*James*

There are two things everyone needs to know about Julia.  One, she loves hard.  Fiercely. She loves with every bone in her body.

Two, Julia is an extremely jealous woman. She has low self-esteem and thinks everyone is above her. Thanks to her jackass ex-husband, Luke, Julia is insecure. Any mention of Mila Giovanni and Julia recoils because of what Nate put her through when they were together. She still recoils even though they are no longer a couple. Nate knows this. Yet he lets shit happen anyway.

So, I know something is up when Nate walks out into the living room after some Zoom meeting he had with his boss. The look on his face says it all.

"You ok? You look like you're about to get sick or something." I joke, but Nate looks straight at Julia and shakes his head. Something big is about to go down.

"Nate, what is it? You don't look good." She stands up and walks his way, but Nate takes a seat on the couch and drops his head.

"Richard pulled a fast one on me."

"How so?" Paul asks in knowing manner. He can sense something is up as well.

There is a moment of hesitation on Nate's end before he takes in a deep breath.

"Mila Giovanni will be joining me on tour."

The expression on Julia's face at that moment is something I hope never to witness again. A devastated look in her eyes. Even though her and Nate are over, she still loves him. This news hurts. It hurts Julia, and it hurts both me and Paul as we watch it all play out. Does it even fucking hurt Nate? Doesn't he remember how this tore Julia apart once before??

"Oh." Julia nods, but her eyes become teary. It's all she manages to choke out before Nate starts talking again.

"Julia. I had NO part in this. You know I would never -"

"No, God, no, I know." She nods but then frowns. "It is what it is." Julia's eyes turn away. "I need some air."

She quickly escapes to the backyard and closes the slider behind her.

"FUCK!" Nate flips out.

He swipes everything off the coffee table sending it all flying in his fit of rage. Maggie jumps off the couch and runs to me. I manage to pick her up and set her on my lap to calm her. This stuff frightens Maggie, so I pet her and let her know she is safe.

Meanwhile, Nate begins to have a panic attack. He doesn't have them often, but this shit got to him, which makes me think he is aware of what this news will do to Julia. It also makes me realize the decision isn't of his control. He wouldn't be physically responding to this shit the way he is right now if he was in control of his own life. 

Is his job worth this kind of stress that is put on his body? Is it worth his mental well-being? There's no amount of money in the world to make me want to go through half the crap Hollan goes through. To have your entire life dictated by some prick manager who only cares about getting a paycheck. It just doesn't seem worth it.  But then again, that is how Nate and I are different. It's a reminder of how Julia and I view things compared to how Nate and Trisha view things. They live in a completely different world than people like me and Julia.

Watching Nate have a panic attack after sharing this news makes me wonder if he is starting to realize the life he lives is too much to handle.

"I, I can't catch my breath." Nate gasps. Beads of sweat form on his forehead and nape of his neck, and he starts heaving while trying to breathe properly. Paul alls Jonah who advises him to get ahold of Dr. Donovan immediately.

"I can't -"

"Hey, you're ok. C'mon, let's go outside and talk to her." I stand up, forcing Maggie off my lap, but Nate continues pacing. He pulls at the collar of his shirt in a frantic way, making me look to Paul on what we should do to help the guy.

"Jeremy is on his way." Paul says calmly, but Hollan is anything but calm.

*****

*Trisha*

"Jesus Christ." Jonah mutters and scratches the back of his head. It's just him and I in the apartment right now while Casey ran some errands. Evan stepped out for a few hours as well. 

"What's going on?" I study his face when he shoves his phone in his pocket, looking pretty distraught.

"That was Paul who just called. Nate is having some kind of panic attack. I told him to get ahold of Jeremy right away. He can give Nate an anxiety med that will help. But this shit isn't good for his heart."

I frown and look away, knowing exactly why Nate is so upset. My eyes sting with oncoming tears for my best friend.

"You know something." The nurse narrows his eyes at me.

"I do..."

"Trisha..."

"It's his producer, Richard. Listen, I JUST found this out and was going to call Nate when I found the right words. I didn't think Richard would beat me to it. An email was sent out for a meeting, but I didn't know what it entailed until after they broke the news to Nate. I just got an email from his publicist less than a half hour ago." I explain.

"What's going on to make Nate this upset?"

I stall. I know what Jonah's reaction will be. He had to deal with it just as much as I did when things fell apart.  And Jonah will be with us on tour dealing with it once again.

"Management has decided that Mila Giovanni will star in Nate's next music video." I croak out, but Jonah gives me a weird look.

"Oh. That's it??" Relief washes over his face for a brief moment before I shake my head.

"He is also having Mila join us on tour like he had planned the first time around."

"What do you mean??" Jonah asks.

"They will be taking concert footage from tour to make the music video. So," I pause. "Mila will be traveling with us and joining Nate in interviews, meet and greets, and other events that will be filmed for the video. She's coming on tour with us, Jonah.  Richard wants her and Nate to rekindle whatever they had before. Nate's ratings were through the roof when he was with Mila, and she brought in a lot of money and endorsements in the short time they were a couple."

"You've got to be kidding me..." Jonah groans. We both know how this will play out, and it won't be pretty.

The second I'm done explaining it all to Jonah, Nate facetimes me. I excuse myself and go out on the balcony to talk.

"Tell me the truth Trisha, did you know about this already?" Nate's eyes are bloodshot and puffy, making it known he has been crying. I should be there with him but can't seem to bring myself to go to The Avalon.

"I swear to God. I had no idea. I knew there was a meeting happening. I received the email, but seriously, right after I read it is when you called me telling me you had a virtual meeting with Elliott and Richard. I didn't have time to digest it never mind call you to give you a heads up. Ask Casey. She was right here with me when it all went down."

He knows I'm telling the truth. I'm a shit liar when it comes to big stuff like this, and Nate knows it.

"Trish. I don't know what to do." Nate whispers into the phone. "I can't be near Mila. You know this."

"I know, sweetie. We're going to figure this out, ok?"  I try to console him, but the reality is, I have no fucking clue how to get out of this one.

"How? Richard will do whatever it takes. Mila brings in the cash when it comes to my music videos, and that's all he sees. He sees a supermodel who rakes in the money and fanbase, and the fact that everyone loves the whole "Nate and Mila" bit doesn't help me. They eat that shit up."

"I know." I sigh. This is out of our hands. I have no idea how Nate will fight this one. When Richard gets something in his head, there is no persuading him to change his mind. For reasons, he wants to see Nate and Mila together. He sees them as some power couple that will take in a good chunk of money by being together.

Richard doesn't see them as real people with real emotions.

This will for sure break Nate down in so many ways. He was careless when he was with Mila. He fell off the wagon and hid his drinking. Hell, Nate now has a criminal record because of it. He spent a night in jail, has a suspended license and royally fucked himself up with that DUI.

What's going to happen now? Is being forced to be with Mila going to break Nate? I don't know if his body or mind can handle that again.

And I don't think I can handle picking up those pieces again either.

*****