*Trisha*

"You're late."  I give Nate a look while waiting outside my apartment with Paul. Ren quickly drives us to the event.

"Sorry. Jonah had to take my blood pressure before heading out." Nate explains. He doesn't seem like he's in a good mood. He loves meet and greets. He loves connecting with his fans.

"You don't seem excited, Playboy. You love meet and greets. Signing fans merch and shit. Everything ok?"

"Nope. But I'm here." He sighs as we pull into the hidden back lot of Universal Studios.

"Why is she here, though?" Nate sees Mila talking to Richard outside the private entrance. The fans have already formed a line on the other side of the building we're using but can't see us over here.

"Apparently, she's here to keep you company as your girlfriend and get noticed." I shake my head, knowing Richard is up to no good.

As always, Mila looks beautiful. She's a model. She gets paid to look beautiful. There are other people around, so it's time to play the part. Nate inhales, and I pat his knee. 

"There he is.." Richard throws us a fake smile for the small crowd of employees back here. Mila wraps her arms around Nate's waist and kisses his cheek.

"After the meet and greet, it would be great if you guys go spend some time in the park. I've hired extra bodyguards, and they want to get a few shots and videos of you two enjoying the rides."

"I can't do rides, Richard. My heart...." Nate reminds his producer.

"Well, at least walk around and get noticed. Thanks." He says with a touch of rudeness, walks away.

"C'mon Nate. We'll make it fun. Ok?" I smile up at him and try to get him to put all negativity behind us. 

The meet and greet was a huge success, and I could tell Nate enjoyed every moment of it. He's beaming. Afterward, we went on a bunch of rides. Well, not Nate with his heart or Paul being too chicken shit but I dragged Mila on every single ride, and she loved it.

Believe it or not, even with the language barrier, Mila is really fun to be around. Granted, she's a beautiful 23 year old millionaire, so what stress does SHE have. But I could tell she genuinely had fun. I can understand some of what she says in Italian, which helps.

Mila played the part well. Kissing Nate whenever cameras were around, holding Nate's hand proudly, having a blast at Universal Studios. I even caught Nate smiling with her from seeing her childlike ways coming off of rides. I may not agree with Richard on all this, but it is what it is, and after a while, you just give in to the idea and try to get through the days. So I had fun dragging Mila on almost every ride in the theme park while Nate and Paul held purses and waited for us. 

*****

*James*

"Why can't Julia help me with this?" I ask Casey, who is the one to help me get dressed, brush my teeth, and get ready for the day.

"She's not feeling herself lately, James. I'm sorry. I know I'm not Julia. I'm trying my best so she can rest."

Julia sleeps or pretends to sleep the morning away on the big sectional couch. She's not in a good place. Not at all. I sit on the armrest of the couch right near her head and take her phone away.  She's driving herself crazy looking at the fun things Nate and Mila are doing and crying. 

"James..."

"Julia."

"Give me my phone back."

"It's nice out. Let's get dressed and take Maggie to Griffith Park today."

"No thanks." She responds to the couch.

"Julia.... please. You need to snap out of this."

Maggie hops up onto the couch, and I reach over and pet her head before getting up. I lift up Julia's legs, sit down, and pull them over my lap.

"Fine. You stay here, then I stay here. Right here." I declare strike on life with Julia.

"Whatever. You'll get bored. I can stay here all day and night." She mutters.

"Yeah.... we know." I push her hair away from her eyes, then touch her forehead. Shit. "Babe, you're burning up."

"Ok." She doesn't care. I get up and get Casey's attention.

"Casey... She's.. She has a fever."

 Both Casey and Jonah come over to see what's going on. She feels so hot. Something's wrong.

"What's going on?" Jonah leans over and feels her head. "He's right. Can you get me the thermometer?"

Casey leaves to go to his medical bag and comes back within seconds. Casey swipes the digital thermometer across Julia's forehead.

"102.2"

That's a high fever for an adult.

