“Why are you always so mean to me?”
“I’m not mean to you. I’m honest. I don’t want you anymore. We’ll never get back together. Never.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Believe it. If you must know, I’m with someone else now. I’m in a serious, committed relationship.”
Even in the grainy footage, I can tell Isabel is crushed.
“I’ll always care about you,” Reed says. “I’ll always protect you, as best I can. And your secrets are always safe with me. But the truth is you’re more like a sister to me now, than anything else.”
Isabel slaps Reed across his face, but he doesn’t even flinch. “Who is she?” she shrieks, her tears matching mine as I watch the scene unfolding. “Is she here at the party?”
“No, she’s not here,” Reed lies. “But if she were, I’d expect you to be nice to her. We haven’t been together in years, Isabel, and you’re engaged to another man. Why do you think you still have any claim on me?”
“Because I’m still in love with you!”
He’s exasperated. Irritated. “Why the hell are you marrying Howard?” he booms. “I don’t get it! You don’t need his money, and you certainly don’t need his connections anymore. You’re a huge star now. The biggest star on the planet. You don’t need him. You can get cast in anything from blockbusters to indies, without his help or blessing. I get why you flirted with him when you were starting out, but don’t you think saying yes to marrying a man you don’t love is taking the casting couch a bit far?”
She shakes her head. “You don’t understand.”
“I think I do. He’s made marriage part of the deal for the superhero movies, hasn’t he?”
She drops her head, looking defeated. But says nothing.
“Screw the superhero movies! If he drops you from them, so what? There are ten other producers who’d hire you in a heartbeat.”
She shakes her head. Rubs her face. “You cheated on this girlfriend of yours with me in the Hamptons?”
“No. I hadn’t met her yet back then.”
Isabel is flabbergasted. “How new is this relationship? Were you lying to me last month when you said you were having dinner with your friends? Were you actually seeing her?”
“No. I didn’t lie to you that night. I was having dinner with my friends. But then we went to a bar, after dinner, and that’s where I met her. She was the bartender.”
Isabel gasps. “You want a bartender over me?”
“Fuck you,” I whisper to my screen. At the same moment Reed says something I don’t catch because I was talking. I rewind the video to hear whatever I missed, and what Reed says makes me smile from ear to ear: “Fuck you, Isabel.” Which he follows with, “I’m not going to talk about my girlfriend with you anymore. All you need to know is she makes me feel things I’ve never felt before.” He pauses for dramatic effect. “Ever.”
The meaning is clear. Not even with you. And, obviously, by the devastated look on Isabel’s face, his message has been received, loud and clear. She bows her head and bursts into tears. And, sweet man that he is, Reed wraps his strong arms around her and squeezes her tight. And, suddenly, I find myself quaking with dread about whatever I’m going to witness next.
They remain still for a long time, holding each other. They’re whispering to each other, but I can’t make out their words. Finally, Reed pulls back from their tender embrace. He takes Isabel’s gorgeous, iconic face in his hands and looks deeply into her eyes for a very long moment, causing her body to visibly wrack with sobs.
“If I could have flipped a switch and made myself fall madly in love with you, Isabel Schneider, I would have done it years ago. You’re gorgeous and talented. You’ve got the world on a string. I know what you went through as a kid. I know how bad it was, and I want nothing more than to see you safe and happy and successful, for the rest of your life. You deserve a happily ever after. But I’m truly not your Prince Charming, and I never will be.”
Isabel closes her eyes and tilts her face up. “Kiss me goodbye. One last kiss. Just so I can remember what it feels like to kiss you. What it feels like to actually feel something with a man. Please, Reed. At least, give me that.”
Reed looks into her tear-streaked face for a long moment, and then leans in and presses his lips to hers. And, somehow, the vision doesn’t repel me. It doesn’t enrage me. No, in this moment I’m actually in awe of Reed’s kind heart. I know this isn’t a betrayal of me, as much as one final act of generosity toward a woman he’s loved for a very long time. Just like he told me, this truly is a goodbye kiss. Yes, he’s technically breaking his promise to me in this moment. That fact hasn’t escaped me. But seeing the way the kiss unfolded, I know he didn’t kiss her because he doesn’t want me. He kissed her because he does. Because he’s closing the book on their tumultuous relationship, forever.
Um...
Okay, Reed, this kiss is far lengthier, and more passionate than required to close that fucking book. Come on, now. Enough.
Finally, Reed pulls away, having given Isabel the kiss of her life. She swoons and wobbles, looking dazed, and I can plainly see Isabel is now wearing the same expression she wore when I stumbled upon her and Reed coming out of the garage. She looks like a woman who just got fucked.
Reed puts his fingertip underneath Isabel’s chin. “Don’t marry anyone who doesn’t kiss you like that.”
I roll my eyes. Okay, Reed. That was wholly unnecessary, sweetheart. It’s time to move along now.
“How can you deny our magic?” Isabel chokes out. “You felt it, every bit as much as I did, during that kiss. Admit it.”
“No. The only thing I felt while kissing you was complete clarity that I’m head over heels in love with my girlfriend. I felt guilty while kissing you, to be honest. Because the only one I want to be kissing—the only one I should be kissing—is her.”
Isabel clutches her heart. And so do I.
Even in grainy black and white, it’s clear Reed just dealt her a death blow.
And I couldn’t be happier about it.
Reed is unmoved by the expression of pure devastation on Isabel’s face. She might as well be the blonde at the bar who tried to give him her demo. He looks at his watch, and sighs. “I need to get back to my party now. Come on. I’m sure your beloved fiancé is wondering where you are.” With that, he opens the door to the garage, his urgency to get the hell out of there wafting off him. With a heavy sigh, Isabel drags herself out the door, and Reed follows, at which point the surveillance video ends.
I look up from my screen, practically hyperventilating. Reed told me the truth about everything. Reed loves me. And he figured it out while kissing Isabel.
And that’s a damned good thing. Because, despite everything, I love him, too. With all my heart.
Breathing heavily, I tap out a text to my man, my love, asking him if he’s home. And when he replies instantly, telling me he’s not home, but can be there in fifteen minutes, my heart gallops with joy.
Me: Go home now. I’m coming home.
Reed: You got my email?