Epilogue
“Are you even putting clothes on at all in there?” I yelled from the hallway as I waited for Cassidy to come out.
“It’s a movie premiere, Erik. It takes longer to get dressed for this kind of thing. Stop worrying; we still have an hour before it starts.”
“I kind of need to be there on time, you know. I’m sure you look fabulous. Can we please just get going?” I begged her.
We had been waiting in the living room for over an hour for Cassidy to get ready. My father and brother didn’t seem to mind, but I was going crazy with anxiety that we were going to be late.
This was the first film that our movie studio had made all by ourselves. We had contributed to several films over the first year of our business, but this one was all us. So, if it did well, then we were going to be getting a ton of new jobs, but if it did horribly, we might lose all the money we had put into it.
“You really need to learn to relax,” my father said as he sat casually on the couch. “Women work faster if they aren’t under so much stress from you yelling at them.”
My dad was dressed in a black tuxedo that matched both my brother’s and my outfits. The three of us looked pretty darn sharp, if I did say so myself. Heath and I had already decided we were going to find a hot movie star and fix her up with our father. He deserved to have some fun in his old age, we joked.
“Heath, can you talk to Kelly and see if she can hurry Cassidy up?”
“Oh, hell no. Don’t bring my wife into this. I’m not getting on her bad side,” he joked as we all laughed.
Heath and Kelly had gotten married only a few short months after they started to date, and Kelly had just given birth to their son. It was amazing how fast life moved when all the stars aligned and you found the right one.
Kelly and Heath were perfect for each other: There was no denying it. And their son looked just like me. I made sure to tell them that all the time, and I was going to do everything possible to ensure I was the best damn uncle that ever lived. Although I was scared to death at the prospect of ever having my own child, having a nephew who I could send home at the end of the day seemed like a great idea.
Another fifteen minutes went by before Kelly and the baby emerged from the room. Finally, I thought that Cassidy would be on her way out. With Los Angeles traffic, we were going to be lucky if we made it there on time.
“Is she coming?” I asked as I tried not to sound frantic.
“I’m all ready,” Cassidy said as she strolled out of our bedroom and walked down the hallway.
I am sure that my mouth literally dropped open as I watched my beautiful girlfriend walk elegantly toward me. She had on a floor-length black gown that hugged all her curves perfectly. Her hair was styled in amazing waves that were reminiscent of the 1940s, which was exactly the time period our new film took place in.
“Wow,” my dad said as he stood up and came over to stand next to me. “I’m pretty sure she’s going to steal all your thunder tonight,” he joked.
“Seriously, Cassidy, you look amazing,” Heath added.
I wanted to talk. There were so many compliments in my head and I wanted to share every single one of them with her, but all I could do was stand there and stare. This was my woman. This amazingly beautiful creature had decided to follow me out to Los Angeles and stay with me, encouraging me along my journey to become a film producer and studio owner.
I couldn’t get the words to come out of me I was so floored by how beautiful she looked.
“Do I look all right?” she teased as she did a 360-degree turn in front of me and showed off the ultra-low back of the dress.
“Damn, yes, baby, you look like perfection,” I finally managed to say.
“Well, stop standing there. We better get going. You don’t want to be late for your own movie premier,” she said as she grabbed her purse and hustled to the door.
Heath kissed Kelly and his son as we all rushed behind Cassidy and out to the limo that was waiting. We had thirty minutes to get three miles, which under normal circumstances seemed like it would be easy, but you never knew if the traffic would go your way or not in Los Angeles.
“You know, Cassidy looks like a movie star,” my dad said as we drove toward the big event.
“I do not. Come on now; you’re just trying to make me blush.”
“I think he’s right. Maybe you should give the actress thing a try. I happen to know a movie producer,” I joked.
“Well, since I dropped out of nursing school, I might just take you up on that offer. I just don’t know what I was meant to do.”
“I’m going to check around. After tonight, you and that dress? Man, I bet directors are going to be begging to work with you.”
