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I reached for my phone and dialed, silently sending him a message. Help me Buddy. You’re my only hope.
“Yellow.”
I smiled upon hearing his voice.
“Hi Buddy. It’s me.”
The silence on the phone was uncomfortable until he finally spoke. “Honey. What do you want?” Certainly not the warm greeting I’d hoped for.
“Where are you? I thought we could meet and talk,” I suggested.
“I’m back in Boston. Even if I was in California, I don’t think a meeting would be a good idea.” The pain in his voice registered. I groveled.
“I feel awful about the way I left you in the hospital. But my focus has always been to get Dream Waves back, and you knew that.”
“Well, congratulations. I hope you’re happy.”
“Wait. I didn’t get it. At the reading of the will, Delta got everything. To say I didn’t see that coming would be an understatement.”
His heavy sigh came through the call. “That’s a shame. I know how much that meant to you.”
“Yes. The biggest disappointment of my life. I’ve done nothing but cry all week. Then today, I realized the biggest regret I have is the way I left things with you.”
“Don’t be. We had a simple agreement. Cal’s passing negated it. That’s it.”
Did he feel nothing real for me then? Another long silence passed between us. I weighed my options. Let the floodgates open and pour my heart out about how much I fell for him and see if he reciprocated. Or keep things professional.
“I have your script still. Delta won’t make your film, but I’d love to. I just need to finance it, and I could start my own studio?—”
“My father’s fallen ill, Honey.”
“Oh… God, I’m sorry to hear that. Um. Is he okay?”
“I hope so. I can’t leave my father’s side right now. He needs me. So you’ll understand if I table this conversation for another time.”
“Yes. Of course.” Oh God. Should I offer to fly out there to be by his side? I glanced down at the ring he gave me, the one I still wore every day. My last hope seemed to be slipping away. “Um. Let me know when we could talk. I’d like to see if you’d be interested in investing in my new studio. I thought I’d call it Waverly Films, after the town where we, you know. Erm, so I could work up some figures and budgets…” I trailed off and regretted everything the second it all slipped from my mouth.
“Fuck. What? After everything we’ve been through, you have the nerve to ask me this? It’s always about money with you, isn’t it?”
“No, but making films in Hollywood doesn’t come cheap.”
“Actually, I retract my script for consideration.”
“But it’s really good. All the revision you started just need finished. When will you be back in L.A. I have some notes on it?—”
“I said no, Honey. And I don’t plan on returning anytime soon. Maybe never.”
“Buddy, if this is about the way we left things?”
“It’s not about you, okay? It’s about me. About my father. My life. I’m here and you’re there and it’s probably best we keep things that way.”
“But what about our wedding night and the morning after?” Yes, dammit, I needed to go there. He must know how much he’d come to mean to me. “I-I thought it all meant something. For real.”
“Look, I need to go. But…” Another sigh. “For what it’s worth. I still believe in you. You’re an amazingly talented woman. Now that this one door has closed, I’m sure you’ll find another and be successful.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
“Hey. Don’t let those Hollywood pricks keep you down. You’re better than they are. Bye, Honey.”
