Again

  “Not really,” she said with the same feeble laugh as before. “You’re the first person I’ve told.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just so . . . It hasn’t sunk in yet, I guess. I’m just gonna let it simmer for now because you’re right. My sister will make a big deal of this and it’s not. Not yet anyway.”

  Just as it had happened almost the entire taxing conversation, before he could say anything, she spoke again.

  “So what’s been keeping you so busy? You and Cheryl work things out?” she asked.

  Thankful for the change in subject, Sydney inhaled before answering and sat back against his headboard again. “No,” he said, letting his head fall back, and stared at the ceiling. “That’s pretty much a done deal. I’d never really felt anything for her from the beginning, and like you with Darren, I was beginning to feel like I was stringing her along.”

  “Oh,” she said, sounding a little surprised. “So what has been keeping you so busy? Work?”

  “Yeah, work’s been a little grueling lately,” he admitted then added something he hadn’t planned on telling her until after her new boyfriend declaration. “Scarlet’s been in town lately. I’ve hung out with her a few nights this week.”

  He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t planned on telling her. It was just one of the few things, even as close as they’d become, he wasn’t comfortable talking to her about now. For whatever reason, talking to her about Cheryl seemed okay, easy enough. Maybe it was because Cheryl had never taken up so much of his Emi time. Like Sabian’s, Cheryl’s schedule was tight, especially when she was working on a particularly tough case. He also did a whole lot of canceling with her to hang around Emi instead. It was how he knew she wasn’t the one. That hadn’t been the case with Scarlet these past couple of weeks.

  Sydney hadn’t even noticed Emi had gone silent until she spoke again but not before another forced-sounding laugh. “It’s weird to hear you call her Scarlet. She’s so Scarlet Brendon to me. Like Channing Tatum or Jennifer Lawrence. You don’t just call them Channing or Jennifer.”

  Doing his own impression of the forced laugh, Sydney ran his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, well just like Sabian, once you get to know them, referring to them by both names sounds weirder than using just one.”

  “So I take it you two are getting serious? I mean I haven’t hung out with you in days. I’m assuming she’s who you’ve been busy with?”

  “The last three nights, yeah, but I wouldn’t call it serious. She just wants to lie low for a while,” he explained. “She was gone for so long, and the promotional tour for the movie that releases later this year is going to be grueling one. She’ll be gone again in a few months, so she said she wants to enjoy being home right now. Having someone in the same building she can hang out with is convenient for her.”

  It was the truth. Scarlet was glamorously beautiful, sweet, and fun, but no way was Sydney getting any ideas of anything serious with her. If he thought Emi naïve for thinking her relationship with Sabian wouldn’t be complicated, Sydney would be downright stupid to think a relationship with Scarlet outside of what they were doing now would be anything but complicated.

  His other line beeped, and the alarms in his head went off the moment he saw it was his mother. She never called him this late unless something was wrong. “Listen. I gotta take this call, Em. I’ll call you back if I’m not off too late.” He barely waited for her to say okay before clicking to the other line. “Mom,” he said as soon as he clicked over. “What’s going on?”

  “Everything’s fine,” she said, though her shaky voice said just the opposite. “It was just a little fire.”

  “What?” He stood up immediately. “A fire?”

  “Yes, but it’s out now. It was just a small fire in the garage,” her voice suddenly broke. “No one got hurt,” she continued even through her crying. “The firefighters had it out in ten minutes flat and there was minimal damage. They said it could’ve been a lot worse. But I’m fine.”

  “So why you crying, Mom?”

  “It just scared the bejesus out of me,” she said then took a trembling breath. “But I’m good now. I promise. I wasn’t even going to call you until tomorrow.”

  “Did they check your vitals?” he asked, already rushing to his closet. “You could be going into shock, Ma.”

  “No, no,” she said, sounding a bit more composed. “They checked everything. It’s just that it happened so fast, and I’d held it all in all this time. Hearing your voice made me emotional. That’s all.”

