Billionaire Flawed 2(86)

“Lela, you better not blow that boy off. He sent you tickets to his most recent show and you better, at least, make an appearance.”

I sighed.

“Liddy, I know you still want to see Aiden and me together again, but it’s just not going to happen, not as long as he wants to keep me stuck under the rug.”

“You can’t deny that this is going to be the show of the year. The stadium is packed, and these tickets are front row!”

She was right, again, I might not be incredibly interested in seeing Aiden, but his band was really good, and these were excellent seats.

“Alright, I’ll go. But, for obvious reason, I can’t drink.”

Liddy nodded and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to put together an outfit for me. I was surprised when the outfit she liked most was a little less revealing than usual. I guess I didn’t have any reason to show off anymore.

Liddy was more ready than usual; she was wearing the least amount of clothing I had ever seen.

“Bruce has kept in touch. I thought I’d give him something good to look at tonight while he’s on stage,” she said while beaming a smile.

I hadn’t ever really thought about Liddy and Bruce. She was spending an awful lot of time on her phone with him lately. At least one of us was happy, and I felt happy for her.

Once we got to the show, I found myself wondering what Aiden was up to before the show. I hadn’t seen him nervous before, and I doubted I ever really would.

The doors opened, and we pushed our way to the front of the crowd. While we walked up, I could tell we were getting a lot of foul looks from people further back.

I had never seen the stadium this packed. It must have been around 35,000 seats all filled up and I was in the best seats in the house. I stood up and screamed along with the crowd for the band.

I really was hoping that everything was okay.

Then, the lights went down, and the cheering grew louder. Glow sticks and cell phones illuminated the arena. Then a single spotlight hit center stage.

Aiden walked out; he looked a little nervous as he did so. Even though he wasn’t looking my direction I could feel his gaze.

“Hey everyone,” he said as the crowd erupted, “Before we start tonight, I need to do something special.”

I had a feeling I knew what he was about to do, and I felt both nervous and embarrassed.

“There’s someone here tonight that means a lot to me. I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching and I need to get this off my chest.”

He looked right at me.

“Lela, would you come up on stage for just a second.”

The crowd cheered, still. I looked around, and all the fans around me kept pointing me towards the staircase to go up on stage. I wearily took step after step, pushed on by Liddy standing behind me.

Aiden came over and helped me up the stairs. My heart was beating strongly in my chest. I stepped up on the stage and looked out into the blinding light and the ocean of fans screaming. This truly was intimidating.

“This is Lela. Would you like to say hello, Lela?” he asked.

I shook my head and pushed the mic away.

“She’s a bit shy, so I’ll do the talking.”

He leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“Please don’t hate me after this.”

Then he turned back to the crowd.

“I’m in love with this beautiful woman, right here. Not a day has gone by that she hasn’t been in my thoughts and not a day goes by that I don’t think about our baby.”

The crowd seemed especially surprised, as was I. I was trying my best not to faint under the scrutiny of so many people. But, after only a moment of silent chatter, they started yelling again.

“Lela is my heart and my soul, and I hope that she’ll be able to forgive me for being such a terrible person. I tried to hide this wonderful woman from the world, but I couldn’t keep doing it. I wanted you all to know the truth.”

I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. I kept trying to leave the stage, but I wanted to be close to Aiden. I didn’t want to leave his side.

Aiden pulled me in close again to whisper in my ear.

“Lela, I want you to stay out here for the show, but I think you’d be more comfortable sitting in the box upstairs.”

I nodded.

“I’m going to be right back, but in the meantime here’s the opening act!”

Another band came out and took the stage, but I didn’t pay them much attention. As soon as we were off stage and out of earshot of many people Aiden pulled me aside.

“Lela, I didn’t believe in love at first sight before. I think things need to be tested and worked through. Then I met you. I couldn’t keep my eyes off you while you were standing on the balcony when we first met. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to sound like some sort of creep.