Drew grinned across the aisle at Abby as the arrival announcements were made and the plane taxied to its gate. As soon as the fasten seatbelts sign went off, Drew stood and reached up to the overhead compartment to get his, Jessica’s, and Abby’s carry-ons down.
“Thanks, babe,” Jessica said distractedly, checking her bag as soon as it was in her hands as if someone had tampered with it during the overnight flight.
“Thanks, babe,” Abby echoed her, only with a teasing grin for Drew and a wink, as she tucked her romance novel into her purse.
Drew grinned right back at her, shoving her playfully the way he’d always done since the two of them met in Boy Scouts. A hell of a lot with Abby had changed since then, but their friendship never would.
Business class was first off the plane, so within minutes, Drew, Jessica, and Abby were walking through the terminaltoward passport control. In what Drew had always secretly thought was a bit of a dick move on the part of celebrities, he slipped on his Ray Bans once they were through the passport machines that checked your biometrics and on to the baggage claim area. It wasn’t that he didn’t like attention. God knew how much he loved it sometimes. But not after a ten-plus hours long flight.
People from other flights were already staring at him by the time they loaded their suitcases from the baggage carousel onto a cart.
“Why do we have to do this ourselves again?” Jessica asked as Drew and Abby stacked everything on the cart. “Wasn’t the studio supposed to send people to take us to our apartment?”
“They’re not allowed into this part of the airport,” Abby reminded her. “And besides, you and I are Drew’s entourage. We’re the help.”
Jessica laughed like Abby was joking. “Speak for yourself, Abs,” she said as the three of them started toward the exit. “As soon as I get the call from my agent telling me I booked the Darlish film, I’m going to give Drew a serious run for his money in the celebrity Olympics.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second,” Drew laughed, then veered closer to Jessica, intending to throw his arm around her shoulder and maybe even kiss her cheek.
Jessica dodged him like a bad smell, glaring at him once she’d put a foot or two of distance between the two of them. “Don’t!” she hissed. “You’re gay, remember? We arenotdating.”
Drew’s smile dropped hard. In its place, uneasy guilt rushed in, whispering “queerbaiting” as it did.
If he was being honest, the accusations of queerbaiting weren’t entirely unfounded. It was too dramatic to say he’d been living a double life since his star had rocketed into the celebritystratosphere, but there were days when he felt like he was close to it.
“We can’t be dating,” Jessica continued to whisper, peeking around them as if they were spies about to be caught by the CIA or the FBI, or was it MI6 in the UK? “The only reason you’re as famous as you are right now is because everyone thinks you’re gay. You have to stay gay. Your career depends on it.Mycareer depends on it.”
Drew shot a look Abby’s way. Abby raised one eyebrow at him.
Because that’s what it all boiled down to in the end. Drew had worked for nearly a decade to break into his dream career, but it hadn’t been until the world assumed he was queer that things had really started happening for him. Things were happening for Jessica because of him, too. Even Abby was finding more clients for her fledgling management company.
The success of everyone he loved depended on him lying to the world.
He didn’t like it. Drew liked people. He loved conversations with strangers and being an open book. He wanted to be known for who he was, for his work and his talent, not for rumors and speculation. Everything from red carpet interviews to his occasional forays into social media groups was fun because he could be his untamed self, despite media training.
That was all going to explode, and maybe his career and hard work with it, once everyone learned the truth. He’d hoped he could remain ambiguous forever, but then the internet had found out about Jessica. And Jessica, in turn, insisted he double down on being gay.
She was doing it for him. At least, that’s what she’d told him a few weeks ago, when things really started to get crazy.
Honestly, she was doing it for herself.
Drew couldn’t blame her. Breaking into Hollywood was nearly impossible. He didn’t begrudge her using his success as a springboard.
But there were days when he felt more than ambivalent about their relationship, days when he suspected he was more of a springboard and less of a boyfriend in her eyes.
“There they are,” Jessica said, dripping with relief, as soon as they walked through to the arrivals hall.
A dapper-looking chauffer holding a sign that said “Oberlin” was waiting for them. So was a small crowd of wide-eyed, flushed fans. The fans gasped and launched into waving, squealing, and calling out greetings as soon as Drew took off his sunglasses and smiled at them.
“Hey, people!” Drew greeted them in turn, walking boldly into the crowd, even as a pair of burly security guards stepped in to try to hold back the deluge. “How’s London today?”
The next ten minutes were spent greeting wide-eyed and sometimes weepy fans and taking selfies. Abby was more than happy to shuffle through everyone’s cellphones taking the pictures while Jessica stood off to the side, turned away from the commotion, her own phone to her ear as she took a call.
“Mr. Oberlin, we need to move on,” the chauffer said over the commotion of fans.
“Okay, everyone, thanks so much for such a warm welcome,” Drew called out, blowing a few kisses. He had zero doubts at that the pictures and videos of the last ten minutes would be all over social media before he got to whatever car would whisk them off to the accommodationsSleuth’sproduction team had set aside for him for the next six weeks.
Jessica finished her call and her perusal of the magazine and tourist information stand she’d been standing next to and moved into step with him.