Dedicated to a beloved reader for the cover at the top. Thank you!
Epilogue: "String Quartet."
I WAS GOING TO kill them.
A completely empty threat. But metaphorically, I was going to kill both of them. Leave it to them to tell me they would arrive with me at an event.
Then proceed to not show up when they said they would just meet me there.
Then show up late after telling me that.
I shouldn't have expected it. The two men had been at a party the night before in New York before jumping on a plane to LA to be back in time for the award show.
But I pushed it aside, walking ahead as my name was tossed in different directions. The flashing lights I had grown accustomed to didn't faze me as I brought out my good smile. Luckily, the smile was genuine due to being on the red carpet of one of my favourite events.
A familiar voice called out my name and the unfamiliar brown hair that I have failed to get used to for the past months appeared with the person. Krystal held up her dress, gracefully walking over to me in her stilettos.
However, that soon falls short when she crashes into me with a hug I'm quick to reciprocate after not seeing her in months. I grin as we pull away, watching her fix her naturally coloured brown hair while smoothing her silver dress. "You look amazing."
"You look amazing," I told her as we're told to pose for the cameras.
"I love the red dress," She said, "And the shoes? Has to be Jimmy Choo."
Taking a glance at her shoes I inputted, "Stuart Weitzman?"
"I love how you know." She said as we moved along the carpet. While I had been filming, she had been busy promoting especially as her brand skyrocketed. The same went for Angie, who both of us were lucky to see individually even though her own time had gotten busier.
"Do you know how long it took for me to get sent these shoes?" She asked me.
"Why didn't you just ask Angie for a pair?"
"I flew in this morning," She said. "I didn't even know I was going to be a presenter until a few nights ago. I didn't have time to see Angie. Did you see her today? How is she?"
"She's good," I said, hearing the call of our names once again. "Smile."
Krystal and I gave our best smiles to the numerous cameras and quickly someone was pulling her away and she was yelling at me as she moved down the red carpet and passed other people that she would see me later.
I laughed as she moved ahead on her high heels like a star, not having time to chat as she pushed her way through. My phone buzzed in my pocket but I didn't answer as I moved along but the recipient I knew had been calling made his way through the red carpet in my direction.
A sigh left my mouth as Caleb approached me, putting his phone in his pocket, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
He was dressed nicely. Too nicely that I almost forgave him on sight. He was wearing a dark blue tuxedo and the smile on his face attracted others easily. There was no intention of him wanting to be in the spotlight but it didn't matter, his personality was enough.
Caleb noticed me staring, smiling wide. "Apology accepted?" He asked hopefully, running a hand through his thick hair and putting a hand on my waist.
I pursed my lips, turning to face the cameras, the two of us smiling ahead. "You just missed K."
"I did?" His eyes widened. He assessed me as we moved along. "You're mad."
"I'm not mad," I rolled my eyes, grabbing his hand. "What happened?"
Caleb shot me a look. "Jake happened."
"Let me guess," I said. "Woke up late?"
"Woke up late."
"Missed the flight?"
"Missed the flight."
I looked past Caleb, spotting Jake who waved at us where he was at a distance. I ushered him over and he more than happily came to my other side, the three of us posing for a picture and definitely breaking usual protocol since neither of them had received an individual photo. "Have a good weekend?"
"I am very much hungover." He admitted. "Where's Krystal?"
"Probably inside."
"Fuck," Jake kissed my cheek. "I'm going to go catch up with her. I'll see you inside!"
When he left, Caleb and I continued our walk past interviewers, familiar faces, having short conversations before we found ourselves waiting for an interview we had been directed to. Caleb glanced at me. "You still mad?"
"I'm not mad," I said, glancing at my black and red acrylics.
Caleb took that hand, pulling me to look at him and I faltered trying to avoid his eyes and failing. Damn it.
"You look beautiful."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," I assured him.
"I believe that it's gotten me to some places," He mumbled, even having the audacity to wink. "Some might say over someone once or twice. Sometimes under."
I scoffed but Caleb's smile makes me grin back. "You look handsome," I said as he linked our fingers together. "Despite probably running on one hour of sleep."
"I can sleep on the plane. I really am sorry about running late."
"I know and you can't sleep on planes. You can barely sleep in the car on a long drive." I reminded him for the millionth time. "You know that."
"I can sleep when we get home."
"We can stay at the LA house if you want." I offered, running a hand through the straight black hair of my wig.
