Between the Lies (Between the Raindrops #2)

by Susan Schussler

  When she got back to the room, she settled on the bed and opened her laptop. She remembered back to when Jon gave it to her. They had known each other for months online but had met for the first time in person that day. He had gone up on stage with his friend Nick’s band and sang that beautiful song he wrote for her. “I Found You” was its official name. Jon was so unsure of himself that night, so sweet. When he kissed her for the first time, it was like reality shifted and she knew nothing would ever be the same. How was she going to walk away from him? Tears pricked in her eyes again.

  She had known loss before—the death of her grandmother and grandfather, but she was young when they passed and she didn’t remember them. Tyler Rainer, the boy who was her first kiss, died, but she didn’t really know him well. None of these impacted her life that much. Besides, she understood death. Death was concrete. It didn’t have a gray area. A person was either alive or dead. This loss of Jonathan was harder to sort out.

  She looked at her reflection in her computer screen. Her eyes looked hollow and empty. She felt like a tree in the coldest part of winter—lifeless and frozen. A part of her was still alive inside, but she didn’t know if it would pull through to the thaw. She could stay with him, but with no trust, what kind of mediocre life would she have? Spending her life questioning everything that he did would be exhausting. She deserved better.

  She thought she was in love once before Jon with her high school boyfriend Matt, but he lied to her a few times over the two years they dated—small modifications of truth, like saying he would be one place and then be spotted by one of her friends somewhere else. But she always let it go as immaturity or poor planning. When she gave him her virginity, she truly believed he loved her. It wasn’t until weeks later that she found out about the other girl he’d been hooking up with. Sarah felt so betrayed at the time—not understanding how a man could love her and still cheat on her. She knew now that what she had with Matt wasn’t really love—not like the love she felt for Jonathan, not anywhere close. Would she feel the same about Jon someday as she did about Matt? She doubted it. She would always love him. She just couldn’t trust him.

  He had been lying to her for half of their relationship. He and Mia had sex in December, and he lied to her the entire time since. How many times had he told her he loved her? A lie. Every time they made love was a lie. It was true that acting was a game of deception, and Jon was the master.

  Megan was right. Some conniving scheme of Mia’s was responsible for Jon’s cheating. He wouldn’t have done it on his own. He was with her, but somehow not in control—possibly drugged, like Sarah had been by the woman that had tried to abduct her. But Jon’s guilt came from the lying, not the act itself.

  She saw now that the life she had envisioned with Jonathan could never happen. Hollywood wouldn’t allow it. She would never get her happily ever after with him. The numbness penetrated her body like a twenty-below-zero wind chill.

  She unscrewed the cap on her bottle of water and took a sip before opening her computer. She knew people saw what had happened at the restaurant, but she wasn’t sure if anyone would leak it to the press. She typed “Jonathan Williams” into the search engine and watched as article after article mentioning the afternoon’s happenings popped up. Sarah clicked on the top one.

  THE ENGAGEMENT IS OFF! Did Jonathan’s infidelity prove too much? Witnesses say that Jonathan Williams’s teary-eyed fiancé stormed out of a restaurant in Ventura while having lunch with Mia Thompson. Jonathan chased her into the parking lot, where she sped off in her convertible, but not before throwing her half-million-dollar ring at him.

  Sarah twisted the ring on her left hand. Had it actually cost that much? She would have to make sure he got it back. The knot in her throat swelled as her tears started to roll down her cheeks again. She didn’t want to cry anymore. It just made the pounding in her head louder. She thought back to the night Jonathan had proposed. It was Christmas Eve, the day she got home from the hospital after her accident. He was acting so weird all through dinner. She didn’t know it was because he was planning to ask her to spend the rest of her life with him. After everyone left, he carried her downstairs and made her close her eyes as he got down on one knee. He told her how much he loved her and how he couldn’t imagine his life without her. She smiled remembering his gentle touch as he placed the ring on her finger. She could almost feel his breath against her skin as he kissed her that night. She ran her finger across her lips and a sob bubbled from her throat. What now?

