Be My Companion

Julian

I took my time washing my hands in the bathroom, knowing that whatever Vanessa wanted to corner Alexis about was a serious matter. My publicist was never subtle when she wanted to approach someone about something, and I knew whatever they were talking about was a big deal.

After checking my reflection in the mirror for an unnecessarily long time, I slowly made my way to the bathroom door and pushed it open. I rounded the corner and caught Alexis and Vanessa still in a hushed conversation. Vanessa had her back to me, but I could see Alexis's expression over her shoulder. He looked worried, or concerned. His brow fell down in a soft sadness, but he nodded his head in agreement to whatever my publicist was saying.

I slowly approached them, wanting to give them the privacy they wanted, but also with a curiosity as to what they were talking about.

"Julian." I turned and saw Sabrina approaching me. "I have to say, that is not the way I expected this interview to go."

Being so interested in whatever Alexis and Vanessa were talking about, I had completely forgotten about Sabrina and the rest of her soul-sucking crew.

"There shouldn't have been an interview in the first place," I said, reiterating the point I had made earlier. "He is not a person of interest."

Sabrina nodded her head. "So you don't mind working with someone who has -"

"Sabrina. The interview is over. If you want to schedule something, you can talk to my publicist right there. But for now, you can back the fuck up."

Making sure I was always an arm’s length away from her - because I knew of the lies that the media could spin if they saw me engage in a contentious conversation with a woman - I stepped around her and approached Alexis and Vanessa, who seemed to have wrapped up their little chat.

"Is everything alright?" Even though I was asking both of them, my eyes were solely on Alexis's beautiful face.

Alexis looked at me and nodded, planting a perfect smile on his face. Except I knew him well enough to recognise that he was faking it.

"We're fine, Jules. I just wanted to follow up with him privately about the interview and what could possibly happen moving forward," Vanessa spoke with a certain sternness that only she could master.

"And what do you think will happen moving forward?" I asked her.

"Nothing that I can't control." Vanessa smiled knowingly at me, and I knew she wasn't giving me the complete truth. "I'm heading back to the office now. You two, stay out of trouble."

Vanessa kissed both of us on the cheek and walked off on her six-inch stilettos. I turned to Alexis and stared at him with a raised eyebrow, silently asking him what his private conversation was about.

Alexis sighed. "It's nothing, Julian."

"I know you're lying to me, Lex," I said.

Alexis didn't respond.

Without a word, I held my arm out for Alexis and followed him out of the hotel and back into the parking lot.

Alexis remained silent in the car ride home, and as soon as we entered the apartment, he went into his bedroom and closed the door behind him.

---

Alexis

I found it hard to lie to people in general, but to knowingly withhold the truth from Julian might almost kill me.

In the safety of my bedroom, I fell back onto my bed and closed my eyes to stop any emotions from pouring out. The conversation I had with Vanessa kept replaying through my mind, like a haunting memory that wouldn't fade away.

"I don't have feelings for him," I had said very unconvincingly.

Vanessa raised her eyebrows at me and almost laughed at me. "Alexis, I'm going to give it to you straight. I'm phenomenal at my job because I know how to read people and my bullshit detector is unmatched, and I know right now that you are lying. So I'm going to ask you one more time: when did you first realise you had feelings for Julian?"

"I'm not sure exactly when," I confessed. "But you're right."

Vanessa nodded her head, as if I had just told her that the sky was blue.

"What gave it away to you?" I asked.

Vanessa pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Just in the way you look at him. The way you stared at him while he jumped to your defence was... it was the way a person looks at someone they love."

Shit. If Vanessa could pick up on my feelings with just a look, I wonder if anyone else had caught onto it. I wonder if Julian knew I... had strong feelings for him.

Vanessa cleared her throat. "Do you think this will jeopardise your position as his sober companion?"

I shook my head, trying to convince myself that I was telling the truth. I don't know if Vanessa believed me, but she didn't say anything to the contrary.

"You have to understand that my best interests are always with my client," she said. "While I don't necessarily think you having an unrequited crush on Jules right now is a risk to his growth and his public image, if I do find that there is a conflict of interest in your position as his sober companion, then I will have no choice but to find a replacement."

It was almost funny to hear her talk about my 'unrequited crush' on Julian, as if her client hadn't been balls deep in me several times already.

"I do like you as a person, Alexis, and I think you are doing a great job as his sober companion, even if you've given me some extra grief with all of this public attention," Vanessa had concluded. "But I cannot afford to have any more hurdles appear in Julian's career. He's already faced enough contention in his career, and if any more damage were to be done, I don't know if I could save him. We have both worked so hard to get him to the point he is at today. We cannot afford any more distractions."

A wave of guilt washed over me when Vanessa had said that, and now, laying in bed with my eyes closed, I was still riding that wave.