"No, it's fine," He waved a hand in dismissal. I was surprised to hear him over the commotion around us but when he looked at me like that, I shouldn't have been. "You haven't been home in a while. I want you there. It's rather lonely without you despite Jake visiting last week."
"Okay, yes. I want to go home but sleeping is important."
"I can sleep in New York."
"Caleb."
"I can sleep at home in New York." He assured me, as we walked up to the mini platform for our first interview.
"Octavia. And Caleb Henderson, one of Hollywood's favourite couples here on the red carpet." The familiar interviewer grinned at the two of us brightly and we exchanged kisses on the cheek as I noticed a few others on the carpet had stopped to listen in. "Great to have you both with us tonight. Now Caleb, last year you were a nominee, how are you doing at your second time here?"
"Good, good," Caleb said. "I'm glad to be a presenter this evening and it's great to be back. Chaotic as always."
"Not your scene?"
"No," He sounded at ease. "Octavia has a much better handle on award shows. Last year when I went to my first big award show with a big red carpet like this she spent, like, an hour at least before the show trying to calm me down."
"You weren't panicking," I defended him, patting him on the shoulder. "No, he was just overwhelmed by spotting a lot of people he admired."
The interviewer smiled, "Octavia, you've been nominated previous years and have won. Even tonight, nominated for best actress."
"Yes," I grinned, proud of my achievement as she asked me about details on the film I had been nominated for. This movie held the top spot as one of my favourite films I had been part of.
Last year was as good as this year as well. Alongside the releases of two movies I had been in, including the film Caleb had written, the cast and crew had been nominated for numerous different awards throughout the year. Award season this year has been good as the last even with different people and changes for each movie.
Even though Caleb hadn't produced a new movie to be picked up since his first, he had been working on a TV show that had gained a surge of popularity and was doing well in the ratings. He had even finished a novel three months ago and was working on another.
"You two have been laying low in the limelight," She said after I was finished explaining. She had been waiting for what she was going to say next. She was going to be the first one to acknowledge the elephant in the room and she was happy about it. "No one has seen either of you since the big announcement."
I let out a little laugh at her-at everyone, judging by the people listening-eagerness. "You can ask," I assured her.
Caleb took my left hand and lifted it up for the cameras to see dramatically. I laughed, putting my hand down, not missing the way the ring on my fourth finger glinted in the light.
"Beautiful," She commented as the cameraman focused the shot on the ring on my finger before panning back to our faces. "The rest of us got the news from your most recent Instagram picture two months ago. How did he do it?"
"We're going to have to tell this story a million times," Caleb commented and I smiled, completely unbothered. "But I wasn't the one who proposed first."
Caleb said red carpets were chaotic? The day I had proposed to him was chaotic.
The entire day had consisted of meetings upon meetings, me flying back from LA to New York, Caleb flying back from Rome to New York and consisting of the two of us not being in the same place at the same time on and off for weeks.
That was the longest we had spent time apart.
It wasn't until we met for dinner late that December night, I finally got to see him. His jacket was tossed over the back of his chair and he hadn't removed his scarf which was falling off his shoulder. His nose was faintly red from the winter air outside but nothing seemed to affect him as he was diving into the pasta.
When he had spotted me, he asked, "Who created lasagna?"
I had narrowed my eyes at him, taking the seat next to him in the private area of the restaurant. "Search it up."
"I want to see if you know." He said, handing me a fork. "I ordered a shit ton of food for when we get home, by the way. You're welcome."
Because we definitely were not going to get full on anything here. That was Caleb. Always with a backup food plan. "Thank you," I said, taking off my own jacket and setting my bag beside me. "Do I look like I'd know who created lasagna?"
"Do I look like I'd-"
"Shut it." I pulled him towards me and kissing him long enough to not attract any attention. "Hey."
He matched my smile. "Hello, mi corazon."
He pulled me closer to him as I said, "There's nothing like hearing you call me that face to face."
"The phone doesn't do it for you?"
"Phone does something. Video chat does more but this?" I asked, "Nothing compares. I like your scarf. Is that the present Leo gave you?" I asked, in regards to his brother he had visited briefly.
"I like your face," He commented and I laughed, eating the pasta on the plate. "And yup. I talked to him last night. He's doing well."
"How's the family?"
"Good. Alberto took his first steps yesterday," Caleb said about Leo's son, handing me my own glass of water.
