Unbreakable

by Ashley Blake

It took just a couple of seconds for me to agree. I needed to get my mind off of Lucas and I thought if I went out, other people would distract me for at least a little while.

  “You know what? That’s a great idea.”

  Her face brightened and she let out a huge sigh.

  “Oh good, I thought I was going to have to move the earth to get you to agree to go out. I know you’ve been moping around and you definitely need a change of scenery, Sophie. Going out will be good for you.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  “Let’s have dinner at Marco’s Ristorante and then hit The Store and Urban. We need a fun night out!”

  I giggled at her, she was so sweet trying to cheer me up.

  “Sounds like a plan!”

  “Okay, one hour and we leave, okay?”

  “Yep!”

  The Store was packed when we walked in and it felt good to be out. The only problem was everywhere I turned I thought I saw Lucas. These guys came up to us at the bar, really cute guys, but I barely paid attention to a word they said. Thank goodness for Gigi and her ability to chat up any guy any time. They were nice enough but I was bored about five minutes into the conversation and I gave Gigi a knowing look and told her that I needed a bathroom break.

  When we were out of earshot she turned to me.

  “Not feeling the guys, huh?”

  “Not really. I think I just want to go dance so that I don’t have to think about anything. I need to have the music just take over for a while, is that okay?”

  “Of course, it will be fun! Let’s get out of here!”

  A night at Urban was exactly what I needed. The music was so good that night, I literally stayed on the dance floor from the second I walked into the club until the second we decided to leave. It was perfect.

  When we got home I gave Gigi a big hug and thanked her for getting me out of the apartment. Dancing was exactly what I needed and I felt a lot better about everything.

  “Sure, I think it was exactly what you needed, and now you’ll be able to talk to Lucas tomorrow, you’ll see that everything is fine, nothing is going on with him and that girl, and he’ll be home in six days. He loves you, Sophie. The time will fly by, you’ll see.”

  “You’re right, I have to think positively about this whole thing. Nothing’s going to change with us; he loves me.”

  I climbed into bed feeling better and I was able to have a really good night’s sleep.

  The next day I had a meeting at the coffee shop with Candace, the final prospective agent I was interviewing, and I liked her the most. She was about 15 years older than me, totally no-nonsense, and she had all these plans for taking me to the next level. I never even knew I wanted to be at the next level but everything she was pitching sounded kind of cool.

  “You have so much potential, Sophie. You can be a very big brand. You’re a powerful blogger, a jewelry designer, and…”

  “The jewelry thing is new. I wouldn’t consider myself a collaborator just yet.”

  “Aren’t you going to have a line of bracelets for sale at Glitz?”

  I looked at her cautiously. “Yes.”

  “Okay, then you, my dear, are a jewelry designer. I think a great next step for you is to design more items at Glitz and then I would love to see you doing a lifestyle/entertainment segment on a morning show.”

  I was completely shocked. “You think I should be on television?”

  “Of course! You have had a ton of success at a very young age, you’re attractive and you have a great sense of style. People, especially girls your age and even very young girls, would love to learn from you.”

  “I don’t know, Candace, that seems like a really big step. By the way, Glitz has already mentioned having me design more items if this bracelet line sells well.”

  “Wonderful. Well, we’ll keep the television idea on the back burner. We can revisit it later.”

  I took a sip of my coffee. “Okay, let’s do that. Well thank you for meeting with me today, I really like your ideas.”

  We both stood and she shook my hand. “It was great to meet you and I hope to hear from you soon.”

  It was almost 1:00 when I walked home, I felt really good about my meeting with Candace and I wanted to run it by Gigi and Lucas before I made a final decision. Gigi was running lines when I walked in.

  “Hey, do you need help?”

  She smiled. “Sure, I will always accept an offer of help to run lines.”

  “Okay, after I help you can I get your opinion about something?”

  “Of course!”

  We ran lines for a little over an hour and then we took a break.

  Gigi grabbed a bottle of sparkling water from the fridge. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

  “I met with the final prospective agent today.”

  “How did it go?”

  “I really liked her. She’s like 15 years older than us so she’s been around. She has all these great ideas for me and she seems to be the kind of person who makes things happen.”

  “She sounds pretty perfect for you, Sophie. I think you should hire her.”

  “Yeah, I think I’m going to but I just want to get Lucas’s opinion also.”

  “Good idea. Well, I better get back to studying my lines. Dex is picking me up at 7:00 so I only have a few more hours to study.”

  “Where are you guys going?”

  “Just a low-key dinner and then I’m going to stay over at his place tonight.”

  I smiled at her. “Sounds fun. Okay, go study.”

  A few minutes later my phone rang and I was so relieved to hear Lucas on the other end.

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  That deep, sexy voice was so comforting.

  “Hi, Lucas. It’s so good to hear your voice. What time is it there?”

  “It’s just after 9:00 PM. I would have called earlier but we were scouring Rome all day.”

  I winced at the ‘we’ but I didn’t say anything about it, I didn’t want to upset him, I just wanted to enjoy the few minutes I would have to talk to him.

  “Did you have any luck?”