  She didn’t know the night he proposed that less than a week earlier he had slept with his ex-girlfriend. Sarah eased the ring off and stared at it pinched between her thumb and finger. Jon always said that the emeralds reminded him of her eyes. She unfastened the chain around her neck and slid the ring onto the silver thread before reclasping it. She didn’t want to lose it. No. She took it off the chain and slid it back on her left hand. She wasn’t ready to take it off yet and if she lost it, she would never be able to repay Jonathan for it.

  She glanced down at her computer. She was supposed to go to Pilates tomorrow. She hadn’t been there since before the trip to France, and she really needed to work out. It was the one thing that might help her stop crying. She couldn’t go, though. Jon could find her there, and she couldn’t face him. The instructor would be mad if she missed without notifying the scheduler. She pulled up the studio’s web page and clicked on the link. She typed out a message in the “I can’t make my scheduled class” box.

  I won’t be able to make Cami’s 4:00 p.m. class tomorrow. If you have any questions, please contact my e-mail. My phone is not working. Sorry, Sarah Austin.

  She was pulling up her contacts on her computer to get Jessica’s number when an e-mail notification came up on the top of her screen. It was from the studio. Great, she was probably going to lose her spot in the class. Even though she knew it wouldn’t matter because she would be moving back to Minnesota, she didn’t want to piss off the instructor. Three e-mails from Jon sat in the pending box as well. She wasn’t ready to see more lies, so Sarah clicked on the one she could handle.

  Sarah, I was sitting at my desk when your note came in. Are you OK? I heard about what happened at the restaurant. Do you want to go out for a drink and talk? Cami

  Sarah sent a reply.

  I’m not in the mood to go out, and I’m kind of in hiding. I don’t need anyone seeing me.

  OK. I’m just leaving the studio now. I’ll come to you. Where are you?

  Give me your number and I’ll call you. I don’t want Jon stalking my e-mail and finding me.

  Sixty minutes later Cami was at her door with two Caboose juices, a pint of chocolate ice cream, and a bottle of vodka. She handed Sarah one of the juice glasses and the vodka as she came through the door and said, “We have to drink some to make room in the glass before we can add the alcohol.”

  She wasn’t sure she was in the mood to drink. Alcohol was a depressant, and she didn’t need to add to what was already dragging her under. Cami set the ice cream down on the desk next to the miniature coffee maker and pulled two spoons from her pocket. “And don’t feel bad about the ice cream. You look like shit. Have you eaten at all this week?”

  Sarah nodded and sat on the edge of the bed. She was used to her friends being so blunt; she had known them forever. They didn’t need the social niceties anymore. Cami was still kind of an acquaintance in her mind. And she wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with her familiarity.

  Cami opened the pint of chocolate heaven and handed it to Sarah with a spoon. “You need a base before we start drinking.” Cami pulled a long draw on the straw in her juice and continued, “Move over. I’d sit on the floor, but after seeing an exposé on hotel cleanliness six months ago, I’m lucky if I can sit on the bed. I won’t go into details, because in this case ignorance is bliss. Let’s just say I will never go barefoot in a hotel room ever again.”

  As Sarah scooted over and spooned a bite of ice cream into her mouth, sh
e thought Cami was a lot like Jessica, at least as far as their germ issues were concerned.

  “You haven’t said a word since I came in. Tell me what happened.”

  “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Tell me what happened at the restaurant. I can see that you still have your ring, so the witnesses had it wrong.”

  Sarah looked down at her ring. “Yeah, that part anyway. I’m going to have to find another way to get it back to him.”

  Cami stood up and grabbed Sarah’s drink off the low dresser under the TV, where Sarah had set it. “Drink.” She handed it to Sarah. “We’re going to get drunk.”

  Sarah drank it down about an inch and handed it back to Cami, who had opened her own lid and the vodka while waiting for Sarah. “So he’s getting back with Mia Thompson?”

  Sarah exhaled loudly. She didn’t know what was going to happen. She shrugged. She couldn’t stand the thought of Jon being with that woman. Cami handed her the clear plastic juice cup now filled to the rim. She sat down next to Sarah and looked at her with sympathetic eyes.

