by Emma Vikes
“What time is it?” I asked in surprise as I glanced at my watch and saw that it was already noon. “Holy shit.”
Audrey chuckled and made her way to the kitchen as I stood up, leaving Theo on the couch who was now on his phone. “Seems like roaming around Disney really wore you out.”
I sat on the counter stool as Audrey moved around and took a neatly packed lunch meal from a brown paper bag. “And here I thought you would actually cook me something.”
She smiled thinly and shrugged. “Postmates had always been a lifesaver for me.”
I didn’t open the lunch meal that she had slid in front of me but I kept staring at her. When she looked up, our eyes met and she quickly turned her head to the side so she couldn’t look at me. “Audrey…about last night…”
“You kissed me,” there was no hint of accusation in her voice when she said that but she sounded like she acknowledged it as something that really happened. This time she wasn’t pretending that it didn’t happen the same way she pretended when our lips brushed the first time.
“You were probably a little tipsy on the wine and tired and a little upset because of José so you didn’t really know what you were doing,” Audrey stated and shrugged casually, “in the same way that you hugged me right here.”
The thing was though, I was a little bothered by how nonchalant Audrey was about the whole thing. Had she been a fangirl that I kissed, she would’ve gone crazy and reported it on every social media she had just to scream to the world that Julian Hudson kissed her.
“For someone who responded to the kiss just as eagerly as I ignited it,” I drawled, cocking my head to the side as I looked at Audrey, my eyes dancing with amusement, “you sound so nonchalant.”
Her right eyebrow rose and there it was, the Audrey that I’d always been familiar with. The kind of person that responded to my comments with snarky replies and didn’t want to back down so she could win the banter. “How do you want me to react then? Should I throw a party because the Julian Hudson kissed me?”
She said my name as if it disgusted her and I could feel my own annoyance growing. It wasn’t that I was being cocky- okay, maybe a little- but the way she was so dismissive about the matter annoyed me. I get it if she wanted to act like it didn’t happen but for her to make it sound like I was just another guy…
Jesus, I had a reputation with the ladies and she treated me as if she could just throw me to the side. And that didn’t really sit well with me.
“You wanted to kiss me,” I said breezily, waving a hand in the air as I shrugged and took a bite of the brunch that she had given me earlier when we were still civil with each other, “yet you’re acting as if it wasn’t such a big deal.”
“Huh,” Audrey muttered, shaking her head, “I think you have it wrong, Julian. You were the one who kissed me so technically you wanted to kiss me. Look, if I’m stepping on your ego then that’s not my issue to handle, that’s yours. All I’m saying is, I’ve had better.”
I gripped the cutlery I was holding so tight that I almost broke it in half. Just then Theo came in looking all anxious. “Umm, Audrey, I think you should…”
The ring of the doorbell echoed throughout Audrey’s house and she looked at Theo with confusion clear in her brown eyes. Just as she was about to move to head to the front door, Violet came yelling from upstairs. “I’ll get it!”
Audrey was quick to respond to my niece and as she rushed to the door, and called out, “It’s okay, Vi! Stay upstairs for a moment!”
There was a moment of silence as we listened in on the response but there didn’t seem to be any greeting from the unexpected guest. “Why are you here?”
Theo was biting his lower lip anxiously and looked like he was extremely worried about something, his eyes darting around the room and while he paced around. I slid out of the stool I was on and was ready to see what the commotion was about when Theo grabbed my hand and said, “I think it’s best if you stay here, Julian.”
That made me even more curious and I pushed past Theo despite his protest and attempt to stop me in the kitchen. Violet- as per Audrey’s command- was still in Audrey’s room and it made me wonder why she asked my niece to stay there for a little while. When I arrived in the living room, I noticed Audrey staring at a tall and lean man that was probably in his late 30’s. His black hair was neatly combed and looked absolutely greasy with the products he had put and shaving didn’t seem to be a part of his morning routine.
I hadn’t made myself visible yet as I tried to listen in on their conversation. “I’m only here to check on you, Audrey. We haven’t heard a word on your progress with Born from Ashes since last week.”
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Two weeks ago, when Audrey had grazed our house with a proposal to sign our band with their company, I hadn’t figured out her intentions. She was so desperate to have us sign with her, to an extent that she was even willing to become my assistant despite how much she claimed to hate me.
I watched as Audrey crossed her arms and lifted her chin up haughtily, “I’m still working on it. You gave me a month to do it, didn’t you?”
“Well, of course. It’s only been two weeks but we all thought that you wouldn’t want to use the month we gave you and have them signed as soon as possible,” the man said. “I mean, when you agreed to my father’s terms, you were a little confident so we thought it wouldn’t take you an entire month.”
My eyebrows rose in surprise. What did he mean by that? “I thought I’d do you a favour and give you a month to savour the seat that’s meant to be mine. Think of it as my early or late Christmas present to you, Anthony.”
Anthony let out a short laugh. “To be honest, I’m actually enjoying the part. I think I was always meant to be the CEO of Finch Records, don’t you think so? I mean, I cleaned up your father’s mess after he rejected Born from Ashes originally and since you’re still incapable of filling your father’s shoes, I keep thinking if you ever will be. You haven’t even made any progress with the band.”
