Page 63 of Handsome
But not as miserable and stifling as my realization that I might have to let Sarah go for good.
She tugged my arm and said, “Let’s go, slowpoke! The limo's waiting for us.”
I nodded and followed, keeping my tension to myself.
My heart was breaking down into brittle shards of glass. I knew what emotional heartbreak could cause physically and knew that, somehow, I needed to learn how to love her without having a part of my daily life.
When we scooted into the limo, she said, “I don’t know if this dress is appropriate for a TV show. It’s awfully short, and I thought we were dancing on the beach.”
I knew my smile wasn’t from my soul when I squeezed her hand and said, “I hired stylists, so you’ll be perfect.”
“I’ll never be that,” she said, and her face turned red. I winced, knowing I said the wrong thing again, but there was no way to take it back.
Once the limo took off for our destination, she took my hand and asked, “Is everything okay Cyrus?”
“Of course,” I said, hoping it was true.
I loved her, and that love would need to be strong enough to see me through whatever happened next.
39
Sarah
We got out of the limo in front of the huge convention center hosting the event, and a red carpet and mob of photographers awaited us.
I gripped Cyrus’s arm to keep myself from jumping back into the limo. I couldn’t see a thing because of the flashing lights.
He put an arm around my waist and waved like this was normal.
Huh. I guess people wanted photos of trillionaires. I tensed for a second.
No one had ever bothered to take my picture. And that was when I knew the video Darren Davis had posted everywhere online to humiliate me could haunt Cyrus.
I shouldn’t be in his world.
But he already knew everything about me. I glanced at his profile and took a deep breath.
Today I needed to stop. Fears were just nonsense in my head that prevented me from doing what I wanted.
And I wanted to be with Cyrus. Now and forever.
So today I’d just focus on the dance and him.
Finally the red-carpet walk was over, and we entered a building.
I looked up, and up, to see sunlight pouring in from a glass ceiling while the air conditioning kept the place cool.
Everything was lovely. When my nerves finally took over, I fell back on stating the obvious. “This is a convention center.”
He gestured toward to an elevator marked "reserved," and no one stopped us. Once the door closed, he let me go, and I suddenly felt alone and chilled, though he said, “We have a private room I booked, and we’ll have our dinner delivered.”
Honestly, even a couple of weeks ago I wouldn't have gone anywhere near this place, except maybe, if I could afford to take a day off from the diner, standing outside at a distance, wondering who was going inside.
And all at once my spirits lifted. My life had changed for the better, even If only temporarily, so took his hand and prepared to enjoy myself.
As the doors opened and we headed to a room with a white door, I asked, “And you’re sure you’re not looking to win? I’ll follow you, but this is still just for fun?”
He paused to let me go in first while he gazed down at me. “Yes, don’t worry.”