  Sarah didn’t know Cami enough to trust her with her intimate secrets, but she couldn’t hold them in any longer. She spilled everything. She told her all that happened at the restaurant—how Mia kept telling Jon that she thought he would do the right thing, like she had already told him the baby was his and he was abandoning her. He had been acting like he didn’t know who the baby’s father was. And when Jon chased her into the parking lot, he thought she was overreacting. “That’s not the worst part. Last week he told me point blank that he didn’t father it. If he had just told me the truth, then I probably could have gotten over it.” She sucked in a mouthful of juice and swallowed.

  “What an asshat! He should have been honest with you.” Cami pulled her hair from the rubber band and adjusted it back into a tighter ponytail as she spoke. “I’m so sick of guys who think women will just forgive them no matter what they do. Entitlement is rampant in Hollywood. Everyone jumps to the A team’s every whim, and they act like their shit doesn’t stink.”

  Sarah felt the corner of her lip turn up. She’d seen how some people trip over themselves trying to please Jon and it always irritated her a bit. Hell, it irritated Jon most of the time. Jon respected honesty and integrity more than a yes-man. “Jon’s not one to surround himself with suck-ups, but I know what you mean. I’ve seen it.”

  “They all do it. Even my ex…” Cami stumbled with an emotion that Sarah didn’t understand. “He enjoyed the attention.”

  “Jon likes the devotion from the fans. I mean who wouldn’t? It’s an incredible high. But he prefers honesty from the people he works with.”

  “It doesn’t sound like he’s too honest with you.”

  She didn’t want to admit it, but Cami was right. Sarah scooted across the bed until her back bumped the headboard and then she set her drink on the nightstand. Stuffing a pillow behind her, she said, “Yeah, looks like it.” She reached for the ice cream pint before asking, “Who is your ex anyway.” Hollywood was a really small town. Sarah wouldn’t be surprised if she had met him. Shoveling a spoonful of chocolate into her mouth, she hoped they could talk about something other than Jon. Her stomach was starting to churn with nausea, and she didn’t know if it was the conversation, the alcohol, or the ice cream.

  The look on Cami’s face said she regretted Sarah mentioning her ex. She lay down on her side at the foot of the bed facing Sarah, stretching her leg so far back that it touched her red ponytail. As she returned from the stretch, she answered, “Everyone knows everyone. I don’t want to say.” Straightening out completely and laying on the bed, she added, “All you need to know is my heart got broken. I don’t think there are any happy endings in this place. You should get out while you can and be thankful you haven’t wasted years in this hell hole.”

  “Did that happen to you? Did you break up after years or was it your car accident that ended your relationship with him?” Sarah had a feeling it was the latter. Somehow she knew the accident had done more than maim Cami’s body. It had completely destroyed her hopes and dreams.

  Cami traced her finger down and then back up the straw in her smoothie. Without looking up she shook her head as if defeated and said, “The accident wrecked my life.”

  Sarah waited for her to elaborate, but she just continued to shake her head in silence.

  “Any guy who would leave you because of a couple of scars and a career change isn’t worth the effort.”

  Cami dropped her head to the bed and balanced her lidded cup on her flat stomach. Sarah wondered if she could see her toes when she was lying down. Weird thought, but she couldn’t help it. She was feeling a slight buzz from the vodka, which was a good thing, Sarah thought—anything to distract her.

  “Are those real?” Sarah asked, pointing at Cami’s breasts.

  “Do they look real?” Cami cupped them like they were her favorite thing in the world, her glass still balanced on her flat stomach. “I got them when I moved here. I thought they would help my career. They’re one of my best assets, don’t you think?”

  “Nah. Physical assets are never anyone’s best asset.” Sarah thought about how the plastic surgeon had wanted her to have an “augmentation.” She liked Jon’s reaction. He had probably seen enough to spot the fake ones at first glance.

  “On some people they are,” said Cami.

  “Like Mia Thompson. There is nothing redeeming about her personality.” Sarah paused, wondering if she could trust Cami or not. She had already shared so much. “I’m pretty sure she drugged Jon to get pregnant. He never would have slept with her otherwise.”

