The plane lands, and although I’m exhausted, I can’t stop smiling.

I turn my phone on and find a ton of messages. I guess people were pretty pissed when I left, but I didn’t expect to be gone for that long. I figured I’d fly out to Cancun, meet with Harold, convince him to back this film, and fly back. But instead, he was fucking stubborn, and it took me longer than I wanted.

I frown at the calls from Tara. She must have been pretty upset. I call her back, but this time her phone goes to voicemail, which makes sense. They have to turn their phones off and store them during filming to fight against leaks.

I get off the plane, grab a taxi, and head toward the set. I check my watch and it’s close to the end of the day, so they should be shutting down filming soon. I bet Lionel and the whole crew are pissed as hell about all this, but I know it’ll be okay.

I get to set and head inside. A few of the crew guys seem surprised to see me, but that’s okay. They probably thought I was dead or something.

“So you’re back.”

I turn around and spot Holly standing by a vending machine. She crosses her arms and walks toward me.

I’m surprised but I’m actually happy to see her. “I’m back,” I say to her. “Is everyone mad?”

She shrugs. “Pretty much. Your girlfriend slapped me in the face.”

“Tara?” I ask.

“That’s right. Went nuts for no reason.” She grins. “I kind of like her.”

I can’t help but grin back. I don’t know what happened but I wish I could have seen it. Seems crazy that Holly would like her more for slapping her in the face, but that’s just Holly. She doesn’t make sense and I’m sick of trying to figure it all out.

“Listen, we should talk,” I say to her. “It’s about your movie.”

She perks up. “Really?”

“Really,” I say. “Come on.”

I walk quickly over toward the development trailer with Holly in tow. It’s empty, which is good. Holly sits while I grab an extra laptop and open it up.

I dial the number in Skype that Harold gave me, and a minute later he answers.

“Jackson?” he asks. “You there already?”

“I’m here,” I say. “Holly’s in the room.”

“Okay. Let me see her too.”

I put the laptop down and move around to sit next to Holly. Harold is still in Cancun, a little sunburnt and wearing a large floppy hat. He’s inside his hotel room, and probably annoyed that I’m interrupting his vacation yet again.

It took me half a day to find him, and when I did, Harold was pissed. He was not happy that I was ambushing him about work, and he basically blew me off.

I had to be persistent. It took another day to finally see him again, and then I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Not the mafia-style kind, but the kind that makes him a lot of money.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” he says. “I’m making this quick because I want to get back to drinking tequila and trying to fuck my wife. You two listening?”

“I’m listening.” Holly says. “It’s good to see you, Harold.”

“Sure, whatever,” he says. “Look, here’s the deal. Jackson there is apparently obsessed with getting you a movie, obsessed enough to nearly ruin my vacation over it.” Holly glances at me and I shrug.

“But he said something interesting. In exchange for funding this movie and getting the studio to take it on, Jackson is going to work on Brutally Dishonest for free. Isn’t that right, Jackson?”

“That’s right,” I say. “You can keep your millions of dollars.”

Holly stares at me, clearly shocked. “Jackson, that’s too much,” she says.

“It’s the deal I made,” I grunt at her.

“And we’re not going back on it,” Harold says, clearly annoyed.

“No, we’re not,” I confirm. “You want this movie, right, Holly?”

She nods. “I want it.”

“Good,” Harold says. “So it’s going to happen with you attached. Jackson’s working for free, I’m saving some serious fucking money, and we’re all happy. Okay? Can I send over the fucking papers for you to sign, Holly?”

“Send over the fucking papers, Harold,” she says. “Send them to Mickey Rains.”

I stare at her but I don’t say shit. Fuck Mickey, that rat bastard.

“Okay. And Jackson, your last stipulation still stands. Brutally Dishonest will be made, and I won’t retaliate against you. Oh, and the fake relationship fucking bullshit can be over, goddamn that was such a pain in the ass. And frankly, the media doesn’t give a fuck at all.”

I look at Holly again and she shrugs. “Fine, consider us broken up,” she says.