  “I actually found a couple of artists who are going to paint something for me, so I was happy about that. We are going to a different part of Rome tomorrow.”

  I would never get used to the ‘we’.

  “What did you have for dinner tonight? I’m sure the food there is amazing.”

  The thought of him eating with Ellie made me sick to my stomach but I had to push that out of my head or he would hear that it bothered me, so I tried super hard to sound casual.

  “We haven’t had dinner yet, Ellie knows this restaurant where the owner is an old woman who makes every single dish. The wait is always at least a couple of hours so we’re going to go around 10:00. I wish you were here with me instead.”

  That made me feel really good.

  “Me too. I’m happy that you potentially found a couple of new artists. I’m sure that you are going to find at least a few amazing people during your trip.”

  “I sure hope so. So, how was your day?”

  “It was good. I met with Candace, the final prospective agent, for a couple of hours this morning.”

  “And?”

  “I think she might be the winner. She had a lot of great ideas and she even mentioned something about me doing a lifestyle segment on a morning TV show.”

  “Wow, Sophie, I think that’s a terrific idea! You certainly have the talent, looks and personality for it. She sounds like she really knows her stuff. Is your gut talking to you about her more than the others?”

  “Yes, without a doubt.”

  “Then she’s the one. I really do think an agent is a good idea for you. You have so much potential to do even more than you’re doing now.”

  “She said something very similar.”

  “Then she’s a smart woman. I’m glad you found someone you like.”

  “Me too, it’s a huge relief.”

  “Well, i
t’s almost 10:00 so I should probably go. I’ll give you a call in the next couple of days. We’re going to be travelling so I’ll call when I can. I miss you, Sophie and I love you.”

  “I love you too, Lucas.”

  “Bye.”

  When I heard the click I just stared at the phone. He was going to have dinner at some cute little place with his ex-girlfriend. Instant panic set in, of course, and my mouth went dry. I could feel my heart pounding as my mind went to the dark place I didn’t even want to think about. All my mind could see was Lucas having a romantic dinner with Ellie, late at night, and I was sure that the wine would be flowing. I felt like I was going to throw up so I decided to go for a run. I had to get control of my thoughts.

  I ran down Dearborn to Lincoln Park and then under the underpass over to North Avenue beach. I was winded but it felt good. I sat on the beach for a bit and stared at the lake. There was no way that I was going to go through the next five days feeling the way that I did so I decided in that moment that I needed to push the bad thoughts away and keep them away. I couldn’t wait for the week to be over.

  ~*~*~

  I didn’t hear from Lucas until Saturday and the call was short because he said he only had five minutes. Something was different in his voice but I didn’t let myself dwell on it. I couldn’t. He was in Florence and he was meeting an artist to pick up the sample he requested. So far he had samples from seven artists and he was pretty excited about it.

  “This trip has been so beneficial so far. Ellie found five potential artists so we’re both striking gold. We’re off to Tuscany tomorrow and it will be our last stop. I’ll give you a call on Monday Soph, okay?”

  “You’re not going to ask about my day?”

  “I’m sorry sweetie, I’m in such a rush. Just tell me quickly, is everything okay?”

  I didn’t even try to hide the disappointment in my voice.

  “Yes, everything is fine. Good luck with your artists, Lucas.”

  He let out an exasperated sigh. “Sophie, please don’t do this right now. I’ll give you a call on Monday, okay?”

  “Sure, talk to you then.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  Click. That was it. No ‘I love you’. The pit in my stomach ached but instead of being sad about it I was pissed. He knew how worried I was about him being with her and a little bit of reassurance would have been nice. Something was definitely different in his voice and I didn’t like it.

  The call on Monday was almost exactly like the call that Saturday. Once again, Lucas was in a rush and didn’t have time to talk to me.

  “This trip has been so incredible, Sophie. Between the two of us we have about 20 possible artists to choose from. I’m really happy we came here.”

  “That’s great. I’m glad it was a successful trip.”

  “Yep, well we’ll be back tomorrow so I’ll give you a call when I get home.”

  “Okay.”

  “Bye.”

  Click. No ‘I love you’. I stared at the phone as my mind began to race. He was killing me with the ‘us’ and the ‘we’. Something was definitely different and I felt like I had already lost him. I was dying to see him so that he could reassure me that everything was okay.

  Chapter 14

  I must have checked my makeup and hair 10 times while I waited for Lucas to come over that Wednesday afternoon. He slept when he arrived the day before and told me the jet lag was killer and he would come over the next day. I was sad that I wouldn’t get to see him until the next day, but I didn’t think anything of that because I knew there was a brutal time change. Jet lag was no joke.

  Gigi went to stay with Dex and gave me the place to myself since it was the first time I was going to see Lucas in a week. I was so nervous it almost felt like our first date. I sexed it up for him because the call we had on Monday did not go well at all and I wanted to remind him about what he had left behind for seven days. I was ready to see him so that we could get back to being us.

