“With liars? Yeah, heard that a few times in the three years we’ve been married, and yup, before that, too. And yet, we’re both professional liars, Jett!”
“Well, Isuppose you’re right about that because I’m the fucking liar, Mads! Iam. Me. I’m a hypocrite and a fucking arsehole!”
She kisses my knuckles. “Will you just tell me? Remember, nothing you can do will shock me.”
“Do you, erm, remember a bloke named Rye Meadows?”
“Why wouldn’t Iremember Rye- Jett? Oh fuck. Whatdid you do?”
“So, you know Icame home and watched Elite’s Academy, but that wasn’t where the night ended, not even close.”
She turns to the barkeep to ask for more whiskey and “lots of fries.”
“Well, Iguess Iforgot to mention Igot so jealous watching Rye put his hands all over your ass that Idowned a fifth of JD and blacked out, then proceeded to prowl around LA looking for him, ready to kick his ass!”
“You didnot!” She looks momentarily dumbfounded. “You’d known me for a few hours, and you were so jealous you—” Then she gasps, her hands flying over her mouth, the low bar lights reflecting off my favourite thing I’ve ever bought her, her coffin-shaped sparkler. “Oh my God, Jett! Youdid thatto him? Iremember that!”
“Yes and no…”
“He had like three broken toes and couldn’t even do our scene because, well, it seemed like someone had kicked the shit out of his um, manhood. Popped a hernia or something. You did that??”
“I didn’t do that exactly, but it was my—”
She grabs my phone and dangles it in front of my face. “Tell me what happened, or I’m gonna share your location on all your socials, right now! You’re going to be stuck signing shit for an hour and a half!”
I sigh and sip on the freshly poured whiskey that arrives at our table. “I was out of it, Iwas unhinged, and Iknow you like that about me, so be gentle. Igot his address from Camden, stumbled into the bougie pub under his flat, and proceeded to chat up the bird who was going up to his apartment. Ilied and said my best friend had sent me to make sure her boyfriend, Rye, wasn’t cheating on her, so she’d get pissed off at him and do the dirty work for me. All Idid was encourage her to go let him have it! Ididn’t know she was going to bruise his balls and break his toes! Imean, she probably did have stilettos on, fuck, all right! This was my fault. I’m not going to pretend it’s not. Iwas a manipulative, fucking liar, and then when she was done with him, Ibrought her back to my place to … cheer her up.”
Baby sets her jaw and glares at me with the power of a thousand suns. She tips back the full double of whiskey, and then as soon as the chips appear in front of her, she starts shoveling them in her face like they’re the ones that have made her so angry.
“Do you hate me, princess? It’s all right if you do; I’m not a fan of myself right now. I’m fucking despicable.”
Her face softens, and she offers me a chip. She lets out an exhale that lasts about a week. “When you get like that, you’re supposed to take a triazolam and go to bed, baby.” Sounds familiar. Igrin like a madman when she calls me baby, not that Ideserve to be let off the hook. “It’s a trauma response, you know that.”
“Well, Ididn’t have you to keep me sane back then, Baby. Iwas like an out-of-control, unsupervised kid,” Isay, pretending Idon’t hate the therapist speak she's using. But no one wants to say why Iam the way Iam, not out loud. Apparently, it’s not all right to say Jett was beaten to a bloody pulp by bullies and left for dead as a child. You have to saytrauma, a word Ibloody hope to never hear again.
“Youwere. And what you did was completely fucked up! Afew months later, Kill Cash cornered me and felt me up on a back soundstage! Rye caught him and punched his lights out, so Icould run off and report Kill. If it weren’t for Rye, Iprobably would’ve been raped by that asshole!”
I blink, and my hand is wet, and Baby is running to grab a towel. Itappears my glass exploded in my hand. Ihad fucked with the wrong actor. God, Iam bloody stupid. That little cunt Kill Cash, the one Ikissedon the mouth, is the one Ishould’ve fucked up, a lot worse than what Idid to Rye.
Crimson drips onto the glinting glass shards as she returns, wrapping my hand tightly before ushering me out into the late afternoon heat. She pulls me into her G Wagon and speeds towards the five with the windows open, wind whipping her gorgeous hair around her worried face.
“I’m sorry, Baby, but I’m going to need you to get the address to Cash’s house so Ican kill him. All right? Then everything can go back to being perfect, and Ican give you the best day ever tomorrow.”
“We’re going to see your other therapist, Jett. The aging one with the hazel eyes and faded tattoos? The one who invented self-destructive behavior like this?”
The anger inside me chills to a tolerable level at the mention of the only person, other than Mads, that could level me out, the only one who knows what it’s like to battle these kinds of demons while trying to stay in control, while still being everything to everyone. Dad.
She marches me up the stairs of Mum and Dad’s like I’m being escorted to the headmaster’s office, clearly not vibing with my idea to go murder a pretty boy actor she used to know. “Fix him!” she practically hisses, throwing me into Max’s study.
Dad takes one look at my hand and the sad state I’m in and proceeds to start pulling on his hair and mumbling curses, “Oh fuck. Now? You’re like thisnow? We have about fifty people flying in from the UK tomorrow, and this is a good time for you to go off the bloody rails?”
“The … other therapist…”
“Oh, you mean the one you pay? I’m the one who should be on the clock, son!”
“Yeah, that one. She uh, she said Ionly get like this when it comes to … change.”
“What’s the big fucking change? Ihaven’t seen you like this since the night of your stag do. What about Baby’s party is making you like this?”
