Lost in You

forward, his hands landing on his desk. He chuckles, shaking his head. “This is our meeting, Hadley. Why don’t you come in and sit down.”
    I shake my head. “I’m fine right here. Quick escape for when I’m utterly disgusted with you. Don’t worry though. The fill line is getting close. I’m sure it won’t take much to set me off.”
    “So be it. As you can see, Cole is here and I’m sure you’re smart enough to guess that you guys are going on tour. It’s small, but nightly. There won’t be any time for you to gallivant. There will be no meet and greets, either.”
    My fingers rub my temples. There are so many things wrong with this. Mainly that I’m going to miss Ryan’s birthday and I can’t have that.
    “I’ll need a day off in December.”
    “No.”
    “You’re not my father, Ian. If I need a day off, I’m going to take it.”
    Ian stands, his hands pressing down on his desk. “You need this tour after your last little fiasco. You will not take a day off. You have a lot at stake here. Don’t encourage me to make a phone call. I have a list of people asking the same question over and over again. Would you like your friend to be front page news?”
    “Watch me.” I push off the wall and storm down the hall. I know I probably made a huge mistake, but I can’t stand being in the same room with either of them. The footsteps behind me make me walk faster. His hand gets to the door before I have a chance to open it, blocking me. It’s that night all over again.
    “You’re being unreasonable, Hadley.”
    I want to scream when he says my name. I haven’t seen him since that night and now he’s here making my life a living nightmare.
    “Cole, move your hand so I can leave.”
    “We need to talk. I mean, we haven’t seen each other in a long time and we should catch up. How about we go for some coffee?”
    I shake my head, willing the impending headache to vacate its current residence inside my brain. My head feels as if it’s going to explode, not to mention the tears that are threatening to leak down my face. I have nothing to say to Coleman Hollister.
    “I don’t want to talk to you.”
    His fingers move down the back of my arm. I jerk away, offended by him even thinking he can touch me.
    “Don’t,” I say through clenched teeth. “You don’t get to touch me, ever.”
    He leans forward, the scruff on his chin rubbing against my neck. “Ian told me about your newest infatuation.”
    “He told you?” I choke on my words.
    “Of course he did. You know we’re good for each other. We just got lost a little along the way. Don’t think for a minute I’m going to let some little kid stand in my way.”
    He pushes off the door, leaving me standing here. Anger builds inside of me as I bang my head against the front door. I don’t understand why things have to be like this. What does Ian think this he’s going to accomplish? That I’m going to stop seeing Ryan?
    Pulling open the door, I don’t bother shutting it behind me. Childish, I know, but he can deal with the bugs. I realize quickly that I don’t have a car. I have two options: sit on the steps and wait, or walk. I’ll walk.
    I look down at my feet and stare at my high heels. Why did I wear these today? Why did I even get dressed up to come to a meeting with Ian? I slip off my shoes and dangle them from my fingertips like some Hollywood starlet. At least the pavement is cool and not burning the pads of my feet. I could call a cab, but think I need this time to think things through. I know I need the good publicity that a tour can bring, especially with Coleman, but the last thing I want to do is spend any time with him. I know what happened with us was a long time ago, but I’m not over the hurt and it’s taken me a long time to trust someone again.
    I trust Ryan. Even after the homecoming fiasco, I trust him with my heart. I know that he didn’t encourage Dylan in any way and was actually excited to see their homecoming pictures. I did feel a pang of jealousy when he showed them to me, but didn’t want Ryan to know. He wanted to make this night special for Dylan, plus he didn’t want his dad getting suspicious.
    I come upon a park and take a detour. The cold grass feels refreshing on my feet. They ache from the rough concrete. I find a shady spot under a tree and sit down. The park is full of kids and either mothers or nannies. You can’t really tell these days, especially here. The kids all look happy,