Page 32 of For My Finale

F or a moment, Lilah thought that she was imagining things. The polished floor, the soft lighting, the hushed voices and… Ives. It was all a world away from Bankton, a world away from Blossom. But she had a spike of pain in her heart anyway.

And there was no avoiding this.

She took a deep breath, then walked over to where Ives was sitting. Whatever was going to happen, she thought that she deserved it. “Come all this way to punch me, have you?” she opened with.

Ives lifted an eyebrow. “Tempting,” she said. “But no. As a matter of fact, I’ve come all this way to see the truth for myself.”

Tension coiled in Lilah’s spine. She sat down across from Ives, removing her dark glasses. “And? What do you think you see?”

Ives took a deep breath. “I see an idiot. But that’s by the by.” She leaned forward a little. “Blossom is absolutely convinced that you left in order to protect her.”

Lilah looked away. She didn’t want to do this.

She hated showing her vulnerable side at the best of times, but in front of Ives, of all people?

The idea that Ives would see her as soft and sentimental…

On the other hand, what else was she supposed to say?

She couldn’t lie. The lie would get back to Blossom and hurt he r even more, and Lilah couldn’t stand the thought of that.

“I did,” she said finally.

For a second, Ives studied her. “And you think that breaking her heart was the best way to go about doing that?”

Lilah laughed, though it lacked any real amusement.

“What was I supposed to do, Ives? You told me it was my actions that mattered, not my intentions. I never intended Blossom to get caught up in any of my bullshit. But someone leaked where I was to the press, and that night… They were all over us. I won’t put Blossom through that.

She didn’t sign up for it and she doesn’t deserve it.

So I acted. I left. Before any more damage could be done. ”

Ives nodded. “I get that,” she said. She sat back again. “There’s a small flaw in that reasoning, though.”

“What?” Lilah asked, irritated.

“I’ve been asking around. Nobody in the village has said anything to any journalists.”

Lilah raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Think what you want,” Ives said. “But these people are my friends, I’ve spent my entire life around them. I know them. I believe them. And more than that, I know how much they care about Blossom. No one would do this to her.”

Lilah said nothing. Because if this was true, if the village really hadn’t betrayed her, then what did that mean? She could barely make sense of it, barely think things through to their logical conclusion.

Silence stretched on for a beat before Ives leaned forward again. “Blossom is stronger than you think. She’s my best friend. And I know that she can lack confidence, that she doesn’t see her own worth sometimes. But I also know that when something is important to her, she’ll give anything for it.”

“I can’t change things,” Lilah said.

“I think you should,” said Ives. “I think that you should let Blossom make her own decisions about what she wants and what she’s willing to put up with for you.” She took a breath. “I think you should reconsider. ”

“And why would I do that?” Lilah said, heart hammering so hard in her chest she thought it might break out.

Ives watched her for a long moment, then took a deep breath. “Because Blossom loves you, whether she’s admitted it or not. And, as much as we might not always see eye to eye, I think that you might actually love her too. Given that you left just to protect her.”

Lilah’s heart finally stilled. But she said nothing, didn’t know what to say.

With a sigh, Ives stood up. “Alright, I’ve done what I came to do. You can be an idiot if you want.”

Then she turned and walked away, leaving Lilah sitting alone, words echoing around her head.

LILAH SAT IN the waiting room of Leyland’s agent’s office, her foot tapping against the plush carpet. She’d had a lot of thinking to do, a whole afternoon’s worth of thinking. And she’d come to the only possible conclusion given the circumstances.

So when Margot arrived, gliding through the doorway with her usual confidence, Lilah wasted no time at all. “Is there anything you’d like to tell me?”

Margot settled herself onto one of the large couches. “Nope. Why?”

Lilah narrowed her eyes. “Nothing? Nothing at all? How about something about how my location mysteriously made it into the papers? How about how a cadre of photographers and journalists managed to show up in Bankton? Hmm?”

There was a minute of nothing, then Margot sighed and turned to her. “What did you want me to do, Lilah?”

“I wanted you to respect my wishes, I wanted you to leave me the hell alone.”

