Page 83 of Anxious Hearts
‘But we couldn’t help each other, Touls. That’s exactly my point. We both crashed and burned.’
‘You crashed. You didn’t burn. You’re still alive. This time when you put the plane back together, make it better, stronger. So you don’t crash again.’
‘What if it’s not meant to be? What if it’s better if it’s Finn and Ashley?’
Toula tucked her legs up underneath her and leaned towards Kelly. She spoke in a whisper: ‘It’s not better if it’s Finn and Ashley. It’s Kelly and Finn. The two anxious hearts that need each other to be made whole.’
Chapter Thirty-seven
She slapped him hard across the face as soon as he opened the door. Finn stumbled backwards and Ashley followed him into his apartment.
‘You fucking arsehole!’ she screamed.
Finn held his stinging cheek with one hand and raised his other as a defence between them. ‘What the hell?’ he cried.
‘You trashed my apartment, you fucking junkie.’
Finn paused. Thought for a second. Then he laughed.
Ashley’s jaw dropped. She stared, wide-eyed. ‘You think this is funny?’
Finn had forgotten all about ransacking her apartment yesterday. But that was the hilarious part. How do you empty the entire contents of someone’s home onto their floor and then forget you’d ever done it? So he couldn’t help chuckling, but he held his hands up apologetically. ‘Mea culpa. I’m so sorry. I meant to come back and clean it up but totally forgot.’
‘You totally forgot? Are you high now?’
Of course he was high. The only other option was to be low and it was only six o’clock at night. He’d come off a long day of successful shooting and was planning on hitting the town, with or without Ashley. ‘Not high. Just ready to party.’
Ashley’s eyes teared up. ‘My God, Finn. You’ve turned into a monster.’
Finn laughed. ‘Better believe it, baby!’
Ashley made a kind of choking sound. ‘Give me my key.’
‘Come on, Ash. Don’t be like that.’
She held out her hand. The muscles in her jaw twitched and she spoke from between clenched teeth. ‘Give me my fucking key.’
Finn retrieved it from his key bowl and placed it in her hand.
‘I don’t ever want to see you again. If you come near me, I’ll tell the magazines everything.’
Finn wasn’t going to be intimidated by that bluff. ‘Including how you’re a coke and benzo dealer?’
Ashley shook her head. ‘I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. You need help, Finn. Get it before it’s too late.’
She was dressed in her signature black. Pants that fit snugly around her buttocks but flowed loosely down her legs. A delicate silk shirt unbuttoned enough to reveal the prize of what lay beneath. When she turned and walked out of his apartment, she was so hot she could set the place on fire. Finn was sorry to see her go.
But she was right about one thing. He needed help. The stash he bought from Cam would soon run out and he needed a new supplier. He wasn’t worried, though. He’d just done two lines so he knew he could bend the world to his will. He was a famous TV star who could get into any club in the city with any girl he liked on his arm. How hard could it be to find someone to supply a little coke?
***
Finn’s agent, Esme, had a love of eating in hotel dining rooms. Finn didn’t understand why she would want to eat somewhere she wasn’t staying but he’d sat at just about every identically white linen–covered table in the city to humour her. Today, it was breakfast. A buffet – she loved that shit as well.
Esme went for the cooked breakfast while Finn settled for a croissant and orange juice. He’d decided not to do a line before meeting with her; Esme was the most astute and observant person he knew and if she didn’t immediately recognise he was high, she’d circle round him like a sniffer dog until she confirmed the scent.
They exchanged a little small talk, mainly so Esme could enjoy her eggs and sausages, but when she moved on to her breakfast coffee, the tone quickly changed. She sat back in her chair and stared at him, not saying a word.
‘What?’ Finn asked, suddenly nervous. The longer she watched him, the sweatier his palms grew. ‘What?’ he said again, forcing a laugh to hide his discomfort.
