whisper.
“Love?” Nate scoffs, his tone laced with bitterness. “I’m not in the mood for finding love anytime soon. Or maybe fucking ever again.”
Whisper clutches his chest like he’s just been stabbed. “Don’t say such things. You hurt my heart. Love is all around us! It in the air, the furniture, the sage smoke…” He pauses dramatically, sniffing the air. “Well, maybe not sage smoke. But you get my point.”