Chapter 9 The Call He Waited For
2179 Words
Morning came with the low murmur of Conrad’s voice in the living room.
Vesper opened her eyes to find Finn already awake beside her.
He was lying perfectly still, listening.
“Your father is working,” she whispered.
Finn looked toward the door.
Vesper sat up and checked the time.
She had a wardrobe fitting at Starcrest, followed by the final day on a low-budget daytime drama she had agreed to finish before The Realm began.
When she entered the living room, Conrad stood near the window speaking into his phone.
Theo’s gray sweatshirt stretched across his shoulders and ended several inches above his wrists.
The sight was so unexpected that Vesper stopped.
Conrad ended the call.
“You find something amusing.”
“Theo is smaller than you.”
“I had noticed.”
“His sleeves usually reach his hands.”
Conrad looked down at them.
“I will return it.”
“He’ll never believe Conrad Ashbourne wore his old sweatshirt.”
“I would prefer that information remain private.”
Vesper smiled despite herself.
Finn emerged from the bedroom in the star-patterned pajamas.
His attention went immediately to Conrad’s coat, now draped over one arm.
He understood before either adult spoke.
Conrad crouched to his level.
“I have to return to Ashbourne Holdings. You are coming with me.”
Finn backed into the bedroom.
“Finn.”
The door closed.
The lock clicked.
Conrad stood slowly.
Vesper looked at him.
“He thinks leaving means he won’t see me again.”
“I know.”
Conrad approached the door.
“Finn, open it.”
Silence.
“You cannot remain here. Vesper has work.”
No response.
Conrad’s jaw tightened.
Vesper touched his arm.
“Let me try.”
He looked down at her hand, then stepped aside.
Vesper sat on the floor beside the door.
“Finn?”
Nothing.
“I have to leave too.”
A faint sound came from inside.
“I’m going to a fitting and then to a set. I won’t be here even if your father lets you stay.”
Silence again.
“But we can make a plan.”
She waited.
“I can call you after work.”
Footsteps approached the other side of the door.
“You can write to me. We can use video if you want. But you have to go home with your father today.”
The handle did not turn.
Vesper added, “I left the hospital without telling you enough. I won’t do that again.”
The lock clicked.
The door opened several inches.
Finn stood behind it, watching her carefully.
“I will call,” Vesper said. “Even if it’s late.”
He opened the door fully.
Conrad’s expression remained controlled, but Vesper saw the surprise in his eyes.
Finn crossed to the desk and took a pen from beside her script.
He wrote a number on a sheet of paper and handed it to her.
Vesper read it.
“Is this yours?”
Finn nodded.
Conrad looked over her shoulder.
“It is mine.”
Vesper glanced between father and son.
Finn did not appear embarrassed.
“You’re giving me your father’s private number?”
Another nod.
Conrad took out his phone.
“I will answer when possible. If I cannot, Finn can respond by message.”
Vesper saved the number.
Finn watched until she showed him the contact entry.
FINN — CONRAD’S PHONE.
Only then did he allow Conrad to help him into his coat.
At the door, Vesper crouched.
“I promised.”
Finn held her gaze for a moment, then raised one finger in warning.
“One call,” she said. “I understand.”
He left with Conrad.
The apartment felt strangely empty after the door closed.
At Starcrest Entertainment, Diana entered Cecilia’s office without knocking.
Cecilia looked up from a beauty campaign proposal.
“Well?”
Diana placed a printed email on the desk.
“The production office confirmed Vesper for Mara Vale.”
Cecilia read the first page.
Her face did not change.
“She was late.”
“They still tested her.”
“And Felix chose her?”
“Provisionally. The contract still comes through us.”
Diana sat across from her.
“They claim she understood the character better than anyone else.”
Cecilia gave a quiet laugh.
“Of course they do.”
Diana leaned closer. “We may be able to change the schedule. She has existing work. If she violates an exclusivity clause—”
“Not yet.”
Diana hesitated.
Cecilia placed the email down.
“Mara Vale is a villain who ends the story disgraced and dead. Let Vesper celebrate.”
“You aren’t concerned?”
“About a supporting role?”
But Cecilia’s fingers pressed too hard against the edge of the paper.
She remembered Vesper before she had left Bellgrave.
Vesper memorizing pages after reading them once.
Vesper becoming someone else the moment she stepped onto a stage.
Vesper drawing every eye in a room without seeming to try.
Cecilia had spent years convincing people that Vesper’s beauty was her only talent.
The Realm could prove otherwise.
“Monitor the contract,” Cecilia said. “Every clause. Every publicity commitment. Every fitting and rehearsal.”
Diana smiled. “I knew you wouldn’t let her have it that easily.”
Cecilia looked back at the email.
“I said monitor her. Not destroy the project.”
Ellery International had invested too much money in the production.
If Vesper failed, Cecilia wanted it to appear natural.
If she succeeded, Cecilia needed to be ready.
Vesper arrived at Diana’s office twenty minutes later.
Diana slid the contract across the desk.
“Congratulations.”
The word sounded painful in her mouth.
Vesper sat and opened the document.
“Base compensation is lower than the production office discussed.”
“You are not a star.”
“The exclusivity period extends three months beyond filming.”
“Standard protection.”
“It restricts appearances in unrelated productions.”
“You wanted the role.”
Vesper turned another page.
“The publicity clause allows Starcrest to approve all interviews.”
Diana leaned back.
“Do you intend to be difficult about every paragraph?”
“I intend to understand what I sign.”
“You should be grateful the company is allowing you to take the role.”
“The production selected me.”
“The production selected a Starcrest actress.”
Vesper closed the folder.
