“Addison?” I say, listening closely. “It’s me.”
But all I hear again is silence. She’s iced me out.
I go home alone, the realization finally washing over me. She’s gone. And I pushed her away. I got her in such a mess and fucked up her reputation for good.
As much joy as she’s brought me, I worry that I have given her too much pain in return. That’s not fair to her. She deserves so much better. She works so hard, lives in that tiny little shithole, barely gets by but I’ve never once heard her complain.
As much as I’ve given her—all the clothes and jewelry and showoff dates—she never expected any of it. In fact, I’d started to get the feeling that she was even a little bothered at the extravagance of it all. I just wanted her to have the best, but maybe all she wanted was for me to be loving as well as supportive. I think back to our fight, and how I ruined her excitement over getting a callback.
What an ass I was.
Over the next couple of days I stay in a funk. My mind keeps wandering back to Addison. My lawyer is taking care of that article, but Addison is right—it’s not enough. Who even reads retracted statements?
For the first time in my life, I don’t care about work. That killer instinct that overwhelms me every morning before the sun comes up has vanished. I wake late, feeling hung-over, overcome with thoughts of Addison. My mind goes over every single detail of our relationship. To say that I miss her would be a joke of a statement. I am lost without her. I need her—her absence is so physical that I feel like a limb has been cut from my body.
I realize, finally, not just what I’ve done but what I had in Addison. This stupid feud with my brothers means nothing to me. Either one of them can have the company. I don’t care. I don’t want anything; Addison is all that matters.
I have to show her that I get it now. I may have given her lots of things but I treated her like she was my property. I was condescending to her, expecting her to be at my beck and call and ignoring the fact that she has ambitions of her own. I didn’t respect that. I didn’t respect her. Now I have to show her that I’m all in. I will give her everything she deserves, and that doesn’t just mean material things. I’m ready to give her my heart.
Not long after she stormed out of my life, I head back over to her apartment. I already know she won’t let me in or answer my calls, so I wait for her outside. It’s a little on the stalker side, but I’ve realized I only have one shot to get her back, and I can’t take it if she won’t see me.
So I wait.
My heart skips a beat when I see her emerge from her building. Her hair is wild and flowing and she’s wearing a long dress that almost skims the ground. The woman is absolutely beautiful, in every way possible.
I hurry across the street toward her, nearly bumping into a woman walking her dog and another out on a run.
“Addison, wait,” I say as she heads to her car. Her head jerks at my voice, and when she sees me I look closely for pause of relief or happiness or something. Instead her eyes go cold, and she turns away from me. I walk in front of her, cutting her off. “Please, just hear me out. Then you can go and I promise I’ll never bother you again—as much as that would pain me.”
She stops, crossing her arms and fixing her eyes on me. “I really don’t think there’s anything left to say, Rex. I think we got it all out in front of that restaurant.”
“No, there’s more,” I say. “I was terrible to you that day. I really am proud of you, Addison, and happy for you that you got that callback. I know how hard you work—it’s one of the things I admire about you most.”
She coughs out a laugh. “Yeah, well. A lot of good all that hard work has done me. The casting director cancelled my callback after that article came out.”
“Oh, Addison,” I say, my heart breaking for her.
“So say what you came here to say,” she says. “I’ve got a lot of ground to make up.”
“I love you.”
The words come out so simply and suddenly that they even surprise me. I mean the words—with every fiber of my being—but I hadn’t planned on blurting them out like that either. Addison seems just as shocked.
“I do, Addison,” I say. “I love you. I’ve been in love with you for some time now. I was just too stupid to understand it. I want you to know that I truly never thought I’d fall in love with someone. It’s not how I was raised. My father thought love equaled weakness, and I believed him. I don’t anymore—finally.
“Listen, I know I haven’t been good to you, but I want to spend the rest of my life proving that I deserve you. And I don’t want you to give up your passions—I want to encourage you, support you. I’m determined to prove my worthiness to you every single day. If you’ll let me.”
“I don’t…Rex, I don’t understand,” she says. Her walls are coming down, but now she’s just confused. Whatever she was expecting me to say, that wasn’t it. “You’re just going to show up here in front of my building and say all these things which, by the way, I’ve wanted to hear you say for a long time now. It might be too late, though. You broke my heart. Don’t you get that? I fell for you hard. I trusted you. And then you just brushed aside my own feelings because you wanted me to be your little pet. You made me feel like my acting was just some hobby I do to keep from getting bored. I just think we want different things. You want someone who will be by your side when you want them to be, but I need someone who takes me and what I do seriously.”
“We do want the same things,” I say. “We both want to succeed. But, I have to admit, you go about it in a much more dignified way than I do. I could really take a few lessons from you, Addison. You make me want to be better. As for your acting, I want you to succeed. To prove it, I got you this.” I take the business card out of my jacket pocket and hand it to her.
“What’s this?” she asks, taking the card. “Reynolds Myer? He’s a major talent agent.”
“I know,” I say. “And he wants to represent you.”
Addison looks at me suspiciously. “I don’t need this, Rex.”
“Look, I went online and got your acting reel. I wish I’d seen it sooner because you really are incredible. You have such range, Addison. I passed it along to Reynolds and he knew he’d be stupid not to try to snatch you up. All you have to do is call him.”
“Forget it,” she says. “He’s probably on your payroll.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Then you paid him off or threatened him or something.”
“No,” I say. “I swear. I’ve never met him. Maybe he agreed to look at your reel because Rex Croft asked him to, but this guy doesn’t sign someone just because someone asks him to—he’s one of the most powerful men in the industry. He wouldn't waste his time. Reynolds knows talent when he sees it. He also knows that with talent comes big money, of which he’ll certainly take his cut. But he wants to represent you. It’s up to you what to do next.”
Addison eyes me, and I can practically see the wheels turning in her head. She holds up the card. “Does this make you feel better? Doing this bit of charity for me?”