Page 43 of By Your Side

He scoops me up in his arms and we kiss deeply and passionately, the love shining between us the entire time. The future that me and Lance could share is too intense, it’s more real now than ever before, it’s absolutely perfect. I don’t know what way my life will turn, I don’t know how me and Lance will work out, but I’m excited to find out. I think that with him, I have a real chance at finding the happiness that I have always sought out but never quite found. Now, my past is done for, I don’t need to focus on that anymore, I can concentrate on what’s good instead. On the possibilities of what I can be, of who I can be, of the love I can have.

I haven’t felt worthy of love in far too long, but now Lance has changed that. He’s made me feel like I can have it all and so much more.Chapter 19 – LanceTen months later…“Lance! Lance Wilson!” someone calls out, trying to grab my attention from my position on the red carpet. “Lance, do you have a moment to answer a few questions? Our readers would love to hear from you…”

“Go on,” Stephen hisses behind me with his agent head on. He’s making me regret bringing him here as my plus one to be honest because he’s demanding and driving me a little mad. “You have to do this.”

“I know I do,” I shoot back through gritted teeth. “Of course, I do. That’s what movie premiers are for…”

But he gives me a knowing look anyway and sends me on my way. I step over to the woman calling my name with my biggest smile on my face because I know that the photos today need to look good. These are the sort of really important images that need to look good on the Internet and in the newspapers.

Of course, this is the sort of time where I would love to have my girlfriend by my side, under my arm, holding on to me to support me through this, especially when I see Ashely with her new squeeze, but I’m okay alone. This is the way that Millie wants it and I’m more than happy to make her feel comfortable and good.

Keeping my personal life and my public life separate is better for me anyway. It gives me a distinction, a way to divide things, to keep my head screwed on at all times. It makes my life simpler.

“Hello, Lance,” the lady giggles. “Thank you for coming to speak with me. How are things?”

“Everything is good. I’m very excited for the screening of the movie. It’s going to be one of my best…”

“Is it awkward?” she continues, talking right over me. “With Ashley? Now that you are over and she’s here with someone else. It must be incredibly uncomfortable for the pair of you…”

“That was a misconception. Me and Ashely were never together. That didn’t happen.”

“Ah, because I thought it ended due to the cheating. You and Millie Jones, am I right?”

I struggle to keep it together. Not because of the false cheating accusation but because I clearly don’t want to talk about Millie. If I brought her here with me then that would be a different story, but I didn’t. I never do. She isn’t in the public eye for a reason. Even her writing is under a pseudonym and no one has worked out that the mysterious best-selling books are by my girlfriend yet, and I hope they never will.

“There wasn’t any cheating. It wasn’t like that at all. Me and Ashely only worked together…”

“And you and Millie are still together, am I right in assuming that much?” I nod “And how is that going? There aren’t any concerns of cheating in the future if that’s how you got together? I know that you might love one another now, but there must always be a little bit of worry in the back of your brain.”

“I do love her,” I reply through gritted teeth. “I love her very much.”

“Yes, I see that, but I can’t help but worry for you. Your fans feel the same way…”

This woman wants to rile me, she’s desperate to get my attention, to make me freak out to give her a story and I need to keep my cool, so I don’t rise to it. I can’t give her what she wants. I can’t.

“Lance Wilson, are you excited about your next action, super hero project?”

I know that I shouldn’t be talking about other movies while I’m at the premier for this one, but I need to get away from this woman. As always, I would always much prefer to speak about my work than my private life anyway, so I happily move on and discuss my newest movie which I have started filming for. It’s a conversation that I can easily get lost in because it’s a new concept for me, one that’s challenging me a lot, and I can stretch that out for a long time. All while avoiding the questions about things that no one really knows anything about.

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