A Crazy Kind of Love

by Mary Ann Marlowe

  Still, he came with so much baggage. I wasn’t just dating him. I was dating the media, and through them, the entire world. And I was dating his sister, to be honest. But Micah knew how to handle the media. They’d grow bored with us in time. And if I could get Eden to stop hating me, I’d be friends with my boyfriend’s sister. So there was that.

  I closed my eyes and resolved to filter out the less valid objections, throwing out fears of the unknown and external pressures I had no control over. And that’s when it hit me: I’d done everything to Micah I’d worried he’d do to me. And in the process, I’d behaved exactly like my dad—for different reasons, to be sure. I’d let everything outside our relationship drive me away from Micah.

  And he’d done nothing but show me devotion.

  But it was very possible that the double-barrel shotgun stories in the paper two days in a row had opened a fatal wound in my relationship with him. And I couldn’t find him to assess the damage or repair it. I needed to find him and explain everything.

  It suddenly occurred to me that I had access to world-class celebrity stalkers. I texted Zion, I can’t find Micah. Call or text me.

  Within minutes, he wrote, Josie where are you?

  I went to talk to Micah but he’s not home. Do you have any idea where he might be?

  Go home, Jo. You can deal with it later.

  Can you contact Adrianna and ask if she’s seen him?

  My phone rang a minute later. Zion.

  “Josie, Adrianna’s not answering my calls. I’m sure she thinks the bus is coming for her tomorrow.”

  “Why would she think that?”

  “Think about it, Jo. First Micah. Then Eden. She doesn’t know you’re not giving up the information. I think Adrianna’s going into a media blackout just in case.”

  “Oh, God.”

  “Don’t worry, Jo. Tomorrow there won’t be a story about her, right? Because neither of us have given it to him. And these stories will blow over, too. Go home and wait it out.”

  “Zion, the stories will blow over for the rest of the world, but Eden will never forgive me. And I can’t blame her. She can never get back the moment when she and Adam would tell their parents first. And how can I prove to her I wasn’t the one who leaked?” I choked back a sob. “I need to go see her. What if Micah’s with her? What if she convinces him I’m everything she feared?”

  “Stay where you are. I can come get you.”

  I knew if I told him where to find me, he’d take me home, so I lied. “You’re right. I’ll go home and wait for you.”

  There was only one place I could go if I wanted to deal with the fallout. It took me about an hour to take two subways to Brooklyn Heights and walk six blocks to Eden’s apartment. As expected, a cameraman perched outside, biding his time. And it was Derek.

  He wouldn’t let me go by without a challenge. “Hey, Jo. What are you doing here?”

  I shot him a dirty look as I passed and climbed the steps. The air outside smelled of cigarettes. Inside, voices rose in argument, and I feared I might be too late. My hand trembled as I knocked.

  Eden opened the door slightly. “No fucking way.”

  “Eden, can I talk to Micah?”

  “He doesn’t want to talk to you. Go back to the sewer with the other rats.” She closed the door, and the arguing started again inside, louder, but still muffled. I glanced at Derek, then put my ear to the door. A low male voice rumbled, but I couldn’t make out the words. I stood outside and waited, hoping. I thought about knocking again, but Eden would just answer and send me away.

  Defeated, I turned to leave. My legs felt like Jell-O as I descended the steps and walked up the sidewalk.

  Derek followed behind, asking me, “Jo, are you trying to get Micah back?”

  My stomach rumbled, and I realized how hungry I was, absolutely ravenous. I didn’t have anything in my bag with me. Not a snack box. Not a single bag of gummy bears.

  The camera floated in my peripheral vision as Derek kept pace alongside me. “I guess Micah’s not a big fan of the media now either, huh? Good job finally breaking him of his fame-whore ways.”

  My legs started to shake again, and I stumbled. Each step I took felt heavy. I had the ludicrous thought that the gravity of the earth had increased. I put a hand on a tree for balance and pulled out my phone to call Zion, but my hands shook too hard. And I couldn’t remember how or what I was doing. I leaned against the tree and slumped to the ground. I just needed a few minutes so I’d stop feeling so dizzy.