I would never forgive myself if I had derailed Julian's career, or his life in general, all because I was infatuated with him. If I needed any more motivation to keep my relationship with Julian strictly professional, then it was the kick up the pants that Vanessa had provided me.

I could tell that Julian was dying to know what we had spoken about, and even more so, he was dying to protect me and hold me in his arms, like he did that glorious morning we spent together in his bed.

It was already hard trying to keep this from Julian, but to also keep my distance from him in order to save his career would probably be the most difficult thing I had ever done in my own career.

How was I meant to stay away from someone who called out to me like my personal magnetic attraction? How could I possibly keep a safe distance from my client that I lived with? How could I keep our relationship strictly professional when I was...

Oh god. There was no use trying to deny it any longer.

I was in love with Julian Ambrose.

---

Julian

The way Alexis seemed to avoid me as much as possible for the rest of the night convinced me that I smelled bad, or I had some sort of contagious disease that he didn't want to catch. Every time I spoke to him, he kept a wall up and answered with yes, no, or okay; and every time I tried to approach him, he would subtly turn and retreat with a poorly made up excuse.

I felt like my skin was crawling by the time I got into my bed. I was too agitated to try and sleep.

What the fuck happened?

I decided to call the one person who could answer this for me.

"Ness," I greeted her bluntly. "What the fuck did you say to Lex?"

"Jules, you know I love you, but it's almost midnight. Even publicists need a little time to themselves."

"I'll leave you alone as soon as you tell me why Alexis seems to be avoiding me like the plague ever since you spoke to him."

Vanessa sighed. "I had to clear some things up with him after the interview so we could get on the same page."

She had really mastered the art of saying a lot without saying anything.

"Okay, so what did you tell him?"

"I just told him that we have worked hard to get where we are and that we can't afford any distractions potentially ruining that for us."

"What exactly did you tell him, Ness?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end, and I had to check the screen on my phone to ensure she hadn't hung up on me.

"I wanted to check that his interests aligned with ours. For any other specifics in this conversation, out of respect for him, you have to ask Alexis." Vanessa paused. "I wish I could give you more information, Jules, but it's best that it comes from him."

Her tone suggested that there was a lot more she wanted to say, but felt she didn't have the right to say.

Finally, deciding to accept her mysterious response, I hung up the phone and tossed it onto my bedside table. 

 

Frank noticed that Alexis emerged from his own bedroom after witnessing me come from mine, and his usual cheery demeanour quickly changed. I wish I could explain to him why there was trouble in paradise, except I didn't even know what was going on.

"Breakfast will be up soon," Frank said sternly, looking in Alexis's direction.

Alexis mumbled his gratitude and sat on the lounge furthest from me.

"Good morning, Lex."

"Morning."

The awkward tension between us was so obvious that it might as well have been a fourth person in the apartment with us. I watched Alexis to see if his face or his body language would give him away. He was glancing down at his phone in his hands, but his eyes seemed so trained on his device that it was apparent to me that he was doing everything within his power to avoid my gaze.

"Breakfast is ready."

I moved over to the dining table and Alexis soon joined me, at the seat furthest away. Frank quickly dished out the food for us, his eyes darting between both Alexis and me.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Frank asked. I knew he wasn't talking about food either.

I shook my head and Alexis mirrored my gesture. Looking defeated, Frank retreated to the kitchen to clean up.

Vanessa's words from our quick conversation last night rang through my head.

It's best that it comes from him.

What did that even mean? Why couldn't Vanessa just tell me what the hell happened?

"Could you pass me the salt, Lex?" I asked.

Alexis looked up at me and, with a weak attempt at a smile, politely passed the saltshaker to me. I poured some salt on my poached eggs and bacon and began slicing at the meat.

"Are you going to tell me what you and Vanessa really spoke about Lex, or are you going to keep lying to me?" I asked casually.

Alexis froze mid chew and slowly looked up at me. Again, his expression offered me nothing, and I was still unable to read him despite being one of the best defensive ends in the league where my job was to read people.

"I spoke with Vanessa last night, and she specifically said that it's best that it comes from you." Alexis swallowed his food to clear his mouth. "If you don't owe it to me as your friend and someone who cares about you a lot more than you know, then you owe it to me as your client. What did you and Vanessa speak about?" I tried to keep my tone cool, calm and collected so it didn't look like I was angry with him.

Alexis took a sip of his orange juice and placed his glass down on the table. "It's complicated, Julian."

"The truth isn't complicated, Lex," I said. "Either you want to tell me the truth, or you don't."

Alexis didn't budge. He returned his attention to his breakfast, pushing his food around his plate as if I hadn’t just confronted him.

“If you won’t tell me, then answer this,” I said casually. “What are you up to this weekend?”

Alexis raised his eyebrows at me. “Nothing. Do you have an event coming up I need to attend?”

I shook my head. “No, not an event. I’m taking you on a trip to New York.”