Settling the Score (The Summer Games #1) - R.S. Grey Page 0,117
flashed a little banner beneath her that read “Caroline Montague, Frederick Archibald’s Fiancée.” I wanted to throw up as they shoved the camera and microphone in her face. It was Sophie Boyle doing the interview and she gushed about how excited she was for Caroline and Freddie. I tried to watch Caroline answering, but my phone vibrated in my purse, magnified by the silence in the room.
I reached down for it in my purse and nearly dropped it when I saw a text from Freddie waiting for me.
Freddie: How did the appointment go?
That’s all. How did the appointment go? Five words that were innocuous and gentle and thoughtful, and yet I hated every syllable. How was I supposed to flip through magazines and turn on the TV and see Caroline splashed across every page and every channel and pretend that it was okay? How was I supposed to handle small talk when what I really wanted to do was pick up my phone, call him, and shout that things like appointments and races and “how was your afternoon” and “what did you eat for dinner” didn’t fucking matter.
Fuck.
I was crying and I was so sick of crying. With my luck, the doctor was going to do that two knuckled knock on the door soon. I didn’t want to be a blubbering mess while he tried to talk to me about my wrist.
I couldn’t do it. I opened his text and read it over again, feeling more angry than dejected.
There were things Freddie and I needed to talk about, none of which included him asking me about my appointment. I didn’t want to see his name pop up on my phone unless it was him announcing that he had found some resolution for the Caroline dilemma. The little banter, the small talk hurt too much. They were empty words and I told him so. I typed out everything I’d been thinking since I’d left Rio. There’s no way this will work. You’re a million miles away. What if Caroline IS pregnant and what if it IS your baby? Caroline will never let us be happy. The world will never let us be happy. Every magazine and newspaper and TV show is reporting your engagement to her. How could this possibly end well for us? And then I capped it off with a final text.
Andie: For now, I need to focus on my wrist and my career.
It was as solid as a breakup. I’d completely come to terms with the fact that Caroline had won. Unless she got hit by a meteorite, she wasn’t going to let Freddie and I be together. So what was the point of ignoring the inevitable?
The doctor knocked just as I’d slipped my phone back into my purse.
“Ms. Foster?” he asked as he strolled inside.
I took a deep breath. It was time to focus on something other than Freddie.
KINSLEY, BECCA, AND I spent three days in L.A. before we flew to New York to meet the rest of our team for a Good Morning America interview. We were scheduled for a week-long tour around the United States that I’d been looking forward to like a death sentence. Kinsley pushed me onto the plane in L.A. and once we landed, there were cars waiting outside the airport to whisk us directly to the studio. I needed sleep, a shower, and a decent meal, but there was no time.
Right before we went on air, Becca handed me two espresso shots.
“Because you literally look like death,” she said with a laugh.
I downed them like water and within a minute, I knew it’d been a mistake. I was already nervous enough to go on live TV. I didn’t want to talk about Freddie. I hadn’t responded to his text messages, though I’d read every single one.
...please don’t do this…
…give me time…
…just give me something here…
He still hadn’t gotten a handle on Caroline, which meant there was no reason to respond.
As the hosts announced us and we walked out onto the stage to patriotic music, I thought I’d have a heart attack. I took a seat beside Kinsley and tried to contain my nerves.
In the end, I thought I’d answered the questions normally, but Kinsley and Becca wouldn’t stop making fun of how jittery I’d been. I pulled off the fake eyelashes the makeup team had made me wear and scrubbed the makeup off my face.
“It’s Becca’s fault!” I said. “She gave me enough caffeine to kill me.”