Pretty When She Cries - Black Mountain Academy

“You could have at least told me where you were.” He sounds affronted, but deep down, I know he gets it.

“I didn’t need to hear all the dirty details. I just needed to get away.”

“Well”—he sighs—“that’s the thing. There haven’t been any new stories, which is odd. I was certain that it was just the beginning. I kept waiting for another call requesting more cash, but it never came.”

I expected it too. When I finally typed my name into the search engine last week, I anticipated a flood of articles since I left, but it was just more of the same. When I came here, I was pretty certain Phillip would tell me Kail was demanding more cash. That’s the only thing that would make sense. Now, I don’t know what to think.

“Maybe the media payout was enough.” I intentionally leave out her name. I’ve been trying not to think of her, and talking about her isn’t part of that plan.

“I guess anything’s possible.” Phillip drags his fingers through a thinning patch of hair. “Either way, I’m glad to see you. I had the housekeeper watch your place while you were gone. And I spoke to your principal. He said he’d keep your spot at school until you were ready to come back. But you’ll have some catching up to do.”

“Thanks, Phillip. I appreciate that.”

“Now, I’ve been thinking about how we could spin this absence. We could tell them you’ve been on a mountain in Tibet, enlightening yourself with Buddhist monks. Or a spiritual quest through the Andes. Of course, if you want to keep it simple, there’s always rehab. You know people eat that shit up. We’ve got options.”

My lips tilt at the corners, and I can’t help laughing a little. Same old Phillip. He has my best interest at heart, but I didn’t come here so he could save my reputation, and I think he senses it. That’s why he’s trying so hard.

“I don’t want to do damage control. That’s not why I’m here. I just wanted to talk to you face-to-face because I owe you that much.”

He walks around his desk and collapses onto his desk chair with a long sigh. Opening the bottom drawer, he pulls out a bottle of Crown Royal. “Should I be sober for this?”

“You do you.”

He takes a long pull, twisting the cap back on before he looks at me again. “Okay, hit me with it.”

“I’m done.” I meet his gaze, so he understands this isn’t one of those half-hearted tantrums celebrities often throw when things don’t go their way.

“Done, as in… done until graduation?” he asks hopefully.

I shake my head. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. This life, it’s just not for me.”

“I had a feeling it would be option D,” he grumbles. “Fading into obscurity.”

“That would be fine by me.”

He takes another long pull from the bottle and replaces the cap. Phillip wants to believe he won’t drink the poison anymore, but we all do. It’s the nature of the beast.

“You promised me you’d give it the year to think about it,” he reminds me.

“I did. But I know now. And I want you to know too.”

“Christ, Landon.” He rocks back in his chair and stares out the window. “I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I understand. This life, it’s not for everyone. I think I realized that about you from the moment I took you on as a client. Hollywood just won’t be the same without you.”

“Thanks, Phil.” I nod to him. “I appreciate everything you’ve helped me with over the years. You’re a good man.”

There’s a long moment of silence as he comes to terms with the death of my career. “So, what will you do now?”

I tell him the truth. “I have no fucking clue.”Fifty feet.

That’s all that separates me from Lane Silvestri. I only know his name because Suzy mumbled it once when she was too high to refer to him as something other than that fucker or the sperm donor.

If I’m being honest, I had my doubts she even knew who my real father was. But looking at him now, throwing the ball for his dog in a posh Los Angeles park, I know it without a doubt. I look just like him.

His wife and kids are sitting on a picnic blanket a few feet away, watching him with pure love and admiration. He was married when Suzy lured him in somehow, and his eldest son is already away at college. Something I learned from the dossier the investigator gathered for me.

It’s strange to think I have two brothers and a sister who don’t even know I exist. They never will. It’s what he wanted, and I have no intention of begging to be in his life. I just wanted to see for myself what he was like. I wanted to know the other half of my DNA, at least from a safe distance.