Young Adulting

by Christina Benjamin

  I only had two years of college ahead of me thanks to the credits I’d accrued in high school—being an overachiever had its perks. So in two years time when I had my degree in hand I’d go back.

  I’d take whatever crummy entry-level job I could get and I’d work my way up.

  I took a deep breath and leaned back in my seat, feeling a little more like myself for the first time in weeks.

  It wasn’t exactly a plan to get excited about, but it was a plan. Fallon had been right. It was time to stop wallowing.

  It was time to regroup and strategize.

  An energy I hadn’t felt in ages had me shifting with impatience, like I could go out right this second and seize the freakin’ day.

  Fallon walked back over to me with two glasses filled with a knockoff champagne that would absolutely give me a headache in the morning. Her eyes narrowed on me as she handed me one and sat beside me. “What did I miss?”

  I feigned nonchalance. “Oh, not much.” I waved a hand at the girls beside us. “Missy admitted that she made a pact with Satan to become his bride when she went off to college and, oh yeah—” I made a show of tipping my nose in the air as I examined the fizzing bubbles in my glass. “I’ve decided that you were right.”

  She widened her eyes as she laughed. “I was?”

  I nodded. “You were. It’s time to make a new plan.”

  “That’s my girl.” She nudged my shoulder with hers as we cheersed. “I knew you wouldn’t let some guy get you down for long.”

  I ignored the sharp stab of pain. It would be a while before my heart properly healed, but that didn’t mean I had to wallow in it.

  “You’ll get back out there, you know,” Fallon said.

  It went without saying that ‘there’ was Hollywood. I had a memory of a bench with my name on it and I actually managed a genuine smile. “I know.”

  “OMG, is that…” Missy’s loud voice had Fallon and I looking over, but Missy and her friends weren’t looking at us.

  They were looking past us. Gaping, actually. Mouths hanging open. The girls I’d gone to high school with were staring at the door to the bar like they’d just seen a ghost. Or maybe a zombie. Or…

  A celebrity.

  Fallon and I whipped around at the same time and I froze. My heart stopped. For a second there, I was sure the world had stopped spinning. Or maybe I’d just lost my mind, because it looked like…

  “Henry Landon!” Fallon’s voice was high-pitched and breathless as her fingernails clawed into my forearm. “Holy crap that’s Henry Landon.”

  So it wasn’t just me. The tall, dark hottie with the dimples to die for wasn’t a figment of my imagination.

  And he really was heading right toward me.

  “It’s really him,” Fallon hissed beside me.

  She and the others were clearly starstruck, but me…?

  I was lovestruck.

  If there had been any doubt in my mind about how hard I’d fallen for this guy, it was gone now as his shockingly blue eyes honed in on me and his lips curved up in a smile that took my breath away.

  He was here.

  He came.

  Always.

  The word echoed in my ears like he’d just said it now in this crowded bar. Patrons shifted to make way for him but he didn’t seem to notice the stares and chatter that followed in his wake.

  I scrambled to my feet just as he reached our table.

  “You’re here,” I said.

  “Of course I’m here.” His gaze was hungrily taking me in as he reached for me, tugging me into his arms, heedless of our audience. “I’ve missed you so much, Izzy.”

  I hesitated for a heartbeat and then gave in to the overwhelming urge to hold him the way he was holding me—like he’d never let go.

  Reason kicked in a half a second later but I still didn’t want to let go. Being in his arms felt like finally coming home, and the urge to bury my head in his chest and forget everything else was overwhelming.

  It wasn’t until I heard Missy say “take another one, I wasn’t smiling” that I lifted my head and pulled back to see that Missy and her friends were currently taking photos of each other with Henry in the background as if he was some wax statue in a Madame Tussaud’s museum.

  Fallon stepped up beside Missy and pushed her away, shooing me and Henry toward the exit behind me in the process. “Go. Talk. Make out.” She winked at me when I went to protest and gave me a hard shove toward the back door. “You crazy kids have fun. I’ll keep the local paparazzi at bay.”

  I might have hesitated, but Henry grabbed my hand and led the way, still ignoring the attention he was garnering just by existing.

  I’d almost forgotten for a while there that Henry was famous. It was easy to do in LA where being rich and famous was the norm. But that wasn’t the case in Iowa, where even TV reporters garnered star status.

  That was one of the things I loved most about Henry. He was so down to earth that it made it easy for me to feel like we could actually work. For the past few days I’d been focused on remembering our alone times together, and yeah, maybe even rereading every single email Leo had sent me with the new perspective that they’d come from Henry.

  But in all that reminiscing, and in all that overanalyzing—I’d managed to forget that Henry was a bona fide celebrity, with all the trappings that came with that lifestyle.

  I was vividly aware of that now, though. Especially when one of the waitresses literally threw herself into Henry’s path to beg for an autograph. I blinked rapidly in surprise as we stopped short but Henry flashed her that million-dollar smile he was known for and quickly scribbled his name on the notepad she thrust at him.

  A few seconds later we were out the back door and standing alone in the blissfully silent parking lot.

