Chapter 28
Igroan when I hear my phone ringing. I was having such a wonderful dream. I snatch it up from the side table and glance down to see my father’s number lighting up my phone screen. Instantly panic courses through my veins, and I sit up straight. I haven’t heard from either him or my mother since he cut me off on my first day here, but that was what I expected. I went against what he wanted, and them giving me the silent treatment was his way of telling me as much. I consider not taking the call. I’m sure if he has bothered to take the time to call me it’s because he wants something, but then I worry that something could be wrong. I might be upset with them, but they are still my parents and I love them. “Hello,” I answer tentatively.
“Gigi, my girl. I have arranged an audition for you on Friday,” he says, all business. No how are you or I hope your trip away has been everything you expected like a normal parent would say.
Still half asleep, I run a hand through my hair and try to process his words. “Dad, I have work. I can’t just drop everything and come audition for some new show you’re working on.”
“Quit playing around, Gigi,” he says, his tone growing more serious. “Your mother and I have humored your identity crisis long enough. We let you have your fun, now it’s time to come home and do what you were born to do. This role is the perfect one for you.”
Sickness fills me. I knew this call was coming, I wanted to go about living in my happy bubble here, but he’s deadly serious. He expects me to drop everything and be a good little girl and do as I’m told. “Who says performing is my calling? I’m actually really good at my job here. I’m the wedding-and-events coordinator for a hotel. We’re one of the busiest function centers in the South,” I tell him since he didn’t bother to ask. How dare he just call me and expect I will come running.
I hear his heavy breathing through the phone; he’s trying to control his anger. “Can you hear yourself? How ungrateful you sound right now? Your mother and I have given you the best of everything, and this is how you repay us, by turning your back on us completely.”
“I…” I go to talk, but he cuts me off.
“I’m very disappointed in you, Gisele. You come home this weekend and do your audition which we both know is just a formality, the role will be yours. Then you come home for good. No more playing around. And that’s the last I want to hear on the topic.” He slams the phone down, so I don’t get to tell him my thoughts on his demands.
I’m shaking with irritation, staring at the black screen as angry tears blur my vision. Going home is the last thing on my radar. I’m happy here. I have a job I like, friends, and Brody. I can’t give all that up now just to please my parents.
But this is what he’s always been like, it’s his way or the highway. I’m surprised he actually let me stay this long without pulling a stunt like this. I stare at the empty screen, wondering what to do. A small part of me wonders if he’s right. I can’t escape who I am no matter where I go. And the truth is, my parents did give a lot to make me the best I could be. But they did that for them. They never asked me what I wanted for my life.
And then there is the matter of Brody. I’ve fallen head over heels for him, even though I know I shouldn’t have. Not with the mounting pressure on him already. It’s only a matter of time before our relationship is outed to the whole town. After what Victor said to me, I’m afraid it’s going to be sooner rather than later. Brody stands to lose so much. I’m not worth the risk. Maybe me going home for a bit, doing another show, wouldn’t be the worst thing for us. I could give him the space to do what he needs to with the hotel. Then I could come back when he’s officially taken over and we could see if this thing between us is real. It’s not what I really want, but I feel so selfish for wanting him when I know what he and his sister could lose because of our relationship.
And even as I think it, I know it’s my father’s manipulative voice in my head, guilting me into doing what he says instead of what I want.
I step into the kitchen, freshly showered and feeling a little more ready for my day.
“Morning, girls,” I chime in, attempting cheerfulness as I find them huddled around the kitchen table—Mae, Paisley, and Emerson. The room, usually a hub of casual conversations, now feels charged with an unspoken tension. It’s not strange to see Emerson at the breakfast table due to the disarray of her own place, but I don’t like the way she looks at me with concern. My stomach sinks because I already know the call from my father won’t be the worst news I’m going to get today.
“Gisele, sweetie, we all need to talk to you about something. Why don’t you take a seat?” Mae invites, pulling out a chair with a gravity that doesn’t escape me. The knot in my stomach intensifies.
I face them, searching for answers. “What’s going on?” I whisper.