I grinned. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Caleb leaned back. "Kid's doing good-They're all good. Tia's doing well too. Sam and Macy also."
"Mace called me last week. They're thinking about coming to New York during the summer before Charlie starts school and Sam starts the season. So probably around June or July."
"Seriously?" Caleb cursed. "I literally spoke to Sam this morning. The asshole didn't even tell me."
I laughed as he pulled his phone out, sending a quick message to the same that definitely said 'asshole' in it. "I talked to Naomi."
"How's she?"
"Good," I said. "She's really good. She's moving up. She got put on a huge case the other day."
"That's awesome. What about Amanda?" Caleb asked the question almost tentatively. I stayed silent and he tapped me on the knee. "Tavi."
"They're dating."
"Finally!" Caleb clapped his hands loudly, attracting attention but when he was happy he never cared. "Yes. Oh my God. I was waiting for it. I need the details. I'm telling you. The second they met, I felt the connection as a third party. Amanda makes her laugh so hard. I've never seen Ni smile as much as when they're together. We've been waiting for this, Tavi. Allow me to be excited. Now tell me and tell me about your day."
I laughed, glad that Naomi was happy. She had sounded happy.
Daniel and I had been with her both times at our childhood home around Christmas time about two years ago. She had told dad first. Our dad was always calm in his nonchalant way. He had simply said 'okay' then went back to watching his soccer game. Daniel, Naomi and I were confused but the smile he had given her when he had gotten up from the couch gave the rest a sense of relief.
Mom was a different story. Naomi understood due to her upbringing but it had taken a year of them not talking after she had told her before mom had finally pushed her pride away, calling Naomi one day. It had taken her a while to accept Naomi but she did eventually.
Naomi with her new girlfriend, Amanda, a girl who had become my friend after we met on the set of a TV show I had guest-starred in, was happy. And that's what she deserved.
Later that night, Caleb walked ahead, pulling me along as we walked into the lobby of the building. Waving hi to the night bellman, he walked along the lines of the tiles before deciding to skip every other tile with his feet. This proceeded in me being pulled an extra step more than I needed to be. I yanked him back, swatting him lightly on the back and he laughed, falling in step with me.
"You can't slow down?" I asked.
"You can't speed up?" He retorted with another laugh, slinging an arm around my shoulder as we had made our way in the private elevator.
Caleb clicked the closing button multiple times as I leaned against the way. Once the doors had shut, he was near me once again, his lips on mine instantly. Caleb's hands gripped my waist, his and I linked my own around his neck. I laughed at his eagerness, my hand combing through the locks of his soft hair.
"Don't laugh." He mumbled lowly once his lips were against my neck. "I'm like this every time we don't see each other."
"Every time. Even when I'm only in a different room," I teased. "Too long this time."
Caleb squeezed my waist. "Come home faster."
"Or how about you don't leave when I get home," I suggested breathlessly, pulling him up to face me to really look at his handsome face.
He pulled us closer to each other once again and once the elevator dinged, we were in our penthouse faster than I processed, my back on the couch. I brought him down to me when suddenly in the silence, his stomach growled. Caleb froze, his hands immediately on his stomach. I sat up, laughing. "You're still hungry?"
Caleb stood, taking my jacket to put in the closet. "Listen, the pasta wasn't filling. Nor was the chicken. This is why I order more food which should be coming in mass production right now. I'll be right back."
When he left to head back downstairs, I took off my shoes, walking over to our bedroom to change out of my dress. I had stared at myself in the vanity mirror, doing a little twirl in my dress. My eyes had wandered around the room. One of Caleb's sweatshirts was hanging on the walk in the closet's door. What it took to share a walk-in closet took two months considering the number of clothes I owned until we were able to divide it evenly.
My vanity mirror had pictures of my friends scattered upon it. A picture of Angie, Krystal and a few of our friends back in LA years ago was hanging in one corner. Another of Caleb and a few of his friends from Italy in the other corner. Not far from the mirror was a picture of me, Sydney and Zen from our vacation last summer and on the other side was a picture of Caleb with Sam and Macy.
I reached for another picture stuck onto my mirror, the one of me, Naomi and Daniel. I had recruited my family for pictures in a new collection I had released last summer. The three of us were posed in a few of the pieces that had been designed. This picture was blown up, with the writing of the magazine it had been on the cover of near the front of the house.