  The townhouse door opened, and Micah emerged with Eden’s hand wrapped around his bicep. He stopped and peeled her fingers off, yelling, “It’s my decision, Eden.”

  She let go of him and shouted, “You never think, Micah. I’m just asking you to take some time and think.”

  But he was already halfway down the steps, casting his eyes frantically up and down the street. He shot a shitty look at Derek and then looked down at me. “Oh, my God. Josie!”

  He ran down the sidewalk and fell on his knees, screaming at Derek, “You just stood there and rolled tape? Did you call an ambulance?”

  Derek laughed. “Hey, man, she’s drunk.”

  “She’s not drunk, you asshole.”

  Micah bent down and grabbed my phone off the sidewalk. He punched in the numbers and then paced around with one hand tearing out his hair. “Zion, it’s Micah.” Pause. “Yes, she’s here with me. What should I do? Should I call an ambulance?” His panicked sobs slowed as he listened. Finally, he nodded, and said, “Okay. Thanks.” He dialed again, “Eden, I need you to do me a favor.”

  He spoke to her for a couple of seconds. Then he sat flat on the ground and lifted me in his arms, across his lap, caressing my hair and talking. “Josie. Oh, God, are you okay? Can you sit up?”

  He leaned forward and laid a kiss on my forehead, then rocked me until Eden came outside and gave him a glass of orange juice. He stroked my hair while I sipped on it. After a few minutes, I sat up on my own. Together, Eden and Micah looped their arms around me and helped me stand up and walk back up the steps into the townhouse.

  Once inside, Micah sat me on a sofa and dropped beside me, elbows on knees, looking like he’d been through hell. He wiped his face with the back of his hand. “Josie, I’m so, so sorry.”

  He threw a glance at Eden. Eden backed out of the room and left us alone.

  Micah’s voice broke when he started to talk. “Josie, you scared the hell out of me. When I saw you lying on the ground, I thought the worst.” He grabbed my hands like he wanted to make sure I wouldn’t leave. He pulled me toward him, and his arms around me made me feel safe and protected. I wrapped my arms around him, too. He hugged me tight, and his heart beat fast in his chest.

  “Micah.” I leaned back to look into his eyes.

  A tear rolled down his cheek. He scrubbed it off and swallowed. “Yesterday, when you asked for time, I let you go because I believed you’d come back in time. And I know I said I’d wait for you. I meant that. I would wait for you for the rest of my life. But today I realized I could lose you, for real, forever. And what if you never came back? You’re everything to me. I love you, and I need you.” He held my face in his and said, “Anika Jo Wilder, I don’t want to wait for you.”

  He was right—today might be the only day we ever had. I tasted the tears running over my lips. “Micah, are you going to still want this tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow.” He laid a kiss on my forehead. “And the day after that. As long as you’ll have me. No, longer than that because I won’t let you go again without a fight.”

  He’d just said the magic words. “You won’t have to. I love you, and I trust you. And I need you, Micah. I can’t possibly live without you.”

  He smiled that big smile, the one that made his dimple appear.

  Then he kissed me proper. And, oh, how I’d missed that. But we had a mess to clean up. “Micah, can we talk about the news story? I want to explain everything to you. And to Eden.”

>   Before we’d made a move, a knock on the door brought Eden back through the living room, and I worried for a moment it might be Derek, invading her personal space further. I followed Eden to the foyer, relieved to discover Zion standing in the open doorway. There was no sign of Derek or any other paparazzi out front.

  Eden led us all into the kitchen. Despite everything, it took me a moment to recover from the shock of seeing Adam at the table, nursing a beer in his own home. I hadn’t realized he’d come back from Japan already.

  Micah said, “You remember Josie, right? You guys met two weeks ago.”

  He nodded, and then his eyes tracked Eden. I guessed he planned to follow her lead where I was concerned. Was I still the enemy? Had she forgiven me? Or did she just feel bad for my collapse?