  “I’ll be there in a few hours,” he said, already tapping away at his tablet. “But don’t wait up for—”

  “Sydney, honey, no! You don’t have to come down.”

  He’d traveled so much he had booking flights down to an art. With another tap to his laptop, he was done. “Already booked my flight.” He glanced down at his arrival time with a frown. “I’ll be there about two-forty in the morning. Do not wait up for me.”

  Of course, his mother tried to protest some more, but he convinced her there was no way he could cancel his flight now and he was coming whether she thought he needed to or not. He could feel the onset of that tension headache he’d felt earlier really coming on now.

  He’d been so lost in thought it barely registered when the elevator doors opened and he saw a teary-eyed Scarlet clutching her purse.

  “Hey?” he said, puzzled as he stepped in with her. “What’s wrong?”

  The second he was close enough she leaned against his chest and cried but didn’t explain. When they reached the lobby, they got out, and she inhaled deeply and began to tell him about her ongoing feud with her celebrity mother.

  “I turned my phone off when I got to your place earlier tonight. So when I got home I got the news, and it’s all over TV and the Internet.” She sniffled some more even as she wiped at her eyes with a tissue. “She’s written a tell-all. Advanced copies are already out, and in it, she talks about a lot of the private things about my life: My therapy growing up. My dad’s affair years ago that she forgave him for, but now that he’s dead, she’s going to run his name through the mud! An incident I had with a family friend when I was in my early teens and he tried to rape me. Very personal things she had no right to share with the world. It’s not even out yet, and it’s all anyone’s talking about. It fucking trended even. I can’t turn on a television or check the Internet and not see something about it.”

  Sydney shook his head, feeling for her, but he wasn’t sure what he could say to try and console her. “Don’t worry about the trending crap. That’s only until the next big story comes along, and you know that’ll be in about an hour.” He pulled a strand of hair away from her eyes. “Where you going?”

  “I don’t even know,” she said. “I just feel like I need to get away. I’ve already called my producers and told them I’m not coming in for the next few days. I was planning on having my driver just drive and we’d stop and get a room when he’s too tired to keep driving.”

  “Why don’t you come with me?” he asked without hesitation.

  He explained about his mother’s fire and how he was flying out to check on her and to make sure all the insurance crap was taken care of.

  “She’ll probably need a new washer and dryer since it was what caught fire,” he said even as they walked out together. “She said there’s minimal damage, but it’s still gonna require tending to. I don’t want her dealing with all that on her own, and she hates for me to send strangers to handle things for her. I’ll probably be there for a few days, but you can fly back whenever you want. She lives in Flagstaff, perfect small town to get away to.”

  “Oh my gosh, it does sound perfect,” she said, smiling for the first time since he saw her in the elevator tonight. “But are you sure you don’t mind? I could get my own room. I wouldn’t want your mom to feel like—”

  “She’s a big fan of your show,” Sydney said, shaking his head. “She’d kill me if I didn’t i
nsist you stay at her place. And there’s plenty of room.”

  Since her driver and car were already there, they got in, and Sydney looked up his flight and saw that, as expected, a flight at this hour had available seats. Scarlet insisted on paying for her own flight, though she said she wished they could drive. “It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, paparazzi are always at LAX.”

  Sydney smiled at her sympathetically without saying anything, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. Of course, he’d never tell her this, but this was just another reason why he’d never consider a relationship with someone this famous. Instinctively, his thoughts were once again on Emi.

  Chapter Twelve

  Emilia

  Maybe if Emi had been given a choice, she would’ve held off longer telling her sister about Sly. But she wasn’t. Not even a whole day after she’d just finished telling Sydney how not serious she was taking her relationship with Sly, she had to pretend the opposite for her sister’s sake.

