Page 107 of Sing For Me

“Why would I tell them to back off? You need to leave, Simon.”

Simon laughs, like this is a joke.

“Neil, turn that off,” I say, pointing at the camera. But Neil won’t meet my eye. “Neil!”

Neil glances at me for the briefest moment, and I see the guilt in his eyes. But it’s gone a moment later as the camera swings toward him and he puts on his TV face, immediately coming up next to Simon and thrusting the mic at him. “You’re a friend of L’Aubergine’s beloved restaurant manager, are you?”

Simon ignores him, taking a step toward me.

“Simon, stop!”

“How long were you together before Reese took up with Eli? Were you still an item?”

Despite my panic, my jaw falls open. “What the hell?”

Once again Neil won’t look at me, and it’s then I realize what’s happening. He’s trying to makemethe scandal.

“No, Neil,” I say, barely keeping my anger contained. “I haven’t seen Simon Houghton in years. He has no reason to be here.”

But Simon laughs. “Oh come on. You asked me to be here.”

“What?”

“That song. Those words.” He says it like it’s so obvious.

I wrack my brain, trying to think of what he could possibly be talking about.

Simon smiles in this patronizing way. How did I ever think that was attractive? “Reese. I saw your video. ‘Switch all your tomorrows for one yesterday’?”

Finally, through his botched rendering of Joplin’s lyrics, I understand. He thinks I sang the song lamenting about a lover lost was for him.

I’m so stunned I don’t notice the murmur of the crowd gathered around us. Someone’s pushing through everyone standing around.

Someone urgently calling someone else. “Wait!” I hear vaguely.

“Was the song for him, Reese?” Neil asks, the mic in my face now.

My heart thunders in my chest, my palms sweaty.

“You’re delusional,” I say. To Neil and to Simon. But they’re both looking at me, waiting for me to answer.

Simon takes another step. “It was for me, wasn’t it, Reesey?”

I open my mouth to say, “No.”

But it’s not my voice that comes out. It’s a loud, angry male voice.

I whip my face toward what I realize is a now openly murmuring crowd, and the man stepping out of it.

Eli.

Like I’ve never seen him before. He’s so furious looking he seems to have grown to twice his normal size. Which says a lot given his normal size.

“No,” he says again, not so loud but somehow more commanding. “You don’t get to say her name,” he says to Simon, his voice barely contained.

My chest fills with a gratitude so deep I let out a sound, half gasp, half whimper. I didn’t know how badly I needed him here until he showed up. Reminding me how a real partner should be.

Eli takes my hand. “You okay?” His voice is low.

---