Page 55 of Come Apart
Chapter Eight
Iwish Alyssa was here.
I need to hold her and whisper in her ear how much I love her. I need her to know that this trip has nothing to do with us—I still love her more than anything.
But the weight of this is so heavy. I can feel it pressing down on us, taking up space between us.
She knows I have to be here.
But she doesn't like it. If I leave now, Samantha might sink back into her depression.
I'm not entirely sure what happened was an accident.
Even though it does seem like Sam may have convinced herself it was.
I take a deep breath. I've only been here two days. Two days is nothing in the scheme of my life with Alyssa. And she's an actress. There are going to be so many times when she's out of town filming a project. There are going to be so many times when we're going to have to be apart.
I need to make peace with that.
I call Alyssa, but I only get an "I'll call you back” text.
I resort to killing time—leafing through a faded paperback I've already read half a dozen times, flipping through channels on the TV, staring out the hotel window at the awful view of the parking lot.
And then my phone rings.
I answer after the first ring. "Hey."
She laughs. "That's a lot more restrained than I expected."
"You're obviously trying to kill me."
"Obviously." She clears her throat, nervous. "Did you get my email?"
My lips curl into a smile. "I did."
"Did I sound like a rambling idiot?"
"No, it was really sweet. I loved it."
I can hear the embarrassment and the pleasure through the line.
She quickly changes the subject.
"I love this pour-over. And this coffee is amazing." She sighs like she's in heaven. "I didn't realize how desperate I was for an easy supply of good coffee."
"I'm glad," I say. I shift the phone to my other ear. "I watchedModel Citizenagain. You were really amazing."
"I was okay. I can't believe you watched it again."
"You were amazing. And I enjoyed it just as much the second time."
It's true.
"But that scene in the laundry room—ugh! I was acting so hard. I could see it on my face."
"You're the only one."
She groans. "You're biased."
