Page 58 of A World Apart
“I don’t want to!” I wailed, “but I can’t fucking stop!”
Becka sighed and sat next to me on the bed.
“Look, there’s nothing I can say that would help. I think… I think you’ve just gotta go through this, you know? I think you need to be okay with feeling this for a while.”
I snivelled, trying to take big gulps of air in-between heaving sobs.
“When Ben and I broke up,” Becka began, and for her sake, I tried to calm enough to really hear her. She so rarely even mentioned him. “I wasn’t okay for the longest time. I was so angry all the time, and when I wasn’t pissed, I was crying. And pissed I was crying!” She huffed a laugh. “I was a mess. And I think you’re gonna be one too, for a while.” She ran her hand up and down my back and my cries finally softened.
“But, then one day, you don’t cry, and you start to get a little better. One day at a time.”
“I’m sorry you’re going through this. I don’t think either of us thought this would happen, huh?” She smiled at me, and I found I was able to smile back, because no, this was not supposed to happen. But here we were.
“I’m here for you, babes. Whatever you need, when you need it.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here when Ben left,” I murmured.
“Ach,” she waved my apology aside. “How could you have been? And besides, you’re here now. Paying his half of... well, paying some of his half, anyway.”
We both laughed, my pitiful intern salary a well-trodden joke between us.
“When does he land, anyway?” She segued neatly away from Ben, still a subject best left alone.
“Hey Google,” I sniffed, “how long is the flight from LAX to Seoul?” My screen flashed with an answer. “Apparently, thirteen hours.”
Becka whistled. “I hope they at least give him slippers and the good snacks. That is a long-ass flight.”
I didn’t disagree. I also didn’t bother to mention Jihoon and his team were flying privately. The snacks were bound to be good.
“It’ll be well after 7:00pm California time before he lands, which…” I quickly did the maths in my head, “will be 11:00am on Friday in Seoul.”
“Is he flying TARDIS-Airlines?” Becka joked and I attempted a half-smile for the effort she made at making a Dr Who joke before 8:00 in the morning.
“South Korea is sixteen hours ahead of us.” I sighed. “A whole world away.”
Becka gave me a sympathetic smile and grabbed my knee. “Come on babes, it’s time to get up.”
And, not having a good enough argument to disagree, I did.
The rest of the day was a blur; the first day I’d had at Pisces where I just went through the motions in order to get the day over with. If someone had asked me at the end of the day what tasks I’d completed, I wouldn’t have been able to tell them. Maybehumped some boxes around. Possibly set out some music stands in the big hall. Honestly, I’d have been guessing.
But then, when 7:00pm rolled around, I was glued to my phone, willing it to buzz but, nothing. And then 8:00pm still nothing. 9:00pm, I turned it off and back on again and called Becka to check my line was working. Still nothing.
When 10:00pm came and passed, I went to bed.
Friday
Friday felt like a copy-paste of Thursday, except with the added bonus of dodging Trevor Kyle in the stairwells. I knew he had followed me in there because A. He never takes the stairs, and B. I saw him looking up the middle of them before going back out into the lobby. I don’t know how he didn’t spot me, but I was relieved all the same. It was like creeper hide-and-seek.
It felt like I was on his radar now. Once upon a time, I might have welcomed someone like Trevor Kyle knowing who I was. I’d openly admired his work on more than one occasion, but now that I’d actually met him—even through our brief and unpleasant interactions—I couldn’t even bring myself to talk about him. He made me feel... uneasy.
This morning, he’d sent a message to Jeremy, asking if I’d be interested in shadowing him on his next project.
The opportunity to learn from someone so influential in the industry had been tempting, but the blaring of my red-flag radar was impossible to ignore. Even Jeremy had read the email out loud with a face more pinched than usual, his relief obvious when I told him I still had too much to do.
So, I spent the rest of the day making myself scarce.
Not thinking I could top that level of excitement; I was just gearing up to cozy up on the sofa and binge watch Supernatural when Becka suggested going out. I scoffed at the suggestion and started combing my hair back from my face.
