Page 253 of Just for the Cameras
I gesture to Phil.
“Or because you convince him that he’s a burden to me,” I say to Hank. “That’s none of your business. I knew what I was getting into when I started to fall for him, and I’ve accepted every aspect of it because I like him and because he’s worth it. We’re worth it.”
With that, I quickly grab my bag and head out the back of the flamingo building, straight in the direction of the parking lot, hoping to catch him before he leaves.
“Maple, wait,” Gretchen calls out, but I keep moving forward. “Hold on, let me talk to you.”
“No,” I snap and move through the employee-only section of the zooto the parking lot, where I catch the tail end of Graydon’s truck leaving. “Fuck.”
“Maple, please, can we just talk?” Gretchen asks, catching up to me.
I whirl on her, my anger over the entire situation getting the best of me. “No, the last person I want to talk to is you. You’ve made this so incredibly difficult, so obnoxiously disheartening, that you are part of the problem.”
She juts her head back, her expression full of surprise. “I wasn’t—”
“Don’t tell me you weren’t trying to make this difficult, because you were. From the contracts, to the doubt, to the questioning. It’s been a nightmare, but I kept up with it because of him. But now it’s gotten so out of control that he’s giving up, he’s giving up on me.” I shake my head. “But I’m not going to let that happen.” He’s the best man I know, and I’ve never been in a relationship with someone who cares so much about me. Even to the point of “breaking up” tohelpme. I take a deep breath. “I’m not going to let you get in the way of that.”
“I don’t want to. I want to help you.”
“Oh, just like you were helping me when you told me to sign the breakup contract?”
“I was forced to bring that to you,” she says, her eyes narrowing. “Just like there are parts of your job you probably don’t like, there are parts of mine that I don’t like either, that being one of them.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” I say, unable to process anything she’s saying. “I just want to get to Graydon.”
I walk toward my car and unlock it.
“I want to help you,” she calls out.
“Too late.” I get in my car and take off, headed right to Graydon’s place to fix this.
I pull my knees in close to my chest as I lean up against Graydon’s garagedoor, waiting for him to return. It’s been a few hours since I left the zoo, and he hasn’t returned. I have no idea where he is or what he’s doing, and even though I’ve tried calling him several times, his phone goes straight to voice mail, and his text messages go undelivered.
To say I’m worried is an understatement.
The sun is setting, the street is calm, just local commuters finding their way home, and there is a slight breeze picking up that ruffles my hair every once in a while. I’ve shifted a few times on the concrete beneath me because my ass has gone numb, but I don’t care because I will stay here through the night if I have to. I want to see him.
Headlights blare down the road, and I perk up, but when I notice it’s an SUV, I lower my head back down.
Where is he?
I hope he’s okay.
I hope—
The SUV pulls into his driveway and stops short of me. When the lights turn off, I see Hutton sitting in the driver’s seat and Graydon in the passenger seat.
Why is Hutton driving him home?
Did he get in an accident?
Panic swells in my chest as his car door opens, and I stand from the ground, brushing off my pants.
When his hazy eyes meet mine, he says, “What are you doing here?” He stumbles out of the SUV and then shuts the door, nearly falling to the ground.
He’s drunk.
“Maple,” Hutton says, coming up to me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. The bartender, who is a friend, called me.”