  “Really? They used to date. He probably just thought he wouldn’t get caught,” she said before taking another sip of her smoothie.

  “No. Jon is really careful. He always uses a condom. It’s like he’s obsessed with them. Even Mia commented about it.”

  “Well, he obviously forgot or he wouldn’t have fathered the kid.”

  “Honestly, I think she tricked him somehow.”

  “Men don’t need to be tricked into having sex with women like Mia Thompson.” Cami raised her eyebrows, suggesting that Sarah was stupid if that was what she really thought.

  Sarah decided to drop that line of conversation. Maybe she was being stupid, naïve. She started spooning the chocolate heaven it into her mouth again.

  Cami smiled and asked, “What are you going to do now?”

  “Jon leaves for a promotional tour in Europe the day after tomorrow. He can’t get out of it. He has to go. He’ll be gone for two weeks. I think I’ll just stay hidden until he leaves and then go back to the house, get the rest of my stuff, and then drive back to Minnesota.”

  “What if he changed the locks, and you can’t get into the house to get your stuff?”

  “He wouldn’t. He’s not like that. He wouldn’t want to hurt me.”

  “Seems like he already has.”

  “He wouldn’t want to hurt me any more than he has already.” Sarah thought about what Jon must be thinking. “He’s probably freaking out right now.”

  “He should have expected that you wouldn’t just let him get away with lying to you.”

  “No, he’s freaking out because a crazy person is stalking us. It’s killing him not to know where I am or that I’m safe.”

  Cami laughed and got a huge smile on her face. “Good. He deserves to suffer.”

  Sarah was definitely feeling the effects of the vodka. “I guess.” She didn’t really want Jon to suffer. He had already had enough suffering for a lifetime. She just knew she would never be able to leave if she saw him. Tears pilled in her eyes again. She couldn’t help it.

  “Sarah, are you crying? That bastard doesn’t deserve your tears. You have to leave him. He doesn’t respect you. People like him are incapable of thinking of anyone but themselves.”

  She wasn’t sure if she agreed with that generalization of Jon, but he couldn’t have been thinking about the girl he was g
oing to propose to when he was sleeping with Mia, so maybe Cami was right.

  “So will your parents let you live with them. I doubt my dad would let me move home. It wouldn’t fit with his young image to have a daughter in her midtwenties. He thinks he’s twenty years younger than he is since he’s remarried.”

  Sarah hadn’t thought about where she would stay. “My parents haven’t even changed my room since I left. I’m sure they’d let me move home, but I have a house.” She hadn’t thought about it, but the house was a graduation present. She could live there. No. She couldn’t. It would be too painful and it wouldn’t be right to keep such an elaborate gift. Besides, it would always remind her of Jon, and that would make it impossible to live there. “Jon bought it for me for graduation, but I can’t keep it.”

  “Why? If it was a gift, it’s yours. Legally it’s yours. Same goes for that ring. If he asks for them back, you just tell him to go to hell.”

  Sarah leaned back on her pillow and closed her eyes, thinking about the look on Jon’s face when he gave her the house. His whole body was glowing with anticipation of her reaction. He wanted her approval so badly that he was buzzing with electricity. When he told her the house was hers, theirs, she couldn’t believe it. He had planned it for months without letting it slip. Leslie had scouted it out and arranged the purchase. It was mostly furnished, but Jon had picked out the bedroom setting and some of the accessories throughout the home. He bought the house so they could visit her family anytime they wanted and have a place to stay. He always tried to make her happy. She missed him.

  “I’m not like that. I don’t want his money.”

  “Why the hell not? He screwed his ex and then lied about it. You are too good for him. You have to get over it. He’ll be moving on and what will you be left with? Nothing. Take all you can get, I say.”

  He screwed his ex and then lied about it—Sarah needed to remember that. He was a liar and a cheat, just like her last serious boyfriend. Only Jonathan wasn’t like Matt. He was her fiancé, and that made it worse. The alcohol was fuzzing up her head, and she didn’t want to think about Jon anymore. “I can’t talk anymore. Let’s watch TV.”