11. Vincent #2
“How did you guys meet, anyway?” I ask, hoping that it’s not too invasive a question.
“Funny story,” Tom says. “We were on tour. And we were in Vegas for my twenty first birthday. And Julian here bought a VIP ticket for our meet and greet.”
“I've been the biggest fan for so long,” Jules says, cutting in. “I couldn't not go and meet the band when they were in my hometown, like they were around the corner from where I lived. I couldn't just not go, you know?” he says, talking fast over his husband.
“I totally get that,” I say, agreeing with him. Knowing that I went to their convert when they were in Brisbane, because again, they were nice and close, and I couldn't just not go.
“So after the meet and greet finished, I hid,” Jules says.
“You hid?” Tate asks.
“Yeah, this is the, this is the non-public version of the story, but I feel like you guys are on the level,” Jules says on a laugh.
“Anyway, I hid so that I could try and get into Tom's dressing room. To have a private moment with him. But conveniently, he stayed behind in the meet and greet room himself.”
“I needed some space, like it was a big day and my brain was all over the place with everything going on with my brothers and their new relationships, and I just wanted a moment to myself before the concert.”
“And that's when I popped back out,” Jules says, cutting in again. I love how they finish each other’s sentences. “I introduced myself and invited him out for a night on the town.”
“Really?” Tate says. “That's so sweet. So, you went out on a first date together for your birthday?”
“Yep. And we went drinking, we went dancing and um, we woke up married,” Jules says.
“Holy shit,” I say, with a nervous chuckle. “No, that's not what the media said.”
“No, of course not,” he replies waving a hand. “The media thinks we were together for months and months. But no, we only just met the day before.”
“Holy shit,” I say. “How did you guys cope with that?”
“Like, what did you do?” Tate adds in.
“Well,” Tom says, “I didn't actually know that I was bi when I met Jules. I discovered that by being with him.”
“Really?” Tate asks, his eyes firmly focussing in on Tom.
“Yeah, and there's a lot about that story that's a bit more involved, but because the whole world knew that we were married before we knew ourselves that we were married.
There wasn't really much we could do other than, I suppose, manage the reaction.
We couldn't get an annulment without it looking really bad on my reputation, saying that, you know, I am frivolous and just go and marry someone I've just met.
We couldn't come out with everyone and just say, ‘oh yeah, we just met, and we got married, so we're going to stay together’. It was a very big publicity nightmare.”
“Mitch hated us for a hot minute,” Jules says with a smirk. “Again, this is on the down low, so please don't say anything, and I think we can trust you guys because you're also in the media and you know how it can be.”
“We totally get it,” Tate and I say at the same time.
“But we had a meeting with our manager, Mitch,” Tom continues, “who basically said that we’d need to be together for a few months, then could make a statement about how it wasn’t working out, or something off hand like that.”
Tate stiffens and looks, makes eye contact with me, before continuing.
“And what happened then? Because you're still together, right?” Tate asks.
“Well,” Jules says, “I used my powers of seduction, and made Tom see the beauty that was me. And opened his eyes to a lot of possibilities,” Jules says coyly.
Their story is so similar, yet so different from ours. That it gives me a kernel of hope. That maybe this is possible for me too. That maybe I'm the Jules and Tate's the Tom. And somehow, some way. We can end up together in the end.
But I won't know until we try, I won't know until we get there.
The conversation shifts as we eat dinner. Talking a bit about the other members of the band, about AFL, and about things to do in Orlo, as Tate and I are both only recent additions to the town and don’t know all the local best kept secrets yet.
While I love that I got to meet Tom and Jules and have this moment with them, I'm kind of sad that my time alone with Tate got cut short.
I glance at the man beside me, always awestruck and yet never surprised about who he is.
I love that he had the power and the courage to go over there and talk to them.
To do this for me. Because I think I needed this conversation.
I think I needed this insight. To know what other outcomes are out there, and what other people go through is still a possibility for me.
I’ve been so stuck inside my head, sure that this situation is bound to explode and leave me tattered and in pieces. Yet, maybe there is light at the end of this tunnel after all.
We take a few photos together, and Tate blushes when Tom fawns over him a bit because he follows the game, asking him about how he felt being rookie of the season and winning a premiership so young.
As we get into the car, with an invitation to go to a family barbeque with them next month, a new emotion wells inside of me.
A mixture of hope, of longing, and belief that maybe—just maybe—my life can have a happily ever after, after all.