Page 70 of Heartstruck at Dawn
WILLER: IT’S OVER!
There was a picture of William and Erin inside a broken heart just below the title.
Who designs this?
I opened the magazine on the tabbed page where they wrote about the breakup news. Now,thiswas the kind of journalism that piqued my interest. The brief article read:
Sources close to the couple confirm their relationship is officially over with no possibility of reconciliation for the near future.
The couple had called it quits last April after three months of making their relationship official but rekindled their romance in August of the present year. A source close to the couple confirms their breakup happened last month at the beginning of October.“They have nothing but the utmost respect for each other. William hopes nothing but the best for Erin,”the source added. Powell’s rep was unavailable for comment.
A small note read:Had to work around the breakup dates to avoid a breach in contract with the film directives. We found out that Erin and her team were feeding the old paparazzi photos of us to the media.
I closed the magazine and tossed it on my bedroom sofa. I threw myself on my bed and hugged my pillow in a fetal position. A considerable part of my heart broke into a million pieces. He really was too late. I’d just formalized things with Nathan, but it was my fault too. I’d also been too proud to listen, to allow him to explain, and most of all—to believe him. I only did when I saw the evidence which he managed to put together until today.
What am I going to do now?
I texted him.
Me:Hey. Can we talk?
A couple of minutes later, I heard him yell from across the wall, “Coming!” The sound was murky and muffled, sort of like talking into a piece of cloth, but I heard him alright.
He knocked twice on my door ten seconds later.
“Those are some paper-thin walls,” I told him when I opened the door.
He laughed. “You heard me? You better behave then.” He teased.
“Me?” My eyes went wide. “You’re the one who should be worried about the wall’s width.”
“Oh yeah, with all the threesomes I’ve got going on, it’s sure to get crazy in there. You probably will want to buy one of those white noise machines or get yourself a pair of earplugs. That is if you want to get some sleep at night.”
“Very funny.” I wrinkled my nose. I took a deep breath and said, “I read your letter.”
“Can I—come in?” he asked with a raised brow. I was hesitant about letting him in, but we really needed to talk, and I didn’t feel like doing it in the hall with random people coming in and out of his apartment. The last time he set foot in my apartment, everything went to shit five seconds later.
“Sure.” I opened the door fully, and he stepped in, taking in the space as if it were his first time coming in. We stood in the foyer because I didn’t want to make the conversation any more intimate than it had to be. “I saw the magazines too. I’m sorry. I should’ve believed you, and I didn’t but—”
William took two steps in my direction and embraced me. I stopped talking. The usual mouthwatering smell of him surrounded me, and I didn’t pull away from his arms. “I needed you to know,” he said, resting his chin on the top of my head. “I think we were both hurt, and that’s why we reacted the way we did. I just hope you can forgive me. For everything.”
His embrace was warm and protective. And a whole bunch of other stuff too. Damn it. Allowing William to hold me like that felt all kinds of good and bad at the same time.
All I could see was Nathan’s face in my mind, and a harrowing feeling ofI’m failing Nathantook over me. I didn’t want to feel that way.
Slowly but reluctantly, I broke away from William’s embrace. “Thank you for putting this together for me. I’m still embarrassed about being so quick to judge. It was never my intention,” I said. He kept trying to capture my wandering gaze.
“Can you stop pretending now?” he said softly, almost a plea. “I learned my lesson. Just thinking about Nathan with you has been driving me—” He closed his eyes for a second and looked away. “Please, just stop.” His voice was low and grave again.
He didn’t know. I thought maybe Joel had called him after brunch to let him know that Nathan and I were official now. But William was oblivious of that fact, and now I had to be the one to tell him. It was going to be so hard to do.
“We’re not pretending anymore,” I started. He smiled and took a step closer. I wish I didn’t have to be the one to tell him. “We’re now officially dating.” The other part of my heart, still untouched, finally vaporized inside my chest when I said that to him. And the discouraged look in his eyes just broke me—broke my soul in half.
“No.”
“I’m so sorry. I thought you were with Erin, and I just couldn’t—”
“But it’s all been cleared up now.” William took yet another dangerous step in my direction and cupped my cheeks with both of his hands. “Look at me,” he demanded. I couldn’t. I knew I couldn’t. “Look at me and tell me you feel nothing.”