“What makes you think that she hasn’t?” I asked, stepping forward so he could see me. He recognized me in an instant and smirked.
He clapped his hand slowly as he looked at Audrey with a glint in his eyes. “I’d assumed you simply tried to convince them to sign with us. I never thought that you would take such drastic measures as to sleep with our client.”
He was staring at Audrey with a look filled with amusement and the slightest hint of disgust and Audrey was clenching her fist and she was about to defend herself when Anthony held up a hand. “Well, now that I’ve seen you actually make ‘progress’, I’ll look forward to you presenting the signed contract to me. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Hudson, although I thought we would meet in better circumstances.”
He left without even a goodbye and I could feel Audrey’s glare fixated on me. “You could’ve stayed in the kitchen!”
I rolled my eyes. “Sue me for being curious but who the hell was that guy? Was he the acting CEO of your company? Is that why you were so desperate to have us sign with you?”
I wasn’t sure if I was meant to be angry at Audrey for leaving that part out when she came to us with her offer, but it seemed like it was the other way around. “Why did you have to butt in on the conversation?”
Scoffing, I stared at her in disbelief. “The conversation happened to talk about me and my band. Did you honestly expect me to just stay in one corner?”
Audrey gritted her teeth in annoyance. “Well, I hope you’re happy because you literally made the whole thing worse for me. Now everyone’s going to think that I’ve been sleeping with you just to get you sign that damn contract when in truth, I didn’t even want to do this if only I had another choice!”
My eyebrows shot up in shock. “So, are you telling me that this is all fake? You being nice and offering me and Vi a place to sleep in.”
Her eyes narrowed as she let out a short laugh. “I was never fake to you, Julian. I’ve always made it clear
to you that I hate you and that I just needed you to sign that damn contract with our company because I needed it to get my company back from those assholes.”
I clenched my fist. “Well, aren’t you just selfish.”
“Don’t you bring that word up to me because you’re basically the same.”
I scoffed. “Don’t turn the table around and put this on me, Audrey. You only came to me because you had no other choice, not because you were concerned about the band having no label to sign with. I always knew there was something about that desperation of yours that screamed you had a different agenda."
But Audrey wasn’t even apologetic as she stared at me with her fiery brown eyes. “Do you want me to apologize for only making sure that the company stays within my family? You should be thankful, really. I did you a favour.”
Shaking my head, I took a step back at Audrey and stared at her. Whatever kindness I saw in her yesterday, whatever different light she had walked in since our last argument, it was all a façade. She just needed us to sign with her. She was desperate to keep her company and she was willing to do anything for it, even if it meant to fake some kindness and sympathy.
“Actually, we’re the ones doing you a favour but the thing is, I don’t think we could do it any longer.”
Audrey’s jaw twitched. “You signed that contract, Julian. As long as I’m your assistant…”
“Well, you should’ve presented the facts better, Audrey. If we’d known why you needed us so desperately, maybe I wouldn’t have reconsidered.”
“Why does it even matter?” Audrey asked, the exasperation evident in her voice. “So, I was selfish but we’re a little selfish, aren’t we?”
I remembered how she was tearful when she walked out on me that time we argued in public and how I felt so guilty for what I said. “When you walked out on me after what I said that day, I was wrecked with guilt that was why I came here to apologize in the way I knew how. You made me feel guilty for being selfish, for calling the shots with my band without them knowing and yet you’ve been the selfish one here.”
“Maybe we’re all a little selfish, Audrey,” I said quietly, staring deep into her brown eyes, “but at least not everyone is as manipulative as you.”
14
Audrey
Julian couldn’t leave no matter how much he wanted to.
He was visibly pissed after finding out why I had made the offer to the band, and he wanted to leave and probably never speak to me ever again. But Violet held him back. She wanted to stay in my house and enjoy my pool and then go to Santa Monica pier in the afternoon. Julian told her that they could go there whenever as long as they left from my house but then again, they didn’t have a car and had to catch an Uber to leave.
That, and Violet wanted me to come.
“Aren’t you going to apologize to him?” Theo asked me. We were both in the kitchen, preparing snacks for Violet who seemed to be having fun swimming in the pool. Julian was there with her too, to make sure she doesn’t drown but also to avoid me as much as he could.
I made a face as I cut the crusts off the sandwich I was making. “I don’t think there’s anything I’m meant to apologize for, T. He’s making a big deal out of nothing. The nerve of him to say I’m manipulative…”
“You were desperate, weren’t you?” Theo said quietly, setting aside the bowl filled with chips and lacing his hands together as he regarded me carefully. I knew the look on Theo’s face well. This was the look he had on his face when he was trying to be cautious and tip-toeing around me as if I was a ticking time-bomb. “You wanted to keep your position so even if you hated Julian, you convinced him to agree with your offer.”
“It was a compromise!” I argued, pushing the cutting board away from me and glaring at my friend in annoyance. “The band will sign with us as long as I become his assistant for a month. That was the agreement. It was a compromise. I didn’t manipulate him to say yes to me because I was desperate to keep the company within my family.”