  Micah held a chair out for me, and I sat. Zion had brought my glucose meter. While I messed with that, Micah went to the fridge and rummaged around. He came back with everything he could find and laid it before me. A cornucopia of options. My numbers were still low, so I grabbed the lone piece of fruit but snagged a couple of pieces of cheese as a chaser.

  Once he had me all settled, he came back, and the four of us sat around the table, occupying our hands with our food and drinks, waiting for someone to break the ice.

  Finally, I said, “Eden, I want you to know that I didn’t tell Andy about you. He had Derek following you, and they saw you coming from the OB/GYN and then watched you buy prenatal pills. He wanted to run the story on Monday, but I worked out a deal. He promised he wouldn’t run the story about you for another week. But he broke the promise.”

  “What was the deal?” She gripped her beer bottle and took a swig.

  As hard as it was, I maintained eye contact with her. I needed her trust. “First, I had to tell him who Micah was seeing.” I licked my lips. It sounded every bit as bad. “Knowing that it was me, I figured that was my information to give. Little did I know, he had already figured that out and only needed me to confirm it.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “But there was one more thing.” I took a sip of juice, postponing the inevitable. “He asked me to confirm that I knew you were pregnant.”

  She sucked on her teeth, glaring.

  “I figured it was better to buy you the week. You were planning to tell your mom and Micah soon. And he wouldn’t postpone the story forever. But he obviously had nothing but circumstantial evidence, and he tricked me into giving him the proof. And I’m very sorry.”

  Her expression darkened. I wished I could go back in time and do everything differently. How could I go on with her hating me? I was prepared for her to shut me out, but instead she relaxed and took my hand. “And I’m so sorry about what happened before. I had no idea you were so sick.”

  “I know. And I understand why you were angry. Under the circumstances, you had every right to be.”

  Zion interrupted, phone in hand. “Hey, guys. I got a text from one of our coworkers. Derek just posted video on the site.”

  Eden threw a sideways glance at Adam. “Can you grab my tablet?”

  Adam hopped up and came back a moment later. It amused me that one of the biggest rock stars in the world turned into a puppy around Eden. I looked over at Micah and recognized that same expression on his face. I thought he’d do anything I asked of him.

  Eden’s fingers flew across the device until she had the video up from earlier. She motioned for me to come around the other side of the table, and I watched over her shoulder as she hit Play.

  Typically, Andy had gone for the most vicious headline:

  “Micah Sinclair’s Ex-girlfriend Stalks Him, Passes Out Drunk on the Street.”

  I cringed seeing myself stagger down the steps. She upped the volume when Micah came out. Then Derek said, “Hey, man. She’s drunk.”

  The video ended, and Eden narrowed her eyes. “Does Andy know you’re diabetic?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  She smiled for the first time since I’d gotten there. “Would he really think you were drunk?”

  “Yeah, he’s an idiot.”

  She locked eyes with me, and I could see the wheels spinning. “How badly do you want to keep your job?”

  “Actually, I think I might have already quit.”

  “You think? What did you say?”

  “I basically told him, ‘I hope you die,’ and walked out of the office.”

  Her lips twisted as she worked that out. Then her expression softened, and she nodded. “Jo, would you like to get even with Andy?”

  I locked eyes with her. “Absolutely.”

  Chapter 26

  Mr. And Mrs. Howard Sinclair

  Request the honor of your presence

  At the marriage of their daughter

  Eden

  To

  Adam Copeland

  Saturday the nineteenth of September

  Private location—contact Adam or Eden for details

  Adrianna handed me the wedding invitation when she buzzed up the next morning, wearing a brown uniform and holding a clipboard under one arm.

  I stood back to let her in. “You didn’t have any trouble with the paps downstairs?”

  “Oh, no. I go all over the place like this. You wouldn’t believe how few people take note of the UPS guy. I throw this on, and I could walk right up to a counter and order lunch.”

  “Do you think that would work for me?” We’d all agreed I couldn’t be seen with Micah until this farce played out since Andy thought we’d broken up. A nice disguise might let us cheat.

