Authors: Bebe Wilde
“Who did you hire to do all this?” I asked.
“I did it,” he said. “I just told Wyatt what I wanted and he found the contractors and helped oversee it. I was on location for most of it but it turned out well.”
Wyatt was his assistant, one he’d had for years. Unlike my assistant, Hailey, he didn’t want to be an actor. He wanted to be a producer. Kier had helped him get an independent picture made. It had done well, but not well enough for him to quit his job, at least not yet.
As I looked around, the real estate agent in me came out and I started adding the numbers up in my head, comparing it to other houses in the area and came up with a figure that surprised me. Unlike many of the other properties around there, we had bought it cheaply enough that the house had actually accrued value in the past few years. If he ever sold it, he’d make money, unlike me on my Hollywood Hills bungalow. I was probably stuck with that thing forever. However, now that I was going to move back in with Kier, the possibility of leasing it seemed promising.
Upstairs, he’d blown out a wall between the master and a guest bedroom and put in a gigantic walk-in closet, complete with beautiful built-ins. Only half was taken up with his stuff. The other half was empty.
“For you,” he said proudly. “Everything I’ve done, I did with you in mind. Like, would
Teagan
like that? Would she approve? Would she want this?”
I stared at him and knew that he always thought we’d get back together. He’d been right but still it was just a tiny bit unsettling.
“Oh, and look at this,” he said and grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room, down the hall and into another spare bedroom. It was painted a soft, green color and there was a beautiful antique French daybed in the corner covered with pretty, antique looking soft green linens.
“I love that,” I said and pointed at the daybed.
“Remember when I was in Paris last year?” he said. “Well, I had a few days off and went to the flea market and found that. Shipping it over here was a hassle but I thought... You know, that it would go in here.”
“It’s fabulous,” I said and walked over to it. “I love it.” I sighed and looked around the room. “Kier, this is sweet, so cute.”
“I thought this room could be the nursery,” he said.
I almost gulped, but saved myself just in time. He was really serious about this. I knew I was, though I wasn’t ready to jump into things quite as quickly, like, today or anything. But, obviously, he was.
A nursery?
He really was ready. But was I? I thought I
was
, but was I really?
“You know, when you’re ready,” he added with a wink.
I didn’t say anything but I was ready. I knew I had to take it easy and settle back into our life—before we had a child together. But part of me was like,
Go ahead and do it! So what if he hasn’t changed! You’re getting older! Get it done, girl! Let the chips fall where they may!
I ignored that part, though I probably shouldn’t have. My mother was on to me every day of the week for a grandchild. And now I knew Kier would be, as well.
I shook myself from feeling any resentment that might have come up and said, “It’s beautiful, Kier. You’ve done a fantastic job.”
“And you can move in now,” he said.
I nodded. “I just need a few things from my house,” I said. “I think I’ll leave all the furniture and lease it out. It won’t sell in this market and I am not losing money on that place.”
He nodded. “Good call, baby.”
But was it?
* * * * *
A few days later, I was at my bungalow packing a few things up when I heard the doorbell. Thinking it might be a delivery or my crusty old neighbor wanting to ask about the grass, which he did on a regular basis, I went to it. I almost fell over when I saw Roman standing there. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed him and was quite happy to see him there, on my doorstep. I had an overwhelming desire to throw my arms around his neck and give him a good, hard squeeze. I didn’t, mainly because he was giving me a look of consternation. I composed myself and said, “Yes?”
“I have not seen you in a while,” he said.
I just nodded, not knowing what to say. The tone of his voice was all business. That’s the way he wanted to play it, so fine. We’d play it like that.
“We have some unfinished business,” he said.
I swallowed hard, thinking he was meaning our relationship, the one I’d destroyed. “Yes?”
“I have not heard from you. I need to know the status of my house.”
I blushed with embarrassment. Oh,
that.
“Well?” he asked.
“It’s unchanged,” I said, though I hadn’t been working on it. I had too much going on right then.
