I don’t know what to do. She wouldn’t talk to me. She wouldn’t let me explain. She just left. I know I’m asshole for what I did, but how could she just walk out like that? Fuck Dolly. Aghh! I’m so angry. I want to punch something.

My phone rings. Reluctantly, I look at the screen.

“Hi, Finn, you have to come quick,” Ben is practically yelling. “Jasmine’s going into labor.”

Ben hangs up, and I stare at the phone. I don’t want to go to the hospital. I want to drink a bottle of vodka and to smoke some weed. But I’ve been enough of an asshole to people I care about. I haven’t missed one of Jasmine’s births, and I’m not going to start with this one.

I arrive at the Cedar Sinai Hospital in record time. Ben texts me the room number, and I head straight up.

“How is she?” I ask. Ben is pacing outside of the room, clearly distressed.

“Um, not good. This is too early. If the baby comes out now…” he doesn’t finish the statement. I know what will happen. I’ve seen the television shows and the movies. If the baby comes out now, she’ll be premature. She’ll probably have to stay at the hospital for weeks and be hooked up to one of those tubes. They won’t be able to touch their baby. They’ll have to wear scrubs to come and see her.

I try to calm him down. I tell him that it’s going to be okay. The two hundredth time I say it, Ben finally believes me. Jasmine is relaxing now, and I ask him if he wants to go to get something to eat. Jasmine’s mom is in with her. Reluctantly, he agrees.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” I say again, biting into a cold tuna sandwich. Ben’s eating a slice of pizza. He takes a sip of his coke and nods.

“Yeah, I hope so….So, what’s going on with you? Take my mind off this whole thing.”

Should I tell him? Eh, why not? He wants a distraction. I’ll give him a distraction. I tell him the whole story. He listens carefully, with a perplexed look on his face.

“So, wait, I don’t understand. Why did you lie to her?”

“That’s the thing,” I say. “I have no idea. I just saw her sitting there, and I sort of felt like I didn’t want to have the pressure of being on a date with her. I mean, if she were anyone else, I would, but I like this girl. I liked her the first time I met her on set.”

“So, you decided to lie to her?”

“Yes,” I hang my head.

“But why didn’t you tell her the first time she came over?”

“Well, I was going to, but then we started kissing. And then she got sick. There was no good time. And then we got into this argument on set, and I barely got her to go out to dinner with me again.”

“This is bad, Finn.”

“I know that. Don’t you think I know that?” I ask. “I just don’t know what to do now.”

“What would you do with anyone else?”

I shrug. “Eh, I’d just let it go.”

“Wow,” Ben smiles.

“What?”

“You must really like her then.”

I think about it for a second. “I do. And get this, I think I might even more than just like her.”

“What?” Ben nearly chokes on his drink.

“I think I might be falling in love with her,” I say quietly. “I hate it. It makes me feel sick to my stomach. What if she doesn’t forgive me? What if she hates me forever?”

“Yes, you are falling in love, man. Wow, my friend is finally growing up. This is a momentous day for you, Finn.”

I roll my eyes. “No, this is a momentous day for you, Ben.”

“It’s still huge,” he says.

He’s right, of course. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. Perhaps, this is what love feels like. I thought it was going to be exciting and adrenaline-charged. Not absolutely terrifying. No, Chloe has to forgive me. I’m not going to give up until she does.

I alternated between sleeping and walking around outside of the waiting room. Twenty hours later, the baby comes. Five hours later, I’m at work.

When I arrive at work, I go straight to Chloe’s trailer.

“Chloe, please, will you just talk to me?” I knock on the door, but no one answers. “Chloe, I’m not leaving until you come out.”

Finally, after a few minutes of knocking, she opens the door.

“What do you want?” she asks, crossing her arms across her chest.

“I need to talk to you,” I say.

“So talk.” She turns around and starts going through the clothes on the hangers. “I’m listening,” she adds. I take a deep breath. This is probably as good as it’s going to get.

“Chloe, I know that what I did is unforgivable.”

“Good, then leave.”

“I know it’s unforgivable. But I want you to forgive me.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because I’m really, really sorry. I don’t know what came over me. But for some reason, I just saw you sitting there and…” I lose my trail of thought. It’s difficult to explain exactly what I thought.

“You saw me sitting there and you thought. Eh, okay, let’s have some fun with this sap.”

“No, not at all. When I saw you there, I already had feelings for you. And I didn’t want to go on some formal date with you. I just thought it would be fun, I don’t know. I don’t have a good excuse. It was a stupid thing to do. Really, really stupid. And I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” she says. “Because I thought we had fun.”

“We did! That’s what makes me hate myself so much. We did have fun. So much fun. And I want to see you again. A lot.”

She shakes her head.

“What?”

“I don’t date liars, Finn. And you’re a liar.”

“Please, Chloe. Give me another chance.”

“I can’t, Finn. I’m really mad at you right now. Even when that goes away, I can’t give you another chance. Because you fucked up. Big time.”