Caleb's hands squeezed my shoulders and I caught his eyes through the mirror. "You miss them, huh?"
"Yeah," I mumbled, leaning back in his arms as I started to take off my earrings, Caleb sat down in the chair behind me, pulling me on his lap. "Can you believe Daniel's going to be a dad any day now?"
"His kid's going to love you," Caleb said, taking my earrings from my hand and setting them down on the table. I had yet to wipe the light makeup off my face and was about to reach for my makeup wipes when Caleb grabbed my arm, making me settle in his body.
"What's on your mind?" He asked softly, turning me to face him.
"I'm just thinking."
"Of?"
"Of when we're going to go weeks without seeing each other again. Us and our busy lives." I added with a laugh that didn't hold any humour. Caleb squeezed my hips, a frown on his face. "It did feel much longer this time. Being apart. And usually, we're good with this. We're usually okay with this, you know?"
"I know," He said, not looking at me. "It was different. I think it was because just when you were getting home, I was leaving. Couldn't even pass each other by before I had to go."
He didn't say anything for a moment, tightening his arms around me. Then he looked up at the mirror, his eyes fixated on the lights surrounding it. He turned it on, our faces illuminated with the lights. "See, I told you the more lights the better."
"You were so fascinated," I recalled our visit to a furniture store. "You didn't even want a vanity mirror at first. And what do I catch you doing minutes after it was installed? 'Tavi, look!'" Caleb huffed as I pulled out the picture he had taken and he uploaded on social media for the world to see. "See!"
His arms tightened around me as he leaned his head against my back, "Don't expose me."
"Maybe later," I said, grinning at him when he moved his face to look at me through the mirror.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," There was that smile that appeared on his face once again as he looked at me through the mirror.
He wrapped one arm around my front, "I really missed you."
"I missed you." I said to him, pressing a kiss to the back of his hand. We had settled into silence for a brief moment before he started telling me of something he had noticed on his trip to Rome like he usually did.
Whenever he spoke, it was always with passion. And I always loved it when he did that. He threw himself into his words. I've seen it when he spoke, when he was writing--I saw it every time he told me about his day, the latest book he had read, even a movie we had watched minutes before.
There was never any doubt in my mind that I loved him. He knew that. I never doubted how he felt for me. At that moment, as he was talking, in the middle of our bedroom, our bedroom. In our penthouse since he had moved in here about a year ago. Where we had compromised and fought in various ways not just here but since we had gotten together a little over two years ago. I did realize something.
He was right. There was something different about being apart this time. But it had nothing to do with the distance. I knew that subconsciously and at that moment I grew impatient at the realization and needed it out there.
I pushed myself off his lap in the middle of his story and Caleb stopped. When I turned to face him, he looked confused, pushing the chair back to stand as well. "What's wrong?"
"I--" I must've stared at him for a long time because he took a step closer. I took a deep breath, "Romero?"
"Yeah?"
I hesitated.
I never hesitate. Caleb knew that.
He took a step forward and I grabbed his hand, finding it insane that I was going to say the next words.
"Caleb," I softly laughed as I met his eyes. "Will you marry me?"
I asked it slowly. But once it was said, I smiled. Wide. And he sucked in a loud breath, eyebrows raised at my words. "What?"
"Marry me," I repeated. His silence had my heart beating too loud. Too loud. I felt like it was going to explode. "Unless-I didn't mean to, fuck, I'm sorry--"
He raised both of his hands slightly. "No, no, just wait."
"Caleb."
"Give me a minute." Before I knew it, he was out of my sight and headed inside the closet. I would've stood there stunned by his sudden command but I needed to know what was going on through his mind and I followed him.
"What are you doing?" I asked him, following him to the end of the closet where he usually kept his dress shirts and ties. He opened a drawer, pushing through his clothes until he turned back to me.
"You beat me to it." He mumbled, a half-smile on his lips. "I bought this a while ago. Before I left for Italy. After you left for LA."
Caleb held his hand out and I let out a breath, taking the box from his hand. I took a deep breath, not helping myself by taking a seat on the floor. Caleb didn't say anything further on my decision, doing the same in front of me.
Opening the box, I stared at the engagement ring inside. "Oh."
"Oh?" Caleb slightly laughed.
I looked up at him. "It's beautiful. Diamond pave?" I asked, knowing the ring types. We've been to countless weddings together, I've gone ring shopping one too many times to not know which type of ring it was.
