Page 108 of Moonstruck at Midnight
That’s all I needed to hear at the moment. Mimi stood up and excused herself to take care of breakfast. My father took Mimi’s place on the bed and held me in his arms.
“I’m sorry. I’msosorry,” I managed to say in between sobs. Not only was my life a mess, but I was sure the kitchen was too.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, darling. I’m just glad you’re okay,” he said in the warmest voice.
“Oh my God, happy birthday, Dad!” I cried and hugged him even tighter. I wiped the tears off my face.
“Thanks, kiddo. I heard you were baking a cake for me,” he said, brushing off the tears that kept streaming out involuntarily.
“I was. I’m so embarrassed about it. I really don’t belong anywhere near the kitchen. I’ll ask the guys to buy a cake for you.”
“No need to be embarrassed either. And that sounds great. I’ve cleared my schedule for the whole day. There’s nothing more I want but to spend my birthday with you. When I arrived yesterday, you were sleeping, but I did get to talk to the guys,” he explained, brushing his forehead with a slight frown. He was worried, but I could see it in his face that he didn’t want me to notice. “I actually spent the night here.”
“Oh.” That was all I could say. He knew everything that had gone down the day before, and there was no way of avoiding it.
“Caleb looked quite … agitated. He refused to leave last night. He wanted to station himself outside the apartment. I told him it wasn’t necessary, and I finally dismissed him,” he said, taking a seat on the sofa across from my bed. “So, things got a little out of hand last night with Thomas?”
I explained how we had broken up the previous Saturday when I stayed over at the Hamptons and apologized for having dismissed Aaron, Caleb, and David to spend the night there.
I took a deep breath and told him how Thomas flew in to talk to me since he was having a hard time accepting we were done. “He refused to leave after I told him to, so … well, you know how Aaron and Caleb get all protective,” I said, looking down. “I’m not happy about how they took him out,but he was acting like a jerk. He was disrespecting us, and I wasn’t going to allow that.”
“Us? Who else was here with you?” he asked. His brows moving closer.
Oh,great!Nowthey leave thingsoutof the report?
“Uh, yes. William, my upstairs neighbor, was here last night too. He was checking in on me, and Thomas didn’t appreciate his presence, so to speak.”
“Aha,” he replied, narrowing his eyes and raising the right corner of his mouth slightly. “William, the Swedish actor, yes?” I was surprised he knew about William. My father laughed when he saw the surprised look on my face.
“Hmm. I just found out last night that he’s an actor,” I snorted. “Thomas was the one to break the news. He didn’t take it well that William and I are—well, friends.” I was shocked Thomas hadn’t said anything before, but we’d only bumped into William twice. He never really saw him. The first time, Thomas was drunk and exhausted, and the second time William and Tobias wore hats and sunglasses.
I guess I understand now why they did. They probably didn’t want to be recognized wherever they were going. Although William’s not too hard to miss in a crowd, no matter what he’s wearing.
“How come you didn’t know you had a bunch of celebrity neighbors? You know, I did find it odd you’d never mention anything about it. I thought you didn’t find it interesting.”
“Neighbors? So, it’s not just William?”
“Oh, kiddo. They all are, except the youngest one and their mother,” he replied. “Why do you think I asked to reinforce security if you hung out with them? I meant all of them. Not just Lily.”
What?
I couldn’t believe it. I did recognize Lily, and Siv, their father, did seem familiar, but I could never place him. “And, are they like, super famous or something?”
“Well, Siv has been an actor for quite a while. I’m sure you must’ve seen a film with him in it, but you probably don’t remember. And from the three brothers, let’s say William’s right up there. Haven’t you walked through Times Square?” He laughed again. “I guess this is my fault. I’ve probably kept you a bit shut out of the world.” His smile slowly disintegrated.
And no, I hadn’t walked through Times Square ever since we got back in April. We drove a few times through there, but I never noticed anything. “Is there a big poster of him or something?” I still couldn’t believe he was famous. I hoped it was all a big joke, but it wasn’t.
“Yes, I believe he has a new movie coming up.”
“I see.”
I just wanted him to be William—myWilliam. But it didn’t make much of a difference because he’d never been mine anyway. And you can’t lose what you never had and all that crap.
“Are you good friends?” he asked, digging for information.
“Mhm.”
A lie. William wasn’t my friend. We’d never been, and I honestly didn’t care to befriendswith him. That wasn’t an option. It was all or nothing for me.
