Page 48 of The Pursuit of Happiness
He shakes his head and sighs, “That’s so reassuring, thank you,” he says as he enters.
I laugh which inevitably makes him laugh as he takes in my bedroom from the movie posters to the shelves of movie memorabilia. He walks over to myScreamshelf and huffs a laugh at the displayed Ghost Face mask, “Wow. You really are a horror nerd.”
I cross my arms over my chest and blush, “I love this stuff.”
He moves on to theChild’s Playshelf and takes in the Chucky and Tiffany figurines. I feel a wave of anxiety that he may be turned off by my love for horror movies and I realize that I’m desperate for his approval.
He continues looking around before he finally speaks, “This is sick, Kane.”
I feel like fireworks are going off inside of me, “Really?” I don’t try hiding the excitement in my voice.
He flashes me a smile, “Of course. This stuff is really cool. I didn’t know you were into collecting, but I should’ve considering your love for trinket shopping.” He looks around the room and adds, “This is sick.”
I relax, finally able to take a seat on my bed as he continues looking around. When he’s satisfied, he walks over and sits next to me. “How come you never talk about any of this stuff in interviews or on social media?”
I shrug, “I guess when we live in the spotlight, it feels sometimes like we don’t get to have anything personal. The fans are all amazing and I love them all but I sometimes wish they didn’t know every single thing about me.” I gesture around the room, “I love this stuff and not putting it out there allows me to have something for myself that I don’t have to share with the entire world.”
He looks at me like he’s seeing an entirely new side of me, “I get that.”
A moment passes and we just look at each other. I feel a blush in my cheeks and notice that our faces start getting closer and closer, our lips only inches apart. I don’t realize what we’re doing until my phone buzzes in my pocket, bringing me back to reality.
I check it immediately after Selene ripped into me this morning about keeping my phone on, but when I see a random number texted me, I frown. I open it, wondering if maybe someone got the wrong number by mistake.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
Unknown Number
Wow, you trained your guard dog well.
I saw what he did to that photographer.
Unknown Number
How much pussy did you have to give him
to get him to do that?
Unknown Number
You’re disgusting
I know right away who it is. Duncan. I feel like my stomach has shriveled up and died inside of me. It feels harder to breathe suddenly. I blocked his number but he seems to be texting me from a new one. Why won’t he stop? Is he ever going to stop? I panic, the hateful words he used getting to me.
I feel a warm hand on my cheek. Sly. “Hey,” he soothes, “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head and quickly turn my phone off before he tries to look. I don’t want him to see what Duncan has said about us both. I don’t want to have to explain who Duncan is at all. “Nothing,” I say curtly, schooling my features into neutrality.
He drops his hand from my face to grab my hand instead and I let him. “Talk to me. Who just texted you?” He presses.
I shake my head, “Nobody, it’s nothing.”
He sighs and gives my hand a gentle squeeze, “You can talk to me if something is bothering you. You were fine before you looked at your phone. Did something happen? Is someone bothering you?”
I snap, snatching my hand out of his and rising from my seat on the bed. I take a few steps away from him and begin to pace to appease the anxious thoughts racing through my mind. Realistically, if I tell Selene in confidence, maybe she can find a way to help me cut off Duncan’s access to me?
“Okay,” Sly whispers to himself. “I’m sorry.”
I ignore him, still sorting through the ideas that are springing to mind. It isn’t until I hear rustling that I realize he’s getting up to leave. The idea of him leaving makes this Duncan issuelook like a nonentity. I don’t want Sly to leave. I don’t want to be without his presence. I feel so much better when he’s around me. I feelsafe.I suddenly feel so disappointed in myself for rejecting him when he tried to comfort me.