“Great. Now I’m going back to vacation. Mickey’ll get the papers soon. I hope I never speak with you again, Jackson. And Holly, we’re going to make a lot of money together.”

“Yes, we are,” Holly says.

“Adios, amigos,” Harold says and kills the Skype connection.

I lean back in my chair and grin at her. “So it’s done,” I say. “We’re broken up.”

She shakes her head, totally mystified. “You just gave up a lot of money,” she says. “And you’re stuck still working on this movie for months. All for what?”

“All to try and make up for a mistake I made a long time ago,” I say.

“You’re something else, Jackson Hendricks.” She grins at me. “I should have locked you down sooner.”

“You had no chance. Now go away. I’m calling some agents to try and find new representation. And I’m dumping your ass.”

“Fine by me.” She stands and heads to the door. Before she can leave, she calls out Tara’s name.

I sit up straight. She was the next person I was going to find once this was all straightened out. I’m sure she’s pissed and I don’t know what to say to apologize, but I don’t have a choice.

Tara walks into the room, looking a little pale. I stand up as soon as she enters.

“I’ll leave you two kids alone,” Holly says, and leaves.

Tara stares at me and I stare back. “Hey,” I say finally.

“You asshole,” she says softly.

I walk toward her. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t in the country. I couldn’t call.”

“You could have emailed. You could have done a million things.”

I walk toward her and stop close. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I had to do it, but I wasn’t leaving you.” I smirk at her. “I hear you hit Holly.”

She cocks her hand back and slaps me right across the face. It stings, but I know I deserve it.

“Just like that,” she says. “You asshole. You left me again without a word.”

I turn back to her, hanging my head. “You’re right,” I say. “But don’t you want to know where I was?”

“Fine, I’m listening.”

And so I tell her everything. I start with Mickey and I end with the Skype conversation I just had. By the time I’m done, we’re both sitting down at the conference table, and her mouth is hanging open.

“Did you seriously just sacrifice that much money?” she asks me.

“I did,” I admit. “But I still have a ton left over. And I’m not out of the game.”

“Jackson…” She trails off, shaking her head. “That’s insane.”

“Holly won’t be an issue now,” I say. “She won’t blackmail me. In fact, she seems really happy. The producers and the studio aren’t going to blacklist me, though Mickey is still dead in my eyes. So I have to work for free on this piece of shit, so what? Holly and I are broken up, for real this time.”

Tara stares at me and for a second, I think she’s going to cry, but she looks away instead. “You’re such an idiot.”

“I’m sick of living a lie,” I say to her, moving closer. I tip her chin toward me. “You understand that, right? I’ve lived a lie for so long now, but I’m finished.”

“You can’t do that again,” she says. “Seriously, I thought you left me all over. I was…” She trails off.

“I know,” I say. “Tara, I love you. I’m never going to leave again. It’s over. We can do this for real.”

Her eyes go slightly wide and I kiss her before she can say anything. I don’t want to hear her respond. I just want her to know that I love her, that I’ve loved her for so long now, and I’ll do anything in the world to make things right.

I’ll sacrifice anything, I’ll move any mountains, I’ll do what I have to do to make her happy. I’m done fucking around. I’m done running away. I’m done going for things that aren’t important.

Tara is important. She’s all that I need.

I break the kiss off and she smiles. “I love you too, idiot.”

I grin at her. “I’m so sorry. I’ll never leave again.”

“You better not.”

I stand and pull her up, kissing her. I press her against the wall, feeling her body, and I know things are going to be okay. I take a second to lock the door before doing what I need to do.

Maybe I could have done things differently. Maybe I could have found another way that didn’t sacrifice my paycheck, but money means nothing. In the end, Tara is all that matters to me, and I’m going to have her for the rest of my life.

No more running. No more games or bullshit. I’m going to live honestly and truly, and the only way to do that is to be with Tara. I know I can’t do anything else.

When I taste her, down on my knees, I know nothing else can taste so sweet for me. And I never want it to.