Chapter 12 #2
“Great,” Jessica went on, beautifully oblivious. “So, we all totally need to go out tonight. The rumors have reared their ugly heads since I got back here, and we all need to show the press that the three of us are besties and that you and Drew are as strong as ever.”
Lee immediately understood all the reasons Drew had sounded tense. He felt the same twist of resentment over the way both of them were being used to feed social media. But he still answered, “Yeah, that’s great. Just tell me where you want to meet and when.”
Jessica used about eight times as many words as she needed to tell him she’d made a reservation for them at one of the hottest, Michelin-starred restaurants in London.
It was the kind of place most people had to make reservations months in advance for, but she’d managed to score a table for three at seven that evening.
As soon as she gave Lee all the details, she handed the phone back to Drew.
“I’m sorry about her,” Drew said in a low voice.
“It’s okay,” Lee said. “I can’t say I know Jessica like you know her, but I think I get where she’s coming from, at least.”
“I don’t know if I actually know her after all,” Drew said, sounding tired and stressed out.
That sent Lee’s protectiveness into overdrive. “I don’t want to step in where I’m not needed, but do you, er, need any help…telling her things?”
“I might,” Drew admitted. Lee felt like he would have said more, but he could hear Jessica trying to talk to him. “Sorry. I’ve got to deal with this. We’ll see you in a couple hours.”
The call ended, and Lee went right to work figuring out what to wear to the sort of restaurant where they were going. He’d had to rethink his whole wardrobe once all the pictures of him started showing up online.
Thinking of clothes made him think of Dan.
His brother would have gotten the biggest kick out of the craziness that Lee’s life had become since dating Drew.
Dan had been gay, too, and much more into the club scene than Lee had ever been.
He would have known exactly how Lee should dress and deport himself for the press.
Maybe Dan would have made the perfect bestie for Jessica.
Thoughts of his brother combined with concern for Drew put Lee in a weird mood. By the time he arrived at the restaurant, he wasn’t sure he would have the appetite for high-level gourmet food. Or for public attention, but Jessica had other plans, of course.
“You two need to sit closer,” she hissed over the table once they were seated. “You’re boyfriends, after all. You need to really look like it.”
“Um—” Lee just looked at Drew, who had seemed more exhausted than usual and was wearing just a hint of concealer to hide the dark circles under his eyes.
“Just do it,” Drew said quietly, looking around the restaurant. They’d been seated near enough to a window that people were pausing on the street to stare at them.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t ask for a different table?” Lee asked, glancing from Drew to Jessica.
“Absolutely not.” Jessica put her foot down. “The world needs to see you two together, and to see me being the supportive best friend.”
I frowned. Jessica couldn’t be all bad, but the way she talked about things, the way she interacted with Drew, felt more like she was playing out a script for some rom-com instead of dealing with real life.
“Are you comfortable with this?” I asked Drew.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Drew lied with a not particularly convincing smile.
“He’s fine,” Jessica snapped. “Don’t worry about him. Just look cozy and in love and everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.”
Lee stopped just short of asking, “Supposed to for who?”
The good news was that the food was as delicious as Lee had always imagined fare at a Michelin-starred restaurant would be. Better still, Drew seemed to loosen up after the first course and really got into the pageantry of how each dish was presented as the meal went on.
“Stuff like this is insane,” he said, cutting into a glazed rib that was so tender he could have cut it with the side of his fork.
“I’ve always thought haute cuisine is fascinating, and after all the research I did for Chopped I fell in love with concept menus even more. But this is out of this world.”
“Did you get a chance to eat at Michelin restaurants during that filming?” I asked, genuinely curious and wanting to have a real conversation.
“No, he didn’t,” Jessica answered, sounding a little sullen. “I tried to get him reservations back then, because I knew he loves this kind of thing, but this is the first time I’ve actually been able to get a table.”
Lee considered that. It was tempting to cast Jessica as the flighty, selfish girlfriend who only wanted Drew for what he could do for her, but at moments like these, when she revealed a caring side, it was harder to dismiss her.
