“For starters, you’re having a child with Jules. People are placing bets on whether you bail and go back to her. Put her up in your fancy house in the Hills.”
My stomach rolls and I want to hurl my coffee all over the table. Instead, I push it away, no longer interested. “Tell your friends that Jules isn’t even on my radar. I’m more than happy with Joey.”
“If that’s what you think,” he says, sighing. There’s probably a reason this ass isn’t married. Aside from being a chauvinistic pig, he’s a complete douche.
“It’s what I know. Are we done?”
“Nah, I have one more offer even though the first one still stands. We want the exclusive rights to your wedding. It’ll be a six-week production schedule, we follow you both around while you get ready, film the wedding and the reception, and we’ll air the ceremony on national television.”
“For how much?”
“Ah, I see you’re interested,” he gloats. “We’re offering a million, plus we cover all the expenses.”
It’s not enough, but I don’t tell him that. “I’ll talk to Joey and let you know.”
“When’s the wedding?”
I shake my head. “We haven’t set a date, but it won’t be in the US. We want a destination wedding, so that means you’ll be covering the expenses of her family as well.”
“Deal.”
Except I never agreed. I only added terms. He slides a contract over to me and I leave it sitting on the table without even looking at it.
“Read and sign. My fax number is on the last page. Don’t wait too long, though, Wilson. You have another woman waiting in the wings who is ready to make a huge production out of her pregnancy and you can bet she’s already signed the contract.”
Barry throws a few dollars down on the table and leaves. His last words replay over and over in my head. I should’ve known he’d go to Jules and she’d agree. Anything for her to be in front of the camera, making the masses feel sorry for her.
Before I can get up to leave, the waitress brings me my muffin. Instead of taking it to go,
I let it sit in front of me, cooling down while I read over the contract. There are things that I have to do, but will need Joey’s help and the first one is hiring a lawyer. A new agent needs to be sought out as well, especially before I sign any new deals. This is another reason why I don’t want to start this movie—there are too many loose ends that have to be tied up. I can’t do them if I’m working and Joey can’t because she’s not on all of my accounts. This is where Jason would come in, but I fired him months ago and haven’t had the time to replace him.
I place a call to Blaze PR and ask them for a referral. Lucky for me, they have an in-house one and ask me to stop by and sign some papers so they can get my files from Jason. Unfortunately, I have to call him to let him know that he needs to comply as soon as possible or else. I’m not sure what the “else” is, but it sounded good when I said it. I make a few more calls, one of them being to Rob. We haven’t spoken much since the night I moved out. I wasn’t too thrilled to find Jules in the apartment. There wasn’t a reason for her to be there. When she showed up, he should’ve told her to go home.
My call to Rob goes to voicemail. I don’t leave him a message—he’ll know I called and if he wants to talk, he’ll call me back.
“You look lonely.”
I close my eyes at the sound of her voice and when I open them, she’s sitting down. There’s a large to-go coffee cup in her hand and a grin that matches the Cheshire cat.
“Far from it. I was just leaving.”
“Well, being as you’re alone, we should talk.”
The Jules sitting across from me isn’t the one I’m used to. Her hair isn’t done up and her face lacks the mass of make-up she’s usually wearing. Of course, the nails, jewelry, and designer handbag are all still there to help her accessorize.
“I know we need to talk, Jules, but I really don’t have anything to say.”
“We’re having a baby, Josh. I’m fairly sure that means we have a lot to talk about.”
“Right …” I fiddle with the rim of my coffee mug; the contents are cold and unwelcoming. My muffin mocks me. I’d wanted to eat it up until Jules sat down and now my appetite is long gone.
“This baby is a good thing for us, Josh.”
I nod, unable to give her a verbal answer. It’s not good, it’s inconvenient and something I don’t want with her. Hell, until I saw what a real family was like I didn’t want kids, period. It’s my wife who should be having them, not my ex. But that’s not the baby’s fault and he or she will never know my feelings on the situation.
“Anyway, you’ll have to bond with the baby, so I figured that will start in the hospital and then we’ll go home to my place. I think it’s important that the baby know both of us, so you’ll stay there.”
My insides turn as she rambles on. I sit here, listening to her tell me about her fantasy world. Only in her mind does something like this work.