Page 46 of The Sitcom Star
Apparently, he felt it was his duty to get to the bottom of this—her poor complexion, the dark circles under her eyes—but she didn’t want to talk about her love life with him.
“I’m okay.Just a bit tired.”It wasn’t the full truth, but it also wasn’t a lie.Sleep had eluded her in the past few days.It took her hours to fall asleep with Adrian haunting her thoughts.
Ethan didn’t question her further, though he continued to look a little worried.
After they ended their conversation, Maddie’s mind drifted back to Adrian.What was going on with them?She wasn’t sure.She thought she’d given him a decent opening to discuss their relationship—I’ve really enjoyed having someone else in my life.What about you?—but he’d remained silent.Though that might be typical of Ethan, it was out of character for Adrian, and now she hadn’t heard from him in a few days.
Should she have been more obvious?She’d planned to be, but she’d dreaded being turned down.No, I’m sorry.I don’t feel that way about you.
Yes, Maddie might be on TV, but she was just a person, a person who was in love with someone who may or may not feel the same way.It was easier to not know than to be absolutely sure he didn’t want her.What if he’d avoided saying something because he was trying to figure out how to let her down easy?
Later that afternoon, Maddie headed over to her parents’ house.
“Didn’t I tell you to bring Adrian?”Mom asked when Maddie arrived.
It was the last thing she wanted to talk about.
“He’s busy,” she said curtly.
She headed to the kitchen.There was fruit laid out on the table, and her sister was already there.
“So, she joins at last,” Kathryn said.
“I’m right on time,” Maddie muttered, her blood pressure rising as she reached for a piece of melon.
“For once.”
“When was I late?”
Mom interrupted their bickering.“I think you could do better than Adrian.Don’t you agree?”She turned to Maddie’s father, who nodded.
“Mom!”Maddie said.
“A surgeon, maybe.”
“Or a dentist,” Dad said.“Or—”
“Stop it, okay?”Maddie couldn’t take it anymore.“My whole life, you’ve been most concerned about appearances, not what’s best for me.It wasn’t even about wanting me to have a stable career, which at least would have been understandable.I used to be nobody in your eyes, and you kept telling me to do something else with my life, kept telling me I was a failure, and then after a little success, the way you treat me is completely different.But I’m stillme.”
“I didn’t think you were a failure, Maddie,” Mom said.
“Well, you sure made me feel like one.”
“Aiyah!Why are you saying these things?”
Maddie briefly shut her eyes and took a deep breath.Her family would never give her what she wanted of them, and she’d have to accept that.Hoping otherwise would only lead to disappointment.
She pasted on a smile and reached for more fruit.A part of her wanted to leave, but she didn’t have dinner with her parents and sister all that often; today would be the first time in months.Besides, she didn’t want to go home and continue avoiding the conversation she needed to have with Adrian.
What did he want?Did he just want to keep sleeping with her?Was he intimidated by her life?He wasn’t jealous, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be a little intimidated.
She could obsess over questions she didn’t know the answer to…or she could finally get some answers.
“Maddie?”Dad said with an unusual amount of concern.“Is something wrong?”
“No.”She exhaled slowly.“I’m okay.”
She would put herself out there.She was used to dealing with rejection, after all.
