Page 41 of Harrison's Wedding

“Hey, honey.”

“Are you okay, angel?”

“I’m not coping, Harrison,” she says in a quiet, croaky voice, and it’s obvious that she’s stressed to breaking point.

I hate this. I can’t stand being away from her when she so obviously needs me. I long to be in New York with her. This afternoon can’t come soon enough.

“I wish I was there with you. You can do this.”

“I have to do this. I don’t have another choice. I know I can do it, but it just”— she pauses and takes a deep breath, which she exhales slowly—“it’s been a lot. I’ll feel better when you’re here. Tomorrow’s the day, and then it’ll be done, and we’ll know how it went.”

“It’s going to go brilliantly, Heather,” I assure her, “I know it will. Your designs are amazing, and from what you’ve told me, everything there is going according to plan.”

“You’re right; my brain is just being a scumbag and making me think bad things. I’ve got this.”

She’s trying to sound her usual confident and self-assured self, but I know her too well. I can hear the worry in her voice, despite her trying to mask it.

“I’ll be there before you know it.”

“I know. Thank you, honey.”

“Have you eaten?” I ask, knowing that she’ll have been flat out this week preparing everything for the show.

“Not yet, I only just woke up. I’m going to get room service before I go meet Ally.”

“Make sure you do. You don’t want to get distracted and forget to eat.”

“I promise I will. I love you; I’ll see you this afternoon.”

I smile, because by this afternoon, she’ll be in my arms again. “I love you too, angel. See you then.”

I shower and get dressed before going to knock on the doors to the rooms Sebastian and Hayden slept in last night. They stayed here so we could travel to the airport together for our flight.

“Do you guys want breakfast?” I call out.

“Sure,” Hayden responds.

There’s unintelligible mumbling from behind Sebastian’s door that I take to be a yes. I’m in the kitchen cooking bacon when Hayden appears. He starts making toast and coffee, and we’re almost done when Sebastian walks into the room.

“Couldn’t we have flown later than nine in the morning?” he says while yawning.

I remember how stressed Heather sounded on the phone, and I shake my head as I crack eggs into the pan. “No. The sooner I get to see Heather, the better.”

“Is my lover okay?” Sebastian asks.

Despite my worry, the way he refers to her makes me laugh. After the engagement party, the media started printing rumors that Sebastian and Heather are having a love affair. So, he’s renamed her in his phone as ‘My Lover,’ and it’s his new nickname for her.

I sober as I think about my call with her, and tell him, “I spoke to her this morning, and I think she’s panicking about the show. It makes sense. Think about how nervous we were before some of our first shows.”

“Pretty fucking nervous,” Sebastian laughs. “Her show is going to be amazing, though. She needs to remember how badass and awesome she is.”

“You try telling her that.” I turn to grin at him before I flip the eggs over in the pan.

“Good point. I’ll do just that,” Sebastian says.

He’s still on his phone when I dish up the eggs onto the toast Hayden’s put on plates for us, adding bacon to the side of each plate. We make our way to the dining table and eat our food while I keep an eye on the time.

I clean up the dishes from breakfast while Sebastian and Hayden shower and get ready to leave. When everything is cleaned up, I sit on the sofa and pull out my phone to check my email. Before I do, I quickly search Heather’s name in my browser. There are pictures of her leaving her hotel this morning. She looks as beautiful as ever, but I’m concerned by the way the paparazzi are crowding around her. Her face is composed, but I can see the tension in her body, and I wish I was there to keep her safe.

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