Page 143 of Breaking Hollywood

It’s decent, but it doesn’t taste as good as Ava’s coffee.

And I fucking hate that I miss her making me coffee.

God, I’m pathetic.

“What did Gil say?” Julian asks me.

I glance over at him. He’s sitting on the other sofa, drinking his coffee.

“Vaughn talked to him. Said I just needed to okay that press release he sent over, and once that’s out there, they’ll start pulling together a strategy based on the public response to try and stop this shit from completely destroying my career.”

“Have you read the release?”

“Yeah.” I sigh.

“And?”

“It’s just the usual shit that we read all the time. Gabriel regrets his past actions, and his parents’ criminal past is in no way a reflection of him. He does not condone their crimes and has not had contact with his parents since their arrest. Blah, blah, blah.”

“If you hate the release, then have them rewrite it.”

“And put what?”

“I don’t know.” Julian brings his coffee to his lips and takes a sip. “Just think about what you want to say and then tell your publicist and have her write it up.”

“Yeah. I guess I could.” I take another sip of my coffee.

A few minutes later, I hear the arrival of Vaughn and Charly.

And the first thing I want to do is ask Charly how Ava is.

How fucking lame is that?

I really need a punch in the face.

“Gabe.” Vaughn’s voice comes from behind me before he comes into view. He stands to the left of the sofa, Charly by his side. “Charly needs to talk to you. It’s important.”

I look directly at Charly. “If it’s about Ava, then I don’t want to hear it.”

She presses her lips together, looking like she’s really likely to punch me in the head right now. Maybe I should invite her to. Knock some fucking sense into me.

Charly’s eyes move around my living room. “Gabe, can I use your bathroom, please?”

I almost exhale with relief that she’s not going to try to force me to hear whatever it is she’s got to say.

“Sure. You can use the bathroom in my bedroom. It’s the first door on your right. Bathroom’s off there.”

“Could you show me where it is, please?”

“Were my directions not clear enough?”

Her hands go to her hips, her lips pursing into a scowl. “They were just fine. But I’d really appreciate it if you would show me the way.” She’s staring at me, eyes wide, with a weird expression on her face.

“Vaughn, what the fuck is wrong with your girlfriend?”

“Pins, what’s going on?”

Charly sighs, rolls her eyes, and then gets her phone out of her pocket. She starts tapping on the screen and then hands her phone to Vaughn. He reads whatever’s on the screen. Then, he hands it over to me.