Needing to not think about this right now, I open the parcel and roll my eyes when I discover what’s inside.
A fucking compass.
The note with it reads: You know, because sometimes phones die.
I grab my phone and shoot off a text.
Jessica: Smartass.
He texts straight back.
Will: I see you received my gift.
Jessica: I’m guessing this will be worthy of inclusion in the Johnson-Calvary family album of Shit We Never Let You Forget.
Will: Oh, I’ve already documented it. This entry occupies four pages.
Jessica: And you still have a wife?
Will: You know Mira adores me almost as much as she adores you.
Jessica: I need to work on that and make sure you can never reach the same level of adoration.
Will: You do not need to work on that.
Jessica: Oh, I’ve already added the task to my to-do list.
Will: I wouldn’t expect any less from you.
Jessica: I hope this compass cost you a small fortune.
Will: I love you too, cousin.
Jessica: Go away. I have ten years’ worth of work to do today.
Will: I’ll take that as ‘I love you more, Will’.
Jessica: You should not.
Will: You should skip the gym tonight and come over for dinner.
Jessica: What’s Mira cooking?
Will: No idea, but we both know it’ll be worth skipping the gym for.
He’s right, but I’m nothing if not routine oriented. Tuesday nights are reserved for one of my four weekly gym sessions, and I never skip any of them.
Jessica: I’d come over after gym, but you guys will be passed out in bed by then.
Will: We’ll likely be passed out in bed before you even get to the gym. Kids are no fucking joke. Do yourself a favour and never have any.
Jessica: Noted. I just added ‘never have kids’ to my bucket list.
Will: Gotta go. Don’t lose that compass. I’d hate for you and my wife to get lost on one of your hikes when both your phones die again.
Jessica: I don’t love you.
Will: Yeah, you do. Almost as much as I love you.
He’s wrong, but he knows that because he knows me better than I know myself some days.
I love Will just as much as he loves me.
He’s one of the seven people I’d do anything for. Anything being lie, steal, cheat, kill.
“Jessica!” Ashton’s voice booms from his office. “I need you for a minute.”
Hmm, maybe I’ll reconsider that list and the people on it.
Ashton is one of my seven people, but seriously, if he keeps going with his new Testicular Tuesdays, I may shorten my list.
I head into his office, crossing my arms and leading with, “Right, before we go any further, let’s get to the bottom of this mood of yours. Lorelei has informed me there’s a reason, so out with it.”
That slows him down. Causes him to falter momentarily. “I’m not in a mood.”
“Oh, there’s a mood. Trust me on that. And if history is anything to go by, it’s caused by one of three things: your father, your sister, or Jack.” My mouth snaps closed. Shit. How did I miss this? Of course. I stare at him, my heart rate speeding up. “Is he okay? What’s happened?”
Ashton reaches for his tie and roughly loosens it like he’s trying to create space in his lungs for air. “He’s okay. For now.”
“You say that like you expect this won’t last long.”
“Because I don’t expect this to last long.”
“What’s going on?” Jack, Ashton’s best friend, has bipolar disorder and experienced the worst manic episode he’s ever experienced towards the end of last year. It caused him to finally start looking after himself. He quit the drugs and alcohol he’s always refused to give up and became disciplined with taking his medication and having regular therapy. The last I knew, he was doing well, but then again, I’ve buried my head in the sand a little over Jack since this all happened. After all, he is the man who tore my heart to shreds six years ago. I can’t afford to get too invested in him again.
Ashton’s gaze turns pained. He doesn’t like discussing Jack with me because he’s more than aware of how much Jack affects me. Ashton was the one who helped me pick up the pieces when I ended things with Jack. He’s also the one who warned Jack off from trying to get closure with me last year. Not that Ashton told me that, but I know he put himself in the middle of us. He might inflict Asshole Monday on me at times, but Ashton would do many things for me that he would never do for anyone else. “His manager is working him too hard, having him do a round of publicity he’s not ready for yet. And he starts filming his new movie next week.”
The movie his new manager believes will fix his career.
Jack is Hollywood elite. Has been for nine years. However, his addictions and resulting bad behaviour have finally caught up with him, and his career has taken a dive.
“You’re concerned he’ll go backwards.” It’s a statement, not a question, because we’ve both lived through Jack’s episodes. I know exactly what Ashton’s going through. We’re conditioned to worry. And if I’m completely honest with myself, I’ve been more than low-key worrying too. Even with my head in the sand.
“I’m not just concerned. I’m convinced.” He lets out a worried, frustrated breath. “Jack’s not ready for Hollywood parties and all that bullshit yet. His manager needs to be fired. She doesn’t give a shit about Jack. All she cares about is building her own career, and she’ll step all over him to get what she wants.”
I agree with him on this. Belinda Shahn swooped in when Jack had no one in his corner and sold him a pack of promises that are nothing more than beautifully packaged lies. Between trashing a restaurant, punching a director, brawling with one of his ex’s boyfriends, and boozing and snorting his way around town, Jack found himself with no manager, no publicist, and an agent who has pretty much wiped his hands of his client. Jack’s no idiot, he must be aware of his new manager’s motives. However, I know how much his career means to him, so I’m guessing he’s doing what Jack does well, and is ignoring that in order to get his career back on track.
“Jack won’t listen to you about her?” I don’t have to ask if he’s discussed his concerns with Jack. Ashton is a man who cuts to the chase at all times.
“Jack has his head in the fucking clouds.”
Some days, I wonder how Ashton and Jack have been best friends since high school. They’re opposites in many ways. Where Jack is playful, Ashton is serious. Where Jack is sensitive, Ashton can be hard as nails. And while Jack can be an idealist, Ashton is a hardcore realist. But in other ways, they’re very similar. Both men are ambitious risk-takers whose curiosity can, at times, drive me insane. Not to mention those risks they both love to take. I’m often the one pointing out all the things that could possibly go wrong. That they usually don’t listen to me is also something that drives me insane.
“What does Josephine say about it all?” One of Jack’s closest friends. One of Ashton’s too. Me? I’m not her biggest fan, but that’s got more to do with the feelings I have about the relationship she shared with Jack at one point in their lives, and the ongoing relationship they now have. And no, I’m not classifying it as jealousy. I am so far done with that emotion it isn’t funny. It just doesn’t exist in my life anymore.