  Blissfully silent...but frigid. I wrapped my arms around myself as the winter air nipped at my skin. I’d been so startled by Henry’s appearance I’d forgotten to grab my jacket.

  Henry shrugged out of his and wrapped it around my shoulders, using the lapels to tug me close so I was trapped in the cozy comfort of his down jacket and basking in the warmth of his gaze.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said again.

  I nodded, temporarily unable to speak thanks to the lump in my throat that made it hard to breathe.

  He let out a huff of air as his eyes moved over me from head-to-toe like he couldn’t get enough. “Are you okay?” he finally asked.

  I nodded. It was almost the truth. I would be okay. Eventually. And now that Henry was here...that weight in my chest was starting to lessen.

  Something dangerously close to hope was taking its place. I tried to tamp it down, tried to focus on all the ways he’d hurt me and all the reasons I’d left.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  His eyes widened in surprise and I realized it was a ridiculous thing to ask. A few minutes ago I would have scoffed if Fallon had suggested that I should be worried about how Henry was holding up. But that was before I was standing face-to-face with him. Before I saw the dark shadows under his eyes, the strain in his expression, and the way he clenched his jaw as he watched me.

  He tugged me closer. “You left. Izzy…” He shook his head. “Why would you leave like that? Why would you walk away from your dream?”

  I swallowed. I wasn’t sure how much he knew and I didn’t want to tell him the truth.

  That I’d left for him.

  He didn’t need that guilt and I didn’t want him to feel beholden to me.

  “It was the right thing to do,” I said.

  He arched his brows and leaned in close until I could feel his warm breath against my cheek. “Did you really think that I’d care more about keeping my secret than I would keeping you?”

  I blinked in surprise. He knew?

  He gripped the lapels of his jacket tighter and tugged until I was pressed against his chest, his head tipping down so there was no escaping him. He was surrounding me and it was impossible to think stra
ight.

  “How can I make you see that you mean more to me than my script? You mean more than anything,” he said, his voice soft and low. “What will it take for you to see that you mean everything to me?”

  I opened my mouth and closed it, tears welling in my eyes as his words hit my heart and made it ache.

  “I didn’t sign the contract, Izzy,” he said. “And I won’t. Not unless you’re working with me.”

  “What?” I tried to pull away to get some distance. “But you can’t—”

  “I can, and I will.” He leaned down and kissed me hard. The jolt of heat shot through me so fast and fierce it made me gasp.

  This thing between us—it was electric and it was undeniable. I kissed him back with all the pent up hurt and longing I’d been feeling since I’d left.

  The kiss grew frantic as I tried to show him how much I’d missed him and his arms slipped around my waist to hold me tight.

  When he pulled back abruptly, his brows drew down and he cupped my face in his palms. “I love you, Izzy. I love you and there’s no way I’d ever choose anything in this world over you.” His eyes searched mine. “Do you believe me?”

  I only hesitated for a heartbeat, and even that was because I was trying hard not to cry. With tears welling up in my eyes, I nodded.

  “I’m so sorry I hurt you with my lies, but you have to know that when I created Leo it was only because of my pride and this need to be seen as somebody other than Lars Landon’s son. But you see me. I know that now and that’s the only thing that matters. I know I should have told you sooner, and I’m sorry it got out of hand but—”

  I pressed my fingers to his lips to stop him. “I know,” I said. “I get it. I do. That’s exactly why I didn’t want to be known as Henry Landon’s girlfriend. I don’t love the fact that you lied, but I understand it.”

  He exhaled and his whole body visibly relaxed. He leaned forward until his forehead rested against mine. “Does that mean you’ll give me a second chance?”

  I nodded quickly. I didn’t even have to think. I couldn’t have if I’d tried. All I could do was feel and there was no doubt about what I was feeling. “I love you, Henry.”

  He groaned as he pulled me in tight, his arms crushing me to him as he covered my face with kisses, making me laugh through tears of happiness and relief as he planted kiss after kiss on my nose, my cheeks, my temple, and finally my lips.

  He twined his fingers through mine and brought my hands up to his chest. “So what do you say? Will you come back to Hollywood with me and show them what we’ve got?”

  I nodded, a little part of me already worrying about how I’d tell my parents and what they’d say…

  But Henry was right. I had to see this through.

  And this time we’d do it together.

  Truth be told, I didn’t want to share this night with anyone else.

  But, after twenty minutes of kissing and laughing and freezing our butts off in the parking lot, I realized that there was one person in that bar who I really ought to introduce Henry to.

  “Come on,” I said as I tugged him back inside. “It’s time for you to officially meet my best friend.”

  I watched with a grin as Fallon attempted to play it cool. But for all her talk about never watching Hermosa Beach again, the girl was still a diehard fan.

  I had to smother a laugh when she tripped over her own two feet after Henry gave her a bear hug as a greeting. Then I had to take a sip of champagne to keep from laughing outright at Missy’s tongue-tied reaction when he asked her name after she got his autograph.

  I should have been a bigger person. I wanted to be a bigger person but…

  “Still don’t believe me?” I asked Missy sweetly as she walked back to her seat with a dazed look in her eyes.

  She shot me a wide-eyed stare of disbelief. Apparently not even seeing was believing for Missy.

