I stare at him and frown, the tears burning my face and the ecstasy burning my heart. Who is Bella? Not that it matters to me, because I'm married. And who is this man standing in Dustin's bedroom?
"Doug, get the fuck out." Dustin growls in a tone I've never heard him use before. The man, Doug, is starting to bald. He has spent more money on plastic surgery than anything else in his life. He wears a pink polo and khaki pants.
"Yes sir. I'll wait in the living room." Doug addresses, leaving the room and shutting the door.
"Nova..." Dustin whispers. I roll my eyes and throw the covers off of me, walking to the bathroom.
"Nova, wait!" Dustin yells, jumping out of the bed to follow me. He follows me into the bathroom where I walk to the toilet. I shut the door in his face and he laughs.
"Nova, don't get upset." He says calmly. I smile, and instantly force myself to stop.
"Go away. Take care of whatever that is and you can talk to me later."
"I'm not going anywhere. You're more important than anything." I push the door open and I look down, seeing Dustin still naked. I realize that I am also bare skinned. He looks down at me and pulls my body into him.
"You're gorgeous, did you know that?" He whispers beside my ear. I roll my eyes and push him away from me. I walk into the bedroom and grab my underwear and bra from the floor, shrugging it on.
"I could take you more seriously if you had some clothes on." I sarcastically state. He groans and moves to the side of the bed, pulling on some boxers and not caring about anything else.
"Nova, chill out. Come here," He sits on the bed and spreads his legs, inviting me to sit between them. "Sit down and let me explain."
Shrugging my shoulders, I walk over to the bed and sit in between his almost bare legs. I lean back, resting my head on his shoulders and looking up so he knows I'm ready for him to explain everything.
"A few months ago, I did a commercial with Bella. The fans, from both my side and her side, felt as if our chemistry was on point. They started to 'ship' us," He places his fingers up and makes sure to use finger quotations.
"After that, our agents believed, publicly, it would be good to continue the rumor of our relationship. They also decided that putting us in a movie together would boost our ratings and get us more money," He sits back on the bed and lays me down with him. I flip over and lay on my stomach so I can visually see his face.
"You have nothing to worry about with Bella, okay? She's nothing to me. She used to be but..." I cut him off.
"Used to?" I have a question.
"I figured you had already remembered. Back in high school, remember I told you about the girl that slept with the entire football team because she thought I was cheating on her?" His words spark a memory in my brain. We talked on the pier the morning after we got together and he had taken me to eat breakfast. He had asked me a question, and I got too nervous to respond so he answered his own question.
"So the girl you are now making a romance movie with is the same one that broke your heart?"
"Well, Nova, you're the one that broke my heart completely, but yes. Bella and I are making a movie together now." I frown and close my eyes. His hands slide across my face and he plays with a strand of my hair.
"I should take you back to work." He whispers, sitting up with me. Looking up at him, I frown.
"No, just call Kevin to pick me up. You have business to take care of." He pauses for a few minutes, contemplating my idea.
"Are you sure? I mean, they can wait. They did show up unexpectedly. If you want, I can take you back." He runs his hand through the side of his head, ruffing out his hair in a stressed way. I press my hand to the side of his face.
"I'm positive. Go on. Do your work."
"Okay, well, get some more clothes on please. I can't have you walking out of my room like we just fucked." He smirks and gets off the bed as I swat at him. Laughing, he walks into the bathroom.
I stand up and walk over to the rest of my clothes laying on the floor. Slipping on the plain dress I wore to work, I stare out of the window beside the broken king bed. The town bustles with excitement underneath the penthouse windows.
"I just called Kevin. He should be here in a bit." I jumped at his sudden words. I turn around and look at him, standing stunningly in front of the door frame. One hand grips the top of the door and the other is braced in a pocket. I feel my heart stutter and my body heat up.
"Why are you blushing Nova? Are you okay?" He asks in a cocky tone. I roll my eyes and make my way towards the door. His hands grip my sides as I grip the door handle. Turning me around, my back is forced upon the door and his hands pull me into him.
"You're not leaving me, you know that right?" He whispers.
"Dustin, I have to leave. I have work and I..." He cuts me off.
"You aren't leaving," He pointed his finger in between the two of us. "You're not leaving this behind, right? You're gonna come back?" He looks scared, fearful he might lose the thing he wants.
