AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lilian is speechless. Her mouth flops open and closed like a fish as she stands there and stares.
Everyone else who overheard us? Yeah, they seem to be speechless, too.It’s as if the whole town is waiting for me to do a mic drop and exit the stage after my raging monologue.
I growl out loud as I storm off and I don’t look back. In this one singular moment, I’m actually glad that I’m leaving Starlight Falls tomorrow.
This town is becoming too much for me.
46
INEZ
Iwoke up a bundle of nerves. The drama of yesterday is still weighing heavily on me, and it doesn’t help that I have nearly a full day of traveling before I even get to my audition in New York.
Today’s the day. The day that could define my career—my whole future—moving forward.
My shaky hands are packing the last of my clothes into my suitcase when I hear tiny footsteps behind me. I glance over my shoulder and find Stella standing in the doorway to the office, clad in her pajamas and holding her trusty one-eyed rag doll in her hand.
“Hi Princess,” I say, turning to her with a smile.
“Hi…” she says, her voice hoarse and quiet as she pads into the poorly-lit room with tentative steps.
She’s groggy and lethargic which is no surprise. It’s not even six o’clock in the morning, much earlier than the time she usually wakes up.
I lower onto the couch and she sits next to me, tucking herself beneath my arm. “Well, you’re up early today,” I say, pressing my lips to the crown of her head.
“I was scared you would leave without saying goodbye,” she whimpers, her words broken.
And my heart breaks for her. “I’d never do that,” I say, squeezing her a little tighter.
“My mommy did that…She didn’t say goodbye,” she mumbles against my T-shirt and it takes everything in me to not break down and cry.
I’m leaving her. I’m abandoning her. I’m disappointing her. Just like Lilian has done a million times in the past.
In this moment, I’m ready to say ‘fuck it’. I’m ready to toss that audition script in the garbage, rip my train ticket to pieces and just hold this little girl until she’s not so little anymore. It’s what I want to do. It’s all I want to do.
But then Nolan shows up in the doorway, already showered and dressed, his eyes telling me it’s time to let go. The longer I hold on, the more I’m hurting her.
I return my attention to Stella, gently lifting her face so she’s looking at me. “You know I love you, right, baby girl?”
She nods her head as tears fall from her pretty blue eyes.
“And I’m so very proud of you. And I’ll think about you all the time.” I pour my heart out, giving her all the kisses and telling her all the things I needed to hear when I was her age.
“I love you, Inez. I miss you already,” she says, squeezing me with all her might.
“I miss you already, too.” I take her little wrist, trailing a finger across her friendship bracelet. “But even if we’re not living together, we’ll still be best friends? We’ll be friends forever, right?”
She reaches out to her father and he enters the room, taking her tiny hand into his big one as he sits on the cushion. He stretches his other hand out to me. And the three of us stay like that for a moment, squeezed onto the couch, hands intertwined.
“Best friends forever,” Stella says quietly.
Nolan and I make eye contact. Silent questions pass between us; What the hell have we done? What is this mess we’ve made? Did we get carried away and lead poor Stella on?
When the heartache becomes too much to bear, Nolan pulls us both into his arms, holding us tight.
“Princess, let’s give Inez some space to finish packing, okay?” He says eventually.
“Okay.” Stella lets go of me and it’s one of the most painful things I’ve experienced in my life. And I’ve been through a lot of painful shit in my life.
