Page 91 of #Starstruck

“I wouldn’t consider it stealing,” she snapped back, her eyes narrowing. “It was on the Foundation’s property, and he used a resource to help our cause. Do you know that over a million seabirds and a hundred thousand sea mammals are killed by pollution every year? It was so selfish of you to not talk to Mr.Covington about our event. We desperately need people like him supporting us.”

“Are you serious right now?” I had been raised to be respectful, especially to authority figures, but I couldn’t believe what was happening. “I was selfish? Noah posted pictures of me all over the Internet and made my life a living hell, and you knew about it! And I’m selfish? You are unbelievable!”

“I’m committed. There’s a difference. And I didn’t know Noah was going to post the photos. I only knew that you had a serious connection you were withholding from us.”

Anger coiled inside my gut, roaring to be set loose. She should be committed. “And yet you didn’t say a single word to me about what he did. You thought it was worth sacrificing my relationship and my privacy for?”

She folded her hands primly on her desk. “I would sacrifice even more if it meant saving the life of one sea creature.”

That set the anger free. It coursed through my entire body until I was so full of rage I could barely see straight. My grandma would roll over in her grave if she knew the kind of words I wanted to use. I stood up. “You are a truly terrible person. I know you’ve made yourself believe you’re the hero in this scenario, but you are the villain. You condoned stealing, you used me, you hurt people. You’re supposed to do good here.” I threw my security badge on her desk. “I won’t work for someone as manipulative and horrible as you. And when I get the chance to tell the entire world about what you’ve both done, I’ll do it. We’ll see how long you and Noah keep your jobs after that.”

For the first time, she looked scared, but I was too angry to even enjoy it. Especially since I didn’t actually have a way to tell the whole world about her.

One last barb. I leaned across her desk and put my face close to hers. “And just so you know, fish aredelicious.”

That had her gasping and sputtering angrily. I slammed her office door on my way out. Everybody in the office had clearly heard every word; they just stood there, frozen, staring at me. I saw Noah with his stupid bow tie and his stupid suspenders. “You’re pathetic,” I spat at him. “You truly deserve every bad thing coming your way.”

I briefly thought about slashing his tires or throwing something at his head, but given that he hadn’t even had the decency to look guilty, I knew it wouldn’t do me any good. Besides, I should behave better than that, even if I didn’t want to.

I had to get home. I needed to be in my bed, eating ice cream and watching my favorite shows. I figured muscle memory led me back to my apartment, because I couldn’t remember the drive. I had been so hurt and so angry.

I didn’t see the paparazzi in my parking lot. It would be the first time in a few days that I’d be able to walk into my building without being inundated with flashes and questions. I took my keys out of the ignition, and the sunlight bounced off that stupid, sparkly fish. The fish that had ruined my life. I rolled down my window, intending to throw the fish key ring into the parking lot. I tried to tear if off, but it wouldn’t budge, and my fingers trembled too much to slide it off correctly. I settled for crying in my car, resting my forehead against the steering wheel.

“Zoe?”

My heart pounded so hard I thought I might faint.

Chase was leaning into my window wearing sunglasses that covered half his face. I couldn’t see his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay? Am I okay? I’m obviously not okay.”I’m in the middle of having a nervous breakdown, thanks so much.I opened my car door, and he had to move out of the way. I slammed the door shut and brushed past him.

“Zoe, wait. I need to talk to you. Please.”

I whirled around, folding my arms. “Fine, talk.”

“I would have come sooner, but I’ve been going to AA meetings. It’s why I haven’t been over yet.” He stopped as if unsure what to say next. He held out a bouquet of pale-pink tulips. “These are for you.”

“You think flowers are going to make this better?”

“No.” He lowered the bouquet to his side. “I need to apologize. I didn’t mean any of those things I said.”

“Well, no wonder you have an Academy Award, because if you didn’t mean them, you sure made me believe you did.”

He looked so crestfallen that even though I was furious with him, it took all my willpower not to comfort him. “Zoe, I know I can trust you. I do.”

“That’s the problem, Chase. Now I don’t know if I can trust you. I gave you my heart, and you broke it.” My voice caught. I would not allow myself to fall apart in front of him. “I can’t talk to you right now. I need to go.”

His hand was on my arm, and I had to move away from his touch. It was too much. “Please tell me what I can do to make this better. I love you. I need you in my life.”

“I don’t know how you can fix this. For now, I need some space. And some time.”

Each step I took away from him made my feet feel like they were encased in concrete, wading through a swamp. My heart wanted me to turn around and run back into his arms and tell him all was forgiven.

But my head wouldn’t let me forget what he’d done.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

He listened to me. Chase gave me all the space in the world. He didn’t text, tweet, call, or try to see me in person. As time went on, my anger started to dissipate. I thought about our meeting in the parking lot and how differently it might have ended had I not been all churned up from my confrontation with Stephanie.

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