Page 123 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“You know how I’ll be going back and forth to L.A. after midsummer to start settling into an apartment over there for when I move in August?” William said, catching my hand and drawing an invisible line over my wrist with his finger.
I nodded.
I didn’t want to discuss William’s move to L.A. while driving to an event. Time was creeping up on us and consuming the few moments we had left before he had to leave. My decision to go out tonight had everything to do with supporting William’s premiere and not about us getting into complicated, personal subjects that only stressed me out and made me sad.
“Well, I know you said you weren’t going to enroll in the Summer Intensive Program this summer, but if you want to graduate in December, the only way to do so is to take nine credits combined in the two summer sessions.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. “Who have you been talking to?”
He laughed. “Your academic director?”
“William.” I gawked at him. “What did you do?”
“Don’t be mad, okay?”
“Can’t make any promises.” And I was serious about it. I crossed my arms at my chest as I waited for him to confess, but he uncrossed them for me and said, “You’ll get the dress wrinkled.” He winked at me.
“Tell me what else you talked about with Professor Sterling,” I insisted.
“I enrolled you in both Summer Intensive Programs,” he admitted, raising his voice when he saw I parted my lips to object mid-sentence. “Just let me finish, okay? It’ll be a lot of work, and I know you’re tired and need a break from school. But I also know this is what you want because you’ve mentioned a thousand times how you wish you could graduate in December. And I want that for you if that’s whatyouwant.”
“William.” I did want that, but I didn’t have the money to pay for the summer credits. Hell, I didn’t even know if I could afford the following semester, let alone another spring semester. That was the main reason why I wanted to graduate in December. I could then beg for a full-time job at the magazine and forget about the stress of figuring out how to pay my tuition on my own.
If I didn’t get the scholarship, I would have to put my studies on hold until I saved enough money to graduate.
“It’s fully paid, so there’s nothing to worry about,” he said.
“Do I have a winning chance if I decide to fight you on this?” I hated that I needed William’s money to make my plan of graduating in December feasible.
“Not a single one,” he said with a laugh. “The school has taken my money, and I’m sure they won’t want to give it back if I go asking for it.” He took my hand and kissed it. “All you have to do is choose two studio electives and a liberal arts elective.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
“Thank you so much,” I said, trying hardnot to let the shame consume me. “I really appreciate you doing this. But you didn’t have to.”
“I’d do much more if you’d let me,” he reminded me. I knew he wanted to pay for my last semester at school, but that was more than $20,000 dollars. I couldn’t accept that, and I’d made it clear after the first time he offered to do so when he’d gifted me a camera of similar value.
He already did so much. He paid for groceries and bought me clothes, claiming the designers sent them when I knew not all of it was a gift. He took care of my apartment’s utilities, insisting they were already included in the $800 monthly rent. And never once had he allowed me to pay for dinner or take out because he’s “old-fashioned for that sort of thing.”
I was only his girlfriend, not his wife.
The school would inform me about the scholarship committee’s decision any day now, and I wanted to talk to William about how nervous I was about it. But I couldn’t. Not without the conversation inevitably veering into him offering to pay for the semester again in case I wasn’t granted the scholarship. I wanted to vent, but instead, I kept quiet.
I’d never known jealousy of this magnitude.
We were at the premiere’s afterparty, and I couldn’t get my mind off William kissing and touching and having fake sex with that beautiful actress on the big screen like she was the most important thing in the entire world. He didn’t mention anything about the movie having sex scenes, and even if I knew he didn’t mean any harm by not telling me, I was jealous and upset.
At the same time, I was battling my feelings, knowing I should be better, more mature, and more understanding aboutthis being part of his job description.
I thought I knew what I was getting myself into when we started dating. But no one prepares you to see the man you love pretending to love someone else, touching them, kissing them, “making love” to them in a room full of people watching the same thing as well.
It was a beautiful movie. The acting was superb. I felt so proud of William, but as much as I tried, I couldn’t stop feeling upset. It was hard enough knowing there would be sex scenes to film whenever he went away to work on a project, but it was an entirely different thing to sit down and watch the end result among a crowd of strangers.
A part of me wished I had stayed home and ordered pizza in sweatpants while being able to blow my irritated nose without a care in the world. Out of sight, out of mind.
“You okay?” William’s hand slid around my waist as he leaned in to whisper. “You’ve been … quiet.”
“Just tired,” I replied quickly. “I feel like this cold is really kicking in.”
