Tears slid down Talia's face as she watched the trees pass by. The physical pain made her want to curl into a ball. Vanessa and Zeke's conversation played on a loop through Talia's mind.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Rex asked.

Talia shrugged.

"Do I need to beat the shit out of Zeke?"

A sob escaped Talia. She closed her eyes willing the tears to stop. She looked at the worried look on Rex's face. Telling Rex could help her deal with everything. However, Rex had a tendency to overreact. She needed one person right now and Rex wasn't him.

"Rex, I'm not going to tell you right now. I just need you with me. Can you do that?" Talia got out between sobs.

Rex pulled into Zeke's driveway. When he put the car in park he turned to her. "I'm always there for you, Tally. What do you need from me?"

"I'm going to pack. You need to take me to the airport." Talia got out of the car.

"Are you sure?" Rex said getting out of the car.

A sad smile crossed her face. "Be ready."

Talia ran up the steps and entered the house she once thought comfortable. Now, all she saw were lies. Zeke conned her. He manipulated her. He made her fall in love with him for what reason? She had more questions than answers. All she knew was she needed to go home. Running away was better than killing him.

Grabbing her luggage, Talia threw everything she brought into it. She was frantic to get out of there before Zeke came home. Time was not on her side. When she heard loud voices coming from downstairs she knew her time had run out.

"Talia!" Zeke yelled. "Lia, please! Let me explain! I need to talk to you."

"I don't know how you fucked up but if she doesn't want to talk to you she doesn't have to." Rex shouted.

"I know I fucked up. I'm trying to fix it."

Fix it. Talia laughed. There was no fixing his betrayal.

Talia grabbed her mostly packed bags and dragged them down the stairs. In the living room, Zeke was pacing as Rex stood guard at the stairs. In that moment, her brother looked like a bouncer keeping a skeezy guy out of a club.

"I'm ready, Rex." Talia handed her bags to Rex.

"Please, Lia. Talk to me. Don't just leave. We can fix this."

Talia's blood boiled. She looked at Zeke with his sad and pathetic look on his face. It made her pause for a moment. She'd forgotten he was an actor. Definitely an Oscar worthy one for the part he played with her.

"I'm leaving, Zeke. Don't follow me. Don't call me. Forget I exist."

"Never." He said defiantly.

Talia shook her head and walked to the door.

Zeke's control snapped. "Fine. Just walk away. That's what you are good at. Giving up is the thing you do."

She stopped and slowly turned toward him. Zeke froze when he saw the look on her face. "You know what you are good at? Lying. Manipulating. Acting. That's all you did with me. You convinced me to fall in love with you. You got me to let my guard down. Everything was just a joke to you. I won't be anyone's joke. So, yes, I am walking away. I can't stand looking at you. You disgust me." Tears streamed down her face.

"You love me?"

"It doesn't matter now. I couldn't love someone who would purposely try to destroy my hard earned career. Someone who was willing to destroy my reputation piece by piece just to get what he wanted."

"I'm sorry, Lia. I promise I didn't mean to lie to you but I was desperate."

"I'm sure your reasons are valid to you, but nothing will convince me that you didn't know exactly what you were doing. You were responsible for fucking up my career, my reputation and my life. I don't care what the hell your reasons behind it were. I never want to see you again." Talia opened the door to leave.

"Lia!" He yelled.

Spinning, Talia screamed, "DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!"

Slamming the door, she ran down the steps to Rex's car. Jumping into the car, Talia buckled her seatbelt then Rex threw the car into reverse. As they pulled away, Talia told herself not to look back. She didn't listen. What she saw made her regret having looked. Zeke fell to his knees with his head in his hands. Sobs escaped as her heart shattered into even smaller pieces.

***

"Are you going to be ok?" Rex stood next to his car in the no parking area of the airport.

Talia sniffled then straightened her back holding her head high. "I will be fine."

Rex stared at her for a moment then went to grab her into a hug. Talia stopped him with a hand to his chest.

"Please don't. As much as I want a hug from you right now, I can't. I am holding on by a thread. If you hug me, I will lose it, Rex." Tears glistened in her eyes.

He nodded. "Alright. This is killing me, Tally. Promise me once you get home you will call me and finally tell me everything."

"I will. Please tell mom I'm sorry that I left so abruptly. I will call Chrissy when I get home." Talia's lip began to tremble.

"Quit blubbering like a baby. Get your ass on that plane." Rex's voice cracked.

"You're worse than me you, puss."

"Yeah, so? That's what makes me sexy. My sensitivity is very hot."

Talia let out a watery giggle. "Gross."

Rex smiled. "I love you, sis."

"Love you too." Talia picked up her bags and walked into the airport.

It was late and only a few airlines had people at the counters. She walked up to the counter of the same airline they flew in on. The woman at the counter blanched. She must have looked horrible.

"Hi. I'd like a ticket to L.A please."

"Uh sure. Let me check when the next flight leaves."

"Thank you."

Talia stood awkwardly at the counter as the woman typed frantically into the computer. She kept glancing toward her then typing into her computer. When Talia looked around she saw a few other workers whispering together and staring at her. She must look wrecked to have drawn so much attention.

"Um...are you Talia Walker?" An employee asked beside the woman at the counter.

"Yes. Why?"

"Life sucks for you right now huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"Didn't you see the video?"

"What video? What are you talking about?"

Just as she asked that question her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was Jeremiah. Talia picked up the phone and answered it.

"Are you on your way home?"

"Yeah. I'm at the airport."

"Good. I can't believe that asshole. I want to beat the shit out of him right now."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Zeke. He's the one that set up the paparazzi taking those initial photos of you. He made sure it looked compromising because he knew any other way you wouldn't agree to his charade."

"How do you know all that?"

"There is a video of him talking to that bitch Vanessa. You are also on that video, Tally. She posted it on her social media sites."

"Oh my god." Talia looked around noticing more people pointing at her.

"Tally are you there? Are you ok?"

"I gotta let you go. I will text you when I know my flight."

Talia hung up and walked back up to the counter. "Do you have a flight for me?" Talia snapped.

The woman blinked at her clipped tone. "We have a midnight flight but the only available seats are first class."

"That's fine."

Talia gave her the one credit card she carried for emergencies. When she told her the total she had to swallow the lump in her throat. Her savings would take a hit with that one plane ticket. After the woman gave her the finished ticket, Talia picked up her bags and made her way to the terminal.

After one too many stares, Talia stopped at the gift shop and grabbed a hat. She pulled her hair into the hat the pulled it down over her face. She glanced at her phone. Two hours until her flight. Exhaustion hit her hard. She was so tired even the blue plastic chairs looked comfortable. Finding a secluded seat she put her headphones in then blasted music to keep her mind away from Zeke. Her eyes closed letting her fall into the welcoming darkness where there was no Zeke, no Dirty Laundry and no gossip.