Seven Years, One Heartbreak, New Love

e Nixo

ake raging inside me. "Everything is this. It' s trying to be the perfect, supportive girlfriend while you chased yo

ilent on set, to blend into the background, never to interrupt a meeting, always ready with coffee or a comfort

one where he had to cry on cue. I' d baked his favorite lemon poppy seed muffins, driven three hours through LA traffic, just

mark. My appearance, a small, hopeful gesture, became a disturbance. A heavy spotlight stand, pushed by a frustrate

!" His voice, usually so smooth and calming, was laced with pure fury.

rm from my oven, and hurled them into a nea

ere. "You always do this! Making a scene! Can

ws. "A scene?" My voice was bare

cut me off, his eyes cold and distant. "This

old me he was stressed, that he couldn't lose me. He kissed me until I believed him, until I forgot the sting of his words, the sight of my ruined muffins. It wa

he familiar pattern now clear and grotesque. "I can' t keep living in thi

usually so expressive for the camera, became shuttered. He stepped closer, his body language threatening. He tr

umble, designed to soothe, to control. "You' ve been working too hard.

arm, the way he' d laughed, a real, unrestrained laugh, at something she' d whispered. I remembered th

harder this time.

and through his hair, the picture of a man pushed to his limits. "You know how tough this industry is, Adeline. The pressure I

as about seeing him look at her the way he used to look at me. It was about watching him defe

ght. Maybe you and Keira really are meant to be. But I won't be here to watch it happen." I turned and