“Your schedule is on my laptop. Same password I use for everything.”
“Alice--”
Emotion clogs my throat. “I’m going. I’m not standing here and arguing about it until you understand. It’s not about you.”
She’s taken aback. I’ve never pushed back-- on anything.
Dalton clears his throat, looking at his phone screen. “I know a few people in LA. I’ll see what I can come up with for a chartered flight.”
“Why would you do that?” Farrah snaps. “I’lldo it.”
I press my lips together firmly, shooting Dalton a quick, grateful look. Farrah is highly connected in LA. She knows directors, producers, actors and athletes. But she wouldn’t have offered to help me if Dalton hadn’t, and as badly as I want to get home, I would never ask.
“I’ll have something set up for you when you get to LAX,” Farrah says absently. “Where are you flying?”
I’ve been her assistant for more than three years, and she still doesn’t know my hometown.
“Detroit.” I clutch my phone in my hand, watching her fingers fly over the screen of her phone. “Thank you, Farrah.”
“Sure...Mick is asking if I want him to send a car here to take you to LAX.”
She was able to get a response in less than a minute at six a.m. I forget just how powerful Farrah is sometimes.
“No, I’ll take an Uber.”
“I’ll have Mick text you where to go.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
Even though I know it’s not who she is, I want Farrah to hug me. To tell me it’s going to be okay. I’m her center of balance every day, and today, I need that from her.
I turn to leave, knowing she’s already said everything she’s going to say about it. She’s one of the wealthiest, most sought-after actors in the world, but a part of Farrah will always be a little girl who wishes she had parents who loved her.
“I’ll keep in touch,” I call over my shoulder.
Dalton walks back toward the house with me, neither of us saying a word as JP approaches.
“Morning,” he says, grinning. “You guys forget something?”
“I’m going home for a family emergency,” I explain.
His smile slides away. “Sorry to hear that. Hope everything goes okay.”
“Thanks.”
Even JP, who hardly knows me, is showing more concern and compassion than Farrah did.
Dalton goes to my room with me, and as soon as we’re inside, he wraps his arms around me and holds me tightly.
“I’ll be thinking about you and your dad every minute,” he says.
The dam of emotion I’ve been holding back breaks, and I cry, pressing my face to his chest.
“I haven’t seen them since Christmas. And that was just for one day. What if he dies and I’m not there? I’ve been trying to do the right thing this whole time, and--”
He cuts me off, looking at me intently. “Don’t do this to yourself. You’ve done amazing. One step at a time today, okay? First step is packing anything you might need. I’ll call an Uber and then I have to run and grab something from my room. Until you’re there, just think about the next thing you have to do to get to him. Do that for me.”
I stand up straight and nod. Yes. Breaking it into steps will help me cope with how overwhelmed and helpless I feel right now.