Cassidy just laughed at me, but I was being serious. She had a special look to her. Unusual, yet down to earth at the same time. Not to mention that she was a sweetheart to be around. I suspected she might have just fallen right into what she was meant to do with herself.
When we pulled up to the red carpet, it was pretty quiet. Most everyone had already gone inside and the photographers looked like they were packing things up. But at least we were there and we could run in and grab a seat to watch the show.
It didn’t matter all that much if we were late. It was our studio, so we could see the movie whenever we wanted and the main thing I was interested in was how the film was going to be reviewed, which wouldn’t happen until after the release.
Our door opened and I got out first and helped Cassidy as we started our way down the red carpet. As a movie studio head, many photographers didn’t really know who I was, so I wasn’t expecting too many to be interested in taking our photos. We would just sneak by and get our butts into the theater.
“Erik, who’s that with you?” one of the camera men yelled out.
“My girlfriend, Cassidy Conrad,” I said as I wrapped my arm around her and we posed for his photograph.
“Wait right there,” another man said as he pulled his equipment back out of his bag.
“Yeah, don’t move,” a third said.
Before we knew it, all of the photographers and entertainment news stations had their cameras out and were snapping away. They barked orders for us to turn one way and then the next. They even asked for pictures of Cassidy alone, which she refused to do.
Entertainment News on NBC pulled us aside and wanted to do a live interview, which I really hadn’t expected at all.
“Mr. Levy, tell us about your career change from technology to film,” the young reporter asked.
“The two fields aren’t that different. I’m using my technology background to help develop an expressive alternative to film batteries so our shoots can last longer without costing more money.”
“And, who is this young lady? Have you already found your Los Angeles starlet?”
“Actually, this beautiful woman is my girlfriend, Cassidy Conrad.”
“Cassidy, what’s it like to date one of the most eligible bachelors in Los Angeles?” the reporter asked.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that I was one of the most eligible bachelors. It wasn’t a title that I ever knew I had. Cassidy did great and kept a straight face through her interview.
“Erik and I started our relationship as all great ones start: as friends. I’m lucky to have such an amazing man in my life.”
“Are you in the film industry, too?”
I could tell that Cassidy was about to say no, and I didn’t want her to throw this opportunity away.
“She is going to be in one of our upcoming movies. We couldn’t let this kind of talent go to waste. We better keep going. I’m sure they’ve started the film without us by now.”
I pulled her away, and we caught up to my father and Heath. Spencer had also just finished an interview and we all made our way in together. In that moment, I realized that it didn’t matter what everyone thought of the film. I was happy. Cassidy was happy. My father and my brother were with me and that moment was one of the best I could have ever dreamt of.
I was in business with my best friend and if this movie sucked, we would fix what we did wrong and move forward with the next thing. Nothing was going to hold me back from having the life I always wanted.
As my brother, father, and Spencer went into the theater, I held onto Cassidy’s hand for a minute. I was overcome with emotion and there was something I needed to say to her.
“I love you. I hope you know that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“I know.” She laughed.
“Will you marry me? I don’t have a ring right now. But I’ll get you any ring you want. Just say that you’ll make me the happiest man alive and become my wife.”
She seemed pretty shocked that I had slid down on one knee as was asking her to be my wife. But it hadn’t happened overnight, and I knew she was the right one. I knew long before that moment and I wanted her to know it to.
“Yes,” she said with a sultry smile. “I’ll be your Mrs. Levy.”
“Yes!” I screamed as I grabbed her into my arms and hugged her.
BROKEN BOX SET
THE COMPLETE BROKEN SERIES
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 Claire Adams
BROKEN #1
Chapter One
Natalie
“I don't think I can have another shot, Julie,” I yelled over the music.
All around me the thump, thump, thump of the bass was felt right in my bones. Why must they play the music so obscenely loud? Was it so that you forgot that you were in a normal world? You stayed because you didn't realize there was anything else out there? I suppose it appealed to the people who came there to dance. I wasn’t one of them. As I peered over, I judged them for their carefree nature as they sweated all over each other on the dance floor. A bar, especially a dance bar, was an illogical place to go to have a conversation, but they had cheap drinks, and there was enough eye candy to keep Julie happy. Julie needed her entertainment as well. My friend just giggled as she ordered us another round. There was no point in arguing with her. I was feeling dizzy, but I allowed it, as I only really came there to forget. Forgetting was easy when it came to drinking. If it wasn't for hard liquor, I would not be able to function as a human being, and that was fairly important. All I needed at that moment was to forget that I was who I was. Because at that moment in my life, I didn't like whom I was.
