I awoke the following morning, alone in bed. The blinding sun pouring in through Alex's bedroom window. I reached for my phone and there was a text from her. She and Kate had apparently gone to the set together. I got out of bed and took a quick shower. I sat on the couch and pet Levon as I watched CNN and drank coffee. I wasn't really focused on whatever the anchor was talking about, far too preoccupied with the scrolling ticker. Every 90 seconds or so, it would continually remind me that Victoria Justice was now engaged.
I couldn't really understand why it bothered me so much. She had been with Strong for some time now. Why wouldn't they get married? And I was happy with Alex. Why did I care what she did? All of a sudden, Pharrell's words popped into my head. What if this is all Stamp's idea? A way to raise up their profile? What if he's setting her up to fail? What if something happens to her?
All these thoughts kept pouring into my head. I decided that I had to talk to her. I figured she would be at the studio, finishing up work on her album. I quickly got in my car and drove down there. I was glad to find out I was right. Victoria was working with Pharrell, putting down the finishing touches on a song. I saw her through the glass window. Not able to avoid the sight of the huge diamond she was now sporting on her finger. Pharrell saw me, and simply nodded. I figured the look on my face said all there was to say. Victoria saw me standing outside. Our eyes met, there was no surprise in hers. She had been expecting me. She nodded towards Pharrell, signaling that she needed a break, and came towards me. We stepped out into the hall.
"So i'm guessing you're not here to congratulate me." She said.
"You've always known me pretty well." I replied, trying not to be taken away by her beauty. "What are you doing Victoria?" She winced.
"I'm not used to you calling me that. What happened to V?"
"That's not who we are anymore." I told her looking at my shoes.
"And yet here you are, trying to talk me out of marrying my boyfriend."
"Because he's not right for you."
"You haven't spoken to me in over a year. Do you really think you still know what's right for me?"
"We may not have spoken, but it doesn't mean that I've forgotten who you were. That i've forgotten the things you value and are important to you. That's not Eric. Not to mention his drug habit"
"He's not taking drugs anymore. He's been really, really good." She said defending her new fiancee.
"Yeah i'm sure. But how long will it last? How long until he falls off on the wagon and loses himself again?" I watched her as she bit her lip. She knew I was right.
"He won't. He promised me this was it." She said tucking her hair behind her ears. "Either way, it doesn't matter. It's too late."
"Why? Why is it too late?" I asked taking a step closer to her.
"Nothing, sorry I didn't mean that." She said looking away from me. "Just let this go Duncan. I'm happy, I want this. Thank you for worrying about me, but believe me this is what's best for me."
"Don't marry him." I nearly pleaded
"Why shouldn't I? Why do you even care? You're off with that Alex girl. Why do you give a damn what I do?"
"We may not be together anymore; but that doesn't change the fact that you were a big part of my life. It doesn't mean that I don't care about you anymore."
"If you cared about me so much, why did you leave?" She asked me calmly. I could tell that this was something that had been eating away at her for some time. "You claimed to love me so much. Why wasn't that love enough to make you stay?"
"Things were getting out of hand. The studio, Eric, Stamp, all of it. I couldn't deal with it anymore. It was getting in the way of what we had. It was slowly killing us. Even you must know that."
"Maybe, but we could have worked things out." She looked into my eyes once more. "I needed you."
"Maybe. But once you signed with Stamp, we didn't stand a chance." She turned away from me, looking out the window. "You know I was right about him."
"You were." She said quietly. "I wish I had listened to you."
"I wish I had handled it all better. That I would have come to you instead of keeping things from you. Maybe if I had...." I stopped myself.
"Maybe what?"
"Maybe, things would have been different." I finished, letting the hidden meaning hang in the air.
"I have to marry him. If I don't, i'll lose my career. I've worked too hard to get here."
I couldn't hold it against her. I had heard the same from so many over the past few months. All the people that Stamp held under his thumb for his own profit.
"I understand." I said moving closer to where she was standing. We stood side by side, looking out of the window together. So close and yet still so far apart. "I knew that's what you would say, even before I drove here. I just had to give it a shot."
"At least a good thing came from all of this." She said.