The Future Me Stopped Caring About You Long Ago

I booked the abortion as fast as I could.

Then I took a cab to Geoffrey's company.

I staked out a coffee shop across the street for three hours before I finally saw her, the woman Geoffrey was cheating with, Carol Delgado.

She climbed out of the car Geoffrey's personal driver used, a brand-new limited-edition LV bag on her arm.

There was only one of that bag in all of Metropolis City.

Three months ago, the day it launched, I'd asked Geoffrey to buy it for me.

Three months of waiting, and it never came.

And here it was, on Carol Delgado's arm.

"Lori, that Carol woman is unbelievable!"

"She runs a social media account off looking like you, hundreds of thousands of followers."

"She even puts your current photos side by side with her heavily edited ones on purpose."

"She says you faded out a long time ago, that you don't even come close to her…"

Claire's furious voice came through my ear.

Only then did I realize how much Carol looked like me.

Like the me from four years ago, at my most famous, at my proudest.

Like the me Geoffrey fell for at first sight at that awards show.

I pulled my eyes away, and they caught on the coffee shop's reflective glass.

I saw myself now.

A rounded face, a loose dress that hid my figure.

The woman who once burned bright, whom the press used to say could get away with anything on her looks alone.

For love, I'd turned into the thing I now hated most.

"Claire, did you get the shots?"

My throat was raw and tight as I reminded her.

My phone rang.

"Lori, there's a director coming back to the country to make a film. I've got to go entertain him."

"Just giving you a heads-up so you won't worry."

Geoffrey's voice, the same as every other time.

But this time, somehow, I caught something different in it.

"Sss…"

On the line, Geoffrey sucked in a sharp breath.

I froze, still catching up.

He spoke first.

"Bumped into the table, careless of me. Lori, I've got to go."

He hung up in a rush.

In that hazy half-second, I heard him scolding someone in a low voice.

That voice carried the domineering, possessive edge he only ever had in bed.

The thought of what he and Carol were doing right then.

My stomach heaved, and I clamped a hand over my mouth and ran to the restroom.

When I came back out, Claire spoke in a hurry.

"Lori, Carol's coming down!"

"And Geoffrey's with her."

"Come on, we've got to follow them!"

"Wait, why did Carol suddenly change into a different dress…"

Claire's voice trailed off, her eyes turning to me.

"Lori, don't read too much into it."

I forced down the nausea and pushed out a smile.

"Claire, I won't waste tears on a man who's cheated more times than I can count, even if he is Geoffrey." Even if he is the Geoffrey who holds half of Metropolis City in his hand.

The moment I learned he'd cheated, I wasn't going to look back.

"Got it. Lori, let's get in the car and go after them! They're about to be gone."

We tailed Geoffrey's car until it stopped at an upscale private club in Metropolis City.

Claire and I sat in the car, waiting to catch more evidence.

Then another car pulled up.

"Lori, that's Brendan Weiss!"

"The director Geoffrey's meeting is actually Brendan Weiss!"

"He just won an Oscar overseas!"

Claire's stunned voice rang in my ear.

I sat frozen for a few seconds, then heard Claire cursing again.

"That shameless Carol, she's actually saying she's going to be in Brendan Weiss's new film!"

"Does she have any acting experience at all? And she's landing a movie role?!"

"It's all because Geoffrey's pushing her…"

Every sound around me slowly fell away, and I thought again of the new film that "woman" had mentioned.

Her words.

Proven true, one more time.

My body was shaking.

My fingers dug into my palm.

"Claire, do you have a way to reach Brendan Weiss?"

"His film, I have to be in it!"