Lights! Camera! Caleb Hemsworth!

Chapter Nineteen

CALEB

I glance down at my Rolex, and it's five minutes to eight. I don't think she is going to show. I see a shadowed figure standing by the table, and I look up and wipe my smile off my face. It's just the waiter.

He asks if I want more wine, and I politely decline. I'd rather be sober when I apologize, so she knows I mean every word of it and not slurring my words. The waiter walks off, leaving me to my thoughts again. I pull out my phone, checking it for the tenth time in two minutes. I hate how she has my number, but I don't have her new one. Feeling helpless is one nasty feeling.

Ten minutes have come and gone, and she has yet to show. I signal the waitress over to request some of his finest wine. I don't blame her for not coming. I put us in this situation. Taking out my phone again, I decide to call a buddy of mine but quickly put it away.

There she is, walking towards the table. She is wearing a form-fitting red dress and fuck me heels. My eyes roam her body before stopping at her eyes. She seems torn on whether if she should be here or not. I stand, welcoming her with open arms.

"Sorry, I'm late." She hugs me back. "My stomach just wasn't agreeing with lunch." She chuckles. "I see you didn't start without me."

I want to tell her, I wasn't going to eat here if she didn't show, but she doesn't need to know that. I prefer eating pizza and gulping down some beer in my hotel room to this fancy place. I take her jacket, handing it to the waitress heading our way.

"No worries. I'm just happy you showed up. For a minute there, I didn't think you were going to show, and you never called..." She slides in the booth looking everywhere but my face. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything is good. Sorry again about that." She picks up her menu, covering her face.

"Selena." She puts down the menu. "Would you like some wine?"

"No, thank you. I will take a glass of water, though."

"I'm not trying to get you drunk and take advantage of you. I told you tonight will be just dinner and apologizing."

"Right, however, it seems like I'm the only one apologizing here." She jokes, but I know there is one hundred percent truth behind that. I clear my throat, reaching across the table, grabbing her hands into mine.

"There is nothing to be nervous about; I'm the one who will do all the talking."

The waitress drops off the food I ordered ahead of time, for both of us. Selena glances down at her plate then calls the waitress back, asking for the shrimp and chicken, with roasted potatoes and a side of string beans. I expect her to hand the steak dinner back to the waitress, but she digs in. Throwing up lunch has her really hungry now.

We eat in silence, longer than usual since she ordered the shrimp and chicken. I want her to finish her meal before we have our talk. I want nothing to distract us. I want all her attention; I want to watch her face as the words spill from my lips. She takes her last bite of chicken and gulps down her fourth glass of water.

"Please excuse me for a minute. I have to use the lady's room." She rushes from the table, and I pray she isn't in there taking a shit. My prayers are answered when she emerges from the restroom five minutes later. "Thank you for dinner." She smiles, taking her seat.

"So...I brought you here tonight to apologize."

"I know."

"And I want to tell you that, I am sorry for everything I put you through during those months of us being together. Not officially but close to. No one has ever called me out on the things I do, and when I heard it from you, I blew up. I felt like you shouldn't call me out on my shit when you did me wrong five years ago and didn't care about me. I can be a man and say I fucked up, and I want to make it right. I should have never accused you of not wanting what's best for me or looking out for me when you tried to tell me about Evelyn." I let go of one of her hands and drink down the rest of my wine.