Page 70 of The Close-Up
But there’s no way I’m ruining her night too.
I reach over and give her arm a squeeze and put on my best game face. “No way you’re leaving, not when you’ve got a hottie like that to chat up. Have fun.”
And then I dart as fast I can out of the bar. Once I’m walking along the sidewalk, my phone goes off. It’s a text from Simon.
I’m sorry.
I ignore it as I pull up the rideshare app on my phone and wait for my car to come, trying my hardest not to cry.
Chapter Fifteen
I’m posted at my regular spot near the wall with my camera set up for Simon’s seminar today. He walks up to me, his eyes glued to his phone.
“About ready?” he asks.
“Yup.”
He turns around, heads to the front, then greets the crowd. That short exchange is similar to all of our conversations this past week ever since that night at Robberbaron when things went south between us.
The fact that things are tense between us makes me a weird sort of sad. Yes, I’ve had arguments with friends in the past. They’ve often taken days or even weeks to sort out.
But this new rift with Simon feels different. So much of our lives have been intertwined with each other for the past two months. Simon has become one of my favorite people to talk to, spend time with, to joke with, to eat with.
But it’s clear he’s not interested in going back to what we used to be.
I close my eyes and sigh. My head spins as I think about working together these next handful of weeks. All the seminars and one-on-one interviews I still have to film with him, the shoot in Napa with his family. It’s all sure to be awkward as hell.
My overwhelmed brain jumps to Landon. It’s clear that he’s done with me too. He never texted or called the next day like he said he would. It’s an especially lonely feeling, losing a friend and the guy I was seeing at the same time.
I shift my focus back to filming today’s session. Simon leads the seminar with his trademark confidence and ease, speaking with authority but without arrogance.
Someone raises his hand to ask a question. I can’t see him from where I’m sitting, but when he asks about how to get his girlfriend to trust him more and stop accusing him of lying and cheating, my ears perk up. His voice sounds familiar.
“Why do you think she accuses you of lying and cheating so much?” Simon asks.
“Dude, I don’t know.” This guy’s curt tone sounds vaguely familiar.
“You have to have some sort of inkling,” Simon presses.
“Probably because of the way we started.”
“And how did you two start?”
A sigh rockets from the guy, who I still can’t see. “There was some...overlap... I guess you could say, between my last relationship and her.”
“So you cheated with your current partner?”
“Jeez, way to sound judgmental.”
“I’m not trying to sound judgmental,” Simon says, a slight strain in his tone. “I’m trying to get the truth of the situation. It’s the only way I can help, if you’re open and honest with me.”
“Fine. Technically I was still with my ex when we started up. It took some months before I was able to end things with my ex and fully commit to the relationship with my current girlfriend. But I don’t see how that’s relevant to our argument problem. I love her. I’m loyal to her. I don’t see why you want to bring all that up.”
Inside I’m starting to stew. This guy sounds unreasonably defensive given his history of lying and cheating.
“Look, you don’t have to be here. No one’s forcing you,” Simon says. “But you need to come at this from a different angle if you want things to improve between you and your girlfriend. You can’t approach a situation like this feeling defensive. You cheated on your previous girlfriend. And as a result, you now have this undercurrent of distrust in your current relationship. You need to truly understand that and take responsibility for it. There’s no way to improve things in your current relationship if you refuse to do that.”
My heart pounds. Jesus, this guy. To do something so hurtful and refuse to even see it.
