Virtuous(53)

She gushes about the show all the way home, how it was funnier than she’d expected and how she’d never thought about how the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz had become so wicked. We talk about the music and the story and the jokes. In other words, we stick to safe topics rather than the ones that are fraught with peril.

There’s once again nowhere to park on her block, so I pull up next to two cars and put on the hazards.

“Thank you so much for taking me to ‘Wicked.’ I loved it so much.”

“I’m glad.”

She glances at me shyly. “And for being so nice earlier. I’m sorry I had such a meltdown.”

“Please don’t apologize to me for something you couldn’t help. I want you to remember that whatever it is, whatever haunts you, you’re not alone with it anymore. You can trust me, Natalie. I swear to you I’d never do anything to cause you another second of pain or fear.”

Her small smile is a huge victory for me. “I can certainly see why every woman in American is in love with you, Flynn.”

“Fuck that,” I say emphatically, perhaps a bit too emphatically. “This isn’t some line of movie star bullshit I’m feeding you. This is me—the real me who is crazy about the real you. All that other crap aside, this is my life, Natalie, not my job.”

“I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”

“And I didn’t mean to jump all over you.”

“I get it. You’re constantly having to separate the real from the imaginary.”

“Yes,” I say with a sigh of relief that she understands. “And this is as real as it gets for me.”

“Thank you for a lovely evening. I’ll never forget a minute of it.”

“Neither will I.” I lean over the center console to kiss her. “Much more to come.”

She kisses me back and caresses my face, the gesture so tender and sweet that I can barely breathe from wanting her.

I want to drive her back to my place and take her to bed and never let her leave, but since that’s not going to happen tonight or any time soon, I withdraw slowly and painfully. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.”

I steal one last kiss. “I’ll watch you get inside.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Yes, I do.”

She leaves me with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes, and that’s all it takes to tell me I’m in for the fight of my life where she’s concerned. That’s okay. I’m willing to wage war to show her what we can have together. Now that I’ve found her, I’ll never let her go.

Neither of us can sleep that night. After exchanging a few texts, I call her and we end up talking for hours about silly things such as the difference between growing up in Nebraska versus Beverly Hills. I notice she never mentions her family in specific terms, always vaguely, as if she’s no longer a part of them. I’m desperate for more information, but I’m cautious. I don’t push. I can only hope she’ll trust me enough someday to tell me her truth. Until then, I summon patience I didn’t know I had.

With the film wrapped and time to kill before we leave for LA, my friends are having a wild week at Quantum. They’ve been calling and texting relentlessly, wanting me to join them, but I’ve stayed away. Until I know how this weekend with Natalie will play out, I resist the temptation to expend my pent-up sexual energy on someone else.

I’m committed to Natalie for now. If she’ll have me, that commitment will go far beyond this weekend. But that remains to be seen.

Hayden is relentless, texting me every half hour about what a *-whipped * I am for deserting them in their time of celebration. He’s even got Kristian, Jasper and Marlowe on my ass, but I ignore them all and stay focused on Natalie.

By Friday afternoon, I’m a wreck. I’ve never been more nervous about anything than I am about this weekend with her. I’ve driven Addie crazy, micromanaging the details to make sure everything is perfect for Natalie. I was supposed to fly to LA with Hayden and the others, but I’ve chartered my own plane. The last thing I want is to share Natalie with anyone, especially friends who’ve questioned the wisdom of getting involved with her in the first place. I took endless text abuse from them when I let them know I wouldn’t be joining them on the flight, but like most of the shit from them this week, I ignore it.

Wait until they hear that I want to do postproduction on the new film in New York rather than LA, as planned. There’ll be hell to pay with Hayden, in particular. I’ll deal with that on Monday, after the Globes.