Chapter 7 #4
Still not understanding what she was getting at, Darcy sighed but also stood from the table. This was her, putting in an effort. Eliana better be damn proud of her after today.
Without a warning, Juliet stepped in close to her. Like, really close. Close enough that Darcy could see the golden flecks surrounding her pupils, before Juliet’s face broke out into a wider smile, and she pulled Darcy in for a hug.
A real hug. Like, their entire bodies from hip-to-shoulder against one another.
Darcy had maybe thought she’d be getting those superfluous air kisses she’d become accustomed to in the last year at some point from Juliet after lunch today. Something that, by design, should seem legitimate and warm, but felt so fake.
This felt like the opposite of an air kiss. The opposite of feeling fake.
She felt the soft material of Juliet’s shirt press against the bare skin of her stomach revealed by her cropped shirt, and Juliet’s hair brushed against her nose, smelling irritatingly perfect. Juliet smoothed her hand over Darcy’s back, and she felt frozen by it all. Utterly frozen.
“Hug me back,” Juliet whispered in a demand, her hot breath fanning against Darcy’s ear.
The order hit at just the right part of Darcy’s brain, and she automatically did as she was told. She wrapped her arms around Juliet’s waist, holding her close. Holding her in an embrace like they hadn’t just been arguing a minute ago.
“You better be smiling,” Juliet muttered against her ear again.
Smiling? Darcy shivered from the feeling of Juliet’s lips against the shell of her ear, which was frustrating enough, and Juliet was telling her to smile?!
Darcy did her best to tick her lips up into a grin. Hopefully the paparazzi would get a picture of Juliet’s face, given that she was clearly better at masking her feelings than Darcy was.
Finally, Juliet gave her a squeeze, before drawing back. As she did, she gazed up at Darcy with a warm smile – damn, she was good at this when the pressure was on.
Darcy’s eyebrows were furrowed, not returning Juliet’s light expression.
“Okay, let’s get to it, then. What are you going to have?” Juliet asked, her smile plastered in place as she returned to her seat.
Darcy plopped back down in her own seat. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What do you mean?” Juliet asked, grabbing her own menu and scanning her eyes over it.
“Asking me what I’m going to have for lunch? After the way today began? The way you were just talking to me?”
Juliet glanced back up at her, her expression frustratingly unreadable. “Are you serious right now?”
Darcy had been in many situations over the years that made her want to tear her hair out. Staring at Juliet across the table might have been the worst one. “Are you?”
Juliet’s eyes closed as she shook her head, her grievance clear even though it made no damn sense.
“You know why I’m so frustrated with you right now, Darcy?” She asked, her eyes blinking open again, intense and direct across the table. “Because you don’t even understand what we’re doing here.”
“Yes, I’m such a moron. I couldn’t possibly understand the concept of you and I getting lunch together to bury the hatchet before we work together. It’s such a mystery.”
“Exactly.” Juliet somehow maintained a light, somewhat pleasant expression, even as Darcy could hear the aforementioned frustration dripping from her words.
“This isn’t about us making peace; this is about the image of us making peace.
We’re here to be seen being friendly to one another by those strategically planned paparazzi, to drum up interest in what we’re doing.
This isn’t actually about us putting any issues to rest; this is about making people think we have.
Because that’s the only thing that matters to the label.
And the fact that you would come here today with the naiveté to believe anything else is what drives me crazy about you.
I guess you can thank me for being the one to give you this lesson to take into the future. ”
“I don’t think I’m going to need to have publicity lunches like this in the future,” she immediately challenged.
Darcy wasn’t going to say it again, because she didn’t want to devolve into a no-you-started-it argument once more.
But it was true. Even if there were some other people she’d met in the industry who were shitty in the last eight months, she’d never made a big deal about it. This was solely about Juliet.
“And some of us,” Juliet punctuated right back, “Aren’t foolish enough to believe you are entirely in control of that, anymore. Give the aw shucks, I’m just a small-town girl of it all a rest.”
“Really rich, coming from you, little Miss Sweetheart. I get the feeling that I should have eyes in the back of my head when we’re recording together, because you’ll stab me in the back if it means getting an inch farther ahead.”
Again: a Juliet specific problem.
“That’s right, Darcy.” Juliet’s tone was matter-of-fact.
“But it’s not only me you need to keep your eye on.
Here’s the best, most honest tip I can give you: take a hard look at anyone who tries to get close to you, because almost anyone else in this industry will stab you in the back for the mere chance at obtaining what you have right now.
” She quirked one of her perfectly arched brows up.
“If you think otherwise, you’re only proving my point about how na?ve you are. Or, that you’re acting like you are.”
Ugh. The agitation pounded through her, making her grind her teeth. But Juliet was smart, wasn’t she? Because if she argued back, she would be proving her point.
And, more than that, Darcy couldn’t argue with it.
Wasn’t that the whole reason she hadn’t slept with someone in almost a year? Because she couldn’t actually know who she could trust in this new world order? Thankfully she had Blythe and Emerson in her corner, or she would be completely alone in every way.
Juliet leaned back in her chair, looking entirely too satisfied.
Like she knew very well how she’d made her point.
She took a sip from the glass of wine she had on the table, affixing a smile back onto her face.
“Now, you better prove that you can put on a show. Because the paparazzi are watching, and our waiter is approaching.”
Darcy did her damndest to mirror Juliet’s expression, even if only to prove to Juliet that she could. With that challenging, demanding tone in her voice, Darcy felt herself needing to rise to the occasion and match Juliet bit for bit.
Once they’d given the waiter their orders, Darcy turned back to Juliet. “Okay, let’s steer away from anything personal. Why don’t we discuss the plan for tomorrow?”
“The plan is that we’re singing ‘Porchlight,’” Juliet returned, leaning back in her chair. Her posture seemed relaxed, but there was absolutely nothing about Juliet that ever came across as actually relaxed.
A dry laugh broke from her lips. “Uh, yeah, obviously. But we can at least talk about our approach.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll show you how it’s done when we’re in the studio.”
Darcy found it incredibly difficult to maintain the grin she’d forced into place, speaking through gritted teeth, “I don’t need you to show me how it’s done. Thanks for the offer, though.”
If nothing else, there wouldn’t be any paparazzi watching them in the studio tomorrow, Darcy mused.
Thankfully.
Because if this was how lunch was going, she could only imagine what awaited them when they tried to work together.