Silence engulfs us again, and my heart is so tormented it feels like it’s cracking apart.
“That was low, Viv, but I get the point. Send it back to me, and I’ll return it.” He worries his lower lip between his teeth. “You had better send the makeup back too,” he adds, and at least he has the decency to look ashamed.
He won’t be able to get a refund on the makeup after it’s been used, so I’ll just toss it or see if Audrey wants it. “Not the purse or the bracelet?” I inquire, because I have to be sure.
He shakes his head. “She wasn’t involved at all in those purchases.”
I nod, averting my eyes, because I’m not sure I won’t cry. While he deserves to know how much he has hurt me, I’m aware of the stress he’s under, and I never want to add to it. I want to draw a line under this and try to put it behind us. Yet it’s easier said than done. I thought talking to him would make me feel better, but I’m just feeling sadder.
“Vivien. Look at me, babe.”
I lift my troubled eyes to the screen.
“I’m sorry, Viv. I just wanted to make your birthday special, and instead I ruined it. If I hadn’t upset you, you wouldn’t have gotten drunk and that degenerate wouldn’t have put his toxic lips on you.”
“Why were you like that on the phone last night?” I ask, because he needs to know the way he spoke to me was also upsetting. “If you had just talked to me, this could’ve been avoided. And how could you hang up on me knowing I was upset?”
“I didn’t have the privacy to talk to you properly about it, and the guys were leaving and calling for me. The few beers I had probably didn’t help either. I don’t know what else to say except I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.”
As apologies go, it’s lukewarm, at best, but I’m done talking about this. I’m emotionally exhausted from thinking about it all day, and I want to move forward and pretend like it never happened. “We have both made mistakes,” I say, reaching out to touch the screen. “But this won’t define us. Let’s agree to put it behind us and not let anything like this happen again.”
“I love you, baby. So, so much, and it’s killing me being away from you. Especially now. If I was there, I would hold you in my arms all night, kissing you and making love to you until I’d banished every single doubt and every molecule of pain I have caused.”
I needed that reassurance, and a layer of stress lifts from my shoulders. “I miss you like crazy, Reeve. It’s so much harder than I thought it’d be.” Tears spill down my cheeks as I can no longer keep my emotions trapped inside.
“I know, babe. I know. But we are nearly at the halfway point, and I’m going to see you in less than a month for prom.”
“I can’t wait.” I manage a smile through my tears. “Just promise me one thing, Reeve.”
“Anything, my love.”
“I don’t want her in your room with you alone or you in hers. The thought of it makes me ill.”
He places his hand over his heart. “I promise she won’t be in here unless the guys are with her. Same goes for her room. If that’s what you need to feel reassured, I can give you that.”
“Thank you.”
“I love you, Vivien Grace Mills. You are my heart. My soul. My world.” He blows me a kiss. “Please never doubt my love. It will always only be you.”
His words soothe the remaining frayed edges of my soul, and I sink into the bed, feeling lighter than I have all day. “I love you too, Reeve, in all the same ways. Let’s never fight like this again.”
“Amen to that.” He smiles, and his entire face lights up, heating me from the inside out. We chat for a few minutes about normal stuff before ending our call, and I fall asleep dreaming of him, grateful it’s all blown over and that everything is going to be all right.
* * *
My cell rings, waking me from slumber, and I’m instantly awake the second I see his face light across my screen.
“Are you on the plane?” I ask, forgoing a greeting.
“Viv. About that.”
The edge to his tone has me on instant alert, and I jerk upright in bed, smoothing a hand over the tight pain spreading across my chest. “No, Reeve. Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say.”
It’s the morning of prom, and he had a flight booked for noon eastern time, which is around now. It’s due to land just after three, and I was planning on surprising him at the airport.
“I’m so sorry, baby, but I’m not going to be able to make it after all.”
“Why?” I rasp, swallowing painfully over the messy ball of emotion clogging my throat.