Page 147 of Fever Dream
Fuck. I don’t know. In the moment, I wasn’t dissecting it. “I was in shock. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to details to analyze that now.”
She pushes the bottle back toward me. “So, just to play devil’s advocate, it could be anyone?”
“I guess it could be anyone,” I say, terrified to latch on to a shred of hope that it might not have been Emmett.
My phone lights up on the floor between us. Emmett’s name flashes above a text that readsWhat are you talking about?
I feel sick all over again.
What if I jumped to the wrong conclusion?
I have to be wrong.
I reach for my phone, but Parker moves it to the other side of her.
“Don’t text him back. He’ll survive. A little suffering where women are concerned is just karma at this point.”
I snort an unladylike laugh even as I eye my phone. “The thing I keep coming back to,” I say, words spilling from my lips in a rush, “is the way he talked to her. I can’t be sure about his face. Or his voice. But I just—He would never say that to her. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t pretend to dislike her, act so exasperatedby the entire process of the show, and then, what? Do this out of left field?”
Parker nods, slow and deliberate. “That’s a great point. When we went to that bar to spy on you”—I bark out a laugh, which earns me a mischievous grin—“he complained about her quite… forcefully.”
I nod and take another swig. The bourbon is giving me clarity at this point.
Parker turns to me. “Julia, I know my brother, better than anyone. And while I don’t know for certain what went on last night, I know that he was categorically distraught over you going on that date. And I don’t think he’d humble himself the way he did, only to turn around and blow it all up.”
She’s right. He wouldn’t.
“I also know that the showrunner is a sleazy piece of shit. And I wouldn’t trust a single thing he showed me until I looked my brother in the eye and asked him to explain himself.”
“Oh god.” Guilt slams into me because she’s right. “How could I possibly trust anything that Richard’s had his hands in when it comes to the truth?”
Emmett and I are still working on building a solid foundation, but he’s shown me his true colors, and so has Richard. And I think in a moment of vulnerability, I may have been played.
“What if I fucked up?” I say, the reality of the text I sent to Emmett sinking in. I can imagine his hurt that I believed that footage for even a second. That I doubted him.
But Parker doesn’t seem the least bit concerned as she shrugs and takes another drink. “Then Emmett will forgive you, because that’s what you do when you love someone.”
CHAPTER 44
Emmett
Julia
How could you?
The words flash across my screen right as I step onto set. Now that I’ve settled on quitting and have given my lawyer all the information he needs, I’m only here to look for Julia.
My hangover lingers, but I still managed to drag myself here a little bit early in hopes that I could head her off before anyoneelse gets the chance to tell her the big news.What are you talking about?I text back, a thread of worry weaving through my fuzzy conscience.
My brows furrow as I stare down at my phone hoping I’ll see those rolling dots that tell me she’s writing back. But they don’t come and I’m too antsy to stand around waiting. All I know is I need to find her.
Because after my conversation with Oma and Opa last night, I don’t give a fuck about the pretense or appearances or what Richard might think.
Jules is my top priority.
I pop my head into the production trailer, with a cup of steaming hot coffee in hand. My bewilderment only mounts as I face a room full of crew members who appear to be hard at work.
But what do I know about all that goes into canceling a show that was almost finished recording. I’m here for one person, and one person only.
