“Faye,” Talia whispered, offering a sad smile. “Can we talk?”
“No. I need you to turn around and leave. You told me you didn’t want to see me again, so why are you here? Why are you making this harder, Talia?”
Talia really didn’t want to do that. But she did want to sit down and talk through all of this with Faye. Surely they owed it to one another. It was quite clear how much they both wanted to take this further.
“I need to apologise. I saw you tonight with Jensen, and I lost my shit. The things I said to you outside the club…I never meant any of it.Heron you. I just…God, I can’t even bring myself to think about it.” Talia’s stomach rolled. If she had her way, Jensen would be looking for a new club in the not-too-distant future.
“Then don’t think about it. It was nothing more than a dance, Talia.”
Talia smiled weakly. “Except it wasn’t just a dance, was it?”
“To me, it was. I had no idea what she was going to do when I went into that room. And for the record, it didnothingfor me.Shedid nothing for me.”
Talia swallowed, heat creeping throughout her body as she chanced a step closer. “Faye, I’d really like to figure this out between us.”
“I went to the club tonight with every intention of trying to show you that I didn’t hate your lifestyle…your career.” Faye lowered her eyes between them. God, Talia really had hurt her. “I wanted you to see that I could enjoy myself and I wasn’t plain and boring. The person everyone seems to think I am. But…Phoebe was right.”
“Phoebe is a bitch—”
Faye held up a hand. “Just hear me out. Because as much as I never want to see Phoebe’s face again, she’s right.”
“A-about what?” Talia wasn’t sure she wanted an answer to that question. Phoebe had an open dislike towards her. For Faye to believe that Phoebe had a point, that she was right…well, it could only mean that Faye felt the same way as Phoebe. That Talia was everything she never wanted Faye to believe.
“This. Us. It would never work. And I’ve been a complete fool to even entertain the idea.”
Talia’s heart constricted, tears threatening to fall. But she wouldn’t get upset. Faye was just another in a long line of disappointments in her life. “I see.”
“Then I’m glad you agree. I don’t do this. I don’t pine after women, especially not women like you.”
“Like me?” Talia scoffed. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Faye’s forehead creased. “Someone drop dead gorgeous. Someone who has so much life inside of them that it frightens me. Someone…wayout of my league, Talia. I’d disappoint you within weeks of this going further. Phoebe told me this evening that I was frigid. If I add that to the long list ofeverythingyou’d hate about me, it puts the final nail in this particular coffin.”
Oh.
That wasn’t what Talia expected Faye to reveal.
“But for just a couple of months, I thought the potential was there. I thought I could be the one who came into your life and made you happy.” Faye laughed pathetically. “It’s been thirteen years since I was in a serious long-term relationship, and I gotwayahead of myself when I met you at the bistro. You just…you shone in front of me. You make my face tingle every time you look at me, and I lose all sense of time when you’re around. But I need you to leave here tonight and understand that what happened back at the club meant nothing. I mean, look at the mess I’ve created. It’s not worth it.I’mnot worth it.”
“Faye—”
Faye shook her head, holding up both hands as her bottom lip trembled. “No, stop. I don’t want to hear anymore. This isn’t one of my romance novels, this isn’t going to end with a happily ever after, and I should have listened to Phoebe when she told me that weeks ago. This is real life…”
“I know how real this life is. I’ve lived the cruelness of it for so long that I don’t know what happiness and love are anymore.”
“I wish you could see what I see, Talia. I wish you could stand in front of the mirror and see the beauty in everything you are. Because while youarea dancer, that isn’t all I see. I see the kindness in your eyes, I feel the softness in your touch, and I see the real you before anything else. But…I make your life difficult, and knowing that, knowing I’ve made you feel that way…I can’t see you anymore. Not like this, and not as friends.”
“Y-you can. We can.” Talia ached to reach out and touch Faye, to hold her.
Faye exhaled a shaky breath, gripping her door handle. “I…don’t want to see you anymore.”
And just like that, the door closed slowly, the lock clicking so quietly that Talia wondered if Faye had actually shut the door in her face. But she had. Talia stood alone in the corridor, silence enveloping her. She wanted to knock on the door, but she couldn’t. Faye didn’t want to see her anymore and she had to respect that.
Talia cleared the emotion from her throat, slowly walking towards the stairwell. She didn’t know where to turn, what to say, how to feel. Faye Holmes had just said everything Talia could ever want to hear from another woman, and then she’d closed the door on her.
Conflicted, Talia pressed the call button next to the lift, and shoved her hands in her pockets. When the doors opened, chilling green eyes stared back at her.
Phoebe.