Young and Beautiful

Twenty.

"if only it were that simple..."

Initially, Demi wasn't gonna go to Isabella's dance recital. She was a human being and because of that, she was completely aware of how she had made Wilmer feel in Paris because it was the exact same way that Nick had made her feel when he announced that he wanted to divorce her. He didn't listen to a word that she had to say and didn't even consider any other options. He didn't consider making it work or remaining as a father figure to the twins. And that was exactly what she had done to Wilmer. She didn't consider that maybe she found so much comfort in him and maybe the real reason why she had slept with him was because she loved him too. Or maybe it wasn't love. But it was something. But she just wasn't willing to consider that because she was so worried about fixing things with Nick.

Demi couldn't even count on her hands that amount of times that she had dialed Wilmer's number in the past two months, but then deleted it and completely shut off her phone. Something about talking to him and getting everything off of her chest made her want to throw up. She was terrified. Terrified of receiving the same rejection that she had received from Nick, terrified of receiving the same reject that she had given to Wilmer when she thought that she could still fix things with Nick. Of course she knew how to deal with rejection but she didn't want to, which was why she never got the guts to actually hit the green call button.

Demi wasn't gonna go to Isabella's recital and instead just send Marissa in her place to present the scholarship but that would've been terrible optics. And a part of her did want to see Wilmer. She wanted to see how he was doing and everything because she had gone from seeing him every single day to breaking his heart and not seeing him at all. It was an abrupt transition that left her feeling uncomfortable and extremely guilty. Because, after all, she was human.

While she was entertaining Mrs. Halloway's small talk about things she didn't care about, she impolitely let her eyes roam the room, pretending like she wasn't searching for one person and one person only but knowing deep down that she was. Finally when her eyes landed on his form she saw Isabella attack him with a hug and begin rambling in the way that Demi had missed. She didn't realize what an impact Wilmer and Isabella had had on her life in such a short time until they were out of her life.

"Excuse me, but I'm going to talk to Isabella and her father. It's been a lovely evening," Demi cordially dismissed her, exchanging those awkward cheek kisses with Mrs. Halloway before she made her trek across the room. Her hand smoothed over her gelled down ponytail and she rubbed her lips together to make sure that her lipstick was even. Was her skirt too tight? Was she wearing too much black? Black seemed to be the only color that she wore nowadays, whether she was doing it subconsciously or on purpose; it was hard to tell.

"Demi!" Isabella squealed, attaching her with a hug as soon as she was within their range. Demi gladly accepted it and hugged her tight just like she did on stage.

"I just wanna say thank you again. You have no idea how much this means to me and how happy you've made me!" Isabella sincerely gushed as they pulled away and Demi nodded her head. She did understood how much it meant to her. She was giving a child a chance to accomplish her dream without having to worry about the costs, something that she had always yearned for, especially when she had begun to pay off her student loan debts.

"I understand completely but you deserve it. They say dancers are made but I think you were born to do this. Just don't forget me when you make it on Broadway, okay?" Demi giggled as Isabella nodded but then turned to face her dad. For a few seconds, Isabella looked between her dad and Demi, waiting for them to say something to each other because she knew they needed to. But nothing happened.

"Let's go out to dinner!" Isabella blurted. She knew that her dad wasn't planning to go to some overpriced restaurant to celebrate her scholarship but she knew the perfect place to go, where all of her friends were going. It meant that she could sneak away from the table and give her dad and Demi the alone time that they desperately needed.