“I thought you were nipping this thing in the bud.”

Kate took a sip of her green apple martini and eyed her friend over the rim of the glass. Marcy had taken the train into the city this evening to meet her for drinks at a trendy new lounge near Times Square. It was Kate’s first chance to fill her best friend in on all the details since Aidan's return to LA. “I tried,” Kate replied.

“And?”

Kate shrugged and set down her martini glass on top of the bar. “He didn’t take no for an answer.”

Marcy rolled her eyes.

“Oh, come on,” Kate protested. “You saw what he tweeted. That playlist? You can’t tell me that wasn’t the most romantic thing ever—“

“Right, so his story is that all those songs on the playlist were about you?”

“They were about me.”

Marcy laughed and took another sip of her pink cosmo. “Seriously? And you believe that?”

“I swear to God, Marcy, you are the most cynical person I’ve ever met.”

“You do know that he’s dated, like, every actress in Hollywood, right? Not to mention the swimsuit models.”

Kate shook her head. “He’s not making it up.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because there are things in the songs – in the lyrics – that I recognize. I mean, I always felt that way. All these years, I always felt like they were about me, but I just thought I was being narcissistic.”

Marcy studied her for a moment before replying. “Recognize, like what?”

“Little girl?”

“Oh, sure,” Marcy replied, raising her martini glass at Kate in a salute. “You mean his marginally degrading nickname for you.”

“It’s not degrading,” Kate said, pursing her lips. “I'm petite. It’s a term of endearment.”

“Uh huh. Whatever gets you off, Kate.”

Marcy had finished the last of her cocktail and was signaling to the bartender for another round. Kate felt the slight buzz from the first drink going to her head already, but she allowed her friend to order for her.

“Whatever,” Kate said when the drinks arrived. “That’s what he always used to call me when we were together. And it’s in songs from all of his albums over the years. Not just the first one.”

Marcy narrowed her eyes and squinted into her martini glass for a moment before replying. “So maybe – and I’m just floating this out here now, you know, just as an alternate interpretation – but just possibly he did not reserve the misogyny for you alone? Maybe there were a few other ‘little girls’ somewhere along the line?”

“No.” Kate shook her head. “That’s what I always thought too, but I know it’s not that.”

“Oh OK.” Marcy took a long gulp of her cocktail.

“I know, Marcy. You weren’t there."

“No, I was not.”

Kate could feel the skepticism dripping from her friend’s words. “You didn’t see the way he looked at me,” she argued. “The things he said.”

“I’m sure he can be very persuasive.”

Kate looked away in annoyance. “You know if anyone’s degrading me here, it’s you. You’re the one who seems to think I’m a total idiot.”

Marcy smiled at her. “I don’t think you’re an idiot, Kate. I think you’re a smart lady who happens to be infatuated with the wrong guy. And that can have a tendency to make very smart people do very stupid things.”

If you only knew, Kate thought to herself. It had only been a couple of days since Aidan proposed, and Kate had been so close to making the stupidest decision of her life. She’d wanted so badly to say yes. It was right on the tip of her tongue. She’d relived that afternoon drive at least a thousand times in the three days since it happened. The way he’d pulled over into the gas station and gotten out of the car. All those words he’d said – those beautiful words. The way he’d made it seem like they were a couple of 19 year olds again. Like no time had passed, and nothing had changed. Like she could go back in time and have that Aidan again after all. That boy she used to love with all her heart. That boy she left behind and lost forever. It had been so tempting.…

But thankfully sanity had kicked in at the last moment. It was crazy – proposing marriage. There were a million reasons why it was crazy. It had only been a couple of weeks that they’d even been back in touch. They’d spent a grand total of nine nights together. Now nine months? Maybe that would be a reasonable amount of time for a courtship. Nine weeks would be pushing it. But nine nights? You don’t get engaged after nine nights. That would be the definition of insanity. Not to mention the fact that they lived on opposite coasts. Or the fact that he was away on tour six months out of the year. Or that he was stalked relentlessly by paparazzi everywhere he went. Or that he literally had 75 percent of the world’s female population throwing themselves at him.

No, none of that was the reason it would've been the biggest mistake of her life. The fact was, she knew deep down that he hadn’t really meant it. She knew how he was. Impulsive. He was always getting carried away and saying things he lived to regret. That’s all it was. They’d been reminiscing about old times, and he’d gotten caught up in the memory. It wasn’t a real proposal. He didn’t even have a ring. He’d probably thought better of it 30 seconds after the words were out of his mouth. He was probably thanking his lucky stars that she’d said no.

She had considered telling Marcy about the marriage proposal over drinks tonight, and she felt a bit disloyal for holding back. Marcy had been her best friend since they were both freshmen in college 12 years ago. They had always told each other everything. But somehow, she couldn’t tell her friend this. It was just a little too raw. A little too painful. To hear the words she’d always dreamt of hearing from the man she’d always wanted deep down to say them – and to know in her heart of hearts that it wasn’t real. A fantasy, that’s all it really was. A scene that would make for a great ending to some Hollywood romantic comedy, but had absolutely nothing to do with real life.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Marcy said. “I’m all for the idea that you’re taking a vacation. When was the last time you took one?

“I guess when I had that flu a couple years ago—”

“That’s not a vacation, Kate.”

“I know. I need a break.” That much, at least, Kate could agree on. She was a senior associate at a top New York City law firm, and she couldn’t afford to make the kinds of careless mistakes she’d been making lately. Ever since that morning Aidan had spotted her in the crowd at the Today Show, it was like her mind had taken a little vacation of its own. She’d been having trouble focusing: forgetting clients’ names, leaving important emails unanswered, letting her mind wander in the middle of closing arguments the other day in court. She’d still won the case of course. It wasn’t as dire as all that. But people were starting to notice.

“Listen," Marcy said. "I get that he's sex on a stick. He was always was, even before he was Mr. Big. But can’t you just go to a Club Med or something? Meet some hot young guy on the beach?“

“It’s already done, Marcy. I bought the tickets. I’m flying to LA on Saturday.”

“You’re going to get hurt.”

“Probably.” Kate knew it was true. There was no way she could spend two weeks with Aidan and not get her heart involved. It was too late for that already. She’d tried to nip things in the bud with him after the first night, but he hadn’t let her. He’d sent that tweet, and then he'd come to her apartment to confront her, and she hadn’t been able to deny her feelings after that. She’d never been able to fall in love with anyone else in all the years they were apart. No one had ever been able to compete with her memory of Aidan. The way he filled up a room the moment he walked in. That way he had of looking at her, like she was the most desirable woman he'd ever set eyes on. It was irresistible, that look – more addictive than any drug – which was the reason why every actress in Hollywood found him utterly irresistible as well.

Kate drained the last of her drink, feeling the alcohol burn its way down her throat and meld itself with the slow warmth that spread upward from the pit of her stomach.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Marcy said. “Tickets can be changed. Just think about it, OK? Think long and hard.”

“Long and hard?” Kate tittered.

Marcy broke into a grin. “You have a filthy mind, Kate.”

“I will think about it,” Kate said, grinning back. “Deeply. Over and over and over....”

They giggled together, and Kate closed her eyes. Her head was starting to swim from the alcohol. “No, but seriously,” she heard Marcy say. “It’s not too late to change your mind. Promise me you’ll think about it before you get on that plane.”

“OK,” Kate said. ”I’ll think about. I promise.”

As if she could think about anything else.