CHAPTER FORTY
“Is she okay? That’s all I want to know.”
Tyler growled in frustration as he tried to pry information out of his best friend Sam. He wanted to know more than that but he’d take what he could get. Billie had only communicated in the barest form since leaving for Paris, texting when she landed and then every morning to let him know things were fine.
Fine.
That’s it. That’s all he knew. Was she still angry? Was she thinking about ending their relationship? Was she ready to talk?
He had zero answers and less patience. He’d used it all up in the last ten days and he had no more to give. Sam was going to have to do some fucking talking.
“She’s fine. She’s busy working. You know how the first few weeks of shooting are. Once she settles in a bit more I’m sure she’ll call you.”
Tyler’s teeth snapped together. “I know she’s fine. She’s told me that, although that’s all she’s said. I want to know if she needs anything. How’s shooting going? Is Sierra doing well?”
“Sierra is fantastic. She’s damn smart and learning the movie business quickly. She helps us run our lines and I think we have another actress on our hands, my friend. She’s good. Really good. We need to be looking for an opportunity for her.”
That was excellent to hear and frankly Tyler wasn’t surprised that Sierra had talent. With all that she’d been through in her life she would have a deep well of emotion to draw on.
“And Billie?” Tyler persisted. “How is she doing?”
“She’s a terrific actress and this part is tailor made for her. The director is happy and we’re on time and on budget which makes the producers and the studio happy. It’s a great set and we’re humming along here. Are you still planning to come out to Paris?”
That was the hundred-thousand dollar question. He didn’t know if he was welcome.
“Eventually,” he replied, not wanting to give away the feelings of fear and doubt that had plagued him since Billie had walked out of the door. “She asked for space so I guess I need to give it to her.”
He’d told Sam everything and while his friend had been sympathetic he had also been painfully blunt. He was quite adamant that Tyler had fucked up. Big. He also felt that Tyler needed to dig down deep inside and see if perhaps he had indeed kept that file for a reason. Such as maybe he was thinking about looking in it.
So far Tyler had avoided that much introspection, frankly terrified of what he might find. Billie’s last speech about everything revolving around him had hit home and hit hard. Was he really that much of an egomaniac? He was beginning to think that perhaps he was. Whether out of habit or arrogance, he wasn’t sure.
“No better cure for the blues than work,” Sam replied. “Get your ass in the gym or learn to crochet. Don’t sit around brooding while she makes this movie.”
“Do you know how to crochet?”
Tyler couldn’t picture his alpha male friend with a ball of yarn. Like a cat.
“As a matter of fact, I do. My grandma taught me when I was a kid. I’m not that good but I could make you a scarf. If you think you’re too manly to crochet, pick something else but for the love of God do not sit around and feel sorry for yourself. This entire situation is your doing and you only have yourself to blame.”
“I know that,” Tyler said, exasperated with his friend. Maybe he shouldn’t have called him after all. Nothing good was coming from this conversation. “Give me a fucking break.”
Apparently that was the one request not to make of Sam because he growled into the phone so loudly Tyler had to pull it away from his ear.
“No wonder Billie left. You’re sitting there in your goddamn mansion in the Hollywood Hills acting like none of this is your fault. Like this happened peripherally around you but you yourself weren’t involved in any way and you’re the victim here. Let me tell you a few home truths and listen to me carefully. Billie, and Sierra too, are the victims here. Their private life was exposed to some sleazy investigator who could have sold that shit to a tabloid instead of giving it to Garrett. In fact, that could still happen because I bet they kept a copy. They might be waiting for your wedding day or some shit like that. And it won’t be you that’s humiliated, it will be those two women who didn’t do anything wrong except become a part of your life.”
Tyler didn’t have to listen to this shit. “You don’t under–”
“Fuck you,” Sam bit out, his tone short and hard as if his patience was long gone. “You’re fucking spoiled. Billie has orbited around you for five goddamn years, always putting you first even at the expense of her own career. She’s done everything you asked of her, even this crazy engagement to get that stupid role that isn’t even worth it. And now you won’t take responsibility for the shitty action of keeping that file. When are you going to fucking admit that you kept it because you were curious? Because anyone with a lick of sense would think that. You’re just lucky that Billie doesn’t want to believe it. She wants you to convince her that she’s wrong. So you sit there like a king in a castle and blame everyone else but yourself. You want Billie back? You want to fix this? Then for once in your self-centered, self-absorbed life put her first when it really counts. Not with shopping or a new car or even her rent. That’s just money. But in this life-altering shit? Put her first. That’s how a husband acts. Once you do that, it will all be different.”
Tyler wasn’t going to let anyone speak to him like that, not even Sam whom he respected more than anyone but his parents. “What the fuck do you know about being a husband? About loving someone? You’re divorced.”
“Maybe if I’d taken my own advice back then I wouldn’t be. Now they need me back on the set but even if they didn’t I’m tired of talking to you. Don’t call me until you’ve changed your fucking attitude.”
Tyler didn’t need a dial tone to know that Sam had hung up.
That’s just dandy with me. I don’t need that shit. I’ve been good to Billie.
He wasn’t like Sierra’s soon to be ex, Brian. That guy was a loser.
Of course, it didn’t say too much about Tyler that he was comparing himself to the absolute dregs of males. He did treat Billie better but that was still a terribly low bar to clear.
Had it all been his way? Was he playing the victim even now?
Running his gaze around his opulent living room, he shuddered at what it had become these last few weeks. A gilded cage.
Sam’s idea of not sitting around was a good one. Tyler needed to get out of these four walls and a run in the canyon was the perfect way to clear his head and really think about what his friend had said. Because one thing was for sure, if Sam was right, Tyler had some major groveling to do.