Partying had become a regular occurrence for me these past few months. I was never much of a drinker, but times were tough, and a girl had to do what a girl had to do. Thank God I had a partner in crime in which to do my deeds with. I had only even known Julie for a couple of months, and she had seen me as the party girl, and only that. She had no idea that I was a good girl only a few months ago. The old me would never have spent so much time in a bar. But there I was, and the reason for that was because my whole life, my whole world in fact, had spun out of control recently, and I hadn't begun to pick up the pieces from that. Life, in fact, scared me at the moment. I had never expected to be in the position that I was. I had thought things would have turned out much better. I always had a plan; everything was in order in my life, until it all started to fall apart, of course. It was funny how life often snuck up on you like that. Not only had things not gone as planned, but it gave me an entirely different horizon that I didn't look forward to meeting.
Unbeknownst to me, the man I had loved most in the whole world had carried on an affair with my best friend for months before I found out about it. Months! Months! God, the very idea baffled me. How did I not know? Was I just blinded by my love for him? Finding them out―it was not something that anyone should ever have to experience. The betrayal of a best friend. You almost expect it from a man, but not a girl you grew up with from the time you were 9 years old. Men were always the ones whom you feared would stray. It never occurred to me to not trust a beloved best friend. She and I had been through thick and thin; we had shared many scraped knees, broken hearts, and provided one another with a shoulder to cry on when needed. And all it took was for her to become attracted to my man. A man I thought I would marry one day. Shouldn't that have been sacred―something no other should think of touching?
There truly was no amount of alcohol that could erase the image of catching them having sex. He had her bent over the couch, doing the unthinkable. I had walked in just as she had been screaming out his name. I could have killed them both right then and there. The shock had been incredible, and I felt ill every time I thought about it. Walking in early from class, excited to surprise him with pizza and beer, it had all dropped to the floor as I rushed in and saw him having sex with her on the couch. Right there, right where we often watched movies and cuddled, he had done the unspeakable with one of my oldest friends. I may have even been able to forgive it had it only been a one-time occurrence, but that wasn't the case at all. They were in love, and just didn't have the heart or the balls to tell me about it. They had been involved for months, right under my nose. I often wondered when it had first begun. Had he and I been going through problems at the time? What made him look at her in a different light? I thought about it a lot―too much, in fact. I wondered who had initiated it; which one of them crossed the line first? I couldn't bear to think that it was she who made the first move. The thought was just too evil; how could she betray me in such a way? Take away the only thing that really mattered to me. How could I not have seen? How do you miss something so significant?
There must have been lingering looks between them when they were around each other, text messages to his phone, and every time he wasn't with me, had he been with her? Had he been responding to her messages while he was with me? Surely he would have been. He received many texts in my presence. Who knows how many had arrived from her phone? There was nothing in the world that could make a girl feel more stupid than to realize I had been made a fool of for months. Did they often laugh about me? Joke about how I had no idea about what they were doing? Did they talk about me? Discuss how they would have to eventually tell me the truth? I could bet money on the fact that it was he who decided to avoid coming clean. Women were different, she would have wanted to lay claim to him as soon as possible. She must have been bugging him for quite some time to come clean, or at the very least, break up with me so that they could begin their own love story. Love Story. One that used to be mine. It was thoughts like that which could cause me to be in a bar on a regular basis.
After walking in on the two of them, I could do nothing but run out of the room crying; I didn't even have it in me to confront them. I should have, I should have clawed her eyes out, and left his body unidentifiable. I had heard my best friend call out my name as I left the apartment, as if the girl could possibly have anything to say to me at that point to ease the pain I was in. Though I wouldn't lie, the curiosity did kill me now, after the fact. I wondered what she intended to say. Sorry? You snooze, you lose? I love him? He doesn't want to be with you?
