Page 18 of The B Side

Robbie continued, “You don’t have that feeling anymore, do you? That feeling like something is sitting right here–” He put his hand over his chest, pushing down. “Making it so that you can’t take a real deep breath. Especially when we’re in public. Wondering if anyone in here is thinking something they shouldn’t. If someone in here is seeing something they shouldn’t.”

Juliet hadn’t really thought about it like that.

But… Robbie wasn’t wrong.

She’d been so focused on the scrutiny, on how she felt like the microscope had been even more focused and intense. Which, it was.

However, whatever everyone looking through the microscope was seeing? It didn’t really matter. Because her biggest secret, the thing she’d spent her entire adult life and career hiding, was public.

And she could breathe. She knew precisely that feeling Robbie was talking about. Maybe she was still being scrutinized, but it did feel different, in a way she hadn’t let herself think about.

She reached up and gently patted her hand against his shoulder. “You’re not wrong.”

She still wasn’t going to duck out of here just yet, but he wasn’t wrong.

Robbie’s lips quirked into a cross between his famous signature grin – dashing and almost a smirk – and his real, authentic smile – something wider and sweeter, one he gave her more often than he flashed his adoring fangirls. “Thank you. I like to think I still have some Robbie-O wisdom to pass onto you.” His eyes caught on something over her shoulder, and his smile slid into that signature grin as he spoke under his breath, “Shit. Accidentally made eye contact with the representative from Montrose. I told them we’d catch up today if I saw them.”

“Go, chat,” she encouraged.

“You sure?” He asked, bringing his gaze back to her, checking in. “I can pretend I didn’t see, stay here with you.”

She was torn between appreciating Robbie’s attentiveness and being mildly annoyed that he believed she needed him to sit here with her. Mildly annoyed at both of them – him for possibly thinking it, herself for possibly projecting it.

“Robbie, I’m Juliet fucking Jacobs.” She rolled her shoulders back, taking in the power that sentiment gave her. “While I know how much you care about me, I don’t need you to babysit me. Go and mingle.”

“I’d kiss your cheek…” It was a classic move between them when they’d been ‘a couple,’ an easy way for them to show genuine affection for one another, and the public thought it was so sweet. “But I’m sure it would just make people talk even more.”

Juliet angled her chin up, giving him her cheek, a spark of rebellion shifting through her. People were already talking. She was already dealing with repercussions. She was sure that, if anything, it would just baffle people to see what a good relationship she and Robbie maintained.

He laughed, leaning in to kiss her cheek, before pulling back. “Love the spirit.”

And, as he walked away, Juliet decided that she did, too.

With that in mind, she stood and slowly walked across the room, letting people stare as she walked down the secluded hall toward the bathroom.

She didn’t want to be seen sitting at her table on her phone – she was sure it would give the impression that she was being a wallflower, that she was uncertain of herself – but she had some business to attend to. Namely, changing her flight.

Normally, she’d text Laura and ask her to do so. But Laura was neck-deep in her own horrible situation. A situation that was far worse than Juliet’s, and she wasn’t going to add to it. Laura staying by her side from across the world was a bit of a lifeline – maybe for them both – but the end was near, and Juliet could manage something like this on her own.

Right as she finished, the door to the bathroom was pushed open, and voices flooded through the echoing interior.

Juliet peeked through the little gap, even though she recognized the first woman’s voice with no problem.

“–can’t believe she’s here,” Chloe Larsson trilled, as she tossed her clutch onto the sink countertop.

Chloe was a few years older than she was, someone she’d bumped into many times over the years. Someone she’d also – at one unfortunate point – hooked up with. And Juliet was very unsurprised to hear that she had comments.

The other women with her were Val Jones and Krissy Wheaton, two runway models that Juliet recognized but hadn’t spoken to much.

“What do we think she’s doing here with Robbie? Like, what is that about? Didn’t she cheat on him?” Val asked, not bothering to hush her voice. “Like a full-on lesbian affair?”

Juliet rolled her eyes; typical.

“I’ve heard,” Chloe dragged heard out into four syllables, obviously wanting to garner as much anticipation as she could. “That it was more of a publicity stunt gone hugely wrong. And that she’s running right back to Robbie now that it’s blown up in her face.”

And that was, really, one of the most egregious comments Chloe could make. Considering she knew it wasn’t a publicity stunt at all, and knew Juliet was certainly not straight. Juliet was never going to claim to love the Hollywood gossip mill, but she would at least respect someone a little bit more if they weren’t outright, knowingly lying.

Krissy gasped. “Shut the fuck up. Where did you hear that?”