Page 108 of Madden
“Brielle, I owe you an apology. I got your email, along with another one from Clive Teller at Hollywood Tea. He didn’t go into detail, but did share he had a conversation with you, and whatever you did seems to have changed their tune in terms of what they’re posting about the guys. He’s reached out and offered to share Madden’s story, the truth about what happened. I have to believe it has every bit to do with you.”
“I told you that night, and I’ve told Madden repeatedly, I never wanted to hurt him,” I say. “I didn’t give him any reason not to believe me. From the moment I stepped foot into his home, it seems like everyone’s thought the worst of me, drilling it in his head he can’t trust me, without giving me the benefit of the doubt or a chance to defend myself.”
“I’m sorry,” Kyla admits, and Ivy nods standing next to her.
“If there’s anyone who understands what it’s like to date one of the guys while trying to have a journalism career, it’s me, Brielle,” Ivy pipes in. “You have to know, it was never any of our intentions for you to feel we couldn’t trust you. It’s just, we’ve been through a lot the last year, the guys especially.”
I nod. I get it, I’ve heard it countless times. What they are failing to remember is none of that was my fault, but I’m somehow paying the price for it.
I’m not the enemy.
“We’re in town for the next couple days, the guys start their tour and play their first show tomorrow night and we were hoping you’d come by the venue. Maybe it would give you guys the chance to talk. I think there’s a lot that needs to be said between the two of you.”
I shrug, shaking my head. “Listen, I respect and appreciate you guys coming here to talk to me. Thank you for your apology. I hate to hear Madden’s been struggling because I have too. I tried talking to him before I left town, and he chose not to reply to my text message. I’ve always been the one who runs to him, to be by his side when he needed me. If he wants to talk or see me, he knows how to get in touch and where to find me.”
I tilt my head, giving them a forced smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have dinner plans, and I don’t want to keep them waiting.”
***
The lights are dim with jazz music playing when I walk into Blackbird. I text Davis when I pull up outside in my Uber. His eyes are trained on the door when I walk in, his hand shooting up from where he sits, chatting with a woman I don’t recognize sitting next to him.
By the looks of it, he’s already one glass in when he lifts his drink to his mouth, finishing it off.
He waves over the bartender when I join him, asking for another French martini, and I hold my fingers up to make it two.
“You want to tell me what your important meeting with Sawyer was all about?”
I hang my purse over the back of my barstool chair, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. How am I going to break this to him now?
I guess it’s easier though, than it is to open up about Madden.
“She offered me her job.”
He gasps, his mouth dropping open, slapping his hand down on the counter in the process.
“You’re kidding me. What? I’m so damn happy for you. Look at you fuckin’ go. You just started, and you’re already kickin’ ass.”
“I put in my two weeks.”
Turns out, I’m shocking the hell out of everyone today.
“Wait, is this a joke?”
I shake my head. The bartender sets our drinks down, and I leave Davis to wrap his mind around what I’ve shared with him while I work on getting caught up to where he’s at.
He stares wide-eyed at me, when I lift my drink in cheers before taking a sip.
“You want to tell me why? This is an incredible opportunity, and you’re just gonna walk away from it?”
I shrug. It’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about over the past few weeks.
As much as I’ve appreciated the opportunity, knowing without it I would’ve never met Madden, I’ve come to terms with the fact this isn’t what I want to do anymore.
On the nights when I’ve been alone and lonely, I’ve sat down with my laptop, and I started writing. I didn’t really know what I was doing at first. It’s been years since I’ve written anything outside of work.
It started off as me going back to when I first met Madden. What began as me journaling our story quickly evolved into me writing the ending we never got to have.
“You know, I think I just came to terms with the fact I’ve been chasing a career to prove to my father I can make something of myself without him carving a path for me. I’ve learned through my relationship with Madden, that I don’t want to live my life according to other people’s opinion of me, and I certainly don’t want anything to do with spreading lies and gossip about people either.”