Chapter 14 #2
“I know,” Drew said quietly, “but maybe you shouldn’t have.”
Her bottom lip wobbled. “Don’t do this to me, Drew,” she said taking a step back toward him. “I love you. We’ve been together for years. We’re great together. We’re going to be a Hollywood power couple.”
Drew’s eyes went wide. “We can’t be a Hollywood power couple. The world thinks I’m gay. That was partially your idea. And actually—”
“We’ll find a way to change the narrative,” she cut him off. “Like, we’ll say I turned you straight or something.”
Not only was the idea ridiculous, it was insulting.
“Jess,” Drew appealed to her, leaving the kitchen and walking over to her. “You know things haven’t been great between us for a long time now, even before all the craziness of Cooked took off.”
“No.” She shook her head and backed away from him. “This is not how I’m starting my day. We’ve been together for years. We’re a solid couple.”
“We aren’t,” Drew said, so many feelings he’d kept bottled up spilling out all over the place as he faced the truth he’d been avoiding for at least a year now.
“We used to be a solid couple when we were younger and still on the same page. But we started growing apart a while ago. We’ve each become very different people who want different things. ”
“But I want you,” Jessica said, bursting into tears. “You’re amazing and perfect, and everybody loves you.”
Her words hit him all wrong. “I’m just me.” He took a step toward her again and brushed his hands along her arms, stopping short of hugging her. “I…I think maybe you’re in love with the public image that’s been created around me and not me anymore.”
“That’s not true!” She took a step back, jerking away from him. “You’re Drew Oberlin. You’re hot and funny and brash. You embrace life and get what you want from it because you’re kind and modest and talented.”
Everything she said would have sounded great, if it hadn’t been exactly the things he’d discussed with his PR team months ago, when his star started its ridiculous ascent.
“I’m also a person with fears and anxiety,” he said, holding his hands out to his sides.
“I’m trying to figure out who I am now with everyone in the world looking at me and thinking they know me.
I know I’m not who you think I am, because I’m still struggling to figure out who I am. I’m not who I thought I was.”
“What does that even mean?” Jessica huffed, wiping tears away from her cheeks. “You’re Drew Oberlin. You’re my boyfriend.”
“I’m not your boyfriend,” Drew said, frustrated that he was having such a hard time communicating something that seemed so obvious to him.
Then again, Jessica was afraid. She was facing just as much of an unknown as he was.
She was facing herself without him. “I haven’t been a good boyfriend for a while. We should have broken up a year ago.”
“No. I refuse to accept that.” Jessica burst into tears again. “We’ll just forget this whole conversation happened and go back to the way things were.”
“We can’t do that,” Drew said, already exhausted by the conversation.
“My feelings for you have changed. I’m not in love with you anymore.
” It felt harsh to say that, but he knew everything he had to say next was even harsher.
“I spent the night with Lee last night. In his bed. Together.” He didn’t want to spell things out any more than that.
Jessica glared at him. Then she blinked. Then her eyes went wide. “Oh my god. Did you have sex with him?”
“I did,” Drew admitted, every muscle in his body tightening as he braced for impact.
Jessica’s jaw dropped. “But it’s fake. You’re straight. Lee isn’t really your boyfriend.”
“I’m not straight,” Drew said, still uncomfortable with speaking his truth aloud when it was so new and close to the bone.
“I’m coming to grips with being bi. I was with Lee last night and I really enjoyed it.
I enjoy him.” He wanted to say that he was falling for Lee, but his head was still so mixed up and his emotions so raw that he couldn’t honestly say what his feelings were.
“You can’t do this to me!” Jessica shouted, grabbing the first thing that came to hand, one of the pillows from the couch, and throwing it at him. “I made you who you are. The whole gay thing was my idea. You can’t turn on me like this.” She grabbed the TV remote and threw that at him, too.
“Jess, please stop,” Drew said, holding up his hands but keeping his distance. “This isn’t making anything easier.”
His phone started to buzz in his pocket as Jessica raged on with, “You can’t just destroy my life like this!”
It felt like the wrong thing to do, but Drew reached for his phone. With any luck, the call might be exactly what was needed to cut through the intensity of the moment.
Drew nearly sighed in relief as the name of his driver appeared on his screen. “Hey, Ali,” he answered the call.
“Morning, Mr. Oberlin. I’m down here waiting,” Ali told him.
“I’ll be just a second,” Drew said, then ended the call. Jessica was still a mess of tears and anger when he looked at her and said, “I have to go. I can’t be late on set.”
“You would just leave me like this?” Jessica demanded.