41. Theo
Being back home made Theo even more aware of Sarah’s absence. He hadn’t realised how much she had infiltrated his routine—and everything he did triggered memories of her.
The talk with Levi and Elias had only reinforced his feelings. He really did love Sarah. He’d been away from her for over six months before, and it wasn’t enough time to forget her.
Damn it. He couldn’t just let her go. He had to see her.
It was 9am on Friday morning, so she’d probably be at work. She might not appreciate him showing up at the start of the week, but he could just walk past the salon first and check she was there.
Pulling on a cap and sunglasses, he left his apartment, wishing he owned something less conspicuous than two Porsches.
The SUV was the less obvious of the two, so he climbed in and drove to a side street a few minutes’ walk from the salon. After parking, he checked his reflection in the rear-view mirror and strolled as casually as possible toward Sarah’s place of work.
Wait.
What was going on there?
He paused a few doors down as he noticed a bunch of women standing outside the salon, hurling eggs at the window and yelling insults.
‘Bitch! Who do you think you are?’
‘How dare you steal Theo from Yu-jin!’
‘Have you looked in the mirror lately? Theo would never date someone like you!’
Theo’s blood ran cold. Why were they saying those things?
He was about to go over and tell the women to leave when he saw Bodie heading toward the salon from the opposite direction. Bodie didn’t seem surprised by the crowd and walked determinedly to the front door. He knocked firmly and waited, ignoring the howling around him.
After a second, the door opened, and he squeezed through, not allowing the women to follow him.
The lock clicked, and the women yelled even louder.
Theo pulled out his phone as he retreated into an alley. He considered calling Sarah, but he phoned Bodie instead.
Bodie didn’t answer at first, and Theo wondered if he was going to ignore his call. Eventually, he picked up. ‘Hey.’
His voice was cold, and Theo was taken aback. He’d never done anything to Bodie—although he supposed if he was the stalker, he wouldn’t appreciate another man being involved with the woman he was obsessed with. Bodie wouldn’t take advantage of the situation, would he? Maybe Theo should call the police?
‘I’m just near Sarah’s salon. What’s going on?’
‘Don’t you read the news?’
‘Why? What does it say?’
Bodie snorted. ‘I wish you’d just go away and leave Sarah alone. You’ve caused her enough trauma.’
Theo didn’t know what to say to that. It was kind of true.
‘I need to talk to her.’
‘Dude, you’ll make things worse if those women see you. Just go home. Forget about everything and stay away from Sarah. I’ll take care of things from here.’
Theo balled his free hand into a fist. ‘So you can go back to being her stalker in peace?’
Bodie was quiet for a second. ‘What the hell did you just say?’
‘It’s true, isn’t it? You’ve been stalking her for months.’
Bodie chuckled. ‘If you say so.’
‘If I’m wrong, get me inside that salon now.’
Bodie sighed. ‘Fine.’ He covered the handset for a moment so Theo could only hear muffled talking. After a moment, he spoke to Theo again.
‘There’s an entry at the back. It’s unmarked. Look for the red door.’
‘I’ll be there in a minute.’
Theo hurried to the back of the alley and looked for the red door. It was easy to find, and he was glad the women out the front hadn’t yet discovered its existence.
As he approached, it opened, and Bodie stood there staring at him.
Theo still didn’t trust the guy, but he appreciated that he hadn’t forced him to leave.
Theo made his way through the salon to a small alcove where Sarah was hiding, peering around the corner to the street.
The window was covered in eggs, and the women were still yelling.
Theo wanted to wrap Sarah in a hug, but her body language was closed off.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked.
‘Physically, yes.’
‘Bodie said there was something in the news?’
‘Google your name, and you’ll see.’
Theo opened the browser on his phone and typed his name.
What the hell?
There were photos of him with Sarah before they’d gone to Japan, as well as some while they were in Tokyo, but the article made it sound like it was all from after the article about him and Yu-jin. The headline read Homewrecker hairdresser’s affair with Theo Park.
Theo scraped his hands down his face. ‘Are you kidding me?’