  Already she’d been left to wonder the whole day about who had called Sydney so late the night before that he had to take the call. Usually, it was just the opposite. He’d mention he had a call from someone but was ignoring it. It always made her smile, especially when a few of those times he’d mentioned it was Cheryl calling.

  Emi knew now why it never bothered her to hear about Cheryl. Sydney had always made his interest in her or lack thereof all too obvious. Knowing how often he’d prefer to hang out with or continue chatting with Emi than his own girlfriend made her insides mush. Of course, she never pointed out that she noticed. She was afraid it might make him feel weird and stop doing it.

  Scarlet Brendon was clearly different. Emi was the one getting blown off now. Sydney admitted he’d been hanging out with beautiful starlet that whole week instead of Emi. Knowing it was probably her again last night that he’d cut their call short for—even after he’d spent the evening with the woman and hadn’t spent time with Emi in days—had her nearly choking up. As much as she wanted to deny she was feeling any kind of jealousy, her sister calling to check on her that day had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. The day had started off crappy enough when Sydney never showed up at Foams.

  She’d texted him to ask if he was running late, and he hadn’t responded until after lunchtime. That was only to say he had to fly out to see his mom in Arizona on a whim and he’d explain it to her when he got back in a few days.

  “How we doing?” Livi had asked when Emi answered her phone that evening.

  “Good,” she’d said, glad that her studying was keeping her busy and her mind off Sydney and Scarlet.

  “You sure?” Livi asked, making Emi put her book down and sit back on her sofa.

  “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I know you always get a little defensive, but I know you too well, sissy,” Livi said in her best big sister coddling voice. “I don’t care how much you say you don’t have a thing for Sydney. I think you do. Just a little bit,” she added quickly. “So I was wondering if you’re okay with all this talk on the news and Internet about him and Scarlet Brendon.”

  Emi felt her eyes nearly bug out and her heart rate spike, but she had to play it off. “I know he’s been seeing her. She lives in our building. I told you, remember? But I didn’t realize they were talking about them on TV.”

  She popped off the sofa and practically ran to her room to grab her tablet. “It’s just photos of them at LAX last night,” Livi explained. “I guess there’s this big thing going on with her mom’s new book or something. They’re desperate to get a statement from her, so, of course, they had someone waiting at the airport in Flagstaff when they arrived. There’s footage of them walking out to their waiting car. I didn’t know he was seeing her.”

  Emi stared at the photos of them entering LAX hand in hand then the short clip of them striding through the airport in Flagstaff. Again, Sydney held Scarlet’s hand protectively, and he looked incredibly handsome doing so. Despite Scarlet’s celebrity, the way the headlines billed Sydney’s resume seemed so much more impressive.

  Scarlet Brendon dating Sydney Maricopa, chief technology operating officer of 4B, One of the world’s leading satellite and software designers.

  Emi gulped, staring at the photo. In all the times he’d spoken of any girls he’d gone out with, even Cheryl, she’d yet to witness seeing him with any. It was one thing to hear about it, but she’d known, even back when she’d had to watch him with Lucy the Clinger at Moreno’s restaurant’s anniversary party, how unpleasant it was. This was beyond unpleasant.

  “Emi?”

  Her sister’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts, thoughts that had her throat constricting already, and it made her angry. She had a boyfriend for crying out loud. And this was her good friend.

  “Yeah?” she said, trying to sound as casual about this as she’d started.

  “I knew it,” Livi said with even more certainty.

  “Knew what?”

  “Did you not just hear a word I said?”

  Obviously not. “I was reading,” Emi explained, her eyes still glued to the photos of Sydney and Scarlet.

  “I said Rosie is the one who sent me the first link about this earlier,” Livi explained. “She said she asked Sarah about it when she spoke with her today, and Sarah told her there was a fire at Sydney’s mom’s house yesterday but he hadn’t mentioned anything about Scarlet Brendon. All Sydney had ever mentioned about her in the past was that she lived in the same building and they’d had drinks once upon a time, but she had no idea he was seeing her and certainly not that he was serious enough to take her home to meet his mom. He didn’t tell you either?”

