Chapter 57
Emma left after exchanging contact information with Julian.
Julian had already agreed to dinner with the Verve team, so backing out immediately would be awkward. He could always leave early.
As soon as Emma was gone, Chloe said casually, "Emma seemed pretty eager to leave."
Tessa was known in the beauty space for saying exactly what she thought.
"Yeah. Kind of rude, honestly."
The Verve executive was inviting them to dinner. Julian Sterling was going too. Yet Emma would rather leave to eat with some friend?
Tessa didn't get it.
Julian barely heard them.
He was looking at his phone, waiting for Emma's text to come through. When it finally did and her contact appeared on his screen, some of the tension in his shoulders eased.
Then he realized what he'd just done.
Had he actually been worried she wouldn't text him?
Ridiculous.
Emma had supported him for three years. She'd been one of his earliest and most loyal fans.
He hadn't done anything that should make her stop supporting him. Whatever was going on today, there had to be an explanation.
Only then did Chloe's comment register.
Julian frowned.
"She already had plans. It would've been rude to cancel on her friend."
If anything, that meant Emma kept her word.
Chloe and Tessa exchanged a glance and wisely dropped the subject.
It wasn't exactly strange for Julian to defend one of his longtime fans.
The Verve executive looked at them.
"Come on. I'll send everyone the restaurant."
Emma was unusual, certainly, but the executive wouldn't call her arrogant. If anything, she suspected Emma would be fun to know outside of work.
Everyone had their own transportation.
Julian climbed into the black Mercedes van waiting for him outside. His assistant had been with him all day but had mostly kept quiet during the event.
Once the doors closed, he finally spoke.
"Emma was kind of different today."
Julian leaned back against the seat. Now that they were somewhere private, his disappointment showed more clearly.
"Yeah. A little."
His assistant hesitated.
"You don't think she's... stopped being a fan, do you?"
Julian's stomach dropped.
"Impossible."
The answer came much too quickly.
His assistant decided not to argue and switched to work.
"The stuff from the event is everywhere now."
Julian had never signed with a major entertainment company. After becoming successful, he'd built his own small team and effectively worked for himself.
He didn't seem concerned.
"Leave it alone."
Nothing about the situation was particularly damaging.
His assistant looked back at his phone.
"You're sure? Because people online are already—"
Julian's phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID and sat up slightly.
Then his face lit up.
"Leo?"
He answered.
"You actually called me. What's going on?"
Usually, Julian was the one who reached out first.
Almost no one in the entertainment industry knew the truth.
Julian Sterling and Leo Fontaine were brothers.
They had the same mother but different fathers, and Leo was three years older.
Growing up, Leo had been the impossible standard Julian was constantly measured against. Leo had found success young, and for years their family had treated his achievements as proof of what Julian ought to be capable of too.
Julian had bounced from interest to interest as a teenager, rarely sticking with anything long enough to impress anyone.
So when he finally decided to pursue music seriously, he kept the family connection out of it.
He wanted to find out whether he could succeed without Leo's name opening doors for him.
Leo hadn't expected much. As far as he was concerned, Julian had always been enthusiastic about something for six months and bored with it by the seventh.
Then Julian had actually made it.
Leo's cool voice came through the phone.
"You're all over social media."
Julian blinked.
Leo was calling because he was worried about his career?
"You saw it?"
Julian had wanted to become a singer for years, but Leo had never encouraged the idea. When Julian insisted on entering the industry anyway, Leo had made one thing very clear: he wasn't going to provide introductions, advice, or professional favors.
And in three years, he'd kept that promise.
Until now.
"You're still early in your career," Leo said. "Be careful what you say in public."
The mild reprimand only confused Julian more.
"I thought you said you weren't getting involved in my career."
Leo went quiet.
A few seconds passed.
Then he said flatly, "Because if nobody stops you, you'll probably announce your undying love for someone onstage tomorrow."
Julian ran a hand through his silver hair and laughed.
"So what? If I ever seriously like someone, I'm not going to hide her from the world."
Plenty of successful musicians dated, got married, had families. If people genuinely liked his music, Julian didn't see why having a girlfriend should suddenly change that.
Then, unexpectedly, Emma crossed his mind.
Would Emma stop supporting him if he started dating someone?
Probably.
She'd once had the kind of fan username that basically declared herself his wife.
Leo's voice turned colder.
"And your career?"
"Both matter. My career matters, and so does love. Love is a good thing."
"Naive."
Leo had no interest in debating it.
On set, the director had already walked over to let him know they were ready for the final scene of the day. Seeing Leo on the phone, he waited instead of interrupting.
Leo could be proud and difficult, but he took acting seriously. That discipline was a large part of why he'd lasted as long as he had.
"I have to shoot," Leo said. "We'll talk later."
"Okay."
Julian was about to hang up when Leo spoke again.
"What exactly is going on between you and Emma Carter?"
Julian paused.
Leo was asking about Emma?
Then it clicked.
Of course.
This was the first time Julian had been caught up in this kind of public speculation with a woman. Leo really was checking on him.
Apparently all that talk about staying out of his career hadn't meant much after all.
Julian smiled.
"She's my fan."
Leo said nothing else.
The call ended.
On set, Leo lowered the phone.
His fingers tightened around it.
Emma was Julian's fan?
Of all people, she was a fan of Julian?
The director approached once the call was over. He was an established filmmaker known for large-scale fantasy productions, and Leo had worked with him long enough that they spoke casually between takes.
"Last scene," he said. "Let's get this done and call it a day."
Leo put his phone away.
"Let's go."
"Dinner after?"
"Sure."
Leo rarely turned down an invitation from a director he respected.
Back inside the Mercedes van, Julian held his phone in both hands and checked Emma's contact again.
No new message.
His expression fell slightly.
"What were you saying before?" he asked his assistant, mostly to distract himself.
The assistant had continued watching the online reaction.
"Doesn't matter anymore. One of your big fan accounts already posted that Emma's been a longtime fan of yours. People are spreading that explanation now."
Julian nodded and looked out the window.
The city passed quietly beyond the glass—tree-lined streets, small bridges crossing the river, older buildings mixed among newer ones.
It was a nice place.
No wonder Leo had chosen to live here.
Julian watched the scenery for another moment.
Maybe he should move here too.