‘Can’t you control your fans?’ Bodie sneered.
‘Fine. I will.’ Theo began striding toward the front door, but Sarah reached out and grabbed his arm. ‘Don’t. It’ll only make things worse.’
‘Then I’ll call the police.’
‘Already done,’ Bodie said.
‘Oh. Okay.’ Theo looked down at the ground. ‘I’m sorry.’
Even to his own ears, he knew it sounded lame and inadequate. He’d completely ruined Sarah’s life.
‘I’m going to make some tea,’ Sarah said, going over to the salon’s kitchenette. ‘Do either of you want some?’
‘I’ll make it,’ Theo offered.
‘No, I need to keep busy. So that’s a yes?’
Theo nodded. Bodie did too.
While Sarah busied herself filling the kettle, Bodie nudged Theo.
‘I’m going to show you something, but don’t tell Sarah yet, okay?’ he whispered.
Theo furrowed his brow. ‘What?’
Bodie pulled his phone from his pocket and showed the display to Theo. It was a photo of him and Sarah in Tokyo.
‘Um, is this a confession of your stalking?’ Theo asked quietly.
‘No,’ Bodie hissed. ‘Look in the background.’
Theo squinted and looked at the blurry figure behind them in the photo. It was a guy, and he looked vaguely familiar, but Theo couldn’t remember exactly where he’d seen him before.
‘Who is that?’
‘Casey.’
Theo frowned. ‘As in yours and Gabe’s friend, Casey?’
‘He’s not my friend, but yes, the same Casey.’
Theo couldn’t make sense of this information. ‘What the hell was Casey doing in Japan?’
‘You just accused me of stalking…’
Theo suddenly realised, and his heart started pounding. ‘You think it’s Casey?’
‘I tried to approach him after I took this photo, but he disappeared. And I’ve tried calling him since I got back, but he’s not answering his phone.’
Theo glanced over at Sarah. She had turned on some music, so the speakers were now playing Harry Styles, presumably to block out the sound of the women outside.
She was deliberately avoiding looking at him and Bodie. Theo wanted to whisk her away right now. He had enough money to do that. Why wasn’t he doing that?
‘We should tell her,’ Theo said.
‘I was going to find Casey first. Figure out what’s going on.’
‘I still think she should know. Just in case he finds her before you do.’
Bodie opened his mouth to protest again, but the noise outside suddenly went quiet.
Theo looked through the window and noticed two police officers standing at the door. The women had disappeared.
‘Hello?’ one of the officers called.
Bodie let them in. The two officers joined them at the back of the salon.
‘We’re here because of a call about a disturbance of the peace. Are you the salon owner?’ one of them asked Sarah.
She turned and nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘We’ve warned the women not to return, but we’ll take a statement from you. If there’s any damage to the shopfront, you can submit our report with your insurance claim.’
‘Thank you.’ She briefly looked at Bodie and then Theo. ‘I’ll be fine now, guys. You can go.’
‘We’ll stay,’ Bodie offered before Theo could say the same.
‘No, please. I’d feel better if you both got back to your lives. I appreciate you checking on me.’
Bodie looked like he wanted to argue further, but the officers didn’t seem to appreciate the delay.
‘Fine. I’ll call you later.’ He tilted his head at Theo, and Theo reluctantly followed him out the back exit.
‘I’m going to track down Casey,’ Bodie said.
‘Keep me posted.’
‘I think it’s best if you just stay away from here on.’
‘If the situation was reversed, would you? If the woman you loved was being stalked?’
‘The woman I love is being stalked. But she’s also being targeted by psychotic fans because of the man she chose to date. I’m about to try to stop the first thing, and by staying away, you can help avoid a recurrence of the second.’
Theo wanted to argue, but Bodie was right.
‘Fine. I’ll stay away. But I still want to know when you find Casey.’
‘Okay.’
Bodie left, and Theo stood in the back alley, staring bleakly at a concrete wall.
He’d messed up Sarah’s life.
And it seemed like the only way to fix it was to never see her again.