Heartless: Episode #3 by J. Sterling Read Free Book Online Page A

then.
    As I turned off my screen, Barbara whispered, “Kate called again. She says it’s important that she speak with you sometime today. To be honest, she sounds fucking nuts.”
    I sucked in a breath as we entered my office. “What the hell? If she calls again, just tell her I’m in a meeting until six, and I’ll call her after.”
    She nodded. “I will. How was lunch with Ben?”
    “Idiotic and overdramatic.” I gave her a quick glance before grabbing a folder from my desk.
    “Bob wants to take the Vancouver call in his office,” she directed.
    I nodded. “Sounds good. See you in about an hour.”
     
    ****
     
    The call with Vancouver had gone well, and I’d forced myself to remain focused by taking notes I didn’t need. I’d had all the location scouting and stage information already, but I’d needed to concentrate to ensure that my mind wouldn’t drift away to thoughts of Daniel. What had happened this morning could never happen again—ever.
    After sending Barbara home for the night, I closed my office door and stared at Kate’s number. I guessed the only way to figure out just what she wanted was to call her and ask, just like I’d done with her brother earlier.
    The phone rang three times before Kate answered. “Hello?” She sounded out of breath and barely audible.
    “Hey, Kate, it’s Elizabeth.” My tone reeked of confusion and unknowing.
    She started crying at the sound of my voice. “Hi, Elizabeth.” Her voice shook. “It’s been a long time.” She sniffed and sucked in a few shaky breaths.
    Good Lord, what have I gotten myself into?
    “What’s going on, Kate? Are you okay?”
    “No. No, I’m not okay. I’m not okay at all.”
    I threw my head back and pinched the bridge of my nose. I did not have time for whatever theatrics were about to occur. Bracing myself, I asked the million-dollar question, “Kate, are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or do I have to guess?”
    “It’s Daniel.” She sobbed into the receiver.
    “What about him?”
    “You can’t have him, Elizabeth. I love him. I’ve been in love with him for years. Then, he meets you, and he just up and dumps me.” Her voice rattled as her excitement grew. “No warning, no nothing. I hadn’t seen it coming at all. One day, we were together, and the next, he never wanted to see me again.”
    Holding my breath, I waited for her thoughts to finish. When I was fairly certain she was done, I almost didn’t know how to respond. On one hand, I felt awful that Kate was hurting, but on the other, I didn’t owe her a damn thing.
    “Are you there, Elizabeth? Did you hear me?”
    “I heard you. I just don’t know what you expect me to say,” I replied honestly.
    She sniffed again. “I don’t know either. I guess I just assumed since we used to be friends that you would care more about my feelings, but that was probably stupid and naive of me.”
    “It wasn’t stupid,” I breathed out, not necessarily believing my choice of words.
    We had barely been friends. She was the little sister of my then boyfriend, and since we’d lived on campus at our college, it wasn’t like I’d spent that much time with her or even seen her that often. Then again, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t considered her a friend at the time.
    “Then, you’ll do it?” she asked, her tone sounding more upbeat than it had just two seconds prior.
    “Do what exactly?” I had zero clue as to what she was referring to.
    “Stop seeing Daniel. You’ll break up with him?”
    “Uh…” I paused, unsure of how to respond.
    “You won’t. You don’t care about how I feel. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I haven’t been able to function since he left me,” she wailed.
    I squeezed my eyes closed with the sheer force of the drama, wishing this were all a bad dream. I reopened my eyes and blinked, but I wasn’t in my comfortable bed at home. Cradling the phone between my ear and shoulder with Kate’s crying echoing into it, I realized this was