“I’ll have external counsel review it.”
Diana’s expression sharpened. “That is unnecessary.”
“Then you won’t object.”
Vesper stood before Diana could answer.
Her next set was across town.
The production was filming her final scene in a low-budget daytime drama: an outdoor confrontation, a staged slap, and a fall that should have taken minutes.
Instead, the camera lost focus, the light shifted, and the director wanted a new angle. By the tenth take, dust covered her costume and her bruised shoulder throbbed.
The fight coordinator offered a break.
Vesper shook her head. “Reset it. She’s swinging too wide. If I turn half a step later, the camera will sell the impact.”
On the next take, the slap missed her by inches and looked real on the monitor.
Vesper changed, thanked the crew, and left without complaining.
Mara Vale would require weeks of demanding work.
She welcomed it.
By the time she returned to her apartment, every muscle in her body hurt.
She dropped onto the sofa and turned on the television for noise.
A business news segment appeared.
Conrad stood on a stage beside representatives from Bellacourt International, a European luxury hospitality group. Behind him, the Ashbourne Holdings logo filled the screen.
The presenter explained that the partnership had taken nearly three years to finalize and would expand Ashbourne properties across several international markets.
Conrad shook hands with the executives.
Controlled.
Impeccable.
Entirely unlike the man who had spent the night in an undersized sweatshirt on her sofa.
Vesper glanced at the clock.
Then sat upright.
“Finn.”
She grabbed her phone.
At Ashbourne Heights, dinner had already begun.
Reginald Ashbourne sat at the head of the table, reviewing details of Conrad’s agreement even after spending the afternoon congratulating him.
Margaret Ashbourne had returned from Europe with enough gifts for Finn to fill an entire room.
Finn ignored all of them.
He sat beside Conrad, holding his father’s phone in both hands.
His plate remained untouched.
Margaret watched him with growing concern.
“Has he eaten anything today?”
“Lunch,” Conrad said.
“Barely,” Maxwell added.
Conrad gave him a warning look.
Reginald set down his wine.
“The partnership is complete. You can reduce your schedule for a while.”
“I have already adjusted it.”
“Finn needs more than adjusted meetings,” Margaret said gently. “He needs stability.”
“He has stability.”
“He has staff, doctors, tutors, and security. That is not the same thing.”
Conrad did not answer.
Maxwell looked from his brother to their parents.
“He may be getting help with that.”
Margaret turned to him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Conrad met someone.”
The room went silent.
Reginald looked at Conrad.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
Margaret’s eyes widened.
“One word is not an explanation.”
“It is true,” Conrad repeated.
Maxwell covered a smile with his glass.
“Does Finn know her?” Margaret asked.
Finn’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“He knows her,” Maxwell said. “He likes her more than all of us combined.”
“Maxwell.”
“What? It’s accurate.”
Margaret leaned forward.
“Who is she? How did you meet? How long has this been happening?”
“A matter of days,” Conrad said.
Her excitement vanished.
“Days?”
“She saved Finn’s life.”
Reginald’s expression sharpened.
Conrad continued before questions could begin.
“You will not investigate her. You will not contact her. You will not invite her here.”
Margaret looked offended.
“I would never—”
“You would.”
She closed her mouth.
Reginald almost smiled.
“What does she do?”
Conrad glanced toward Finn.
“She is an actress.”
Margaret absorbed that.
Before she could ask more, the phone in Finn’s hands rang.
He froze.
The screen displayed Vesper’s name.
Finn looked at Conrad.
“Answer it,” Conrad said.
Maxwell reached for the phone to help, but Finn moved it away and pressed the screen himself.
He lifted it to his ear.
“Finn?”
Vesper’s voice was faint but clear in the quiet dining room.
Finn said nothing.
“I know it’s you.”
His shoulders relaxed.
“I’m sorry I’m calling so late. The shoot took longer than expected, but I didn’t forget.”
Finn looked down at his plate.
“Did you eat dinner?”
He remained silent.
Vesper waited.
“You don’t have to speak. Tap the phone once for yes, twice for no.”
Finn tapped twice.
Conrad watched him.
“You just recovered from a fever,” Vesper said. “You need to eat, even if you’re waiting for someone to call.”
Finn glanced at Conrad.
“And I saw your father on the news.”
Conrad’s gaze shifted to the phone.
“The partnership looked important. Will you congratulate him for me?”
Finn sat straighter.
“All right,” Vesper continued. “I have to review a contract tonight, but I’ll call again when we agree on a time. Not when you refuse dinner.”
Finn looked almost guilty.
“Eat something. Then send me a message so I know you did.”
He tapped the phone once.
“Good night, Finn.”
The call ended.
Finn held the phone for a moment before setting it down.
Then he reached for the writing tablet kept near his place.
Everyone watched as he wrote one word in careful letters.
Congratulations.
He turned the tablet toward Conrad.
Something in Conrad’s face softened.
“Thank you.”
Finn placed the tablet down.
Then he picked up his fork.
Margaret watched him eat a piece of chicken.
Then a spoonful of vegetables he usually refused.
Reginald slowly leaned back in his chair.
Maxwell looked unbearably pleased with himself.
Margaret lowered her voice.
“She reminded him to eat, and he listened.”
“She promised to call,” Conrad said. “Then she did.”
Finn took another bite.
Margaret looked at the child, then at Conrad.
The excitement in her face had changed into something more thoughtful.
“This is not about what she said.”
“No,” Reginald agreed. “It is about the fact that he believed her.”
Margaret’s gaze settled on the phone Finn still kept beside his plate.
“Who is she?”
Conrad looked at his son.
“Vesper Ellery.”
- Writer
