Page 60 of Fire

She plopped her head down and stared up at the ceiling. “A new life.”

The bed dipped as Allie sat next to her hip. “You don’t need a new life. You just need to erase the past six weeks of this one.”

She nodded even though she thought, did she really want a life in which she’d never known Blake? As miserable as she was right now, did she wish she’d never met him?

“Do you think it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?” She turned her head Allie’s direction.

Her face was mostly in shadow, but there was enough backlight for Gwen to see she was pondering her question. “Right after a breakup, I’d say, no. But, a few years down the road, when the pain is gone, I’d say, yes. How sad it would be to look back on your life and not have any love stories to reminisce about.”

Blake wouldn’t have any to look back on, Gwen thought.

“Did he get called away again? Is that why you’re so upset?”

Gwen sighed. “I wish it were as simple as that.” Then she went on to replay their whole conversation. She was crying again by its end. “The look on his face as I was leaving, I’ll never forget it. He honestly didn’t care. Didn’t even twitch a pinky to try to stop me.”

“Wow, what a dick. Well, it’s better you found out now than later when your heart is involved.”

Gwen grimaced and looked away.

“Gwen, no. Look at me.” When she turned her head back, Allie said, “It’s been less than two months. How can you be in love with him?”

A tear leaked from the corner of her eye, and she swallowed thickly before saying, “I think I loved him before I even knew his name.”

“Gwen! Wake up.”

She was startled from sleep as a five-foot-four, one hundred-and-twenty-pound Allie jumped on the foot of her bed, landing on her knees.

Gwen got up on her elbows, one eye closed, the other squinting. “What’s going on?”

“I got a call from Frank Evans. You remember, one of the producers of my show.”

“Yeah.” She looked around the room still disorientated. “What time is it?” God, it felt like she’d just fallen asleep.

“A little after eight.”

Well, that explained it. She hadn’t been far off. She’d tossed and turned until the small hours of the morning, and even then, her sleep hadn’t been restful.

“Gwen, are you listening to me?”

She cleared her throat. “Sorry. What did you say?”

“I said, Frank wants to meet you for lunch at one o’clock.”

“What? Why?”

“He wouldn’t say. Only that there was something important he wanted to talk with you about.”

Gwen pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “Don’t you find that strange? I barely know the man.”

Allie shrugged. “Hollywood people do weird things. I’m used to it.”

“I don’t really feel like going to lunch.” If she had it her way, she’d wallow in bed all day.

“I’m not going to let you spend all day in bed.”

Gwen shot her a dirty look. “Get out of my head.”

Allie laughed then turned serious. “Get up. Go out. It’ll help keep your mind off Blake.”

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