“Suicide? Oh god- Quinn.” He rolled over so that I was lying right on top of him. His arms wrapped around me and his legs entangled in mine. Except for the sounds of our breathing, it was silent. He didn’t ask questions, only listened and that was exactly what I needed. We laid like that for what felt like hours. With each breath, the pain subsided. And with each moment he knew my secret, I felt a bit more secure in his arms. He wasn’t leaving.
Deleted Scene #2
Author’s note: Before I had written the scene about Quinn telling her secret to Chase, I had wanted them to find out a different method. Here is an unedited and raw version of how it could have gone down if Quinn had never told Chase about her past. I also played around with a few scenarios about Bash’s death. This scene includes a different death. Enjoy!
Chase
I sat in the big brown club chair at my publicist’s office. Rhea had just set a bottle of water in front of me, but I was in too much shock to acknowledge the gesture.
“When you get yourself in these types of predicaments, you need to tell me beforehand so I am not blind-sided by these stories. Luckily, one of the reporters down there owes me a favor. We have time to prepare a statement and control the backlash,” she scrambled in front of her desk and started going through papers. Her graying hair was pulled up into a bun on the top of her head and she wore a pair of black specs on the end of her nose.
“Are you positive?” was the only thing I could force out of my mouth. I had known that Quinn had a secret, but I just didn’t realize how big it actually was. I wanted to be next to her, to shelter her from the shit that was about to go down. The media would tear her apart; portray her in an unfair light. This was entirely my fault. I couldn’t protect her like she needed. She had even warned me, told me that
“Positive. The story never made national news, but it was still quite a story on the east coast. Here’s a news article on the accident.” Rhea tossed a newspaper my way, which I swiftly caught in my hands. I looked it over. The article was accompanied by a picture of Quinn and a man on it. She looked different, younger. Her hair was shorter, but she looked happier, not so lonely. That was the Quinn I wanted more of; this girl on the picture was not the scared and emotionally unavailable brunette that I had had dinner with the other night. Whoever this girl in the picture was, I wanted to know her as well.
“This doesn’t change anything. I still love her,” I said, matter-of-factly. That much I was sure of. We had hardly known each other. That was hardly enough time to get her to trust me yet.
“Yes, it does. You don’t love her. This is infatuation. You want the one girl who didn’t want you back. This is just the type of thing that will ruin your career. People will judge you just like they did her. She was made an example of, Chase. And now she’s pregnant? How stupid could you be? I encouraged your playboy antics because I thought you were smarter than this. I have to figure out a way to spin this story, but I can’t make promises. I just hope that no one finds out about her pregnancy before you can convince her to take care of it.”
The way Rhea talked made me sick to my stomach. I had just admitted to myself and her that I loved Quinn. I hadn’t even thought about it before the words had left my mouth. The horrible taste in my mouth caused me to pick up the water bottle and down about half of it. Rhea was making everything clear. It was Quinn or my career. I couldn’t have both. My mother had sacrificed everything so that I could follow my dreams. What would she think of me now? Twenty-four hours ago, I had been so certain that Quinn had been the one, the only one for me. My feelings for her were pushed aside now. I would have to sort those out later.
“Break it off,” Rhea demanded.
“No.”
“Break it off, Chase. I am warning you. A scandal with a girl like her is not what your reputation needs right now.”
Losing Quinn was the last thing I wanted, but I knew by now that you didn’t always get what you wanted in show business. I picked up my phone and dialed her number.
Quinn
I walked into the small building on the outskirts of L.A. Chase had called me and insisted I meet him at this office, gauging from the sign on the outside, it was a publicist’s office. This was never a good thing. I knocked on the door and started to braid my hair over my shoulder while I waited. Something was wrong, I could tell from the sound of his voice. He knew.
Chase opened the door, but he wasn’t smiling. He had on a blue track suit and a backwards hat hid his hair.
“Hey,” he told me stepping back to let me walk in. The room was empty except for five or six chairs. It was some sort of waiting room.
“I know why you called me here,” I said. “The tabloid article.”
He wouldn’t look me in the eyes, he only pulled his cap off and ran his hands through his hair.
“Look, Quinn. There isn’t an easy way to say this, but I know about your boyfriend. I know what happened and this doesn’t put me in a good spot publically. Rhea wants me to break this, whatever this is, off.” The blood was rushing through my body now. He knew the story that the papers and courts had portrayed, he didn’t know the truth and this was exactly what I had been afraid of.
“You don’t know the whole story, Chase. Give me a chance to explain,”
“I know the facts and that is enough for me. God, Quinn. I knew you had a secret, but this? This is much more than a secret. This could ruin me.”
“I know, but-“
“Did you do it?” his voice was empty and straight to the point. My confession would change everything. The tears started to fall down my face, but it didn’t change his expression which was still hard. I tried to reach out to hold his hand, but he took a step back away from me.
“You have to understand. We were young and in love. We had been together since we were fourteen. Everyone loved Bash. He was the town’s pride and joy. He was going on to great things. He was a great ball player. For the longest time, yes, I blamed myself. His parent’s blamed me; the whole town blamed me because in their eyes- Sabastian Crown could do no wrong. I’ve been struggling with that night for a long time. Do I call myself a murderer? Yes, I should have seen how much stress and pain he was in. Did I pull the trigger? No, he did that himself. I know there are people out there that believe I pulled that trigger, but I was trying to stop him. I just couldn’t get to him to see how much I loved him. How much everyone loved him.”
Chase still refused to look at me so I took a step forward and grabbed him by the side of the face to gently catch his gaze.
“You don’t have to feel sorry for me,” I said.
I wiped the tears from my eyes with my shirt and bravely gave him a smile.
“Yes, I tried to kill myself by running my car off of a bridge. I was in a dark spot, but after months of rehabilitation I am in a better place now. I am trying to put the past behind me.”
“Quinn…” he said with a hoarse voice. He looked up at me with a pained expression.
“I’m not scared anymore. I’m ready to go all in.”
I waited for his answer, but he didn’t say anything. That was a bad sign.
“Quinn…” he repeated. He turned around to face the wall and I heard him take a deep breath.
Deleted Scene #3
Author’s note: Okay, so this isn’t a scene exactly, but it is my original ending paragraph. I decided not to pull out of the timeline like this, it felt too cliché. What do you think?
Ending
Looking back, I know that there was one last thing I needed to do before I died. It was why I had lived, why I didn’t die that night. There was a bigger plan in store for my life. I just had to push past all the darkness to find it. And once I was there, once my purpose had been laid out in front of me, there was no going back.
I may be just a speck on the planet and no one may remember me when I die, but I had a calling to love someone unconditionally no matter what the cost. Chase was sent to save me from myself.
About The Author
Don’t forget to check out her other books!
www.etherealunderground.com
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Other books by Briana Gaitan
Buy here
Ethereal Underground Series
Ethereal Underground by Briana Gaitan and Brooke Kennedy
Mark Of Deceit By Briana Gaitan and Brooke Kennedy
Haven and The Hunter by Briana Gaitan and Brooke Kennedy
Coming September 2014
Falling (an Ethereal Underground Companion Novel)
The Last Thing (Hollywood Timelines #1)
Coming January 2014
The One Thing (Hollywood Timelines #2)
Bash (Hollywood Timelines #2) Page 3
