Heart Shaped Spotlight

Waving as I drove away, I checked my phone to see that I had enough time to make my flight without rushing. Then I noticed a few texts from Carrie. I waited until I was out of the car and inside the airport so I could sit down and read them.

Just like that, I was pretty sure what Nate's bad news has been as well. But he hadn’t told me.

Chapter Twenty ~ Nate

* Blinders and Blindsided *

I couldn't believe it happened that fast. After assuring Trisha that the media wouldn't find out about us, or that I had found her at all, there it was.

I was a brutal liar.

Maybe I was naïve, but I didn't think anyone would actually go to the trouble of stalking us. I was wrong. Lora sent me several texts, with links to a gossip website.

There was an elaborate story of how we were reunited at my interview in Toronto, and that Trisha had flown to Vancouver for a secret rendezvous with me. Several photos were posted that looked like they were stolen from various personal social media pages. There was the photo of Trisha and I with the band at lunch that must have been taken by those young girls. But they were definitely not paparazzi. Then there was a grainy photo of us kissing down by the ocean.

I had assured Trisha that nobody would notice us. Now I was a horrific fucking liar.

Trudging back to the hotel, I forced myself to get some work done, polishing lyrics and answering various emails. There were a bunch of things that had to be coordinated for my move to Toronto, but since I didn't have very much, it should be pretty smooth.

Hours later, my phone rang, and I was surprised that it was a video call.

“Hey, baby, how was your flight?” I asked brightly. It looked like she was sitting on a couch in what must have been her apartment. Trisha was not smiling. It was hard to tell through the video, but her eyes looked red.

"The flight was technically fine, and I am technically home safe," she said. "But it would have gone a little smoother if you had told me there were pictures of us online already. That was the text you got as I was leaving, wasn't it?"

Oh shit. I knew that my face likely fell. "Yes, but–"

"Why didn't you tell me right then? Did you think you could just wish very hard and make it go away?"

"I didn't want you to be upset for your whole flight," I said. "I figured it could wait five hours."

"You expect me to believe that you were going to tell me right now? I think it's more likely that you were going to put your Nate blinders on and expect the problem to go away."

"I was going to call Dave and ask what we could do

about it."

"You just think you can control everything," she snapped. Damn, I’d never seen her this angry. "I already tracked down who made the site. It was Kim, the receptionist from my office. I’ll ask my boss to have her take it down."

"Not just that, you should have her fired," I said. "I'll do anything I can to help."

Trisha shook her head. "I knew from the beginning that people would find out about us. That's not the part that upsets me. I was hoping it would be at least a few months down the line, but whatever. The thing that nauseates me is that you tried to control the situation by not telling me what was going on."

"I just–"

"You always think you can flash your magic smile and get your way,” she choked. The video was unsteady, and my heart sank as I realized her hands were probably shaking. "It's Sara's party all over again. Remember that? You were trying to control what was going on around us, and not telling me what was going on so that I could make my own decision. That's why I wanted to leave before your other friends got there. That's why I almost left you for good that night."

My own phone shook. "Are you serious? You wanted to break up with me back then?"

The light hit her eyes, tears spilling down her face. "My dad controlled every moment of my life. I found a boyfriend, thought he was wonderful, then he started trying to make things easier for me by not telling me anything he thought was upsetting. Sure, you were trying to hide things out of kindness, but it still made me feel manipulated. So, yes, they were a couple of times I nearly ended it. But I didn't quite have the nerve."

I could barely breathe. It felt like my chest was imploding. "I'd never want to control you, Trisha," I said quietly. "You know that."

"Just a few hours ago you had information that involved me, but you didn't tell me. I would have preferred to hear it from you than from my friend Carrie as I was about to get on the plane."

"Oh my God, baby, I'm so sorry.”

“I’m so fucking furious with myself,” she muttered through clenched teeth. “I’m far more angry with me than with you. You’ll never change. But I should have. I should have known better, and I should have made a better decision at the start.”