And I talk about how one day, he disappeared. He joined the military and I never heard from him again. He just ghosted on me, no goodbyes, no nothing. We never really broke up, he just went away and stopped talking to me. That was so much worse than actually breaking up. One second he was there, my whole world, and the next he was gone.
I don’t tell her about kissing him. I don’t tell her about what’s going on right now between us, because it’s just too fresh. I don’t want to talk about that. When I finish, I order another drink, and Laney thoughtfully watches me.
“I can see why this might be weird for you,” she says finally.
“Weird is putting it mildly.”
“Why did he leave?” she asks. “That’s what I don’t get. Why didn’t he tell you?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “There are things I’ve always wondered. I know his mom died like a year after he left, but I was too mad at him back then to say anything about it.”
“What did she die of?” Laney asks.
“Cancer, I think.”
She nods and sips her drink. “Well, kid, that’s one crazy fucked-up story. And now he’s back. You’re handling it pretty well.”
“No, I’m really not,” I admit. “I’m barely keeping my shit together.”
“I wouldn’t even be able to do that much, so good for you.” She sighs and looks over my shoulder. “Ah, crap. Don’t look.”
“What?”
“Some guy is coming right for you. Should I get rid of him?”
I turn around and spot one of the actors from the film coming toward me. His name is Jared and he plays a minor character with like four lines or something like that. I can’t remember his last name.
“Hey, Tara,” he says. “Sorry to interrupt, just stopping by to say what’s up.”
“Hey, Jared,” I say to him. “Good job in your scene today.”
“Man, thanks. It was nerve-wracking, you know?”
“Why?” I ask him. “You’re a natural.”
“I mean, I’m working with Jackson Hendricks. And there was so much drama on the set today.”
I frown a little and glance at Laney. “What kind of drama?” I ask him.
“Oh you know, about him and Holly Hart. Everyone keeps saying that their relationship is fake or something.”
I raise an eyebrow at that. “Wait, what? I didn’t hear that.”
“Seriously? It’s all people were talking about.”
That makes sense. Every time Jackson came up, I ran away. No wonder I didn’t hear it.
“He was in a shit mood all day too,” he says to me. “Not sure why, but man, that guy is scary. He’s a real SEAL, did you know that?”
“Yeah, I heard,” I say, a little distracted.
Jared smile and shrugs. “Anyway, take it easy. Gotta go rejoin my friends.”
“Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow.”
“Later.” He grins at Laney and walks away.
“Not bad,” Laney says. “I’d hit it.”
I turn back to her. “What?”
“I mean, that guy. He’s not bad.”
“Oh,” I say, shaking my head. “Sorry.”
“You okay?” she asks. “That was some weird stuff to hear right after that conversation.”
“I know. It’s bizarre. I think I’m okay, I just…” I trail off, looking down at the bar.
“Come on,” she says, getting out her cash and tossing it down. “Let’s go home. I’ll make you some dinner and we can watch Ghostbusters.”
I look up at her and take a deep breath. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Come on.” She gets up and I follow her out the door.
It’s been a weird day today, and that’s about the weirdest thing to happen. Jared’s timing was perfect, but even bigger than that is that possibility that Jackson isn’t really dating Holly at all. I mean, I know that fake romances happen all the time, I just didn’t think Jackson would do it.
It’s possible, though… and could explain things. But still, I don’t want to get my hopes up. The last time I did that, Jackson destroyed me. I need to guard myself.
But there’s a chance. And that chance might terrify me more than I realized it could.
15
Jackson
Everyone on set is whispering about this fake fucking relationship and I’m goddamn sick of it.
Everyone except Tara. Yesterday she barely spoke to me, let alone looked at me. Everything was professional with her, and she walked away as fast as she could as soon as I got near outside of a work context. She didn’t give me a chance to explain the shit with Holly, and now the whole crew is talking about it.