Caleb didn't answer. He had taken the box from my hand, eyes on the ring. "I had everything planned. I should've known not to have everything planned."
"What were you going to do?"
"I was going to do it a month from now. When we would travel back to Italy. Um," He laughed softly. "Venice. Remember that night."
"At the beach? The one we had gone to?"
"Yeah," He said, taking the ring out of the box. He held it up in between his thumb and index fingers. "I wasn't going to show up with a boombox and play music. Or show up with a million flowers. Just us. I'd wait for you to, I don't know, look up at the sky wherever we're sitting. And the music would come from your speakers. You'd probably be eating leftovers from dinner that you had to carry with you because you couldn't finish it there.
"Then what?"
"You would find your star and I'd watch you for a minute. Sometimes you get lost in the sky but eventually, you'd look at me and I'd show you the ring. Or--" Caleb glanced down at the box, suddenly groaning. "I should've gotten a string quartet."
"Caleb."
"A string quartet would've blown your mind if they played some Afrobeat-"
"Caleb."
"Some Reggaeton too. Or Soca. You love Soca music. Damn."
"Oh my God."
His laughter faded as he took my left hand. "We're really doing this," I mumbled, scoffing when I realized where we were. "In the middle of our closet. We're getting engaged."
"Who are we if we didn't have any spontaneity?" Caleb murmured. "I love you."
"And I love you," I told him. "But you didn't answer me, by the way," I commented, smiling widely just as he was about to slide the ring on my finger. "I did ask first. I deserve an answer."
He pulled me into him by the neck, kissing me deeply before leaving another kiss on my forehead. "What do you think?"
"I'm not hearing a--"
"Yes. The easiest answer I can give you to this question. Yes, Octavia, I will marry you." When he slid the ring on my finger, he held up my hand. The two of us stared at the ring for a moment before locking eyes when he asked, "Now, you didn't answer my question."
"You didn't ask. You told me your plan--potential plan. You never asked the que--" Caleb had cut off my joking with another kiss that night.
However, Caleb didn't explain the night in that much detail to the interviewer. After simply stating that I had proposed to him at our home in New York before he had the chance too, the interviewer had gushed, "Any plans for the wedding?"
"So far we know it will most likely be sometime around August," I replied, knowing the stress that had already started when we started planning.
The interviews continued until we finally made our way inside the big building where I spotted Jake talking to a few mutual acquaintances. That night went well, from the hosts to the witty banter of the presenters, to Caleb getting on that stage as he presented the award with a well-known actor while not doing too much and just showing his smile while he had been up there, everyone around us was having a great time during the night.
Jake tapped me from where he sat behind me. "Best actress category coming up."
"How do you even--"
"Now the nominees for best actress."
Jake laughed behind me and Caleb squeezed my hand. I caught sight of Krystal down the row Jake was in, shooting me two thumbs up. In my purse, my phone was buzzing with messages and Caleb took my purse from me, settling it between his legs instead.
Caleb's grip on my hand didn't fault and Jake on the other side of me patted my thigh, both of their eyes on the screen as each actresses' name was called. "Octavia."
I grinned at the camera in front of me, giving a little wave before it panned off. Jake put a hand on my shoulder behind me and I laughed, putting my own hand over his own. "Why are you more nervous than I am?"
"Empathy October," He said bluntly and Caleb snorted next to me at the nickname. Jake crouched down behind my seat so he could peak next to me and Caleb's shoulders. "I have too much of it that I'm practically taking it from you."
His words had me laugh but Caleb's eyes were intently on the stage at the presenter. "And the winner for best actress is," They opened up the card. "Octavia."
"Yes!" I heard Jake yell behind me, making me cover my mouth in surprise at his happy outburst. I stood, Caleb quickly hugging me as applause rang through my ears from all corners of the room. I moved towards the stage, quickly waving at my cast members from the movie I had been nominated for.
Hugging the known presenters and accepting my award, I let out a sigh as I stepped up to the mic. "Hi," I said breathlessly with a big smile. For some reason that sent the crowd breaking out into laughter. "Um, I'm not going to lie, this was very unexpected. Thank you. Thank you for the invitation to being here once again and making this one of the best moments of my life. I have so many people to thank-too many people to thank."
The crowd broke into laughter once again at my sudden out of breath and I racked up all the names. "To Erika, my rock since I was 17. Thank you so much for everything you do. To my amazing cast members, it's been the greatest honour working alongside you."