  My heart was trying to bang it’s way out of my chest when he knocked on the door. I opened it and I was speechless. Lucas looked even better than I had remembered. Not only was he physically beautiful, he was sexy as hell. Butterflies fluttered in my belly as I threw my arms around him and held on tight. His arms slowly wrapped around me but it was nowhere near the reaction I was expecting. He definitely was not acting like a man who had not seen his girlfriend for seven days, and I was worried. I slowly pulled away from him and close the door behind him.

  Lucas looked at me and smiled but it did not reach his eyes.

  “It’s good to see you, Sophie.”

  I was so stunned by his lack of excitement I didn’t know what to do so I just stood there looking at him. He furrowed his brow, looking confused.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

  My words had zero emotion. “It’s good to see you too, Lucas.”

  His eyes pleaded with me softly. “Sophie, come sit with me, I need to talk with you about something.”

  The knots in my stomach twisted even more when he said those words. I knew that whatever it was he wanted to talk to me about was not going to be good. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I sat down on the couch. Lucas sat next to me and turned to face me. He was wringing his hands and I could see that he was struggling to get his words out. When he looked at me I could see a mixture of sadness and apprehension. My eyes searched his desperately waiting for him to say something.

  “I don’t know the best way to say this, Sophie, so I’m just going to come right out and say it. Ellie wants to get back together.”

  I was seething and I narrowed my eyes at him. “I knew it! I knew you would come back here and say this to me! I am so stupid! What happened to ‘there are no feelings there on my end’?”

  “I didn’t expect to feel the way I did, Sophie.”

  “Wait, so you’re breaking up with me?”

  “I just need some time to figure things out. Can you give me a couple of weeks? We can talk after that.”

  “Are you serious? You expect me to wait while you decide if you want to be with me or Ellie?”

  He put his head in his hands for a few seconds and then looked at me.

  “I didn’t do this on purpose, Sophie. I’m just so confused.”

  I asked the question I really didn’t want to know the answer to.

  “Did you sleep with her?”

  “No. I would not do that to you. I just need a little bit of time. Please, Sophie.”

  I sat there in silence, the sound of my heart pounding in my ears, and I wanted to scream. My world was crashing down around me and I didn’t know what to do. Would I look pathetic if I let him take the time to decide who he wanted? And why didn’t he know? If he really wanted to be with me he wouldn’t need time to think about it, would he? I didn’t know how to handle it. I didn’t want to lose him and I knew that the only way I would have any kind of chance was if I let him go. I was going to have to give him the time that he wanted if I ever wanted any chance of getting him back. My pride went out the window as I made my decision. I loved him more than I had ever loved anyone and if that was what I had to do to hang on to a shred of a possibility that he would choose me, that was what I was going to do.

  I looked at him and held his gaze, tears now beginning to well up in my eyes.

  “You know, Lucas, I gave you my heart a while ago and I trusted that you would protect it. I know you have a history with Ellie and I love you so much that I am willing to let you go. I want what is best for you and I want you to be happy. If you need time to think, I will give that to you. But please know that this is breaking my heart and I won’t wait forever.”

  He grabbed my hands but I snatched them away.

  “Thank you, Sophie.”

  When he left I fell into a crumpled ball on the floor and cried for what felt like forever. I dragged myself to my bed a little while later and stared up at the ceiling as tears slowly ran down my temples. I told myself th
at I did the right thing and that he would choose me. He had to. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to move on if he didn’t choose me. I mercifully drifted off to sleep, able to avoid the pain of real life for a few hours.

  Gigi’s key in the door was the first thing I heard the next day.

  “Hey guys, incoming!”

  I was confused at first, but then I realized that she thought Lucas was with me and she didn’t want to interrupt anything. I was too exhausted to get out of bed so I called out to her to let her know the coast was clear. She came bounding into my room with a big grin on her face.

  “Did Lucas run out to get coffee?”

  She walked over to me and her face immediately fell and her grin was replaced by pure worry.

  “Sophie, what’s wrong?”

  She sounded so concerned and that was all it took for the water works to start again. I relayed the whole miserable story to her.

  “You have got to fucking kidding me!” Gigi didn’t swear like that so I knew she was super pissed. “He wants you to wait for him while he takes time to decide who he wants to be with? What an asshole! I hope you told him to go shove it!”

  I looked at her kind of scared to tell her what I decided to do. I hesitated and then I just blurted it out.

  “No, I told him to take the time and let me know.”

  “What?! Sophie, you deserve so much more than someone who would do this to you!”

  “I know Gigi, but I love him!” I started balling hysterically. “I can’t lose him!”

  She wrapped her arms around me and held me while I cried.

  “Shhh, it will be okay. Please don’t cry.”

  “I can’t believe this is happening! We were so happy before he left. He even said he wanted to plan a trip for us to Europe when he got back. That bitch got her claws in him. I knew she wanted him back, Gigi. I knew those two going to Italy together was a bad idea.”

  “I’m going to ask you something but don’t get pissed.”

  I wiped my eyes and looked at her.

  “Okay.”

  “Did he have sex with her?”

  “He says he didn’t and I don’t think he was lying.”

  “Good, at least he had enough respect for you not to do that. So when are you supposed to hear from the scum of the earth?”