Page 5 of The B Side

Chapter Two

Darcy had made the mistake of thinking she could still get coffee.

Not coffee at some private studio where the barista knew her order and the back entrance had a security guard. Not coffee delivered and dropped off at their gate. Not coffee in the greenroom of some radio station while Eliana, her publicist, hovered nearby.

… and she’d been having a lot of meetings with Eliana in the last week. Normally, that week between Christmas and the New Year was a strange, liminal period of time. Not this year, not in the aftermath.

Emergency management was in full effect now.

And she just wanted to get herself and Juliet some freaking coffee before going into another meeting with their teams in an hour.

The café was in their neighborhood. She was doing all of the right things – sunglasses, her hair tied up in a messy knot. She was wearing one of the sweatshirts she’d stolen from her Juliet years ago, at the beginning of their relationship.

She’d made it three steps out of the café when the first camera flashed. Thankfully, she was wearing her sunglasses, or she’d have been fucking blinded.

Here, though? Here?! This was their normal coffee place. Darcy couldn’t possibly even remember the number of times she’d made a caffeine run here. Their neighborhood was full of high-profile residents; it wasn’t like Darcy had gone out somewhere she’d stick out.

Normally, paparazzi didn’t camp out around here. Even if they did, they were relatively discreet: stars, they’re just like us, kind of bull.

She didn’t let herself stop, though, not beyond a momentary pause.

Another flash.

Then another.

“Darcy! Darcy, look over here!”

Jesus Christ, it hadn’t been like this since she’d first experienced her rise to fame. Maybe not even then? Back then, she’d just been a newcomer on the scene. Now, there was gossip fodder. Some of the most intense gossip fodder.

Somehow, men in Hollywood who committed actually heinous crimes could get away with anything, but god forbid she be a lesbian.

She did exactly what Eliana – and in the last couple of years, Juliet – had taught her to do. She wasn’t going to respond. She wasn’t going to snap at them that she just wanted to get her fucking morning coffee.

She pushed through, continuing down the sidewalk, only for her stomach to drop when she realized there were more.

A man stepped around the corner, making her stumble back at how close he’d come to her, his camera already raised.

“What the fuck?” She couldn’t help the words slipping out, even though she knew it wasn’t the ‘right’ way to respond.

“Are you and Juliet still together?”

“Did you two plan the kiss?”

“Did Juliet’s label know?”

Darcy was never one to pick retreat rather than progress, but she briefly considered it, as she glanced back toward the café door.

Too late. The paps who’d already been in her face had circled in behind her. They crowded around her, cameras clicking, questions overlapping until they became one ugly wall of noise.

“Darcy, are you and Juliet going to address the timeline around her relationship with Robbie Calder?”

“Are you two actually dating or was this just publicity?”

What in the world did this dude think she was gaining from this publicity?!

“No comment,” Darcy attempted to project, though her voice didn’t really ring through the barrage of questions coming her way.

She had a lot of comments, but – no. No, she knew it was best to keep things to herself. None of these people wanted to hear anything real, anyway. No one wanted to print a story about the fact that she and Juliet were actually in a loving relationship, and there had been no cheating, and – prior to coming out – everything in their lives had settled into something quiet and comfortable.