Mae motions to the offerings on the table in front of them—pumpkin lattes and fresh pecan sticky buns. She attempts a reassuring half-smile, but the sweetness of the gesture feels tainted by the serious undertones. “They’re your favorite,” she says.
Why are you buying my favorite breakfast? Its not my birthday, I ask, suspicion coloring my words. My palms are clammy as I look between my friends.
Paisley, unusually quiet, seizes my arm, guiding me into the chair with an urgency that unnerves me. She grips my hand, and Emerson hands me the morning paper. “Another story?” I ask, already dreading the answer.
She nods solemnly. “This one’s not a nice one.”
I steal a glance at the image—a frozen moment of Brody and me leaving McAllister’s over a month ago, his arm a protective shield around me as we hurry toward his car in the dark of night. My skin prickles. Someone was watching us. How much did they see? “I don’t want to read this,” I declare, dropping it onto the table, the weight of sickness settling in my stomach.
“By this morning, all of Deception Bay will know that there is something going on between the two of you,” Emerson explains, her expression unreadable. Does she hate me?
I swallow the lump in my throat. “So, you all know?” I ask, scanning the faces of the girls for answers.
Mae and Paisley respond with encouraging smiles. “We’re excited for you, honey, but you got some hoops to jump through first.”
“Em?” I turn to my boss, seeking solace in our friendship, fearing the fallout for their business. “Are you here to tell me I don’t have a job anymore?” I whisper through my fear.
Her eyes meet mine, a silent understanding passing between us. “We’re all here to make sure you feel supported in light of this new scandal. Brody and I don’t know who wants to destroy our business, but someone does, and this is just another attempt to get at us. They label Brody in the same category as Daddy and you the woman he’s currently caught up with. Unfortunately, you have been caught in the crossfire. You still have your job with us if you want it, I will support you either way, but maybe it’s best you take the rest of the week off, just until things settle down a little. Brody’s handling the PR nightmare as we speak, but I don’t know what the office will be like this week.”
My mind races, thoughts colliding in a chaotic symphony. I can only assume that’s why he’s sent his sister instead of coming himself. But something in the pit of my stomach doesn’t sit right. “Victor. It was him for sure. He came right out and accused me of sleeping with Brody just yesterday. He told me he was just like his father and I needed to be careful,” I admit.
Mae and Paisley gasp, their exchanged whispers a silent acknowledgment of the gravity of Victor’s accusations. Yet, my attention remains fixed on Emerson. She needs to know what he’s up to. It’s something, I’m sure of it.
She nods, her mind working through possibilities. “Maybe? But this story would have been in the works already. The photo was taken a month ago. Someone was already watching Brody, waiting for him to slip up.”
“Lana, she’s quietly watching us all. Or maybe the two of them are working together; he has lunch with her sometimes, and she’s always in his office. Maybe he’s doing this all for her.”
“How do you know?” she asks, fire in her eyes, seeking answers.
I shrug, the pieces of the puzzle unfolding in my mind. “People tell me things, and Victor likes to talk. I think he gets off on the idea that he’s helping your father somehow by making friends with her. I don’t know. It was a strange conversation, but he is dodgy for sure, they both are.”
“I always knew she was up to something,” Emerson says.
I feel so bad for Brody knowing what he’s going to be up against today. This is his worst nightmare, being compared to his father. I need to see him and make sure he’s okay. I also need to come clean with him about my father and what he expects me to do.
“I appreciate you guys for being here, but why wasn’t Brody the one here to tell me all of this?”
I see the look of empathy on Emerson’s face. “He’s in damage control. He’s been at the hotel since five. I’m sorry, Gisele.”
“I’m sorry too. I’m so sorry this is all affecting you, that’s the last thing we wanted to happen. I understand if you can’t trust me to work for you anymore.”
She shakes her head. “You’re not losing your job over this. You’re the best coordinator I’ve come across, and besides, I like having you around. I’m also thrilled for you guys. I just hope this isn’t all too much for Brody.”
