toward the door.
Chapter 16
Haley
I’m
still in shock over Lexi’s
visit when there’s
a knock at the door. I stop doing laps around the living room and
pulling at my hair to turn and look at it. There’s
another knock. I step slowly towards it. When I open it, I can’t
control myself. I leap onto Brando, bury my face into his neck,
clutch his back as tightly as a lifesaver. For the past hour I’ve
been wondering if I’ll
ever see him again, if the one guy who can make me feel like he does
is about to disappear from my life forever. The idea alone crushed
me, chewed me up, made me feel like a ghost. Just seeing him again is
enough to make me break down.
“Haley,”
he
says slowly, pushing me off him gently and closing the door behind
him, “I’ve
got some bad news.”
“No,”
I
say, shaking my head and feeling my heart grow heavy. I back away
slowly. “No.”
His
face is serious, unhappy. I pray he doesn’t
speak, gathering every bit of strength in my body to tell him not to
speak, and it’s
still not enough. I bury my head in my hands.
“The
label dropped you,”
he
says, bluntly and sadly.
I
look up slowly, feeling like somebody put a hot towel on my face.
“And
you chose Lexi.”
His
face changes. “No,
I didn’t.
Rowland did. Majestic did. Not me.”
He
pauses, realization dawning. “You
knew about the ultimatum?”
I
nod, steeling myself for an answer I probably don’t
want to hear. “So
what did you choose?”
“Haley,”
he
says, rushing toward me and lifting my face in his hands, “why
are you even asking me that? I chose you .
Of course I did. I quit on them. Same as last time. Same as when we
had to go it alone before.”
Something
inside me cracks open, releasing a flood of happiness that flows into
every fiber of my body. I pull Brando’s
face to mine, as if the feeling’s
too much for one person, and the only way I can share it is by
pressing my lips against his. A kiss more intimate than erotic, but
no less necessary.
When
we pull away slowly, Brando gazes inquisitively into my eyes,
brushing away a tear-track from my cheek.
“How
could you even doubt that?”
he
asks gently.
“With
Lexi back and the way things have been going with us, I just
thought—”
“Don’t
think,” he
says, affectionately.
Brando
drives us to his apartment like we’re
racing a jet, only stopping to run into a coffee shop and come out a
few minutes later with a carrier tray of coffees and a bag of donuts.
“Who
is all of this for?”
I
ask, as he puts them in my lap and revs the car away.
“You’ll
see.”
We
get to his apartment and Brando bursts through the door like he’s
about to perform a robbery. I follow behind and try not to be too
surprised when a bunch of college students immediately crowd around
me, grab the coffees, and then go back to sitting around the open
laptops on Brando’s
coffee table.
“What’s
going on?”
I
ask as Brando stands in front of them. “It
looks like you’re
running a sweat shop in here.”
“Haley,
this is Michelle, Simon, Ross, Steven, and Jessica. Guys, you know
Haley.”
They
mumble a distracted greeting in unison like an uncoordinated choir
group. Still confused, I raise a hand weakly in response.
“So,
what’s
the situation?”
Brando
says, his voice turning authoritative.
“We
can’t
do anything,”
Jessica
says, shaking her ponytail. “Every
time we post something about the sore throat we get a hundred replies
– every
one of them about Rex Bentley.”
“Same
here,”
Ross
adds, “we’re
commenting, but it’s
getting lost in the mix. It’s
a drop in the ocean compared to what’s
going on. It seems like every two minutes another site posts the
story. We can’t
keep up.”
“No
takers for the Mick Jagger story so far. Sorry,”
Simon
shrugs.
I
glare at Brando with bewilderment at this last one. He shakes his
head in a clear ‘don’t
ask’ gesture.
“Shit,”
he
says, walking to the window.
Chapter 16
Haley
I’m
still in shock over Lexi’s
visit when there’s
a knock at the door. I stop doing laps around the living room and
pulling at my hair to turn and look at it. There’s
another knock. I step slowly towards it. When I open it, I can’t
control myself. I leap onto Brando, bury my face into his neck,
clutch his back as tightly as a lifesaver. For the past hour I’ve
been wondering if I’ll
ever see him again, if the one guy who can make me feel like he does
is about to disappear from my life forever. The idea alone crushed
me, chewed me up, made me feel like a ghost. Just seeing him again is
enough to make me break down.
“Haley,”
he
says slowly, pushing me off him gently and closing the door behind
him, “I’ve
got some bad news.”
“No,”
I
say, shaking my head and feeling my heart grow heavy. I back away
slowly. “No.”
His
face is serious, unhappy. I pray he doesn’t
speak, gathering every bit of strength in my body to tell him not to
speak, and it’s
still not enough. I bury my head in my hands.
“The
label dropped you,”
he
says, bluntly and sadly.
I
look up slowly, feeling like somebody put a hot towel on my face.
“And
you chose Lexi.”
His
face changes. “No,
I didn’t.
Rowland did. Majestic did. Not me.”
He
pauses, realization dawning. “You
knew about the ultimatum?”
I
nod, steeling myself for an answer I probably don’t
want to hear. “So
what did you choose?”
“Haley,”
he
says, rushing toward me and lifting my face in his hands, “why
are you even asking me that? I chose you .
Of course I did. I quit on them. Same as last time. Same as when we
had to go it alone before.”
Something
inside me cracks open, releasing a flood of happiness that flows into
every fiber of my body. I pull Brando’s
face to mine, as if the feeling’s
too much for one person, and the only way I can share it is by
pressing my lips against his. A kiss more intimate than erotic, but
no less necessary.
When
we pull away slowly, Brando gazes inquisitively into my eyes,
brushing away a tear-track from my cheek.
“How
could you even doubt that?”
he
asks gently.
“With
Lexi back and the way things have been going with us, I just
thought—”
“Don’t
think,” he
says, affectionately.
Brando
drives us to his apartment like we’re
racing a jet, only stopping to run into a coffee shop and come out a
few minutes later with a carrier tray of coffees and a bag of donuts.
“Who
is all of this for?”
I
ask, as he puts them in my lap and revs the car away.
“You’ll
see.”
We
get to his apartment and Brando bursts through the door like he’s
about to perform a robbery. I follow behind and try not to be too
surprised when a bunch of college students immediately crowd around
me, grab the coffees, and then go back to sitting around the open
laptops on Brando’s
coffee table.
“What’s
going on?”
I
ask as Brando stands in front of them. “It
looks like you’re
running a sweat shop in here.”
“Haley,
this is Michelle, Simon, Ross, Steven, and Jessica. Guys, you know
Haley.”
They
mumble a distracted greeting in unison like an uncoordinated choir
group. Still confused, I raise a hand weakly in response.
“So,
what’s
the situation?”
Brando
says, his voice turning authoritative.
“We
can’t
do anything,”
Jessica
says, shaking her ponytail. “Every
time we post something about the sore throat we get a hundred replies
– every
one of them about Rex Bentley.”
“Same
here,”
Ross
adds, “we’re
commenting, but it’s
getting lost in the mix. It’s
a drop in the ocean compared to what’s
going on. It seems like every two minutes another site posts the
story. We can’t
keep up.”
“No
takers for the Mick Jagger story so far. Sorry,”
Simon
shrugs.
I
glare at Brando with bewilderment at this last one. He shakes his
head in a clear ‘don’t
ask’ gesture.
“Shit,”
he
says, walking to the window.
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