Page 56 of Yellow
“Nothing. I just missed Seattle and I want to see some of my favorite spots before I go home.”
I wasn’t buying it, since she wasn’t looking ahead at all. She was looking in the side mirror, and the anger she had radiated since we left the cabin was now overshadowed by worry.
I figured coming back to Seattle would make her naturally more paranoid and that it was likely an inevitable part of her life as a movie star.Thank God I’m not part of that lifestyle.
“Drop me off right over there,” she pointed ahead. “See the red door after the bakery?”
“I see it.”
“Good.”
She was out of the car as soon as it came to a stop without as much as a “goodbye.”
That bothered me!
Less than two hours ago we had been about to have sex and now we would never see each other again.
I knew it was for the best, but I hated that I had failed to help her when she so obviously needed help. And the fact that I’d probably just hurt her more after all the shit Niko had put her through didn’t sit well with me either.
“I’m such a fucking moron,” I muttered under my breath and hit the steering wheel in frustration.
?∞?
Chloe
I was in the restroom on the ferry when she recognized me.
“You’re Cleo.”
My sunglasses were pushed back on my hair while I was washing my hands, and when I looked up I saw the young woman’s eyes in the mirror.
She looked to be in her late teens and of Asian descent.
For a minute I considered telling her I was Faith; but Niko was behind bars, so there was no danger of him finding me, and for a lot of people meeting a celebrity makes their whole day.
“Hello,” I said and gave her a small smile before I turned to dry my hands on an air-blower.
She was talking, and even though I couldn’t hear her words because of the noisy dryer, her expression alone was enough to alert me. She was mad about something.
“Ashamed of yourself,” were the only words I picked up after the blower died down.
“Did you hear me?” she asked.
“Sorry, I’m meeting someone,” I excused myself and opened the door to leave.
“I said, you’re a bitch for cheating on Niko and I hope you’re ashamed of yourself.”
I gaped at her. “He shot me!”
“Because you drove him insane. You’re a horrible person,” she accused me and in that moment my eyes fell to her open jacket, revealing a T-shirt with Niko’s face grinning back at me.
She was clearly one of his super fans who only saw the polished pop-star version of him. There was nothing I could say to convince her who he really was.
I left – quickly and with my sunglasses back in place. Niko’s fans had always hated me. First for stealing him away, second for all the endless poisonous headlines in the magazines.
Once it got so bad that Niko tweeted his fans asking them to be nice to me.
The young woman had just confirmed that I shouldn’t expect any sympathy from their side. Not even his attempt to murder me had dampened her love for Niko, and there were likely thousands like her.