"It's going to take a lot. I'm gonna have to find a way to hide from Wes, and I'm not going to be able to see you all of the time. I have to have time with Elijah too, and Colin, Carly, and Greg. You're going to have to visit me at work or come to the club or come to Colin's house or..."
"I got it, Nova. As long as you're not leaving me again." I place my hand on his chest.
"I didn't plan on it." He lets out a long, exhausted sigh and closes his eyes in relief.
"Good, that's good."
"Bye..." I whisper. He grabs my face and kisses me softly, wanting to linger his taste on my lips.
"Text me when you can, okay?" He pulls away, sadly.
"Of course." I nod my head and exit the room, Dustin following me. The old man, Doug, stands in the kitchen, looking over the broken glass that Dustin still hasn't cleaned up. The old man turns around and stares at the two of us.
"Again, so sorry about earlier." I wave him off and walk towards the elevator. Dustin holds my hand as I step into the metal box. He lets me go as soon as the door starts to close.
Going down to the bottom floor. I look at my hands and fumble with my thumbs. For one, what am I doing? I start to wonder how I'm going to be able to keep this up without having Wesley find out, or Dustin get upset, or losing Elijah. For two...
My thoughts are cut off when the door to the elevator opens. Before me stands a woman, long, wavy blonde hair person. She looks down at her phone, scrolling on Instagram. She looks up and sees me, smiles, then looks away. I see the black Suburban pull up.
"Hey, wait!" The woman says. I turn around at the sound of her voice, looking into her milk chocolate brown eyes.
"Uh...yeah?" I have a question.
"Do I know you?" She asks, stepping out of the elevator and walking towards me, her black heels clicking on the concrete floor.
"I don't really know..."
"You're Nova Dixon. The loner girl from high school?" She asks.
"Yeah, that's me. Well, Nova Brown now." I corrected her.
"Oh my gosh. Hi. I'm Bella, Bella Hall?" My heart stops as I stare at the stunning woman in front of me. This is Bella? Short, pretty, cheerleading girl turned out to be this tall, gorgeous, actor? Who just so happens to be working with Dustin, who also used to be her boyfriend?
How can I compete with...this?
"Oh wow, hi. Nice to see you again." I say. I turn around and watch Kevin pull into a parking spot.
"So, what are you doing here?" She looks at her phone as it buzzes.
"Just seeing a friend." I respond a bit too quickly.
"Oh, who?"
"Just my co-worker."
"That's nice. Well, I need to get going. Do you remember Dustin?" She asks. I look around, acting like I'm thinking.
"Yeah I think so."
"Well, I work with him, so that's what I'm going to do."
"Oh, well, have fun. Tell him I said hi if he remembers me." I smile and walk away as she says goodbye, stepping onto the elevator as the doors shut.
"So, you've met Bella." Kevin's quiet voice states when I get into the car. I sigh and nod my head.
"Dustin doesn't want her."
"I don't know how." I told him.
"You haven't seen the way he's acted since he's met you again. It's been a complete change. I used to watch him get into the back of this car and instantly grab an airplane bottle or two. He'd be cussing and slurring his words by the time we got back to the house. He hasn't done that since he's met you. He needs you, Nova." I smile, feeling proud of the fact Dustin has changed.
"Thank you." I whisper.
Later that evening, after picking Elijah up from Carly's, we sat in the living room of our apartment. I listen to the stove beep, telling me that the corn dogs are done. Wesley walks into the house and smiles at his son on the couch. He turns to me and walks in my direction.
"Hey." He whispers, kissing my neck. I force a smile, feeling in my natural habitat. Being fake is my life around him.
"Hi, how was work?" He frowns when I turn around.
"What's that smell?" He asks. I look around.
"...Corndogs?"
"No, it smells like cologne." Fuck. Make something up. Don't slip. Don't say his name. Don't think of him.
"Some guy came in with it today and he kept trying on clothes and I had to put away the clothes he had tried on. So the smell got on me." I shrug my shoulders.
"Oh okay." He nods and walks away.
In a way, I feel proud of myself. The other part of me is disappointed. Four years ago, I spoke vows that told him I would never cheat on him. He said the same things to me, but it's worse in my case scenario. I don't want to be with him any longer, but I can't just leave this, our world, behind.
But I can't be with Dustin if I don't leave Wesley.
And I want Dustin more than Wesley. I'd choose Dustin over him every day.
Sadly, I don't think that's enough.