“This is not going to work,” he said.
He was right. It wasn’t.
“The house is unsold,” he said. “Either
sell
it or I will break the contract.”
I sighed, not wanting to commit one way or the other. On one hand, I wanted to sell the house because it would be a major coup in this market. On the other hand, I wanted him to break the contract so I could just forget about everything we’d shared.
“So, how is the selling of the house coming? Have you had any activity?” he asked.
“Yes, some,” I said. “We’ve got new some leads and a showing next week.”
“Good,” he said as if he didn’t know what to say next.
I looked away from him, over to my neighbor’s house then saw the old man in his brown safari hat trimming some hedges. He was always out there, in his yard, either working by himself or with his gardener. He was obsessed. He stared at us, then at Roman’s SUV parked in my drive. I gave him a weak wave and turned back to Roman.
“You have been avoiding me.” he said, his tone changing.
He was right. I had been avoiding him. First I had been avoiding Kier and now I was avoiding him. Was there a pattern here? Yes, but not one I wanted to analyze just then. Oh, God, I didn’t know what to do. What was I supposed to do? I was stumped, stuck. I sighed and then nodded, then ran my hand through my hair. I guess I did that because I wanted him to see the gigantic engagement ring Kier had given me. I was relieved, and strangely proud, when he grabbed my hand and stared it.
“What’s this?” he asked, looking very irritated.
“We’re getting married, Kier and I,” I said and cleared my throat.
“Again.”
“I see,” he said without emotion. “Congratulations.”
I waited to see if he’d object or at least say something negative about Kier, but he didn’t. He was conceding. And that meant I hadn’t meant that much to him, had I? If only he’d just tell me something, give me some indication of how he felt. I might have changed my mind. But what I didn’t realize was that he was cut from a different cloth. He wasn’t going to yell or demand. He was hurt and because of that, he’d closed himself off to me.
“Thanks,” I said feebly.
“I will say this,” he said. “You are easily fooled.”
“Excuse me?” I said, almost astonished at his forwardness.
“A leopard does not change its spots,” he said.
I didn’t want to hear this. Not now. I had made my decision. If he’d stepped up and done what Kier had, if he’d found it in him to solidify our relationship and give it validation, maybe I wouldn’t have been so quick to break it off. But he hadn’t. He’d failed at that, held back too much.
“Yes, you are easily fooled,” he said and backed away.
“I am?” I asked, wanting to tear into him. “I am?”
“Yes,” he said and stared at me for a long moment. “You are.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“Au
revoir
,” he said and then turned on his heel and walked away, and, in effect, walking out of my life.
This time, for good.
“Goodbye,” I called after him, part of me wanting to beg him to stay, to talk me out of this. His refusal to even look at me almost made me panic, almost made me run after him. I knew there was no other man that would ever compare to him. He was it. But he wouldn’t give me anything that told me where he stood. I had thought he had a girlfriend, thanks to his cousin, Hubert, mentioning it and I had thought he was playing me. He hadn’t been and I’d been a fool, but, hell! Couldn’t the man just speak, couldn’t he just tell me that no, he did not have a girlfriend and, moreover, he didn’t want anyone but me? Why couldn’t he just do that?
But I knew why. He was still smarting over the fact that I might love my ex-husband and I guess I did. It had to end and this was the way it was ending. I had to accept that. I had to let go of what might be and embrace what was. But it was hard to do, especially after seeing him today.
“Roman?” I called, wanting to give him one more chance.
He came back around his SUV and stopped in front of me. “Get the fucking house sold,
Teagan
. I am sick of playing these games.”
“It’s overpriced for this market,” I told him.
“Fine,” he said. “Get what you can out of it. I could give a fuck.”
And then he left.
“Roman?” I called.
He didn’t answer as he was in his SUV and starting it up. And then he was backing out of my drive and then out of my life.
So that was that.
