He Has Me

Chapter 9

The next few days were a whirlwind of interviews and meetings. Audrey found herself courting a few different news agencies, but she had yet to make a final decision. She was amazed by how swiftly her life had changed. Yet when the cameras turned off, and she closed her door to her quiet empty apartment, she didn't think about the future. Her mind was consumed with the past. With Brandon. Ever since the day when she saw him with a woman saddled across his lap, she had been trying to hate him. She had been trying to hate herself, for thinking that it could ever be anything more.

But it didn't matter how logical she attempted to be, when the sheets caressed her skin, she thought of him. When her hand brushed accidentally along a naked thigh, she thought of him. She had even stayed up into the wee hours of the morning searching him on the internet like a fan with a huge crush. It was embarrassing and torturous at the same time. Each day she swore to herself as she fell asleep that she would wake up without him on her mind. Yet when she woke up, he was the first thing she thought of. It had been over a week since the last time she spoke to him, when her cell phone rang around midnight. She looked over at it warily. The insistent way it rang made her certain that it would be Brandon. When she looked at the number she didn't recognize it. She reasoned that it could be Amber stuck somewhere, or even another relative or friend.

“Hello?” she asked quietly as she answered the phone.

“Just hear me out,” Brandon said quickly before she could hang up the phone. “I'm sorry.”

“You've got nothing to apologize for,” she pointed out as she rested her head back against her pillow. “I know who you are-”

“No you don't,” he said firmly and then immediately softened his tone. “Marcus brought the girl to me, because I couldn't stop thinking about you, and you just happened to walk in at the wrong time.”

“Brandon, we're not dating,” Audrey reminded him, though her heartbeat had quickened. “You don't have to explain yourself to me.”

“But what if I want to?” he asked in a whisper. “What if I want to have a chance to explain myself. Not just that day, but all of me. Do you have any interest in getting to know me better?”

Audrey held her breath for a moment. She couldn't believe that he was being so open with her. She wanted to doubt him, and yet despite everything she knew about him, her instincts told her to trust him.

“Maybe,” she replied hesitantly.

“You can do better than that Audrey,” he pressed and she could hear the warmth entering his tone. “Meet me,” he suggested. “Just you and me, no Marcus, no cameras, just two people getting together.”

“I don't know,” Audrey frowned. “What if someone finds out?”

“No one will find out,” he insisted and then paused a moment before pleading. “I need to see you again Audrey. At least once.”

“Tonight?” Audrey asked, the word tickling across her tongue.

“Tonight,” he replied. “Meet me at the boardwalk, at the far end, where the old bumper cars used to be. You know the place?”

“Yes,” Audrey replied with amazement. She had spent quite a bit of time there during the summers. While Amber frolicked on the beach in her bikini, Audrey had hit out in the shade that the overhang of the defunct carnival ride offered. There she had passed hours of her summer by reading every book she could get her hands on. She had imagined her life, her future, under that overhang.

“I'll be there in ten minutes,” Brandon said confidently. “I'll wait for you.”

“I'll be there,” Audrey replied. When she hung up the phone she was elated. She grabbed some jeans and a warm sweat shirt as the beach was cool in the evenings. She didn't bother to check her make-up or her hair. She rushed out the door.