complications

                                                                                    (Two Years Later)       She glanced at her watch and the empty seat next to her in the limousine she’d hired to take them to the Met Gala. She was wearing something understated since she knew she wouldn’t be able to compete with the over-the-top outfits that many other celebrities would be wearing tonight. Her career had taken off in the last year after she’d done a small, independent interview with two of New York's most respected older CEOs. This night should be the cherry on top of her meteoric ride to the top and would be great if Oliver would hurry up. The trio was going to be late.      They’d been idling in front of Oliver’s Central Park West apartment building for ten minutes now. The door to the limo opened and she caught her breath as he climbed into the car. He wore a white dinner jacket that made his jet-black curly hair and deep olive skin seem even warmer. His brown eyes were framed by impossibly long lashes and of course she loved his cologne. She gave him a small smile, “Thanks for joining me. This will really help both of our careers.”      He replied with, “Remember, I’m leaving this weekend for Spain.” His face filled with a mix of regret and worry. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about me. You will do great. The board will love you. You are going to knock out the competition.”      “And remember, we have the morning show appearance the day after tomorrow for Organized Girls Run The World.” Grace was a brand ambassador for the charity. “Do you need a wake-up call?”     “Nope. I’ll be there,” Oliver said. “Are you still coming to the race?”     “Yes,” Grace replied with excitement. “Then I’m off to Cannes. I expect you to be there.”     “Fine.”     During their tense back-and-forth about schedules, they’d arrived in front of the drop-off point for the red carpet. She took a deep breath as the car stopped.     “Camera-ready?”     “Is there any other way to be with you?” he asked.                                                                                               …     Grace had an ethereal quality about her that always made it hard for him not to stare at her. Tonight, as they exited the car and stepped onto the red carpet, he was even more tempted by her. She wore a midnight blue, slim-fitting evening dress with a halter top neckline and cutouts on both sides of the waist. And when she turned toward the waiting cameras a jolt of pure surprise went through him as her whole back was bare.       He put his hand at the small of her back and turned towards the cameras. The twinkle in her eyes and a slight grin on her face told him that she was surprised along with      Him being shocked. Usually she wasn’t the type of person to be revealing.      The world slipped away as he held her in his arms and kissed her. He often thought that this was when she was the most real. When she forgot about the flashbulbs and her followers. Forgot about the interview she was promoting or her latest tech release. Forgot to be the woman the world saw and was just his woman. But that would not happen, he knew that for sure. She was society driven. He was used to that, but he wanted to lay back a little from the cameras and twitter. She didn’t. Grace would be a totally different person without all this.         But even that was a lie because as close as they felt right now, as much as he loved her Grace Miller Makenzie will never be this person. She’d been the woman the world wanted her to be. Even this was a performance for the cameras, no matter how much he was enjoying it was fake.she wanted the world to love her, but where did that leave him? He wasn’t willing to compete with her fans for her attention. And he hadn’t been born to be anyone’s sidekick     We walked into the oversized convention center. It’s colorful carpet and high ceilings made us seem smaller than we already are. A man ran up to the two and greeted them. Leading them to a long table with white cloth and decor of flowers in the center. Oliver and grace were seated with some very famous singers and actors From across the states. “I caught you two on the red carpet.” Dean Walker babbled. He was one of the well-known actors from Long on Down the Road. A movie he’d worked on over a year ago. Dean had cut his chops working with Bildong, earning a Tony, Oscar and Emmy all before he’d turned thirty. At seventy he still had an indefinable quality that entranced moviegoers and endeared him to friends.     “There was a time where Dean and I were the talk of the red carpet.” Coraline walker pronounced. She looked at him with a smile and glanced back at us from across the table.     Grace spoke up. “Well we’re trying to make sure that we don’t  pronounce the break up until the end of this month.” She gazed at her hand and fiddled with her rings for a moment, to only look up at the table, then look back down again. Grace appeared to be distressed.      Oliver cleared his throat, the tensity of the air was getting uncomfortable.      He could make excuses and say that he’d pulled her into his arms because he knew that there was barely a month left before they ended things. Or that his image demanded he show the world that he was hot on and off the track. But he knew that he did it because it had been two weeks, three days, seven hours and twenty-one minutes since he’d last held her.     He didn’t want to end the engagement but He could not handle quitting Grace. It was like trying to go cold turkey by driving 300 miles around a track. He couldn’t do it. He’d missed everything about her, he thought. Not enough to put aside the fear that he felt when he was with her.                                                                                          ...     Their eyes met and for a moment she felt that old familiar feeling. Why had things gone so wrong between them? Passion had always held sway in the relationship, and she’d fallen hard for Oliver. When had things changed?     