I listed the names of those involved in the production. From having the great privilege to work with the director, producers, the cast and the crew and more during the duration of that film, I shifted to my personal life.
"Thank you to my friends, those nearby and around the world. You know who you are. For encouraging me through any time, whether it was the easiest days or the hardest." I glanced over at Caleb, I glanced over at Caleb, "Caleb Henderson, my date for the evening and years to come. Thank you for bringing the utmost joy in my life with everything you are and everything that you give me."
His grin widened as I continued. "To my siblings who've endured my dramatic antics for years, Daniel, Naomi and our parents who had come here sacrificing so much for us thank you for everything you've done."
I cleared my throat as the crowd listened intently. "Over the past years, I've learned many things about this industry. It's taught me to be strong and courageous in many ways. This film I had the opportunity of being cast in spoke volumes of a conversation I could be part of especially over the revelations I had made in the past years. As it had spoken on the topic of sexual assault and harassment occurring in multiple environments throughout the world."
"Like the people in the film, the main character I had played included, we stand united against abusers, against power takers and anyone who tries to belittle us in any way, on-screen and off-screen. I'm glad that amidst a group of talented individuals in this room, we share a love of film. And that our love of film allows us to address issues we have collectively and individually around the world, giving us opportunities like this to speak up especially against any form of injustice. I hope the message of the movie is engraved within yourselves as it is in me. That you are not alone even in situations where it may seem like it."
I blinked once. Twice. Both my hands gripped the award. "And this award is dedicated to my uncle who I thank every day that I've been given the chance to do what I love and to stand here with you all. Once again, thank you so much for this award, everyone. Thank you." With deafening applause, I followed the presenters off stage while taking a deep breath.
That night had come to a close faster than I thought possible. Caleb fixed his hat on his head in the seat next to me on the plane. No one on board had asked for an autograph and it was surprisingly quiet on the packed plane on this quiet night from where we were sitting. He had his feet perched up on the recliner, taking a swig of his water before putting it back in the cupholder.
We had changed out of our formal attire before making our way to the airport and currently sat cross-legged in my own seat in sweats."Tell me again why it was a good idea to book our flight in the middle of the night?" I rhetorically asked as Caleb who failed to cover his loud yawn. "I'm telling you, we can get off right now and you can sleep."
"I can sleep when we get home, Tavi," He groaned, turning in his seat to face me. "I'm okay."
He turned the baseball cap around his head to cover his wavy hair, grabbing my hand as an attempt to reassure me with his tired eyes. His fingers brushed over the ring for the hundredth time tonight as if it was going to disappear if he didn't look at it one second longer. "Few more months."
I already knew of the chaos that would occur on the day-the days of our marriage. "Mom's been harassing me on the plans," I said. "Do you know how much planning has to go to two weddings?"
"No, my love," He said sarcastically. "Please tell me how much planning has to go into two weddings held for the same two people."
"Don't be sour," I said, playfully pushing his hand off me. One wedding in America and the second in Nigeria? Hectic. My cousins were going to be too fond of Caleb, I already knew it that much. The entire concept stressed me out but it excited me.
"Don't be sour." He mocked with a smile. "I'm glad you approved my flower arrangements for wedding number 1, but tell me when we get to pick cakes, yeah? Soon, right? I'm in the mood to try out at least 100 cake samples."
I laughed at the words he's been saying for weeks. "Yes, soon."
While he played with my hand, I looked down at his own. Along the index finger of his left hand in dark blue ink. 2:04. The tiny imprint on his skin had been there for a couple of months. I had been with him that day when I had added to the collection of piercings but him getting that meant everything.
"Can I voice my thoughts?" He suddenly said.
"You never have to ask," I told him.
"Your award tonight?" He said quietly. "Deserved. No doubt. You deserved it. You killed it in the movie. And your speech today? Tavi, you said what you needed to say and you said it well. I'm proud of you."
For the second time that night, I blinked rapidly. Glancing down at the ring on my finger to the tattoo on his index finger, I exhaled slowly, not fighting the small smile creeping on my face. Caleb chuckled beside me, my gratitude expressed without words.
After all, actions were my forte. Words were his.
"Ready to go home?" He asked me as the pilot asked for passengers to put on their seatbelts.
I squeezed his hand. "Always."
THE END
Ended: Thursday, April 16, 2020
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Everything Happens At 2:04 AM
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-nic <3