James Valentine had gone down to the beach after leaving the restaurant terrace. He dropped his suit jacket on the sand; his shirt was practically suffocating him. He undid a few of its buttons and took off his shoes, burying his feet in the sand. The dark sea stretched out like a silver blanket under the moonlight. The monotonous rhythm of the waves wasn't enough to calm the storm in his mind.
He pulled a beer bottle from his pocket. After opening the cap, he took a long swig. The bitter taste burned his throat, but he didn't care.
"What the hell am I doing?" he grumbled to himself.
Ellie's laughter was still echoing in his ears. Kyle's touch, that shy blush, her shining eyes… It had broken something inside James. Something he didn't recognize and didn't dare name.
Jealousy?
"No," he said aloud, as if trying to convince himself. "It's just… a protective instinct. I found her. I created her. She is my creation."
But the voice inside him whispered, Liar.
He took another swig. Closed his eyes. And suddenly, a scene from the past appeared in his mind.
Six Months Ago – A Small Bar in Santa Monica
James hadn't wanted to be there that night. A client had insisted he come listen to a young rock band. "There's great talent," he'd said. "You have to come hear them."
James had gone. But the band's performance was awful. Amateurish, passionless, ordinary. He was getting ready to leave after half an hour when… he heard a dreamily familiar voice.
"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high…"
His hand froze on his glass.
That voice… pure, clear, heart-piercing. A voice that seemed to carry all the pain in the world yet still shone with hope. A voice both familiar and thrilling.
James turned. There was a woman on stage. Her back was turned, her face wasn't visible. But that voice… it was in every corner of his mind.
James was mesmerized. I've been in this business for twenty years, and no voice has ever affected me like this, he thought. Then, old memories flashed in his mind. Could it be her? he wondered.
When the woman finished the song, there were twelve people in the venue. Only three clapped. The rest kept looking at their phones.
James stood up. He wanted to see that woman, talk to her, find out who she was.
At that moment, she turned. But James couldn't see her clearly. The lights were dim, the distance was far. Then for a moment… just a moment, he saw a face. Round, soft features. Large eyes. A shy smile.
It's not her, James thought. It can't be.
Because the Ellie Harper in his mind… was completely different.
Slender, tall, attractive. The girl every boy had dreamed of in high school. The star of the school. Everyone's inspiration.
But this woman… this woman was overweight. She looked ordinary. And nobody was looking at her.
James raised his glass as if to wash the taste away with beer, but he was shocked by the announcer's words and spat the drink back onto the table.
"Thanks to Ellie Harper for that beautiful song! Now let's move on to our next performance…"
James was shocked. Ellie Harper?
"ELLIE HARPER?!" he shouted. A few people turned to look at him. But James didn't care.
He immediately jumped to his feet. He tried to find the woman. He ran to the stage, but she was already gone.
He grabbed one of the servers. "The woman who was just on stage, where is she?!" he asked a waiter.
The waiter shrugged. "I don't know. She sang her song and left."
James burst out of the bar. He saw her a little way down the street.
Ellie was getting into a taxi with a few friends. James ran.
"ELLIE!" he shouted.
But she didn't hear him. The taxi moved off and disappeared into the darkness.
James stood frozen on the sidewalk. He was breathless. Then, clenching his fist, he kicked a nearby trash can.
"DAMN IT!"he yelled. He had let her slip through his fingers.
That night, when James returned home, he couldn't sleep. He sat at his laptop until morning. He researched Ellie Harper.
He scoured social media. He called in his connections. He tried every way to find her.
And as he saw what he found… his heart broke.
Ellie's Spotify account. YouTube channel. Instagram profile. They all told the same story: a talented woman, waiting to be seen. But nobody was looking.
Over seven years, she had sent seven hundred and forty-three demos. She hadn't received a single response.
James slammed the laptop screen.
"Ellie… what happened to you?" he grumbled. "Why did you lose your light?"
The last time he had seen her, Ellie was seventeen. They were moving away from the neighborhood. Ellie had waved to him with bright eyes.
"You'll see me on Broadway one day, James!" she had said.
James had laughed. "I'm sure I will, little star."
But that day had never come.
James shut the laptop. He buried his head in his hands.
"I will find you," he whispered. "And this time… I won't lose you."
A few weeks later, James received a message. It was from one of his contacts.
"Here's the information and address for the woman you're looking for. You owe me, you devil of the celebrities!"
As soon as James read the text, he opened the file. There were dozens of photos. Ellie getting coffee from her favorite café, grocery shopping like a faded, invisible person. He quickly stood up. Grabbed his jacket, jumped into the car.
On the way, he stopped by the café Ellie frequented. The little place on the corner, Café Liberté. The intelligence was from a real expert; they had given him every known detail about Ellie, down to the smallest particular. Down to… her coffee preference.
"Colombian blend, two sugars, oat milk," James told the barista.
When he arrived in front of the apartment building, he hesitated. He had practically found himself at her door driven by a mad impulse.
He sat in the driver's seat, the coffees on the passenger seat. He looked up. Light was leaking from Ellie's window.
He got out and reached for the coffees, then froze.
"What will I say to her?"James thought. "'Hi, I'm your childhood friend. I randomly thought of you in the middle of the night, so I stalked you and found your address?'"
He closed the car door, angrily leaned back against the vehicle. "Nonsense. Absolute nonsense," he was muttering.
He was just about to get back in the car when… he heard a sound from above. Pebbles. They were falling to the ground. James looked up. And he saw her.
In the darkness, on the roof, a female silhouette. She was standing up. She was moving closer to the edge. In that moment, it felt like James's heart stopped.
"ELLIE!"he called out.
But she didn't hear him. She was too far away. It was too dark.
Thinking quickly in terror, he couldn't just go up without a plan. If he couldn't convince her, he didn't even want to think about what would happen.
Right then, he implemented the first plan that came to mind. He grabbed a random document from the back seat (a contract, something blank, it didn't matter what it was). He took the coffees and started running.
He didn't take the stairs one by one; he took them two at a time. He was out of breath. His racing pulse was from fear. But he couldn't stop.
"I can't be a second late.Not even a second," he continued, pushing himself.
When he reached the top floor, he stopped. He tried to compose himself immediately. He regulated his breathing. Calmed himself down.
Right now,Ellie didn't need someone trembling with fear; she needed a strong savior.
James squared his shoulders. Straightened his jacket. He fixed his famous, cold, confident smile onto his face. His hands were shaking, but he had to appear strong.
Then he quietly approached the roof door.Leaned his back against the wall.
And so the rescue operation had begun.
James finished the beer bottle and threw it onto the sand. The bottle rolled away, silently disappearing among the waves.
"And now…" James thought, running his hands through his hair. "Am I jealous of her salvation… and perhaps of her finding love?"
This thought disturbed him.Because he knew the answer. But he couldn't admit it. Not even to himself.
He stood up. Brushed the sand off his clothes with his hands. He was getting ready to return to the restaurant when… a notification came through on his phone.
Instagram. A photo of Ellie and Kyle had been posted. James looked at the screen. Both were smiling. Kyle was touching Ellie's hand. As if they were real lovers.
James put his phone in his pocket. Clenched his teeth.
"The game isn't over yet,Kyle Sanderson. I told you to act, I won't let you approach her like you're not some cheap womanizer," he grumbled. "This game is not over yet."