Page 36 of The Ending is the Best Part
‘Now wait a second, Yara, just calm down.You—’ he starts to say.
‘Please, don’t worry about it.I don’t want to embarrass myself any more than I already have.I’ll see you at work tomorrow.I hope you have a lovely evening.’ I go to turn away from him, but again he drags me towards him.
‘Yara, stop!It’s not what you think, okay?’ he says urgently.‘That’s my sister.’
I blink frantically.I wish the ground would open me up and swallow me whole.‘Your… your sister?’ I’m so mortified I wish the rain would dissolve me and I could seep into the drains.I think of who I saw in the restaurant and I experience a flash of recognition.Eloise.That same sister who followed me on Instagram all those months ago.
‘Yes, Yara, my sister,’ he says.‘We reconnected after my grandma’s funeral.We’ve been having a few lunches and dinners here and there.’
My mouth opens but my mind isn’t able to generate any words.Overwhelming relief floods me.And then, that same uncertainty, nervousness that I felt on the way here.
We stand facing each other on the street, cars racing past us.The streetlights illuminate his handsome features.‘So, did you come here for a reason or was it just to gape at me like a dying fish?’ he teases, like we are back to how we used to be.
My mouth snaps shut at his observation.I take a deep breath, knowing that I just need to rip the Band-aid off and say it.
‘About what I accused you of before I… Andrew explained everything and it’s all a huge misunderstanding.I know you didn’t try to take credit for my idea.But Meagan told me you did.Well, kinda.I mean at the very least it was heavily implied.I didn’t know what to think and I’m sorry!Can we just be okay now?’ I plead.
‘I see.’ He looks towards his feet, scuffing the ground with his heel back and forth.‘I told you that I would never do something like that.I hoped that you would believe me.’
‘I know.’ I hang my head and try to swallow the lump in my throat.‘I’m sorry.But, I guess I’ve found it hard to trust people.In the past.But it will be different in the future, I promise.’
‘I feel like my word is never going to be enough for you.’ His gaze rips away from me like he can’t bear to look at me any longer.‘But why should it be?We’ve been rivals for years.If Meagan had implied you’d done the same, I probably would have believed her too.Maybe we’ve just been through too much together to properly let our guard down, y’know?’
He’s talking himself out of us.I feel him slipping away.
‘I think I was right,’ he says, still looking at his shoes.‘The kind of love we imagined back in Wales, it doesn’t exist.It wasn’t real.How can two people trust each other that much?We clearly can’t.’
‘Xander, no, I—’
‘It’s okay.Look, I need to get back to Eloise.I have to think about… about everything.I’ll see you at work.We have a lot to do.’ He smiles weakly.He holds himself rigidly, not letting himself get too close to me.‘Get home safe.’
And with that he leaves me standing in the middle of the pavement staring after him like a love-sick puppy.
As I watch Xander’s retreating figure, his words echo through my mind, the heaviness of the conversation settling in my stomach like a deadweight.
It doesn’t exist.It wasn’t real.But it does.Itwas.Because I felt it.We felt it.I’m certain of that.
Chapter Twenty-Two
One Day Left
All of Tuesday, Xander didn’t come into the office.Meagan kept walking by our desks, glancing suspiciously at me sitting there alone.Yesterday and today, Thursday, were the same.I’m not really sure what I can do.We’re supposed to hand something in tomorrow morning.With Meagan’s ultimatum hanging over my head like this cloud of doom, I am stressed to the max.I’ve bombarded Xander withveryprofessional emails, but he hasn’t responded.Maybe he’s just given up on me.
I am in my flat trying to tune out the relentless ticking of the clock hanging on the wall.Every tick that reverberates is a reminder of how quickly time is slipping away.I pull a blanket tightly around my shoulders and sink into the couch as I glare at my computer screen.I’m looking at everything we did up until the moment we fell out in the café.I’ve read the half-finished episode a hundred times and what’s so frustrating is Meagan was right.Our writing styles had worked perfectly together.It had everything: drama, emotional stakes; it promised to give the fans what they wanted but would still surprise them and leave them hungry for the next season.I can’t help the feeling that this could have been – would have been – one of the best episodes of television of all time, certainly one of the best in our show’s history.
But it’s over now.It will probably remain unfinished business – just like me and Xander.I’ve accepted the worst.Meagan is probably in her office right now drafting an email to the other writers she had in mind.I sink my head onto one end of my couch and let out a sigh.I say an internal goodbye to the thought of my name appearing at the start of the episode, to my parents saying congratulations, to all the opportunities that this could have opened up for me afterwards.To think I actually believed we could work together.My God, I’m such a fool.
But that’s until…
A ping comes through my laptop.I brace myself for a message from Meagan telling us thatwhile she appreciated our efforts, as she has no confidence that we’re actually working together and time is running out before we have to start production, she has made the executive decision to…
I will myself to look at the screen, but what I see instead has me sitting up so fast I almost get whiplash.I have to rub my eyes to make sure it’s real.
For a second, I just stare at the name, scared that if I blink it’s going to change into something else.I blink.Nope.It’s still there.
From: Xander Woods
I pause, my thoughts going a million miles an hour.My first instinct is to rush and open it, but my fingers hover over the mouse pad.C’mon Yara, I tell myself.I do want to know what’s in that email, I really do.But I’m also scared.What if Xander says that we can’t work together?He could be handing in his resignation tomorrow for all I know.Maybe he thinks it will be too awkward after my failed romantic gesture yesterday.I feel a pang of dread as I realise just how much I would miss him, not getting to see him every day.I force my fingers to move.I click onto the email.
