Page 119 of Famous Last Words
Robbie looks at him, his eyes heartbreakingly hopeful. “I just wanna play fucking hockey.”
“And you will,” Andy says confidently. “I’m going to make damn sure of it.”
My belly knots, roiling with nerves as I look down at my phone. “There’s something else,” I announce, more than a little anxious, considering I’ve been hiding it from Robbie all morning.
Both Andy and Robbie turn to me, their expressions nearly identical.
I drag my teeth over my bottom lip, looking down at my phone again, at the DM staring back at me.
“What is it, Keller?” Robbie presses after a moment, his voice soft and not at all pushy.
I swallow hard, releasing a shuddered breath. “I wasn’t sure anything would come out of it, so I didn’t tell you…”
Robbie nods slowly, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
“I reached out to Lola Grey last night…”
Andy drags a hand over his face, sighing forlornly.
Robbie’s eyes widen, his face falling stark, sheet white, like he’s just seen a ghost.
“I explained who I was, and what had happened… to you,” I continue, my hand shaking as I tentatively click onto the video I received at four a.m. this morning.
The projector screen comes to life once more with an image of Lola Grey. I was shocked when I first watched it this morning while Robbie was in the bathroom. The Lola Grey I know of, the one I’ve seen all over social media and the tabloids, is nothing like the woman presented on the screen. Her make-up free face is gaunt and splotchy, her bleached blonde hair dull and brassy, with dark roots showing through. Dressed in a gray hoodie that swallows her small frame, she’s a shadow of the infamous woman she’s known to be. And I know I don’t know her personally, but I feel for her.
“My name is Lola Grey, and I am currently undergoing an in-patient program at New Start Lodge, in the foothills of the Camelback Mountains, Arizona. I’m here because I am a drug addict.”
I move to the chair next to Robbie, taking a seat. Glancing sideways at him, I watch as he rubs his chin, gaze intently focused on the screen. Reaching out, I rest my hand on his arm, squeezing him gently just so he knows I’m here. I’m on his side. And I will be for as long as he’ll let me be.
Lola Grey continues, “On the night of August seventeenth, I was staying in a suite at the Sunset Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. I was not in a good state of mind. I was high, snorting cocaine, popping prescription pills, smoking weed. And I was on the verge of doing something really stupid. I contemplated jumping off the rooftop of the hotel because I wanted to end my own life. And all because Robbie Mason told me he didn’t wantto be in a relationship with me.”
Without taking his eyes off the screen, Robbie’s hand covers mine on his arm, and I know this is hard for him, but I also know he needs to see this. The world needs to see this.
“I was so angry at Robbie. I was hurt. I felt rejected. I punched him. Scratched him. Screamed at him. And despite all of that, he stayed with me that night. He refused to leave me alone because he was worried about me. But later on, when I woke up, I found Robbie asleep on the sofa. And I placed a bag of cocaine in his lap, and I took a photo and sent it anonymously to a few online media accounts, knowing exactly what would happen and exactly what people would insinuate, knowing exactly what damage it would do to his reputation.”
Lola shifts, clears her throat, and even through the camera, it’s blatantly obvious that her eyes are welling with tears. “In the time that I spent with Robbie, never once did he even touch a single drug. He was an advocate against the use of drugs. Hetriedto help me. And above everything, he kept my secrets all while I exploited him. I am so sorry for the damage that I caused. I hope, one day, Robbie can forgive me.”
The image on the screen goes dark with the end of the recording, and a heavy silence settles around the boardroom, thick with the kind of palpable tension that makes it almost impossible to breathe.
“Holy shit…” Andy mutters.
“She’s going to post it to her social media accounts tonight,” I say carefully.
Andy glances cautiously at Robbie.
“Are you okay?” I whisper after a moment, squeezing Robbie’s arm.
He nods, still staring at the screen, at the paused image of Lola Grey. I see the bob of his throat, and then he turns to me, meeting my eyes. “Thank you.”
With a small smile, Irelease the breath I was holding, squeezing his arm again.
CHAPTER 47
ROBBIE
Ibarely managed to hold my shit together long enough to make it back to my apartment. Hanging on by a frayed thread, I led Fran through the reporters still crowded outside the building, every last bit of my resolve slipping the closer we got to finally being alone.
Now, stepping off the elevator, my hand still gripping hers like if I let go, she might disappear into thin air, I enter the code, shouldering my way through the door and pulling Fran inside with me, barely clearing the doorway before I have her pressed up against the wall.
