“Jason MacNicholl, Josh’s lawyer.” He grabs my hand, giving me no other alternative but to shake his. A sense of dread has washed over me and I’m finding it hard to smile. Just then the clank of heels catches my attention, turning just in time to see none other than Jules Maxwell enter the room where Josh is.
“Um …”
“I wouldn’t,” Jason says as holds out some papers. “I just need your signature and everything will be taken care.”
“What?” my voice breaks.
“Your annulment, Josh has already signed.”
I look down the hall and back at Jason. Laughter bellows from that room. It’s Josh’s and someone’s I’d recognize anywhere. Bronx was right. And just as if he knew I’d be thinking about him, he appears. His face is sullen, his eyes are sad.
“Need a ride?” Bronx asks.
“Please sign here, Miss Mitchell.”
Mitchell, not Wilson. I was told I’d be Wilson. Bronx takes my hand in his and gives it a squeeze.
“He lied.”
“I’m sorry, Joey.”
I take the pen from Jason and scribble my name, dropping it on the paper when I’m done. I don’t wait for Josh or my parents, but follow Bronx out and into a waiting car. I want to think my friend is whisking me away, but the truth of the matter is, we all end up at the same hotel. I have to find a way to get out of my room with Josh. I don’t want to share with him, but I can’t share with Bronx. Something has to give.
I thought the last person I’d want to see today would be Matt, but that all changed when Jules walked into the room and jumped into my arms. I had no choice but to catch her. When I could finally get out of her vice grip, Matt had a smug look on his face.
“Surprise!” they both say, much to my dismay. Since when is my agent in cahoots with my ex? Since when do they even speak to each other?
“That’s an understatement,” I tell them in a stern voice. I’m not happy that she’s here. Matt, I can understand, we have contracts to sign, but there’s no reason for Jules to be here.
“Let me sign the papers so I can get back to Joey.”
“Why?” Jules asks in her stupid whiny voice. She juts out her lip and bats her eyelashes. That shit may have worked years ago, but not anymore.
“What do you mean why? She’s my wife.”
Jules bats away my comment as if it doesn’t mean anything. “It was just a game. Your marriage is over. We can just put this silly thing behind us and move on. You’ve got whatever it is out of your system.”
I look at her confusingly. “What are you talking about? My marriage isn’t over nor do I plan on it being that way. This wasn’t some ploy to get attention from you. I came on the show because I wanted to.”
“You were forced to,” she spits out.
“Can we sign the papers so I can get back to Joey?” I say, ignoring Jules.
Matt han
ds me the contract that will send Joey and I to Alabama once the press tour is over for the next three months. I look it over and everything seems to be the same canned language as my last one. This movie is an adaptation to a New York Times Best Selling novel by some guy who writes about romance. His movies are all chick flicks and guaranteed to have them in droves. I’ll have my shirt off a lot so it’s a good thing I worked out for the past three months.
“Who’s my co-star?” I ask before I sign my contract. When I don’t get an answer from Matt, I turn and look at him.
“Well, Joshie, it’s me!”
“Are you freaking kidding me?” I run my fingers through my hand in frustration.
Matt shrugs. He knows that I don’t want to work with Jules, ever. We did it once, and it was the worst experience of my life. She’s a diva and I can’t stand it; that kind of behavior annoys the shit out of me. Jules whined about everything, right down the type of glass her bottled water was served in. Her agent was on set the entire shoot and barked orders about everything. Thing is, as much as I hated filming with her, she wasn’t like this at home. After that movie, I vowed to never work with her again.
“I don’t like this, Matt.” I don’t care if Jules is in the room. She knows I don’t want to work with her.
“Joshie, it’ll be great. We’ll get to reconnect.” Jules runs her hand down the front of my shirt. I grab her wrist and push her away.