Reality

Chapter 16

The next two weeks pass as smooth as possible. I only see Alex here and there with Addison on occasion. The most time I've spent in the same room as him is only a couple of hours, once for a photoshoot he and Addison did to announce their relationship for a popular magazine, and the other times were when he attended some of her shows.

Some nights, he and Addison would attend parties, the both of them stumbling down the hotel hallway either drunk or high in the wee hours of the morning, waking some of the guests. While I didn't enjoy being woken up briefly, I thanked God that I didn't have a room next to them, not having to worry about the possibly of hearing them partake in certain activities that I've heard got them a handful of noise complaints from their neighbors, making my stomach churn.

Alex hasn't spoken to me since our brief phone call, but sometimes I catch him staring, or glaring, at me when he thinks I'm not looking. But even then, when I would catch his gaze, he wouldn't look away, his eyes boring into mine shamelessly.

No one seems to care about my departure apart from Greg. He's still taking it pretty hard, even though my replacement, Abby, seems to catch on quickly. He still claims he'll miss having me around and that it's not too late for me to back out.

My last night on the job, Addison has a concert, and after the show Greg throws me a small goodbye party in the backstage catering area. I get a few muffled goodbyes from crew members who are frantically running around, wanting to get their job done and go home. I feel like a majority of them only came in to say goodbye to get a slice of the sheet cake Greg bought.

While I appreciate Greg's kind gesture, I kind of wish he didn't do any of this. I wanted to leave under the radar. I didn't want to make a fuss or draw any attention to myself, especially since I know no one truly cares about my departure anyway.

Fifteen minutes before my car is supposed to arrive to take me to the airport, Addison walks in with Alex, their fingers laced together. She walks him up to the catering table, letting go of his hand to grab a slice of cake. She tries feeding him a piece of her cake, lifting the plastic fork to his mouth, but he just shakes his head. She briefly pouts before shrugging and eating the sugary goodness herself.

Squaring my shoulders, I decide it's now or never to say goodbye. To do the noble and mature thing by slapping on a fake smile and telling her it was a pleasure to work for her. While I never really got to know Addison, I did enjoy my job before the snake that is Chris slithered back into my life, making my dream job a living hell once more.

I walk up to the catering table behind them. "Addison," I say gently.

They both turn around, as expected. As much as I don't want to look at Alex, my eyes automatically go to him first and his eyes cloud over, his features hardening. I quickly tear my gaze away and look at Addison who is still eating her cake, her eyebrows raised in expectancy.

"I, uh ... I-I," I stutter. Shit, I rehearsed this in my head, but during my rehearsal I didn't expect Alex to be standing right there, glaring at me. "I just want to say thank you. It's been a pleasure working with you," I say politely, but my nerves shine through.