Page 68 of Absolute Certainty
Alex’s lips curved into a genuine smile. “Same!”
Sahar leaned forward, balancing the drinks with one hand and giving Alex a hug with her other arm.
Somehow, even though she’d known Alex for mere minutes, it had felt longer than that. Maybe it was a Callahan family effect—an inherent kindness and warmth woven into their ways of communicating. Their father, excluded.
“See you around, Sahar.”
“See you!”
When Alex walked away, Sahar spun on her heel and headed inside. One of their guards, Zayn, was already standing in front, holding the door open. She gave him a fist bump and beelined toward Ethan’s room, knowing Willa would be there.
“Christian, boo, I’ve got your tea,” she called out while passing his and Miles’ dressing room.
“Coming,” Christian replied.
Walking into a bustling dressing room, Sahar’s excitement doubled at the sight of her co-workers. Miles and Declan were inside, too, heckling Ethan about something.
She placed the tray of drinks on the vanity and ran over to Willa, giving her the biggest squeeze. Willa had spent the night at Ethan’s, so this was the first time they had seen each other since yesterday’s show.
“Happy Birthday, you fucking goddess. I love you to the moon,” Sahar declared into their hug.
“I love you more. Thank you,” Willa giggled, tightening their embrace.
After parting, Sahar added, “Jay wouldn’t let me pay again. He says, ‘Happy Birthday.’”
Willa gave Sahar a look. She knew exactly what it meant, and it wasn’t something they were going to talk about here.
Declan turned to Ethan then. “Why don’t we ever hug like that on our birthdays, and why don’t you ever call me a ‘fucking god?’”
Ethan playfully slapped Declan’s exposed, rock-hard abs. “Is that what you’re itching for when you refuse to wear shirts?”
“Obviously,” Declan agreed.
They all laughed at the exact same time. If there was any moment where Sam should’ve been recording, this was it. For the past two months, when Sam went on Instagram live, Declan would stubbornly put on a shirt to spite him for telling everyone he walked around shirtless, even though he’d more than earned the reputation.
Sahar reached into her tote then and pulled out a wrapped box, handing it to Willa.
“We agreed to no gifts,” Willa protested.
Sahar shrugged. “I agreed to no such thing.”
Willa sighed contentedly. “Why are you like this?”
Funny, she’d just said the same thing to Jay.
“Want me to open it now?”
“Yes, because I’m very proud of it.”
Smiling, Willa opened the present and pulled out the item covered in bubble wrap. Tears welled in her eyes when she took it out and saw what was inside.
“Sahar,” she whispered.
A gratified sense of joy ribboned itself around Sahar.
Willa turned to Ethan to show him the Polaroid-style photograph of the two of them from their time as Elizabeth and Darcy. Sahar had taken it while they were backstage. Willa was mid-dip, smiling earnestly at something Ethan had whispered to her.
“Sahar, this is so fucking thoughtful,” Ethan said.
