Page 77 of Fighting Fate
21
Hell is freezing over. It has to be as I sit at my favourite teppanyaki bar, waiting for Frank to arrive. I can’t believe I’m actually considering this, but it’s the right thing to do. Besides, Eleanor needs a push to get herself back into the swing of things.
Taking a sip of my water, I check the time on my phone to find a text from Rory. In an instant, my pulse is picking up its thrum. The last few weeks have been odd. We’re at an awkward place where we’re too aware of each other to be just friends, but I’m also too wary to allow things to ease back to what we had.
Rory:Dinner tonight? Mom’s getting her veggie on, so make sure you come hungry. X
The kissat the end makes me smile. It doesn’t matter how badly I want to ignore all his efforts to make up for what happened when we found out about the baby, I can’t. Every little thing he does makes it harder to hold my ground.
Willow:What time did you want me to get to yours?
I tag on a kiss,deleting and adding it back again a few times until I decide it’s best if I keep things low-key and easy. I delete the X one more time and send the message quickly. I’m watching the three dots when a notification from my alerts pops up with another headline with my name in.
When I open it up, it’s nothing remotely interesting. Just another photo of me and Rory walking back to my place after my appointment with the midwife yesterday. We’re just talking as he peels off the tough wrapper of my grape lolly.
The second photo looks a lot more intimate and serious even. And maybe it was, but it happened so fast when I paused to take the lollipop from him but he brought it to my mouth, and it didn’t occur to me then how it looked or what it might mean. I let him do it. I opened my lips and let him feed me the sweet because it was normal. I let him brush my hair from my face and stroke his thumb over my cheek. It all felt too good to pull away from.
Even now, I can still feel his touch, and it warms through me in ways that make it so hard to resist him. The hormones don’t help, but I’d be an idiot to dismiss the tug of his heart on mine.
I keep scrolling down the page to the end of the article, and as I’m about to go check Rory’s reply, I spot the first comment.
They actually look good together. It’s a shame she’s obviously using him as a bump to her career.
Even though it’sbullshit and none of these people have any idea what they’re talking about or what’s going on between Rory and me, I keep scrolling. I shouldn’t. But that weird place I’m at—the limbo I’ve created for myself—means that I’m looking for everything and anything I can find that will make me feel better about my decision to keep Rory at a safe distance. I’m a glutton for punishment as I read on and on and on…
She’s not even that pretty.
God, why do these gullible men always go for the fame starved s l a g s? I mean…WAKE UP, sunshine!
Who is she anyway? Nobody. Nothing. Just another bimbo.
Someone’s punching and it ain’t him for once. Hahahaha…
I wonder how much she charges for the hour? Lol.
“Hey!”I jump at the sound of Frank’s voice, looking up to see his blurred face drawn with concern. “You all right?”
I nod, but I’m choked by all the awful things I’m reading about myself. These people don’t know who I am. They know nothing about me. Even so, they’re commenting and writing all these things…
“Will?” Frank sits in the chair beside mine, handing me his napkin. “Has something happened?”
“I’m fine.” I put my phone down on the table, but as I look down at it, the screen unlocks, and Frank is quick to flick it open.
“Why are you reading this shit?” He closes the tab on my phone and drops it into my handbag on the floor between us. “It’s all bullshit. You know that…”
“It caught me off guard. I didn’t even mean to scroll down that far. It’s stupid, and I’m even more stupid for reading it.”
“Especially as you’ve been hiding the fan mail at the theatre from me.” The look he gives me says he’s pissed, but he’s going to let it go because he’s also worried. “Tell me you haven’t been reading them too.”
“No,” I sigh, patting my face dry. “I throw them all in the street bin when I leave.”
“Good. You shouldn’t waste your time with this negative shit. Besides, Ro is the one still punching outside the ring.” He winks at me while gesturing the waiter to come over. “You want the usual?”
“Please.”
The waiter gets to us briskly, rearranging Frank’s place setting so that it’s in front of him rather than to the side.
“We’ll have two traditional lunches. One steak…somewhere between blue and rare. The other salmon with a side of seaweed salad and spicy edamame. The California, avocado, and tuna rolls. That good?” he asks, looking at me for input.