Chapter 118

Pearl walked in the door and Rhys greeted her with a hug. "How did it go?" He asked.

"It went well. We decided to use the picture of us from our first live show in New York as the inside pic of the band and Dylan's wolf painting he designed as our logo for the cover. It looks bad ass." Pearl told him, walking into the kitchen. "And the video?" He asked.

"I was going to talk to you about that, actually." She said. Rhys had dinner prepared and it smelled amazing. He poured Pearl a glass of wine. "Come sit. Eat." He said. She grabbed a stool and sat at the kitchen island bar. He spooned a plate of pasta for her and a small bowl of salad.

"This looks amazing." She said. "Thank you."

"I miss you so much. I miss my wife." He said, looking at her with sadness. She leaned forward and kissed him.

"So, what do you want to talk to me about regarding the video?" He asked, taking a bite of his salad.

"We want you to direct it." She said, looking down.

He stopped and looked at her. He had never told her it was a dream of his to direct and that he had never had the courage to follow it.

"What, really?" He asked.

"Yes. We think you'd be perfect for it. You know us. You're creative. And you have knowledge of the business and what works. We'd like to have a meeting with you tomorrow to conceptualize and plan." She said, smiling.

"Wow! That's like, really awesome. I'm flattered as fuck. I can't wait!" He said.

"We need to get it rolling before you go back to filming in March, you know?" She said.

"I won't be long in March. But I will make some calls after we figure out what we want to do." He said.

"And there's something else I need to talk to you about", Pearl said, slamming her glass of wine and pouring another.

"Ok." Rhys said. "Shoot."

Pearl decided to just come out with it.

"I'm having a hard time. I'm having a hard time trusting who you are and that you're strong enough to make the right decisions for us when they need to be made." She said, taking a deep breath.

He sat up and nodded slightly, processing what she said.

"You and I come from different backgrounds and I know celebrity relationships aren't the most stable because of the drama that surrounds them. Things are different for you and I'm afraid of how you'll handle things based on what you've known. And I wanted to talk to you about it." She was trying to make sense but it wasn't coming out right.

He looked wounded.

"You don't trust me? And you think this is a celebrity relationship?" He was hurt.

"No. Yes. I'm not happy that's what you got out of what I said. It's not all that I said." Pearl needed him to understand.

"I get it. It's about Carys. I didn't do to her what you did to David. I thought a simple conversation would work. It didn't. I learned. And I know we come from different backgrounds. But that kind of lifestyle is the furthest thing from what I wanted. That's why I was so happy to find you. You aren't like them. I don't want that. I told you what I want. I want you. And just like I've introduced you to a new way of life, you've done the same for me. I'm just a slower learner. But I promise you, from the moment I saw you, no other woman existed. No other life existed. I only wanted you. Us. If you can't trust that than I'm so sorry. I've failed. I worked very hard to prove that to you." He looked down. She had hurt him. Badly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. And you have proven that to me. I know that you love me. And you've been wonderful to me. I just need to know that you are strong enough to be here, on my side, and out of your comfort level of need be. And I need you to never just leave me in a city without telling me what you're doing, ever again, because that tells me that YOU don't trust ME. And you have to trust me, too. Ok?" She felt terrible but it needed to be said.

"That's fair. I get it. We are a team now. No more bullshit and no more trying to protect you like that. Total transparency from now on. I promise." He said.

"Ok. Good. And it's going to take a little time but we will eventually build that trust. I know it." Pearl was trying to convince herself just as much as she was him.

"I love you." He said. "I'm not going to hurt you on purpose. Just talk to me. Teach me." He put his head down and grabbed her hands.

She smiled and kissed the top of his head.

"I will." She said. They finished dinner and fell asleep watching old reruns on the couch.