Margot exhaled heavily and rubbed her temples. “Alright, fine, I told a couple of journalists what you were up to. But I did it for your own good.”

She wanted to scream, but the waiting area was so quiet that she held her breath for a second instead, regaining control of herself. “For my own good? You leaked my whereabouts. You had paparazzi outside Blossom’s cafe. You made her, and me, think that someone in the village had betrayed us.”

Margot rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. You were never going to be serious about her, about any of this. You know how the publicity train works. A week out of the papers and suddenly it’s like you don’t exist anymore. I did what I had to do to keep you relevant, Lilah.”

“Relevant?” Lilah took a breath. “You’re saying that no one cared where I was?”

Margot snorted. “I had to talk to three second-stringers before I found someone who gave a damn. But I did my job, I got them all interested again. You were disappearing from the conversation, Lilah. And I knew that at some point you’d change your mind and realize that you belonged back on screen.

I just made sure that no one forgot who you were in the meantime. ”

Fire burned in Lilah’s chest. She was furious. Furious at the betrayal, furious that Margot would do this to her, furious that she both understood and sympathized with Margot’s reasoning. In another world, at another time, she would have been grateful for what her agent had done for her.

But before she could do or say anything, a voice cut through the tension.

“Ms. Paxton? Mr. Leyland will see you now.”

The receptionist stood at the office door, smiling politely.

Margot stood up, smoothing down her trousers as if nothing had happened. “Shall we?” she said coolly, already walking toward the office.

Lilah stayed seated for a beat longer, gripping the arms of her chair. Then, with a slow and measured breath, she stood and followed. But she wasn’t done with this conversation.

IN A PLUSH, comfortable chair, Lilah sat opposite Martin Leyland.

He leaned back, watching her with a casual, knowing smirk, his arrogance more than warranted, as far as Lilah was concerned.

He was a genius, he had the right to behave like one.

Beside her, Margot crossed her legs and accepted a coffee from Leyland’s assistant with a gracious nod.

Lilah didn’t take one. Her stomach was churning too much for caffeine.

“Right, let’s get down to it,” Leyland’s agent said, clasping his hands together over the desk as he settled into his seat. “No beating around the bush here. Martin wants to work with you, Lilah. Obviously, there are…”

But Lilah wasn’t listening. She tuned the words out, letting them wash over her, distant and unimportant. She looked at Leyland, her hero, a man whose films had obsessed her as a teen, whose directed performances had shaped her understanding of what it meant to be an actor.

And she started to smile.

This was wrong. This wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

It all came to her with a glaring clarity. Ives, Margot, Leyland, everything that had happened all suddenly came together and made sense. She could feel her pulse in her throat, quick and hopping. And everything was… right.

“I’m leaving.” She pushed back her chair and stood up.

Margot’s eyes snapped to her. “What?”

Leyland’s agent frowned. “Excuse me?”

“I’m leaving,” Lilah said, grinning now, her voice steadier and surer. “I’m not interested in working on the film. Thank you, but no.”

Margot shot up beside her, eyes flashing. “Lilah, sit down,” she hissed. “You’re making a fool out of both of us.”

Leyland exhaled a long, elegant sigh, and waved a hand. “Let her go. I don’t work with over-dramatic actresses. They make too much trouble and cause too many scenes.” His eyes bored into Lilah. “I’ve no interest in working with her if she can’t keep her head on straight.”

That made Lilah stop. Her anger was sharp, slicing through her, sudden. “I’m not being dramatic,” she said. “But some things are more important than film. More important than art. More important than being an actress. ”

“Like what?” asked Leyland, a curious look in his eyes.

“Like love,” Lilah said simply.

For a second, the room was silent. Leyland stared at her until his face started to crack. Then, to her surprise, he started to laugh. “Jesus,” he said. “Go on, then. Get out of my office before I change my mind and make you an offer you really can’t refuse.”

Lilah nodded once and turned on her heel. She could hear Margot sputtering behind her, but she didn’t look back.

“Let me know if you change your mind,” Leyland said as she opened the door.

Lilah did turn back then. She smiled. “I won’t.”

They shared a look, and Leyland gave her a nod, and Lilah turned and walked out.

Just like that.