  She giggled. “I don’t think so. You’d look like you were wearing a costume. The beauty of my disguise is that it’s so different from what people expect to see. When I’m Adrianna, I’m so ridiculous that nobody notices me hiding in plain sight.”

  I scratched my head. “When you’re Adrianna? Who are you now?”

  She tapped the name tag on her chest. “I’m Andrew.”

  “How do you manage to keep it all straight?”

  She cocked her head. “Oh, honey. This is how I’ve lived for years.”

  “Lord. It must be so hard.”

  “Yeah. But sometimes I meet someone magical, like Zion, who sees through all this. And that makes it all a little easier.”

  One day I’d get her to tell me her whole story. But it wouldn’t be today. I needed to get into the office.

  Adrianna picked up the invitation. “There are more of these. If things don’t work out today, we’ll have to find another way.”

  I took it from her and slid it into my pocketbook. “Thanks for your help on this.”

  “My pleasure. I’d do anything for Adam, and I miss the fun we used to have messing with the tabloids.”

  She gathered her things and put her cap on. I had no doubt she’d dissolve right back into the crowd. I didn’t envy her complicated existence, but I envied her ability to disappear at will.

  But today, I needed to be conspicuous. I wanted to wear makeup to effect a hangover, but both Eden and Micah regretfully informed me that my complexion was sallow enough already. An evening in a near coma had taken care of my healthy glow.

  Micah had asked me if I was even up for shenanigans, offering me an out. “You could just come home and hang out with Oscar and Felix and me.”

  But I was up for it. I had my own reasons to exact revenge on Andy fucking Dickson. And it didn’t hurt to know that Eden would forever love me for going through with it. She deserved her own revenge.

  I returned to the office before noon. Zion sat at his desk already and gave me the slightest chin raise in greeting. I slipped the invitation out of my pocketbook to lay it on his desk, but he shook his head. I ran my eyes over to Derek’s desk. He wasn’t there. Crap.

  Zion said a little too loud, “Josie, why aren’t you at home? You look terrible.”

  Andy flung open his door and stared at me. “You? Get in here, now.”

  I dropped my head down, feigning shame and fear. “Yes, sir.”

  H
e waited until I’d entered the office and then slammed the door. He rounded his desk and faced me. “First, you send a complaint about me to HR. And now, you’re back? Are you hoping to pick up your last paycheck? Or turn in your credentials? One of those might be an option.”

  His face had turned the color of eggplant. All the times I’d fought back tears in this office, and I couldn’t cry at will. Instead, I scrunched my face up and sniffled. “You were right about everything.”

  “What?” A piece of spittle stuck to his lower lip, but he wasn’t the least bit self-aware. “You finally figured out they don’t give a shit about you, right? That act Micah put on for the cameras was just for show, wasn’t it? What happened? Did he stop answering your calls? Or did he actually tell you he didn’t want to date some psycho stalker who showed up drunk at his sister’s house banging on the door after she gave up all his family’s secrets?”

  I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t say, “You gave up all his family’s secrets.” I had a response better than words. “I understand you might want to fire me and—”

  “Damn straight. Your behavior has been completely unacceptable, Jo.”

  I added an extra waver to my voice. “About yesterday . . .”

  His nostrils flared, and I watched the light go off in his head. “That video is undeniable proof that you’re completely unsuitable for this line of work. I’ll be adding it to my counter complaints to send to HR.”

  I reached toward him. “Oh, please. Don’t.” I worried I might have veered into melodrama. “I swear I wasn’t drunk. I hadn’t eaten in hours, and I went into hypoglycemic shock.”

  He hesitated. He’d already gone on public record accusing me of intoxication. He’d have to retract the story if he chose to believe me. His tongue ran across the front of his teeth. He stepped to the door. “Derek, get your ass in here.”

  I craned my neck and saw Derek shoving back a Styrofoam box of street meat. He hopped up, wiping his lips with a napkin, and entered Andy’s office. “What’s up? Oh, hi, Josie.” Just like that, as if he hadn’t stood by and filmed me slipping into a coma.