Theo still gave me the same look. “And what about what Julian mentioned? About him coming here to apologize after what he said to you that one time?”
I recounted the story to Theo when he had called. Theo didn’t really have much comment on what happened at that time but regarded how Julian was able to own up to his mistake. “What do you want me to do?”
“Apologize to him the same way he apologized to you.”
“Make him cookies?”
Theo gave me a pointed look and I shrugged my shoulders, trying to act slightly innocent. “Don’t be dumb, Audrey. You can’t cook or bake even if your life depended on it and you know what I mean. The guy felt bad for calling you out on what you did even if it was true and you’re upset because you got called out again on your bullshit yet you’re still letting your pride get in the way when you’re the one at fault.”
“How is it that I’m the one at fault?”
“Do we always need to be at fault to know that we did something wrong?”
“How was it wrong that I kept the real reason to myself and not tell him? Why did he even need to know?”
“That’s not the point, Audrey. The point is that you made him feel bad enough that one time so he felt the need to apologize to you. The guy thinks you manipulated him into apologizing to you for speaking out the truth because you didn’t like it and it hurt you. And now he’s upset because technically, you’re using their band to get to your position. If you were in his position, won’t you feel like you’re being used?”
I clenched my hands into tight fists. I was annoyed at Theo for taking Julian’s side because if I was being real here, I didn’t even understand why Julian was so upset at me after he found out. We all had our reasons and maybe the reason why I wanted to recruit their band was to plant my ass on the CEO chair, but so what?
Why did he have to be such a bitch about it?
The sliding door that connected the kitchen to the backyard opened, and Julian walked in, his jaw clenched tight. “I’ll grab Vi’s towel and have her change and then we will head to the pier.”
He sounded so unlike himself, so formal. There wasn’t an ounce of cockiness or confidence in his tone. It made me do a double-take because I wasn’t used to this kind of Julian. He looked…tired. “I can drive you both home after we finish up at the pier.”
It was a kind offer and that was all I could really do because the two words Theo wanted me to say wouldn’t really come out of my mouth even if I wanted it to. Julian looked at me for a brief moment and then shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ll call Carlos to pick us up or book an Uber.”
“You’re a famous person, do you honestly think it’s that easy to book an Uber without being bombarded, Julian?” I asked dryly.
He smirked- and admittedly, I was relieved to see that familiar smirk- and let out a dry chuckle. “In case you forgot, we live in LA. A bunch of famous people live here too. People seeing celebrities is just ordinary.”
Julian turned his back on me and was ready to look for a clean towel for Violet to use. He didn’t even know where it was but he seemed keen on finding it on his own. “I was being nice with the offer to drive you home. Why can’t you just accept it?”
He stopped and stood still for a moment and then slowly turned around to face me. “Oh, and another thing Audrey, our agreement ends here. There had been other companies lining up to get us to sign with them. I’d rather choose from that pool.”
I stood there, rooted in my spot as I stared at him in disbelief. I felt Theo put a hand on my shoulder, fully aware of how I was going to take Julian’s statement but I shrugged his hand off of me as my legs moved forward and my mouth cried out, “Why are you being such a dick?”
Maybe those words shouldn’t have left my mouth, especially the last one considering that Julian was already pissed at me. His eyes darkened and I watched as he took a deep breath, as if he was trying to calm himself. “Did you even want to sign our band because you think that we’re a
ctually good? That you actually- truly- want us to be with your company? And not just because we’ve made a name for ourselves already or because we’re in need of a label to sign us with.”
Their band was good. Granted, Julian was charming and insanely attractive and the others had their fair share of good looks too but appearance aside, their music was good. I just didn’t have it in me to admit it. Before I could say anything, the sliding door opened again and a dripping Violet stood outside and looked at us with her big blue eyes.
“Uncle Jules,” her voice sounded so quiet as if she was regarding the argument and tension that surrounded us, “where’s my towel?”
Theo was the one who moved, and signaled Vi to give him a moment as he hurriedly made his way to the bathroom in the ground level and grabbed the extra towels I had stashed there. He gave those to Violet, and ushered Violet upstairs when she wasn’t dripping anymore so she could change and Violet didn’t complain.
“Are you really not gonna answer me?” Julian asked, snapping my attention back to him. The blue in his eyes looked intense and the gray one looked so pale that it almost looked white in the bright daylight.
It was then that it occurred to me the reason he may be upset. Surely nothing would be more upsetting for an artist to find out that the only reason they were being signed by a label was for a personal gain and not the seriousness of their music. For them, their music and songs were everything and if there was another reason why they were being signed, it was unacceptable.
And Julian was an artist, true and through.
“You guys already got through the industry because of your music…”
“That’s not the answer I’m looking for, Audrey.”
I looked at him with exasperation but before I could argue or even say another word, my phone rang and it echoed throughout the house. I took my phone from the charging dock I had placed it on, leaving Julian behind in the kitchen. It was a call from my Mom, so I quickly answered as I watched Julian head upstairs to check on Violet.