"Julia, what doesn't feel good?? You need to tell me." Jonah demands and sits down right near her back.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired..." She pulls the blanket up more in  hoping we will get out of her hair, but we don't budge. Instead, the nurses pester her into finally telling them she thinks she has a UTI. Jonah calls in antibiotics and then gives Julia the "This isn't a joke, needs to be treated, serious shit."

"Think I care about sepsis or how my kidneys are functioning right now, Jonah? Please." Julia sits up and is forced to start drinking water to flush out her system. Why is she acting like this? Not caring about her health or anything. I've never seen this side of her before... not like this.

"You're not going to the bathroom enough. Your body will shut down if you keep this shit up." Jonah warns, but Julia rolls her eyes, not taking any of us seriously. I walk into my room, and Casey follows me.

"This is the worst I've seen her. I don't understand what's going on. It's more than just Nate shit." I sit on my couch and look up at my nurse.

"I don't know. I follow Nate on social media. I know he doesn't post his own stuff and has people that are in charge of his accounts, but he's painting a pretty fun picture of him and Mila Giovanni together. I can't imagine being in Julia's shoes right now and feeling what she may be feeling."

"Yeah, but she.. she knows it's... fake." I stumble with my words when I start to get upset.

"You really love her, don't you, James?" Casey sits next to me now. I nod, giving up on trying to talk. I get like this whenever I get worked up, and it's embarrassing.

"So in a way... you probably feel like Julia  when she's with Nate. But all the time. And it's not fake." Casey frowns.

I try not to think about it, but yes. It's hard to watch Julia with Nate. She's in love with him. She says she loves me, but I don't think she's in love with me. Then little things happen that remind us both we should be together and it sparks right back up again. Breaking my heart every time the flame dwindles down and she chooses Nate.

"We need to get you back in the dating scene, Mr. Gallo."

"Yeah.. ok, Casey. Look at me." I'm the one frowning now.

"Yeah.. I'm looking. I see a very good-looking guy. Who looks like Zac Efron and built like freaken John Cena. You're the whole package, James." She nudges me playfully.

"The whole package who can't get himself dressed or tie his own shoes. The same package who fumbles with his words."

"The same package who survived a life-threatening car accident.. was in a coma for a long time and beat all odds. Not only coming out of the coma but then learning how to speak again. James, you need to look at the walking miracle you are right now and be grateful you're not a paraplegic or brain dead. Don't you see God has given you another chance at life? I KNOW you believe in God. And I do, too. I also believe in miracles, and you're one of them, my friend." Casey hit a nerve in me, and I suddenly feel emotional.

"Aww, hey. It's ok." She wraps her arms around me and hugs me while we sit on the couch. "You just need to be reminded of the blessings you have every once in a while, right? We all do!"

I nod. I've been so ungrateful with the hand I've been dealt. It took Casey to show me how lucky I am to even be here right now.

****

*Trisha*

Apparently, Julia isn't doing well, and it's weighing on Nate now. But we have no time to go home and check on her. We have the big annual charity auction dinner tonight, and we all need to get ready.

"We have to wrap this up soon. You still need to get ready for the Charity Auction Dinner. I'm sure Mila is gonna need time to get ready as well." I look at the time. "I already have your stuff. You can shower at the studio beforehand. I figured you wouldn't want to get ready in front of Moretti."

Nate nods, but I can tell he's stuck in his own head about this. He enjoys this stuff. These are the perks of being Nate Hollan, and he should be able to enjoy them and have fun. He works so hard all the time.

"Hey. It's work. Part of the job. You're allowed to enjoy parts of it." I remind him

"Devo iniziare a preparmi." Mila looks at her watch and back up at us while walking. I shake my head, not understanding this one, so pull up my google translate.