I sigh heavily, already knowing it’s going to be. This is his worst nightmare. It’s the reason he held off acting on his impulses for so long. I already know this is terrible for us. He’s going to block me out again. It’s why he’s not here now.
I make it to The Alexander an hour later. Emerson advised me to stay away for my own good, but I couldn’t listen. I need to see Brody. I have to know he’s okay. This scandal must be tearing him apart. At the front gate was a collection of news cameras, but Noah spotted me and ushered me through. I knock at Brody’s office door, and he calls for me to come in.
“Gisele. What are you doing here?” he stutters out, surprised to see me.
I search his face, looking for the man I have come to know, but he’s nowhere to be seen. In his place is the guy I met on my first day here, his face hardened, serious and cold. “I came to check on you. Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” he grumbles, returning his attention to his computer screen. “You shouldn’t be here. Emerson has given you the rest of the week off. Hopefully, the girls can help you get through today.”
“You told them so I had support?” I ask, confused at his coldness.
“I knew I couldn’t be there with you today, but they can. I’m sorry this is happening,” he huffs.
I move closer to his desk, and I see him stiffen. “I’m sorry too. This is all my fault. You shouldn’t have to be dealing with this scandal on top of all the pressure youre under already.” I search his eyes, looking for what I should do. I’m completely in love with him, and if he tells me to stay and that I’m worth fighting all this for then I will, but I also don’t want to be the reason he and Emerson don’t get their business after all this. “That picture was from before anything even happened between us. We can just deny it.”
He searches my face, giving me a glimmer of hope, then straightens his shoulders. “Take the time off she gave you. Go home and lie low for a few days till I sort this all out.” Part of me hoped he would tell me to stay, that we could weather this storm together. But I can see his protective walls are back up and he’s blocking me out. I don’t know if he hates me because if I stayed away, it would be one less problem for him to have to fix, or if he hates himself because he couldn’t keep his hands off me. Either way, his coldness cuts through me bitterly.
“You’re not him,” I add, seeing the turmoil in his eyes. I don’t know exactly what that article says, but if it’s what I think, then I can only imagine what’s going through his head right now. He must be in a world of pain.
“I don’t need you looking after me, Gisele, you have already done enough,” he says, his words cold, uncaring even. He blames me. My heart sinks.
I look him over, trying to work out what the hell is going on here. My spine straightens as irritation crawls under my skin. “So that’s how it’s going to be. I thought you had your sister come to see me in your place this morning because of the nightmare with PR you would be dealing with. But that wasn’t it at all, was it. You’re too much of a coward to face everyone and tell them what we are to each other because of the way it makes you look,” I mutter, my body shaking with adrenaline.
His eyes meet mine. “I’m being forced to live in his shadow. Run his business. And now because I couldn’t keep my hands off you, I have the same reputation as he did,” he seethes, his angry words cutting through me like thousands of tiny knives.
I stare back at him, trying to control my racing heart. Tears well in my eyes. I want to help him, for him to see me and know that I’m here for him. “You don’t have to face this alone. When we started this, we said we would be in it together,” I cry.
“Well, we’re not. You can walk away, I can’t. This is my life, not just a vacation from my reality. You will go home one day and leave me here to clean up this mess.”
His words cut deep, and I almost can’t believe I’m hearing them. I feel silly for thinking this was something more than sex, because clearly that’s all it ever was to him, and now, I’m the inconvenience he needs to deal with. I needed him today, I needed him to tell me to stay, that he was going to fight for me, for us. But he wants nothing to do with me. “If that’s the way you feel.” I turn to walk away. What am I even doing here?
“It’s not the way I feel. It’s how it is, Gisele. I can see this for what it was—a holiday fling.”
My heart hammers out of control, the tears prickling in my eyes, rolling down my cheeks. “If that’s what you really think, youre sadder than I thought. This was never a fling for me. This was real.” This time I keep walking. I can’t stand to look at him a second longer. The conversations we had made this feel real. The time we spent together, the connection we shared. It was all just a fling to him. All along he thought I would go back to New York. And now I will.