Page 40 of For My Finale
“You never wanted to?”
“Nope,” Blossom said cheerfully.
Lilah frowned. The idea of staying in one place forever felt alien to her. She’d spent most of her life hopping between sets and hotels and rented houses by this point, never quite feeling like she belonged anywhere.
“It must be nice,” she said finally. “To have a home like that, to feel safe, to belong.”
Blossom did stop now. She turned to face Lilah, both eyebrows raised in disbelief. “Are you, Lilah Paxton, seriously jealous of me?”
“Obviously not,” Lilah said, crossing her arms and scowling.
Blossom studied her for a second before letting out a short laugh. “Right. That’s what I thought.” She turned back to the sink. “My life must seem so boring to you.”
“Right,” Lilah agreed, deciding it was time to find other entertainment. She stood up and made it halfway to the door before she had a change of heart.
Something gnawed at her. The lie gnawed at her. She stopped and turned back.
“Actually, your life sounds nice. Safe. Comfortable. You know who you are and what you want.” She looked down at the floor. “I guess I am a little jealous, actually.”
Blossom stopped working again, but Lilah didn’t look up at her. She felt too vulnerable. Why the hell was she telling Blossom all this? Why was being honest with her so important?She wasn’t even this candid with herself most days.
“Not everyone’s life is perfect all the time, Lilah,” Blossom said softly. “Even I know that, as optimistic as I can be. You should definitely know that. Life isn’t a movie.”
Lilah did look up now and tilted her head. “Really? You live like you’re in a movie, all sunshine and rainbows.”
“Everyone wants for something,” Blossom said.
Lilah took a step closer, watching Blossom very carefully. “So…” she said slowly. “What is it that you want, exactly?”
There was an agonizingly long moment when Blossom just looked at her. When the air was charged with something that neither of them was ready to name. Lilah felt anticipation coil in her belly, half-expecting Blossom to say something, to step over an invisible line. Willing her to do it, willing her to say what Lilah was almost sure she wanted to say.
But then Blossom turned away, breaking the spell. “I want to keep my cafe.”
Lilah let out a solid, long breath. “That’s it?”
“That’s everything,” said Blossom, scrubbing the sink far harder than it deserved.
Lilah hesitated for a second, then shrugged. “I could give you the money. I’ve got more of the stuff than I know what to do with.”
Blossom’s back went rigid. “I’m not here for your money, Lilah.”
“I never said you were,” said Lilah, though now that she was saying it, she knew that she’d perhaps harbored a suspicion. After all, everyone else always wanted something from her. “I just meant… I could help you.”
“I don’t need your help.”
Lilah felt her frustration rising. “You literally just said—”
“I said I wanted to keep my cafe.Mycafe. Not that I wanted you to buy it from me,” Blossom snapped, throwing her cloth down into the sink.
“Jesus.” Lilah held up her hands in mock surrender. “Alright, fine. I was just trying to help.”
“Well… don’t.” Blossom’s voice was sharp and Lilah could feel just how deeply she’d miscalculated the situation. Blossom wasn’t impressed by her fame, wasn’t interested in handouts or easy solutions.
In fact, Blossom might be the very opposite. Blossom might currently be wishing that Lilah was just an ordinary person.
And Blossom was… leaving.
Lilah watched as Blossom grabbed her bag and stalked toward the back door, her shoulders tense, her movements stiff.