"She said she needs to start getting ready.. For the charity dinner. I do, too, Nate. We should head out." I nod to Paul and the other two bodyguards who now escort us a little faster to the private lot where Ren is waiting. We drop Mila off at her hotel, then head to the studio. The guys let me hop in the shower first since it takes longer for me to get ready. Holly is on her way to do me up and then help Nate get ready.

****
Mila wears a long fitted dark green dress that shows off her voluptuous figure.

"Ciao!" Mila greets happily and excited for the event. Everyone greets her but Nate, and I shove him. It's not Mila's fault she's in this situation ...he needs to be nice to her.

"Hi Mila. You look beautiful." Nate says dryly and fakes a smile.

"Aww. Not a fun night tonight? For you?" She frowns.

"He's fine. He's just a jackass." I say out loud and then again in Italian, gaining a look from Nate. 

While waiting for the elevators to the ballroom, Nate completely zones out. 

"Nate....." I try to get his attention while holding the elevator door open. "You coming, or are we carrying you in?" 

The second we step out of the elevator, the cameras are on us, blinding us with their flashes, though neither Nate nor Mila are phased by it.

"You really do look beautiful, Mila." I hear Nate say to the model, and I can't help but smile. He's trying to be nice to her. I also wonder if he really is starting to fall for her. I look over at Paul, who thinks the same as me. 

Like always, Mila is quiet throughout the event. Sometimes, we use Google translate on our phones if we need to say something, but for the most part, there's nothing to say. We just fake it. The orchestra plays a slow song, and of course, everyone stands to dance with their dates.  Paul, technically being my date, makes it so we can get away with slow dancing together. Something that we have never done with each other before.

"Look at us, Hotstuff. Our first slowdance." I whisper and get a grin out of the bodyguard. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me in close. He's a good dancer. Who would have thought!

Every once in a while, I glance at Nate to make sure he's playing the part, while Paul takes it upon himself to flirt with me.

"What are you wearing under that dress?" He whispers close to my ear, and I smile a little.

"Hmm.. Why should I tell you, Paulie?"

"Because I want you real bad right now." His breath tickles my ear as he whispers, and I get goosebumps everywhere.

"Right here? On the dancefloor?" I tease.

"Oooor.....find a room. This IS a hotel you know.." Paul looks down at me seriously now. "I may or may not have booked a room for the night."

"Stop. Did you really??" I ask, and he nods.

"Sure did, hun. And just got a notification that the room is ready." He continues to slow dance with me, but I freeze when I see Nate and Mila. Paul looks over to see what I'm looking at. They've stopped dancing, and Nate is kissing her. He's kissing her. For real. I can tell.

"Shit. He's in deep." Paul says and shakes his head. The song ends, and Nate catches me looking at him, so I quickly look away. We all exit the dancefloor and go back to our table.

"Ladies' room?" Mila looks at me a little flustered. Nate points to the corner, and I sit right next to him.

"What the hell are you doing !" I whisper in his ear.

"My job."

"That was NOT your job. I could tell. That was real, Nate." I hiss.

"You're outta your mind. I need to use the bathroom." Nate gets up and heads to the restroom. Probably to find Mila. There's no stopping him when he gets that look in his eyes. He wants her. And he'll take what he wants without caring about the consequences. There's no talking him out of it either. I look up at Paul.

"I have a feeling we won't be seeing them for a while. Wanna head to your room for a bit? They'll text us when they are ready to leave."  I gaze at Paul, who knows exactly what I mean. We both know Nate like the back of our hand. He's following Mila to have his way with her. Paul nods and takes my hand, leading me to his room. As the elevator door closes, I see Nate holding Mila's hand, waiting for the elevators down the hall. She's taking him to her room. They don't see us, and we pretend not to see them.

While Nate has sex with the 23 year old Italian model, Mila Giovanni, I have sex with the 45 year old well known bodyguard Paul Rossi.

Only difference - I'm not hurting anyone. Nate.... Nate is pushing Julia right off that balcony ledge.

He better NEVER tell Julia what he's done tonight.