  Emi had really missed all that? She thought about it for a moment. So she wasn’t the only one he’d been vague with. She checked her phone in vain to see if there were any more texts from him or even calls. None.

  “Emi, talk to me,” Livi said in her coddling voice again. “I’d hate to think you’re hurting and—”

  “I’m seeing Sly now,” Emi said, swallowing hard, before her sister said something that might hit a nerve and have her blubbering. “I was gonna tell you, but I was letting it simmer. It still feels so unbelievable, but, yeah, he asked me to be exclusive the other day and I agreed.”

  Her sister was quiet for a moment then gasped. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes!” Emi said, trying to sound as excited as she should be.

  She filled her sister in on her relationship, reminding herself to squeal in all the appropriate places of the story. It amazed her as much as it alarmed her how differently she felt now when talking about Sly. She’d since pushed the tablet away, not wanting to obsess about the photos any longer, but her heart felt heavy.

  As if on cue but right on time, her other line beeped with Sly’s incoming call. “That’s him,” she said cheerfully. “Time for our evening chat.”

  Livi giggled cheerfully, making Emi promise to call her back as soon as she could and tell her everything. She was still acting miffed that Emi hadn’t told her sooner.

  “Hey, babe,” Sly murmured as soon as she answered. “I’ve been thinking about you all day. I don’t know how much longer I can go without seeing you. When’s the next time you have time off school? I can fly you out to my next game. I’m dying here.”

  Emi thought about it for a second. Between school and her internship, she didn’t often have too many days off in a row, but she did have a couple coming that weekend. She’d secretly hoped to spend a lazy Sunday, maybe even an entire weekend, hanging with Sydney. From what she gathered now, if things between him and Scarlet were getting serious enough that he’d take her home to meet his mom, any lazy weekends he’d have from here on he’d likely be spending with her instead.

  “Where are you playing this weekend?”

  “Chicago. Are you free?” Sly sounded so excited it made her feel guilty that she wasn’t nearly as excited.

  “I am Saturday and Sunday, but I have to be ba
ck by Sunday night.”

  “Done!” Sly said. “That’ll be perfect, too, because Saturday’s is a morning game. We can have a late lunch with your brother, but then after that, you’re all mine.”

  Emi plopped down on her bed, doing her best to focus on Sly. What the hell was wrong with her? This was Sly Sabian she was on the phone with. The Sly Sabian was excited about seeing her this weekend. Why couldn’t she jump on board and be as excited as he was about it? As excited as Livi was? As excited as this would’ve made her over a year ago?

  She knew exactly why, but she was just going to have to get over it. After reading Sydney’s official and utterly impressive title, it further confirmed what she’d thought from the beginning. No way could she keep a man of his intelligence and worldly experience interested in her piddly interests. No way was she opening up that can of worms—risk making things awkward between them when he turned her down nicely—and very possibly losing one of the best friends she’d ever had.

  Besides, what she’d been saying all along was true. She still had her life, her future to figure out. As much as she’d like to think that agreeing to a long-distance relationship with Sly wouldn’t complicate her life too much, she knew better. Already it felt like it just might. Before today, she’d planned on just staying home and relaxing, having an uncomplicated weekend being lazy and hanging out with her best friend, whom she missed terribly. Now she’d be in Chicago, making huge decisions she knew were coming like would she be sleeping with her new boyfriend?

  ~*~

  Sydney

  The night Sydney and Scarlet arrived in Flagstaff he’d showed her to the room she’d be sleeping in almost immediately. As expected, his mom had been as surprised as she’d been excited, but it’d been too late to chat. Sydney tried taking a quick assessment of the damage in his mom’s garage. It wasn’t nearly as bad as he imagined. His mom had gotten lucky they caught it as quickly as they did.