I throw a sideways look at him that makes him smile.
We arrive at the studios, and I follow him as he takes a small path away from the crowded areas where all the employees hang out. I’m perplexed when I turn a corner and find myself in the middle of old equipment that looks like it hasn’t been used in ages.
“Are you going to kill me and bury my corpse under the junk?”
“If I was going to do something like that, I’d do it far away from a place I own, don’t you think? Don’t you ever watch movies about serial killers? You’re missing basic skills you need to work in this business.”
I chuckle as I watch him pull out a bunch of keys and use one that unlocks the door on the first try. I make my way into a dusty warehouse where there are old sets abandoned for years. Furniture of various shapes and styles is stacked almost everywhere, filling the vast space almost to the ceiling. The space’s only light streams in from the high windows wrapped around the building just below the roof.
We make our way to the opposite side of the room, and for a moment, I stop and gasp in surprise in front of a small set. “This is from that sitcom in the sixties! I don’t remember the name,” I exclaim.
Aaron nods as he lights the lamp on the coffee table in the living room furnished exactly like I remember it on TV. “Yes, it’s the original set ofThe Richmonds. I found it years ago while looking for a place to set up the streaming company. I had fun reconstructing it exactly as you see it on TV.”
I watch him sit on the couch and sit beside him. I can’t imagine the perfect Aaron moving furniture to recreate a set older than him.
“So this is where you come to eat?” I unwrap my lunch.
“If I go any other place around here, at least five or six people would start up a conversation about some job, and, in all honesty, I need a break from it once in a while. I have a lot of lunches and dinners with other Hollywood bigwigs. Those are appointments I can’t miss, but when I don’t have any, I use this time to take a break and recharge.”
I nod as I munch on the best veggie burger ever. I understand his point completely. “You should teach your brother that. The words ‘take a break’ are not even in his vocabulary.” As soon as the words leave my lips, the tightness in my chest takes my breath away. The image of him lying on that pier has filled my nightmares for two weeks.
Aaron studies me for a few seconds while sipping his smoothie. As always, he seems to be able to read everything about me, while I can’t discern even half of his thoughts. Years in this industry make you a master at hiding emotions.
“Do you really think my brother would listen to me?”
I smile and shake my head. “No, not really. He’s the most stubborn man I have ever known.”
“I know a woman who is just as stubborn. I wouldn’t point my finger if I were you.”
“I’m not stubborn!”
He raises an eyebrow. “Really? When did you last hear from your friends and all the people you left behind in New York?”
I shrug and ignore his question. I told him I haven’t heard from them since I hid away in Los Angeles. I don’t even look at flights back to New York anymore. Reappearing in that place would mean explaining what happened, and I am not ready to deal with that. I kept too many things in my private life hidden to make sense of what I did. Not that staying hidden here solves my problems, but at least it gives me some breathing space in the midst of the stress.
“Avoiding them won’t magically resolve things. You’re an adult. Face your problems, don’t hide from them.”
It’s as if he’s reading my mind. “Did you bring me here to preach to me?”
“Yes.”
At least he’s honest. “Sooner or later, I’ll answer their calls,” I mumble.
“What’s holding you back? They’re your friends. If you can’t talk to them, who can you talk to?”
It’s precisely because they are my friends that I can’t do it; it’s much easier with him.
“If I answer those calls, I have to explain myself, and I don’t know if I’m ready to do it. None of them know that I’m a sugar baby and what I did with your father is…unforgivable. I’m not ready to face the shameful consequences of my life choices,” I confess for the first time out loud.
Aaron is silent for a while, and I almost think he’s done talking, but then he asks me the question I never wanted to answer. “Are you ashamed that you were a sugar baby or that you broke up your relationship with Evan because of my father?”
“Both. I can’t even imagine how my friends might judge me because I accepted your father’s proposal. What I did to Evan is unforgivable. It’s a betrayal that would leave a scar in any relationship. And if you hadn’t explained it to me, if you hadn’t told me about his past, I would have been too stupid to understand the weight of my actions.”
“What your friends think or what Evan thinks?”
I look down and shrug. “Does it make any difference?”
“Yes, there is a huge difference. Your friends are not in love with you.”