I Saw The Comments Predicting My Divorce And Fired The Cause First Chapter 06

I Saw The Comments Predicting My Divorce And Fired The Cause First Chapter 06

On the last day of the shoot, the wind had finally died down. The ocean lay flat as glass.

Julian stood on the rocks, white shirt lifting in the breeze.

I was low on the sand, framing the shot, when a shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds and caught his profile.

I pressed the shutter.

That was the one.

“Harper.” Julian came over after we wrapped, holding out a bottle of water. “You’ve been incredible all week.”

“Just doing my job.” I took it and drank. My throat was dry enough to sting.

He paused, like he was weighing something.

“Do you have time for coffee? There’s a place up the road with a nice view.”

I thought about it, then said yes.

The café sat on the edge of a cliff, one whole wall made of glass. Nothing but ocean from every angle.

We took a table by the window. He ordered two black Americans, then glanced at me like he’d only just realized he hadn’t asked.

“Something’s been on your mind.”

I didn’t say anything. My fingers traced the rim of my cup.

“You don’t have to talk about it.” He smiled. “I’m not going to pry.”

“I’m getting a divorce.”

The words left my mouth before I could think twice, and I surprised myself.

Besides Piper, I hadn’t said those words to a single person.

But sitting across from him, the words didn’t feel as heavy as I’d expected.

Julian didn’t look shocked. He didn’t offer some empty apology, either.

He just nodded. “That must hurt.”

I almost broke right there.

Everyone else wanted to know why. Was there someone else, was the settlement enough, what happened.

He was the only person who’d said, That must hurt.

“I’m okay.”

“The worst of it is behind me. I’m doing better now.”

“Good.” He took a sip of his coffee. “When I went through my divorce, it took me a long time to stop feeling it.”

I looked up.

“You’ve been through a divorce?”

“Yeah.” His gaze drifted out toward the water. “Married for a few years. Divorced a while back.”

“She wasn’t in the industry. Couldn’t handle what came with it.”

“Paparazzi, tabloid rumors, constant gossip. She stopped trusting me.”

“She told me the man she fell in love with wasn’t Julian. It was the nobody I used to be, before all this.”

“That guy was gone, she said. And she was done waiting for him to come back.”

I didn’t say anything.

“That’s why I said it. Sometimes the only way to find where you fit is to walk away from where you don’t.”

He looked at me and smiled. “I came up with that one for me, actually. But you’re welcome to borrow it.”

“Thank you. I think I needed to hear it.”

We stayed for hours.

His next project. My plans for the studio. The vision for his parents’ anniversary shoot.

We didn’t leave until the sun had dropped to the waterline, the whole ocean glowing copper and gold.

Back at the hotel, I turned on my phone.

Dozens of missed calls from Miles.

A flood of unread messages. I was about to delete the entire thread, but my thumb hovered over the screen.

One photo caught my eye before I could wipe it all away.

Our old apartment in college, the hideous floral curtains, the thrift-store couch, two microwaved meals sitting on the table.

The caption read: You always said these were the happiest days of your life.

I sat on the bed with that photo on my screen, and I didn’t move for a long time.

Then I typed back.

“Miles, it was never about being broke. I miss the man who looked at me like I was all he had. You’re not him anymore.”

I hit send, turned off my phone, and got in the shower.

Hot water ran down my face, and I couldn’t tell anymore what was water and what were tears.

Comments drifted by…

[THE EX-WIFE IS SO BASED. That message was ICONIC.]

[Wait Julian’s divorced too?? The universe is literally writing their love story.]

[The ML wants to play the nostalgia game NOW?? Where was this energy before??]

[“It was never about being broke. I miss the man who looked at me like I was all he had.” THAT LINE. I felt that in my chest.]

[Okay am I the only one who thinks the ex-wife and Julian would be SO good together??]

[Don’t jinx it. Let it play out.]