Page 73 of For My Finale
Simon chuckled. “You don’t sound so sure.”
Lilah smiled again, lifting her other eyebrow and tilting her chin just so, the camera catching her good side. “It’s all part of the mystique, isn’t it?”
Simon laughed outright at this. Maybe he understood, maybe he didn’t, maybe Margot had filled him in, maybe he was just play-acting for the cameras. “Alright, alright, so let’s move on to more recent rumors. There’s talk that you’re about to make a big return. A certain Martin Leyland, who also quit Hollywood, is attached to a new project, and your name has been floating around in connection. Can you confirm anything?”
Smoothing out a tiny wrinkle in her dress, Lilah smiled. “I can’t tell you much.”
“But you can tell me something?”
She hesitated. She knew what she was supposed to say. She was supposed to say that she was excited, that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, that she was ready to reclaim her place on the silver screen. And yet… for a long moment, she hesitated. She hadn’t confirmed anything. Was this really what she wanted? Simon was looking at her.
She forced a grin. “Let’s just say it’s an exciting time.”
He studied her for a beat before nodding. “Fair enough, your lips are sealed, message received. Let’s talk about something a bit more personal then. There have been whispers of a new romance. A certain someone who might have managed to capture the elusive heart of Lilah Paxton.”
The question hit her like a punch to the gut. This was not supposed to be this way. It wasn’t on the list of pre-approved questions.
Her smile faltered for the briefest of moments. Of course, she knew exactly who he was referring to. Blossom. And just the thought of her name made Lilah’s stomach flip. Blossom withher warm eyes, Blossom with her warm kisses, Blossom with her warm heart. Blossom who’d let her walk away without a word.
Lilah swallowed hard. “Nonsense,” she said lightly. “Who could possibly capture the heart of Lilah Paxton?”
Simon laughed again. “That tracks with everything that I’ve heard.”
Her chest ached with the sound of his laughter. She’d said the words so effortlessly, with all the charm the world expected from her. But they were by far the worst lie that she had ever told. The worst and the most painful. Someone had captured her heart. But she’d been so afraid that she’d snatched it back again.
The interview wrapped up with the usual pleasantries. Simon thanked her for her time and Lilah shook his hand and then she was walking out of the suite, her back straight, her head held high, her heels clicking on the polished floor.
But the moment the door closed behind her, the performance dropped away. She stumbled slightly, reaching out to press a hand against the cool marble wall of the hallway. Her breath came unsteadily, and she clenched her jaw, blinking rapidly.
She’d thought she could handle this. She’d convinced herself that leaving had been the right thing to do, that she was protecting Blossom, that she could never have a normal life. But sitting on that couch in front of those cameras and denying that Blossom even existed had ripped something apart inside her.
She breathed out slowly, staring at the tiled floor. She’d done what she always did, played her part. But it wasn’t a part she wanted to play anymore. She couldn’t pretend that she wanted this.
She closed her eyes and stayed there, leaning against the wall, trying to ignore the way that her heart was aching in her chest like it might fail at any second.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
Lilah opened her eyes to see Margot standing in front of her, arms crossed, looking at her with a mixture of exasperation and something close to pity.
“Not quite a shit-show, but close to it,” Margot said.
“I handled it,” said Lilah.
“Did you?” Margot sighed. “Come on, you need a drink.”
Lilah let herself be led to the elevator and then down into the hotel bar. The drinks were overpriced, but at least there was some privacy here. The hotel had a reputation to keep up and wouldn’t let the press in.
Margot ordered a whisky for herself, and when Lilah didn’t object, another for her. Lilah wasn’t entirely sure she wanted a drink, but she took it when it came, smelling the deep scent of it.
“To putting all this nonsense behind you,” Margot said, raising her glass. “A scratch on the record, nothing more.”
Lilah had lifted her glass out of habit, but now she put it down. “It wasn’t a scratch.”
“Of course it was,” said Margot. “A little blip, an amusing story you’ll tell one day at a fancy party. ‘Remember when I ran away to the countryside for a bit and got chased down by a badger? What a riot!’”
“It was a bull,” Lilah said.
Margot waved a hand dismissively. “You didn’t really think you could just disappear, did you?”
