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“It’s… noisy,” Tess said.
“Half of the people think it was a marketing ploy,” Margo supplied. “The other half think that, well, you tricked Silas into falling in love with you and you broke his heart.”
“Margo!” Tess hissed.
My heart, what little was left of it, crushed.
Silas’s face popped into my head. On the stage. Realization dawning.
He certainly looked heartbroken.
And I’d done that, hadn’t I?
Not just lied to him. But made him rethink his views, made him believe. Only for him to realize I’d been just as selfish and backhanded as he believed all humans were in relationships.
Tears rose and slipped down my cheeks, making me lie back down, burying my face in my hands, and giving in to the regret.
I barely even remembered Tess and Margo dragging me out of the car and dropping me into my bed.
I curled up under my covers, alternating between crying, staring at the wall, and coming up with an apology speech that I would likely never get the chance go give.
Food and drinks appeared on my nightstand, but I could barely choke down a few bites or sips with how tightly my stomach twisted in knots.
I was vaguely aware of a day passing, then another.
I heard Tess moving around the apartment, occasionally talking to someone on the phone, her knocking around in the kitchen, likely nearly burning down the place. But I couldn’t bring myself to care.
“Babes, I’m going to go out for a little bit,” she said from my doorway. “Margo and I need to go live.”
At the radio station.
My belly sloshed.
“Okay.”
“When I get back, we should order some food. Anything you want.”
Everything tasted like sawdust.
“Okay.”
I heard her heels clicking as she walked closer, stopping at the side of my bed and staring at me until I rolled over to look at her.
“Was I really like this?” she asked, her face twisted.
“There were more flames involved.”
That got a little laugh out of her.
“I hate seeing you like this, babes.”
I hated feeling like it.
But some part of me felt like I deserved it. Not for what I’d lost, but for what I’d done.
“I’ll be okay,” I assured her, lying through my teeth.
“Of course you will. You’ve got me to make sure. Okay. I gotta go before Margo starts losing it. I’ll be back in like… two hours. Maybe three.”