I did regret, however, the lack of hysterics I showed toward them. Thinking back on it, I should have allowed them to try to explain the disgusting show they had put on for me. To see what kind of excuses they would give me, what kind of fine, veiled apologies. In the end, however, it wouldn't have mattered. As far as I knew, they were still together; isn't love grand? I had hoped it would be a fling. That he would come back begging for another chance, so that I would have the opportunity to slap his face.
So insert booze, and I suddenly forgot how pathetic I must have been not to know that the two people I had trusted the most had been lying and running around on me behind my back. Maybe another shot was a good idea, the more I thought about it.
Julie and I sat at the bar in one of the more popular places in the area, and downed large amounts of alcohol. The bar was certainly a happenin' place if you were into picking up. I wasn't one to notice, however. I usually stared sullenly into my glass for most of the night. Poor Julie, she must think I'm an alcoholic.
When the shots arrived, Julie handed me one and raised it to toast. “What should we toast to?”
I snorted, “I know! Let's toast to becoming cat people, and watching old reruns of I Love Lucy together.”
“Screw that. Are you crazy? Natalie, you are gorgeous. Your ex was an idiot, and what he did was unconscionable, but you will find someone else―someone much better. Just wait and see.”
“I don't want anyone else. I loved him, and look how well that turned out. How could I possibly trust anyone ever again? I know what you're thinking, I'm being negative. But sometimes it's a good thing, really.”
“I don't think you will see any motivational posters saying that.”
I laughed despite myself. “I guess not.”
We downed the shots, and I cringed for the tenth time that night. I hated thinking about my past. It had just been so awful. When did it ever get easier, when did the pain lessen? When would I stop seeing that image of the two of them together? It was bad enough that I lost the man I loved, but losing my best friend at the same time had crushed me. I had never felt so alone in all my life. Three years I had been with him, and it all was thrown away, for nothing. What a waste, I thought. Three years of loving and caring for him, and I still had no idea why he did it. Why had I not been enough for him? I loved him, and had thought we had a really good sex life. What made him want her more than me? These were the questions that plagued me relentlessly until I lost the ability to sleep, lying awake just waiting for morning to come.
At first, I had tried to be productive about the breakup, being motivational, positive thinking at all times, mostly working on my homework and drawing whenever the mood struck me. I thought I could get lost in my art and forget my broken heart. Unfortunately, things never quite worked out that way. Instead, here I was, dangling off a bar stool with a girl who did not know how to stop ordering tequila.
“Should we do another shot?”
“Are you high? Absolutely not. I can barely see, and somehow I am still thinking about my ex-boyfriend. This isn't working. If alcohol can't make me forget, then what the hell are we doing out tonight? I need to forget him!” I noticed that Julie was looking around. “You're not even paying attention to my whining,” I laughed. “You should be listening to my whining; my heart is broken, for crying out loud.”
Julie smiled at me, finally focusing her attention back on me. “No, I wasn't ignoring you, Natalie. There is this ridiculously hot guy over there, checking you out.”
“Oh, give me a break.” What could he possibly be checking out? What friend of mine he could sleep with?
“Oh my God, it's Jet. He's totally checking you out.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Are you kidding me, Natalie? You don't know who Jet is?”
“Nope. Should I?”
“He's only one of the most popular guys on campus. All the girls have been drooling over him for years since he started dominating in MMA.”
“He’s a fighter? Jesus, Julie. You know athletes aren’t my type and in case you don't remember, up until a few months ago I had a boyfriend. That's who I have been drooling over. My boyfriend was so hot.”
I was pathetic.
“You still have eyes, don't you? How could you not have noticed him by now? You're crazy, girl.”
“Sorry, I'm just not someone who keeps up on that sort of thing. I could care less who the most popular guy on campus is.”
“He's a jock, and sexy as hell.”
“Well there you go, I'm an artist. I don't exactly keep up on the latest sports.”
“I don't care. Let's get another drink.”