During lunch, Theo suddenly burst into my office, looking slightly panicked. My eyebrows shot up in amusement as I closed my laptop. “You didn’t have to make that kind of entrance, T, I would’ve gotten out of the office to have lunch with you.”
Theo let out a shaky breath and shook his head, pacing a hole in the middle of my office. “I didn’t think that it would get this out of hand once the media gets a hold of the story.”
I looked at him confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Outlook Daily just made a post about you and Julian Hudson,” Theo answered me after a moment of silence and then crossed the short distance between us, opened my laptop and then typed in the link of the news outlet on the browser.
On the first page were separate pictures of me and Julian and then the next one was a picture of the two of us kissing in front of my house earlier this morning. I sucked in a sharp breath and then read the headline, feeling my heart sink: JULIAN HUDSON AND AUDREY FINCH: PRODUCER-CLIENT WITH BENEFITS.
I wasn’t sure if I had the courage to read throughout the article but I leaned back from my laptop and shook my head. “It must be just a rumour, Theo. We can put up a statement that none of that is real and…”
Maybe I could let out a statement that Julian and I were dating- after I consult with him, that is- and state that we didn’t want the world to know about us just yet, that it was all a crazy misunderstanding. “Audrey…”
Theo’s voice was soft and held such sympathy that made me cringe as he slowly spun my chair so I was facing him. “Audrey, they have a video of Julian saying that he’s always been weak when it comes to women and you used your body to your advantage.”
I blinked, unsure if I processed the words correctly because I felt as if my brain suddenly lagged to do so. “I don’t…I don’t understand…he wouldn’t…he’s been…I told him not to share anything to the media about the two of us, Theo.”
But even after I said that, I felt as if I was selfishly consoling myself and turning a blind eye on the truth that was written in bold letters, the light from my laptop glaring at me when I turned to look at it. I turned my chair back so I was facing the laptop and scrolled down again to find two separate videos. I played the first video.
“Or maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m weak when it comes to women and Audrey used her body to her advantage because let’s face it, it’s not like you could work the charm with me.”
It felt I was sucker-punched in the gut hearing Julian say that. His words pierced at my heart and whatever sweet things he whispered to me every now and then disappeared completely as the words in the video echoed over and over in my head. I felt insulted to be painted as a woman who would use femininity to lure a man to sign up to our company.
It sparked an anger within me that was brighter than the pain that the statement brought.
I played the second one.
The person filming was probably standing on the side and he only had Julian in frame. “Oh and to get facts straight, Audrey Finch is nowhere near my ideal woman. If you want the truth, know that I’ve never hated anyone with burning passion more.”
“Then why the hell did you sign with us?”
Julian had his signature cocky smile on. “She promised me an even bigger stage. It’s all about the money with me.”
There was a sudden ringing sound in my ear as I felt my heart sink even further. My head was spinning and I was unsure how I was meant to grasp the entirety of this situation. It was only this morning when I thought that maybe things between us could work out, that maybe we could actually work out.
I never truly wanted to acknowledge what I felt for him because as much as I never thought it would happen, I fell in love with Julian Hudson.
Suddenly, I remembered all the girls in college that cried because of him, of how Amber broke down in front of me after he broke her heart. I swore to myself that I would hate him for all the girls that loved him too much and allowed him to break them.
But here I was, five years later, with a broken-heart because of Julian Hudson.
24
Julian
My mother was the main reason I went home to Irving so I could visit her. When the band signed our first record deal, I became so abnormally busy that I couldn’t even call Mom from time to time. Although it seemed weird for a grown man to check in on his mother, she was the only parent I had left. And my grandfather always told me to take care of her.
So I made a promise to her that I would come home from time to time and I always told her when. No matter what happened, I came home to Irving and stayed with her for a while and then with Everett in a townhouse and evidently in the penthouse with Everett and Leo. Mom preferred living by herself in a small bungalow house in the neighbourhood that we used to live in.
Coming home always meant that I was away from the toxic environment I chose to live in. LA was amazing at best but a celebrity can never deny that it’s tough when all eyes were on you. Irving was the place that I could finally breathe, where everyone knew when I was a little boy and not as the Julian Hudson that the world fell in love with.
But at the moment, I felt like the stress from LA followed me home. I heard of the rumour from Carlos, and I couldn’t reign in my anger at the media and worry for Audrey any longer.
“Jules, are you there?” Carlos’ voice through the speaker sounded so distant. It had been four hours since I landed in Irving and I was at Mom’s, helping her out with dinner since Leo was coming over, along with Eleanor and Max. Everett and Alexa still had work so neither of them would be able to join us for dinner.
I was meant to enjoy a meal with my family but I felt like my whole world suddenly stopped spinning and I wanted to jump on the first plane back to LA. “I need to call her, Carlos.”
I was ready to end the call with him when he spoke again, “José and Dylan have been trying to reach her. They even tried to call Amber and Theo but none of them are picking up, Jules. You can try calling her but…”
But she might not answer my call. Especially my call.
“It wouldn’t hurt to try,” I whispered. No matter how many calls I left her, I needed to make sure she knew that none of what was said in the article was true. There may have concrete proof that I said what I did on that video- and it was true that I did say it but I didn’t mean it the way Audrey might think I did- but I still wanted to explain.
I hung up on Carlos and quickly dialled Audrey’s number but all I kept getting was that the number was unreachable and I tried calling Theo and Amber and I keep getting the same response. “Fuck!”
Throwing my phone on the ground, I closed my eyes and squatted, burying my face in my hands. “Julian?”
It was a woman’s voice and I looked up and met Eleanor’s golden eyes. She took a cautious step closer to me. I rubbed my palm against my face and gave her a weak smile. “Is Mom already looking for me?”
She shook her head. “No. I was wondering what was taking you so long.”
I let out a shaky breath and then dejectedly sat on the sidewalk, running my hand through my hair. Eleanor sat beside me without a word. “Apparently, LA followed me here. There’s a rumour that came up and I…”