Which made it all the more difficult to know what was growing between him and Drew behind her back.
The meal was great, and the entire evening might have been able to be classified as lovely, but things went pear-shaped as soon as they left the restaurant.
“Oh my gosh, are you Drew Oberlin?” a woman who looked to be part of some sort of hen party approached them on the sidewalk.
“Yes, I am,” Drew responded, turning on his bright smile and people-pleasing ways at once. “Are you getting married?” he asked the woman dressed in white as the entire hen party group came nearer.
“Oh my gosh, Drew Oberlin!” the bride, who was already more than a little drunk, squealed. “I love you so much! I’d leave my fiancé for you in a heartbeat.”
She threw herself at Drew, which was alarming enough, but Jessica wasn’t having any of it.
“Back off!” Jessica shouted, stepping between Drew and the bride.
“Jess, it’s fine, really,” Drew tried to calm her.
“It is not fine,” Jessica insisted. “These people can’t just run up to you like that.”
She was right, but her delivery was a problem.
“Oy! Who do you think you are?” the bride demanded, pointing a finger at Jessica. “His girlfriend?”
“You’re never gonna be his girlfriend, mate,” the woman who had originally approached Drew snorted. “He’s gay, you know? The two of them are together.” She glanced at Lee.
“That just goes to show what you know,” Jessica said, glaring at the woman. Whether she caught her slip or not, she went on with, “I’m his best friend and have been for five years.”
“Jess, leave it alone,” Drew said, trying to pull her away from an impending fight.
“Whatever,” the bride said, making a dismissive noise. “You’re nothing.”
“I am not nothing,” Jessica challenged her. “I’m—”
“Okay, okay! I think that’s enough of that,” Drew laughed, grabbing Jessica around the waist and pulling her back. “Ladies, how about some pictures?”
The hen party loved that, and Lee spent the next ten minutes taking what felt like a million pictures just to calm the ladies down while Jessica sulked off to the side of the building.
Drew did an amazing job of being his brash, attractive self, not only for the ladies of the hen party, but for a few other people who wandered by and recognized him. To all outward appearances, he seemed like he was having a great time, but Lee knew him better by now.
“That was brutal,” Lee whispered to him once they finally broke away from the crowd and started down the street, to where the car Jessica had called to get them would pick them up.
“It’s not how I wanted things to go tonight,” Drew mumbled to him. As soon as they reached Jessica on the corner, he said, “We need to talk.” The seriousness of his tone and expression left Lee in no doubt that the big break-up was about to happen.
“I didn’t like the way they were with you,” Jessica said, standing straighter. Maybe she sensed it, too.
“They were just fans, and yes, fans can be over the top,” Drew said, rubbing his tired eyes. He dropped his arms, sighed, and said, “You don’t own me.”
“Maybe not, but I’m your—” She snapped her mouth shut and looked around.
“We need to talk about that. I think it’s time we admit that things haven’t been great between us for—”
“The car’s here,” Jessica cut him off. “Come on. Let’s go.” She turned away from him and started to the curb, where the usual black car that drove Drew around had just arrived.
“You go back to the apartment,” Drew called after her, staying right where he was. “I think we need some time apart.”
“What?” Jessica demanded once she reached the car, where the driver had gotten out to hold the door for her.
“Go home,” Drew told her, sounding so beyond stressed that Lee reached over to rest a hand on his back before thinking about it. Drew turned slightly toward him at the touch, then said, “I’m going to hang out with Lee for a while longer. We haven’t really spent any time together in days.”
“Fine,” Jessica sighed. “You two have fun.” She sank to sit in the car with a frustrated huff.
“Is that how you want to end things?” Lee asked, pressing his hand harder into Drew’s back.
Drew turned to look at him. “For now? Yes,” he said. He then twisted so he could grasp Drew’s hand and asked, “Where’s the nearest Tube station? We can get to your house that way, right?”
“We can,” Lee confirmed, insides buzzing. Drew was in a mood, but he couldn’t figure out what kind. All he knew was that if he didn’t help the man to calm down quickly, he might explode.