Zoning into the conversation Dean was having with Oliver, she picked up her glass of sparkling water and took a sip. “You’d have to be dead not to,” Dean replied slowly laughing sarcastically afterwords. They were still talking about the movie productions until someone tapped their glass and stood up.       “I would like to thank everyone for coming this evening. This means a lot to the people holding this yearly ceremony. I would also like to thank the people producing this. Dean and Caroline Walker!” Everyone started clapping. The walkers blushed a little than sat back down. Beyonce had on a violet ball gown with silver embroidery as the top, and a revealing neckline. Along with a small diamond necklace on along with earrings, and a couple of plain, silver bracelets. After she had made her announcement everyone had gone back to chattering.     “Oliver! I thought that was you,” a man said from behind them, chuckling. Grace turned to see Ren Heckler, the former Formula One driver and Oliver’s racing team boss for Moretti Motors. Ren was married to the supermodel Elena Heckler, and their eldest child, Gigi, was in the Formula One development program. She was rumored to be as fast as her father on the track. Grace had enjoyed meeting her last year.     Tonight Ren was accompanied by Oliver’s teammate Inigo Velasquez. Inigo was one of those drivers who was super serious and focused during the racing season. He drank only ice water and didn’t date. The one time Grace had spoken to him, the sole topic of conversation had been the twists and turns of a particular track.       “Hello, guys,” Oliver said, standing up and walking away from the table to join them. Grace watched him go, admiring the view and still unsure what had happened between the two of them to drive him away.       But he’d been firm when he’d told her things were over and there was nothing she could do except respect his wishes. Also, she had pride. She wasn’t going to go running after a man who didn’t want her.                                                                                           …       Oliver was glad to get up and leave the table. He’d always thought Coraline and Dean were #couplegoals when he’d first started dating Grace. But they were old Hollywood, celebrities before everything was overshared and things went viral with the push of a button. Their lives were different from his and Grace’s. They didn’t seem consumed by the spotlight like his soon-to-be-ex was.       It was a relief to get away from her for a moment. The more time he spent with her the easier it was to have doubts about breaking up. And doubts were the one thing he never allowed himself to have. Seeing his teammates was a nice reprieve.     “Inigo, honestly, dude, I’m happy you decided to come tonight,” Oliver said. Inigo was a few years younger than Oliver and had been the brother-in-law of the late, great Jose Ruiz, a Formula One driver who’d lived his life fast and furious on and off the track. His death five years ago had been a shock to many drivers and fans alike.     “I’m not a total stick-in-the-mud,” Inigo said.     “And I needed a solid excuse not to go home. Even my mom didn’t object to me attending.”     Ren laughed and Oilver joined him. Inigo was the youngest son of a very close-knit Texas family that was definitely ruled by the matriarch, Elena Velasquez.     “I’m glad to see you both. What’s up?”       “Just wanted to see if you could make it out to the new training facilities tomorrow,” Ren said. “I’d like to get your input on a few things. Inigo is coming at ten. Will that work for you?”       Ten seemed doable, and it would give him an excuse to cut out of here early. Not that he didn’t like a party, but the sooner he put some distance between Grace and her damned backless gown the better.       “I’ll be there,” he said, shaking hands with both men as he says goodbye.        Oliver turned back to his table and saw that Tyler Gonnter had taken his seat. While Oliver knew that things were over between him and Grace, the rest of the world didn’t. He wasn’t going to allow Grace’s ex to make him look like a fool.          There was something about Tyler that he didn’t like. Maybe it was the too-perfect smile or the fact that he loved the spotlight as much as Grace did. Tyler had been a celebrity since his first film had debuted ten years earlier. He was smooth, smart and a little too good to be true in Oliver’s estimation. But the truth was he knew that Tyler was a much better fit for her than he could ever be.       Tyler probably wouldn’t be worried about whatever she revealed in her tell-all book the way Oliver was. Tyler was the kind of person who revealed in every detail that was shared about his personal life. But Oliver had never been like that. He liked the glam life, loved his glitzy dates and parties covered by the press, but when he left the spotlight he liked his privacy. Something that Grace had never understood. Was that why she’d shared the book with Mych and not him? Or had she thought he wouldn’t want to read it?     And it had taken him a while to figure out that as much as he liked having Grace in his life, he hated the way she seemed to need the world to see those details.       “You’re in my seat,” he said, coming back over.       “Not for much longer,” Tyler said as he stood up and walked away.       Had Grace mentioned the break up to Tyler? “What are you implying?”       “Just that a woman like Grace needs a man who stands by her side in and out of the spotlight and we both know that’s not your scene,” Tyler said.       Oliver made a fist and was a second away from punching that too-perfect face, when Grace stood up and put her hand around his. “Oli is the man for me.”       Oliver felt a wave of weakness as he heard that nickname, she had given him when they were best friends. He felt almost saddened. It’s been two years since Oliver had heard that name. Her voice sweet like honey and soft like flower petals.        Tyler just nodded and turned to walk away. Oliver knew he should relax but he couldn’t. He was wound up—and not sure why it should matter so much that she’d come to his defense when they were ending things. But it did.