“I guess we do.” I nodded.
“I have another plan, and it means we end things now, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“Go ahead, what’s the plan?” I asked, trying not to feel guilty, or like I was abandoning him to walk this road on his own.
“Lina reached out to me,” he said, scrutinizing my expression.
Irritation flared in my chest at the mention of her name. “Oh?”
“Yes. After the pictures of you and Jackson—man, that is a great name—after the pictures of you two leaving that boat surfaced. She wanted to make sure I was okay.”
I braced myself for what I suspected was coming next. “Oh, no. You didn’t.”
Harrison lifted his eyebrows. “I did.”
I set my water cup on the island, placing a hand over my stomach. “So now you’re with Lina?”
“That’s the new plan, if you won’t agree to my old one.”
Ugh. “Does she know it’s all for show?” I might’ve cut her out of my life, but that didn’t mean I wanted her being used.
“Yes. She was the one to suggest we keep things camera-official, but open otherwise. And she wants me to lobby for her to get the role in Midnight Lady back.”
I nodded, feeling helpless and sad for some reason. I didn’t want Harrison, I didn’t want to fake it and pretend for publicity, I didn’t want to be friends with Lina, I didn’t want to play that character anymore, so why did I feel this way?
“So, let me guess, you and Lina are going to film the movie, get married, and so forth. You’re plugging her into my part.”
“The part you don’t want because you are in love with your man, Jackson. Correct.”
I no longer felt guilty for abandoning Harrison to walk this road alone. I should’ve known better, I wasn’t irreplaceable. In Hollywood, everyone and everything is interchangeable.
Harrison left at 11:30 PM. He seemed fine with the new plan, neither happy nor unhappy nor resigned to it. I wasn’t particularly happy, but we’d reached an agreement, and now it was settled and done. Domino, Harrison, and I would talk through the final details when I returned to LA so facts could be spun into career gold, which would then be mined for our mutual benefit. If possible.
I found I didn’t have much energy left to care about whether my career suffered, which I assumed it would. Or perhaps I did care but pondering the decline of everything I’d worked for depressed me. I wanted to stop pretending, stop cultivating a façade. I wanted to live an authentic life. Uncertainty and risk were the price. Maybe people would accept the real Raquel, maybe they wouldn’t. Only time would tell.
As soon as Harrison walked out the door, I texted Jackson to come over and then hopped in the shower. I needed to wash off the stress and sadness before he arrived. One byproduct of Harrison’s visit—intended or not—was the reminder that I would be returning to Los Angeles at some point soon. My summer here in Green Valley was coming to an end. Jackson and I hadn’t yet discussed what would come after.
Turning off the faucet, I thought I heard a sound coming from the bedroom, and I frowned. Dave and Miguel weren’t due back for another fifteen or twenty minutes at least, and it seemed highly unlikely that Jackson would already be here.
Except, no. . .
A cold chill raced down my spine, and I strained my ears, holding my breath and berating myself for not turning on the alarm. Shit. Shit. Shit. Sh—
Another sound, like a closet door sliding open, sent terror clawing up my throat. Someone was in my room, and I didn’t think it was Dave or Miguel, they had no reason to be in my room. And I knew it couldn’t be Jackson, he couldn’t get in, he didn’t have a key. I eyed the bathroom door and the flimsy, twist lock on the knob. It wasn’t locked. But even if it had been, a hard kick to the door would send it flying open.
Don’t panic.
I’d been in this situation once before, a few months prior to moving into the fortress I now called home in Hollywood Hills. The situation had been the reason for my move. You were ultimately okay then, you’re okay now. You just need to think.
Whoever it was, they’d heard me in the shower. They knew I was in here. There was no hiding that. Maybe . . . maybe I could delay walking out of the bathroom? I could wait them out until Dave and Miguel returned. I could pretend I was drying my hair while I secretly hid behind the door with a weapon. I’d done something similar the last time, and it had worked.
I don’t want to die.
Stop! Stop it. Find a weapon. What can I use for a weapon? My eyes frantically searched the bathroom as I pulled a towel off the rack, wrapping it around my body tightly. I needed a weapon, I needed—
“Hey, Rae?”
I sucked in a breath, gripping the towel bar, because that wasn’t a psycho stalker’s voice.
“Sienna?” I croaked before I could stop myself.
“Yeah, hey. Sorry—I just wanted to let you know I’m in here. I need something from this closet for Ben for tomorrow and—Oh my God, Rae? Are you crying?”
I nodded, another muffled sob escaping despite my best efforts to keep it in. My adrenaline crashed, leaving my limbs shaking. Calm down. Calm down. False alarm. I sunk to the floor.
“Rae?” She tried the door and obviously found it unlocked. In the next moment, Sienna was on the floor next to me, her arms around me. “Oh no. No, honey. It’s just me. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. You’re safe.”
“Hey! Why is this door open?” Jackson’s voice called from somewhere in the house, and I felt Sienna’s body tense.
“Shit. I left the front door open.” Hugging me tighter, she lifted her voice to call out, “We’re in Rae’s bathroom.” Then to me she whispered, “Dave and Miguel said they were coming right behind me, I swear. I’m so, so sorry.”
“You’re fine. I’m sorry.” I wiped at the stupid tears, sucking in a deep breath. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”
“You know why you’re crying, you’ve come face-to-face with an attacker before. Oh! Jackson. Come here.”
“What—what happened?”
The edge in his voice had me looking up. He stood at the doorway, his forehead furrowed with severe concern, his eyes searching my toweled form, perhaps for injuries.
“It’s my fault.” Sienna said, kissing my forehead.
“No, it’s my fault.” I sniffled, forcing a laugh. “I heard Sienna in the bedroom and got freaked out. My imagination got away from me and—”
He rushed forward, taking me from Sienna and lifting me in his arms. “I got you,” he said, holding me close and carrying me to the bedroom. “You’re safe, I got you.”
“I was safe the whole time,” I protested half-heartedly, catching Sienna’s eye as she sent me an apologetic look and rushed to the bedroom door.
“I’ll just leave you two. You’re in good hands. I’ll get the thing for Ben tomorrow. And again, I’m so sorry,” she said, backing out of the door.
“You have nothing to be sorry about!” I called after her.
“Yes, I do!” she shouted from the other side of the door.