  Not that I could blame her. As I sat right next to Henry and watched him charm my friends like he’d won over my roommates in Hollywood, I had a hard time believing it myself.

  I could hardly believe that Henry Landon was here at my side, holding my hand under the table and using any excuse to touch me or steal a kiss.

  It felt like a dream that he’d come all the way here...for me. But when I told him that, whispering it in his ear so no one could hear, he turned to me with that sexy smile of his and mouthed one word. Always.

  I was pretty sure I officially swooned right then and there.

  A couple hours later, when everyone around us came to their feet to watch the ball drop on TV and shout out the countdown to midnight, Henry tugged me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “Here’s to new beginnings, beautiful.” His mouth was right next to my ear, making me shiver.

  “To new beginnings,” I whispered back, my voice choked with emotions.

  Ten, nine, eight…

  “Hey Izzy…” He leaned back to meet my gaze. “I know you said you didn’t want to be known as Henry Landon’s girlfriend, but, personally…”

  Six, five, four…

  “I think it has a nice ring to it.” His eyes held a question and the flicker of vulnerability there nearly made me melt.

  I placed my palms on his cheeks. “I would be proud to be Henry Landon’s girlfriend.” I arched a brow. “Or Leo Lang’s, for that matter.”

  “Yeah?” His eyes lit with a happiness that made me warm all over.

  “Definitely.”

  Three, two, one...

  We were kissing well before the clock struck midnight and the crowd went wild. We were so caught up in each other, we missed the balloons dropping around us, the confetti being thrown, the glasses being clinked, and even the fireworks that started up outside.

  But in my opinion, kissing Henry Landon was the perfect way to kick off a new year, a new career, a new relationship...a new life.

  Together.

  Epilogue

  Henry

  2 months later…

  I peered over my laptop to the gorgeous blonde sitting across from me at the sleek shared desk. Sometimes I still couldn’t believe that we were doing this.

  Izzy looked up, pushing her glasses into her hair and grinning. “Will you stop?”

  “Stop what?”

  “Oh please, you’re an open book, Henry. But your focus is supposed to be on revisions, not revisiting my lips.”

  “But they’re practically taunting me,” I teased, standing from my chair and moving to her side of the desk in a quick practiced motion that had Izzy wrapped in my arms in seconds.

  She laughed, her cheeks flushing as I demonstrated just how much my lips missed hers.

  “You’re incorrigible,” she said once we finally came up for air.

  “And I’m all yours,” I quipped, pulling her onto my lap so I could see how far she’d gotten on the final revisions for Beyond Sunset.

  We’d made tremendous progress since returning to LA. We both told Polarizing Pictures where to shove it, I’d finally come clean to my father about my script and the vision I had for my future, and Izzy had started taking college classes so she could work toward finishing her degree.

  She also had a tough conversation with her parents about her career goals and how they differed from theirs. I was so proud of her for standing up for her dreams and her desire to have the freedom to pursue them.

  Izzy’s parents were less than enthusiastic that her future was in LA. But the fact that she would still be getting a degree eventually helped them come around.

  After being honest with our families, things just started to fall into place.

  Izzy started at the Los Angeles Film School and it turned out one of her professors had a connection with an indie studio who took one look at my script and immediately signed us, as a team! Izzy was freelancing as a script advisor and I was in the writer’s chair, right where I wanted to be.

  It didn’t hurt that the contract gave us a sizable advance after my father signed on
as a producer.

  At first, I hadn’t been keen on the idea, but after being truthful about my aspirations his generosity and support overwhelmed me. I truly hadn’t expected it.

  I was beginning to realize that the issues we had with our relationship weren’t one-sided. It wasn’t fair of me to be angry at my father for steering my career in a different direction if I hadn’t been willing to open up to him about what I wanted.

  Dating Izzy had helped me realize the importance of putting my trust in others and being vulnerable enough to open up about my true feelings. It had improved my relationship with my parents by leaps and bounds.

  But it was the progress in my relationship with Izzy that really mattered to me.

  I knew it took a giant leap of faith for Izzy to come back to LA with me to pursue this crazy dream of ours. But it was paying off in so many ways.

  We’d just signed the lease on our new office space.

  For now, it was a quiet workspace where we could collaborate together on Beyond Sunset. In the future I hoped it might be the site of another joint venture—an indie film startup that we would run together.

  I couldn’t help wrapping my arms tighter around Izzy, burying my face in her waves of soft blonde hair. She looked down at me with that grin I loved so much, and a swell of gratitude tightened my chest.

  We were doing what we loved and doing it on our own terms, and I’d never been happier.

  “I think we should go out tonight and celebrate.”

  Izzy laughed. “Okay. What are we celebrating?”

  “Hmmm…how ‘bout that we negotiated our way to a win, in our careers and in love.”

  Her warm brown eyes sparkled, and her smile lit up my world. “Seriously, how did you ever lack faith that you were born to be a writer?”

  “Because I hadn’t met you yet.”

  She flushed. “I can’t compete with all this swoon-worthiness.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “Okay, but I can think of at least one other success we could celebrate tonight.”