“What do you mean? Slow down for a second. Why are there photos of you and Logan sneaking off together?”
“Because you weren’t there and he was. This was Hank’s scandal. This is what I had to go fix. And I fixed it for him, but I can’t fix things between us, Ethan. All I wanted was for you to stick around while I helped you finish your deal. I never asked you to stick around DC planning out some elaborate surprise for me.”
“I was trying to show you how much you meant to me. Christ, I knew he hit on you, but I didn’t think you reciprocated. I was off trying to figure out a way to show you how much I cared about you and you were doing this?” Ethan swept the photos off the counter in anger and started pacing back and forth in front of the sink.
Amy raised her hands in frustration. “What do you want me to say? You showed up out of the blue, tossed a ring on my finger and dropped me in the middle of nowhere all by myself. Meanwhile, you were whispering in my ear to relax and live in the moment. Then you left me with the one guy I’ve met in the past decade who was genuinely interested in me, and he was good looking and charming and didn’t care what my job or address was. And you were nowhere to be found. What was I supposed to think?”
“You’re the one who told me to go handle it. I handled it and then I tried to do something nice for you. Can’t you see that I’ve been doing this all for you?”
“Well, stop. Just stop,” Amy said. Tears welled up in her eyes as she got more and more upset. “You put me on a pedestal and you treated me like some kind of trophy. I didn’t ask you to stick around DC to make some gesture. I didn’t ask you to treat me like one of your movie star girlfriends. I only wanted you to come back and stand by my side while I did you a favor. I just wanted you to be there. I told you from the beginning that I wanted this to be an equal partnership. That’s all. Instead, you misled me. You lied about what you were doing in DC and you lied about reaching a deal with Hank. Why couldn’t you just tell me the truth? You made me look like an idiot, again and again and now you’re making me feel like one for ever believing this could work.
“That wasn’t my intention.”
“What was your intention? Why drag this on if you already had a deal in place?”
“To make you fall for me, the same way I fell for you three years ago in Chicago. You wanted to know what happened that night? You told me I’d have to trick you into having feelings for me because otherwise you wouldn’t let me in.”
“This isn’t a movie, Ethan. You can’t just trick someone into having feelings for you. And, I think I’d remember if I had told you that.” Amy crossed her arms and looked Ethan in the eye. The way he glared back at her made it clear that he wasn’t lying.
“I thought you would too,” he said, lowering his voice. “I’ll never forget what happened that night, and I guess you’ll never remember. Are you saying you don’t love me? Is that it? Am I supposed to believe that you hate me now?”
“I’m saying that I hate myself and how I act around you. I let you walk all over me. I supposed it’s my fault for thinking I could ever be an equal partner with the great Ethan Cole. I’m just another pawn in your game. A pricey one, but a pawn just the same. All I wanted was for you to keep your end of the deal.”
“That’s bullshit, Amy, and you know it. I’m sick of the games too. But I’m sick of you pretending like you don’t love me. I’m sick of you coming up with excuses for not trusting me. Again and again, I’ve tried to show you what you mean to me, and now you’re trying to tell me that all of it just made you feel worse about yourself? You didn’t seem upset when I was bending over backwards to make you feel special. That’s why I have the divorce papers. I wanted to take away the excuse. But if you want me to live up to my end of the deal. Fine, here you go.” Ethan grabbed the envelope and tossed it toward her. “If you want to be me with me, it will be because you want to be with me, not because of some stupid contract. I don’t care about the money. You can have the money. Just sign on the dotted line.”
Amy looked down at the envelope. She watched her tears dropping down onto the manila paper. Why did he have to be such a jerk? She felt like Ethan was buying her off. She grabbed the envelope and threw it against the wall. “I don’t need your money, and I don’t need you. I was just fine before we made our deal, and look at me now. I’m a mess.”