With no other alternative, I renewed my efforts in selling Roman’s house. This was going to be a
feat, that
was for sure. I racked my brain, trying to come up with a strategy that might make it happen but nothing worked. I made endless calls and had a few showings but to no avail. No one would shell out anything for that house, even when I’d hinted that the owner might consider a price reduction. They still didn’t want it. It was languishing on the market, looking staler and more unwanted by the day.
The thought had crossed my mind to ask Kier for the money to buy it ourselves. Maybe we’d move in together and I could be free of Roman for good.
I shook myself. I could never do that, not after all the things Roman and I had done in that house.
And in mine.
I closed my eyes, thinking about him, wondering if I had made a mistake.
“I’ve got an idea,” my assistant Hailey said, entering my office carrying her laptop.
“I’m all out, so good,” I said and looked up at her from my desk.
She nodded at me. “What about a lease?”
I thought about that. Yes, a lease would be good, but that could run into the double digits and in reality I didn’t see many people living there for very long. But it was a house that was so cool that people would love to live in it short term, but would they pay the rent, which would be astronomical. I didn’t know. I just wished I could find someone who would love the house and want to buy it. We just hadn’t found that buyer, if that buyer even existed.
“Well?” she asked, looking hopeful.
“If I bring a lease up to Roman, he might kill me,” I said. “He wants it sold, not leased. But you never know, the way things have been going, he
might
go for the idea. Who knows?”
“Right,” she said. “Did you lease your house?”
“Not yet,” I said.
“You haven’t put it on the market yet, have you?”
I shook my head.
“Good call, considering
Kier’s
past,” she told me, then gave me a look. “Sorry, but it’s true.”
I nodded. She was right. I might have bristled at that comment had it came from anyone else, but Hailey knew me better than most. And, more importantly, she knew Kier.
“What about me calling some rock stars?” she said.
“I hate dealing with rock stars,” I said and groaned. “God, I wished I’d never taken this listing.”
She nodded and her phone suddenly made a sound like she had just gotten a message. She picked it up and scrolled down, then turned it off. Then she picked it back up and hit a button, smiling at me.
“What is it?”
“It’s just an alert to remind me that I have an audition in exactly two hours.”
I smiled at her. “Good luck.”
She nodded and said, “Thanks,” before putting her phone down, then said, “I love technology.”
I nodded and stared at her, then stopped moving as the idea began to form in my head.
Technology?
Apps?
Computers?
Fucking hell! Silicon Valley! That’s where all the money was now! What was I?
An idiot?
How could I have been so stupid to overlook this gigantic money pool?
Hailey saw the look on my face and thought something was wrong. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
I shook my head and said, “I am an idiot!”
“You realize getting back with Kier is a mistake?”
I stared at her. “Why do you say that?” I shook my head and stood from my desk then walked around it. “No!
Silicon Valley
!”
I grabbed her phone and shook it.
“
Silicon Valley
!”
“I don’t get it,” she said.
“Listen,” I said and leaned back onto my desk. “Everyone here right now is either up or down moneywise,
actors, rock stars
, whomever. They’re all as good as their last hit, right? I need someone who has money and lots of it, solid money, who might look at this as an investment. That’s where a lot of money is right now.”
“Go on,” she said, liking where this was going.
“People who are younger and want something super cool.
People who have money who haven’t even cracked the age of thirty yet.”
“Like heiresses?” she asked.
“No,” I said and shook my head at her. “Like software developers,” I told her and held out her phone. “People who are making a killing doing apps and writing code or whatever-the-fuck they do! These are our new clients!”
“Huh,” she said and seemed to consider that.
“This is where the real money is now, in Silicon Valley. All these people get rich off their genius and, of course, they want to spend their money on cool stuff.”
It seemed to sink in and when it did, she broke out into a big smile,
then
jumped up to hug me. “You are brilliant!” she screeched.
I hugged her and said, “I guess I am!” I was so
excited,
my smile was a mile long. “How could I have overlooked this?”