Page 45 of Moonstruck at Midnight
A couple of bright lights coming from the outside startled me. I turned to look at the window and saw three men with huge telephoto lenses. They were arguing with Aaron while David made a call. A paparazzo snapped a few more shots as David walked inside the coffee shop. People were nowreallystaring at us.
“Miss Murphy, sorry to disturb you. Caleb’s on his way with the car. It’s best if we leave. Walking is not an option. We don’t want these men to follow us back to the apartment and see where you both live.” I nodded, and he excused himself but remained on the inside of the coffee shop near the entrance. Aaron kept trying to get the paparazzi to leave.
“Lily, are you okay with leaving?” I was flustered.
“Oh, of course. This is uncomfortable. I’m now considering getting a couple of these guys for myself.” She laughed.
“I’m sorry. It feels like we got cut short. Is it always like this for you?” I asked while we waited for Caleb to arrive.
“It wasn’t. I mean not before—” she broke off.
“Before what, Lily?” I pressed.
“Um, before I—landed a big modeling contract,” she said, but I felt like that wasn’t what she was about to say.
“Miss Murphy, Caleb’s arrived. Please follow me.” He nodded at both of us.
We walked out of the coffee shop, and one of the cameras hit my left cheekbone. Hard. David got in between the paparazzo and me, and before I even had a chance to cower, he knocked the guy down. Aaron grabbed my arm and placed me inside the car. Lily jumped in a second after me with David, who shut the door behind him.
“Red, are you okay?” Caleb said, looking at me through the rearview mirror, driving away from the scene. He didn’t care about the formalities. He seemed worried and upset.
“I’m fine. Just a bit startled.”
“Billie, I’m so sorry,” Lily whispered. “This is all my fault.”
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt.” It did. My cheek was throbbing with pain, but I didn’t want her to feel responsible about it because it wasn’t her fault at all.
Caleb circled around a few blocks just to make sure no one was following us and then dropped us off at the apartment building entrance. He tossed the keys to Aaron and escorted us inside.
The elevator doors opened in the distance. William came out with a small rolling suitcase, wearing workout clothes and headphones around his neck.
“Hey, lover,” William whispered with a smirk as he walked beside me. My blood boiled at his cynicism. But Lily was right; he would never apologize.
“Billy! Where are you going?” Lily shouted, but he didn’t stop. “I need to talk to you!”
“Out!” he replied dryly, without looking back. Senad opened the door for him, and he walked out of the building. His driver took William’s suitcase, and he jumped in the back of the car.
“I think he’s been permanently damaged,” Lily uttered to herself. “I’m sorry, Billie.” She looked worried and ashamed.
“Lily, you need to stop apologizing for him. It’s okay. I can take care of myself.”
“I bet you can.” She chuckled. “His cheek was blazing red when he came back from your apartment on Saturday. We could still see your fingers branded on his face. That’s why Joel questioned him in the first place. I don’t think that any girl has ever slapped him before.”
Damn it!I was sure that Caleb heard that.
I whispered how I never intended to slap him, that it was the first time I’ve ever done that in my entire life.
William’s words came flashing back to me.I’ll be taking care of the rest of your firsts once you’re done with Thomas. I was furious again, and Lily must’ve seen it on my face.
“Billie, did something else happen that night? You can tell me. I need to know if he—”
“No! Nothing happened,” I whispered and pulled her away. I didn’t need Caleb to find out about the drama that went down on Saturday.
Lily looked at me with incredulous eyes. “You know you can trust me, right? I’m leaving tomorrow for a few days, but I’ll call you when I get back so that we can hang out.” She took her phone out. “Here, could you type your number for me?” I typed it down as we walked inside the elevator.
“I’ll walk you, Miss Murphy.” Caleb stepped in with a letter-sized white envelope and a scary face. We all went quiet as the elevator made its way up.
“I’ll text you, okay?” Lily said when the doors opened on the ninth floor. Caleb held the door for me.
