Page 84 of The Final Draft

“You and Madelyn? Airport? Getaway?”

One corner of his mouth lifts slightly. “We were coming here. To New York. She has an audition.”

“Oh.”Things aren’t always as they appear, my heart whispers.Shut up,my head shouts. It’s been weeks.Finally,my heart sighs.Why now?my head questions.

I look down, and his eyes track mine. He takes in the mess on the floor, and it must trigger him. His arm shoots out, and he shoves the messy bouquet at me. “These are for you. Sorry. I was nervous.” I don’t need his nervous apology. Or the flowers.

I take the remaining flowers from him. They’re wrapped in torn paper, and the tattered bow is destroyed. They look exactly how I feel. “Thanks,” I respond with a shrug. “I’m sure they were lovely.” Why is he nervous? I’m sure he’s broken up with women before.

We stand in silence until Noodle wanders out of the apartment. He walks around Julian’s legs, signaling he wants to be picked up. Julian scoops him up and snuggles him. “Hey buddy, I missed you.”

He missed the dog. That’s the last straw. “Why are you here, Julian?” He’s blocked me and ignored his friends’ pleas to talk to me. I’m confused. Tired. Heartbroken. Defeated.

“I missed you.” He looks at me, his eyes pleading with me to believe him.

I’ve been working my way through the stages of grief today and I’ve shifted from denial to anger. “But you blocked me, ignored me, shut me out. But most of all, you didn’t trust me. Missing me is kinda on you.” I lash out.

“You’re right. That’s totally on me. And I’m sorry, Harper. It’s unforgivable. And I’m not making excuses, but I was caught off guard, and you had talked about Charlotte being a revenge kind of girl and, well, no excuse. I was wrong, and I’m sorry. So fucking sorry.” His eyes search mine, seeking something. Answers? Forgiveness?

“I’m not Charlotte.”

“I know.” He lowers his head in shame.

I can see where he might be confused. At first, to him, Charlotte was me. But as he got to know her as a character, she came into her own. “I suppose that’s the problem with being a muse. It can get confusing about what’s real and what’s not.”

“You are the most real person in my life. You didn’t give up on me. Even when I was too stubborn to get out of my own head.” He reaches out and then drops his hand back to Noodle. Great, this is the let’s-be-friends portion of the conversation.

I bow my head in defeat. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t tell anyone.” That’s all I wanted to say this whole time. He probably still believes I betrayed him, but at least he’s heard the truth. Now he can close this chapter and go back to Madelyn.

“I know.”

I raise my eyes to his. My heart feels lighter knowing he doesn’t hold me responsible. “You do?” Is that why he’s here?

My wide-eyed look of surprise brings the ghost of a smile to his lips. “Yeah, I’m not sure how it got out, but I don’t care. It wasn’t you. You’d never hurt someone on purpose, especially someone you love.”

“You think I love you?” I say with a scoff and more sass than I feel. I waited for the right time to tell him, and well, it never came.

“I know you love me. Without a doubt. Hell, the entire world knows you love me. Because you do, right?” His hopeful gaze causes the protective barrier I built around my heart to crumble into dust.

“Guilty.” I shrug. Leave it to him to steal my love proclamation. “By the way, charges are pending for Professor Daniel’s assistant.”

She held the first meeting with Julian and did some unsanctioned research. When the secret leaked, I reached out toProfessor Daniels, and he did some digging. They fired her, and the school is considering charges for breach of confidentiality. He has been extremely helpful during this time and is an honorary member of Team True Love.

He gives a half shrug. “Don’t care.”

“It was all my fault. I was jealous. If I’d only listened to you. You’ve told me over and over things aren’t as they appear.” I’ve spent a lot of time accepting my part in this series of events. I shouldn’t have left that message. I should have answered his calls. So many things I should have done differently if I wasn’t tired and reactive. And jealous. It’s still hard for me to grasp that this kind, generous, beautiful man loves me. Or loved me?

Now he’s looking at me like the cat that ate the canary.

“I like that you were jealous.” He’s coming back to life before my eyes. His smile lights up his face, a rosy hue warming his cheeks, eyes twinkling with joy. With growing confidence, he straightens, his shoulders broadening as he takes control of the moment, our encounter now fully under his sway.

We’ve been inching closer, like two magnets that can’t ignore their pull. Noodle gives a little yip, and we both laugh as he struggles to get down. Julian leans down and places him on the floor. He wiggles and walks away.

“I read the book on the flight here.” He closes the gap between us. The flight. The one with Madelyn, I remind myself. I take a step back, and his smile falters. “What?”

I’m shaking my head, trying to figure out what to say without sounding like a jealous harpy. “Madelyn,” I mumble.

His grin returns as he steps closer. “Oh, she loved it. Couldn’t put it down. She might use the final profession of love as a monologue at her audition tomorrow. Since she wouldn’t part with her book, I borrowed a copy from a nice lady on the plane. She’s a big fan, by the way. She gushed over the ending. I was intrigued when she said things that didn’t match my memory ofthe story.” He shrugs. “Besides, it’s trending on BookTok, and I needed to see if it really lived up to the hype.”

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