Page 87 of Starrily
Her chair screeched as she rose. “Was anything even real? You wanting to cheer me up because I’ve been working all day. Helping me with my talk. Getting Jessica to write about mywork. Even the …” She leaned an arm on the table to support herself, reaching up to her forehead with the other hand. “The observatory. You got me a slot so my project wouldn’t be delayed. I thought it was so nice of you. No one had ever done anything like that for me. But you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you needed my project.”
“That’s not true.” He stood up and faced her across the table. “Everett had already wanted to stop the funding by then—”
“Don’t pin this on your subordinates,” she growled. “You’re the CEO. You can decide. And you were the one working with me, not him. Of course, because you’re the funny, charismatic one. Everyone loves you, so naturally, I would, too.”
“If you’ll remember, I was no happier with the situation than you were—”
“Of course, because I’m dull and boring, and I only care about my work and have no sense of humor.” She waved her arms around. “Must’ve been the sacrifice of your life. I bet you’d have rather seduced anyone else but me.”
“It wasn’t—”
She held up a hand. “I need time to think.” She grabbed her tablet and stormed off. Simon made half a move to catch her, but he stopped himself, and he stayed frozen like that, arms stretched out, until a waiter came by, carrying two cups of coffee.
“You can take them back,” Simon said, his tone expressionless, and marched back to the cabin.
He waited for five, ten, fifteen minutes, sitting on the bed, absently petting Theia, but Callie didn’t return. Should he go after her? What if something had happened to her?
Well, something did indeed happen to her—he. He messed up badly this time. He should’ve told her about Everett’s plan ages ago, at the latest when Everett threatened to pull funding. But he didn’t have enough courage, or perhaps initiative, to do it.
Simon scoffed at himself. He prided himself on being so brave, on looking danger in the eye daily and not blinking; but in truth, he was a coward, given a cozy life, so he wandered through it aimlessly. He never put up a fight with Everett, not even when he knew his adviser was doing something wrong, because he just couldn’t bother.
And now Callie was going to pay the price. He may have been the culprit, but he draggedhername into the newspapers, made it so everyone would only remember her as that woman who got cheated, instead of the wonderful person she was.
And he’d taken her trust and broken her heart.
He dragged himself to the bathroom and started to pack up his stuff. Perhaps he deserved to fade away. He was no longer Simon Montague; he was just a pale shadow. A useless impostor. He should disappear before he ruined more of Callie’s life.
The front door slammed, and through the open door to the bathroom, he saw Callie enter the cabin before she disappeared around the corner. Clothes rustled as she began to pack, but she didn’t say anything.
She was leaving. He was sure the road trip was canceled, but not getting help from her family didn’t bother him nearly as much as the fact that he made her cry, and if he didn’t fix it, he’d lose her.
He had to do something. At least try. He clenched his fists and walked into the main room.
“Callie.”
She didn’t react; only kept stuffing her bag with the clothes she’d picked off the floor. Fine; she didn’t have to say anything, but she could listen.
“It was true,” he continued. “You were right. I could’ve said no, and I should have. I’ve made many mistakes, but you have to know …” He gulped. “It may have started with me doing this for the company or, to be frank, to keep living the way I was.But that’s no longer true. It hasn’t been for a while. Because you … you made me realize there’s more to my life. Helping with your talks, the body art project, the observatory—I did it for you. Because I wanted to see you happy. Smile. God, when you smiled at me …”
She still didn’t say anything, and he went around the bed until he was only a few feet behind her. “I don’t know how you did it. How you made me remember, how you reignited the joy for the things I used to hold dear and had abandoned. But I know that I love you. And I’m sorry I hurt you.” His eyes stung, but strangely, he felt no tears coming. “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever known. And as much as I hate Everett for his business schemes, I’m grateful for one thing—putting you in my path. You can leave now and never talk to me again, but I wanted you to know.”
Callie finished stuffing her bag and stared at the wall, thinking. Was she not going to say anything? Even shouting at him would’ve been preferable.
“Callie,” he tried one last time and reached for her shoulder.
His hand passed through.
Not this thing again. Not now.He reached for her with his other hand—straight through.
Callie shuddered and swatted at her shoulder.
Simon lifted his hands in front of his face and wiggled his fingers. Okay, two hands simultaneously—things were getting worse, but at least he wasn’t sinking into the floor yet.
Callie finally turned and walked straight through him.
He caught his breath from the sheer shock but, in a second, realized—he didn’t need to hold it. He didn’t need to breathe.
He touched his chest; through; his middle; through, he kicked one leg with the other—all through. And that’s when he saw it: he was no longer standing on the floor. He was floating an inch off it.
