Page 31 of Role Play

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Aidan

“Everything fell apart justlike I knew it would."

I stared down at Jane's text as the elevator made its slow crawl up to the third floor. I had no idea what the hell was going on. I had called her and knocked on her door a few times the night before. Finally, around midnight, she sent the text. It was easy enough to interpret the words. She had not gotten the part after all.

I was more than a little hurt that she hadn't wanted to see me. Somehow I'd managed to convince myself that I meant enough to her that she would come to me when she was hurting. I was sure unexpectedly losing the part was nothing short of devastating. I could only figure that the disappointment had been so terrible, she just didn't want any company. Not even mine.

The work day had dragged on, and I never heard one word from her. I knew she had given up her job at Bulk Mart because of the movie role. That was probably weighing heavy on her mind. I hoped at least in that, she'd come to me for help.

I stepped out of the elevator and a loud vacuum roared through the hallway. It took me a second to understand the scene in front of me. Jane's furniture was sitting along the wall in the corridor, and the door to her apartment was open.

As I reached her apartment, Milo stepped out of it wearing his coveralls and carrying a bucket of cleaning supplies.

"What the hell is going on? Where's Jane?"

Milo's eyes were nearly lost in the bulk of his fat cheeks as he stared up at me with surprise. "Didn't she tell you? She left town. Moved out. She left me an envelope with the three months rent to pay off her lease and the keys to her apartment. By the time I got up here to find out what was going on, she was gone. Closet and bathroom shelves empty. She left the furniture. I guess she took just what she could fit in her car."

None of what he was saying was making sense. Had I fucking misread everything about our relationship? I had never had someone who I counted on and who counted on me, but I thought that was the level we'd reached. Maybe I was just a big idiot in thinking she cared about me at all. I should have gotten my first hint when she wanted nothing to do with me after losing the movie part.

I stood in the hallway stock-still as if someone had just thrown a fist in my face. I was stunned and hurt and feeling like a fool. Milo walked into the apartment and returned with a trash can. He set it down next to the cleaning bucket.

My eyes swept down. A lemon yogurt container sat on the top and I thought about her sitting at the kitchen counter laughing about something while she ate her yogurt. It was going to take a long time to get the sound of her laugh out of my head.

As I lifted my eyes, I noticed a pile of business cards had been jammed into the trash. I reached inside and pulled them out. They were identical copies of the same card. Russell Darby, talent agent. I rubbed my thumb over the embossed phone number a few times before deciding to make the call. Jane had talked fondly about her agent as if they were close friends. There was a good chance he wouldn't tell me a thing, but it would help me if I knew why she left without telling me.

The phone rang and he picked up. "Hello, Darby Talent."

"Hello, yes my name is Aidan Swift and I'm a friend of Jane's."

"Yes," he said with a terse tone. "I know who you are."

"All right." I cleared my throat. "Guess you've already formed an opinion of me, so I'm just going to ask you straight out. What the fuck is going on, and why did Jane leave town without a word?"

Russell eased off the sharp tone, apparently deciding I wasn't the enemy after all. "She lost the part after the original actress slated for the movie decided she wanted it."

"I figured she lost the part, but why didn't she tell me?"

He hesitated. "Well, she was crying pretty hard and mumbling so I had a hard time hearing exactly what happened, but she said something about you and giggling women and a pair of shoes."

"What the fuck?" I had forgotten about Diane’s and Bonnie's visit and the stupid gum shoes. But I was still lost. "They were women from work. One of them had stepped in gum on her way up to the apartment."

"I guess in her despair, Jane jumped to conclusions. She knew you had a reputation with the ladies, and she had just come out of a relationship where her longtime boyfriend had been cheating on her."

"She didn't even give me a chance to fucking explain. Where did she go?"

"She went back home. She said she was done with the dream, and she was going to work at the bank. Believe me, I'm just as disappointed as you."

"Yeah? I doubt that. At least you got to say good-bye. Thanks for filling me in." I hung up and pushed the phone into my pocket.

I stopped in front of my door and stared at it. I could hear Milo shuffling in the hall behind me.

"Hey, Milo," I said without turning around.

"Yeah?"

"You're going to need to order another door." Shards of paper thin wood flew around me as I plowed my fist right through it.

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