ONLY ON CAMERA | JUDE BELLINGHAM

028.

— CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
❝I FUCKED UP.❞

— JUDE —

MY HEADS all jumbled with thoughts as I walk into the building towards mikes office. I don't know what to think or how to feel. But I have to admit I feel bad.

Mike greets me with a smile as I sit down at the table. Clothes are all wet because of the rain. Throat hurts because of how much I was just shouting at Harmony. Heart feels heavy.

"Jude? You alright?" Mike asks

I nod. Not answering.

"Harmony said she came here to give you proof. Is there proof?" I ask eagerly. I need to know.

I don't trust easily. So I need to know if she's telling the truth or not. If my intuition was right or if I was completely wrong and judged too quickly. I have a feeling it's the second option.

"Yeah. She found out who did it. Her and Aaliyah." Mike tells me.

"Oh." I look down at my feet. She did actually have proof.

"Um...who was it?" I ask quietly.

"This random man from a club you guys went to. Harmony explained that you three got into an altercation. He made up a rumour and went to the papers basically." Mike explains.

"Oh." I swallow looking down.

"I've already worked with your Pr team. The articles been removed and they are writing a retraction statement and an apology that will be published tomorrow." Mike adds

"Good. That's...good." My eyes don't meet mikes. Too ashamed to. Can't believe I did this. I fucked up. Really bad. How can I not believe her? How did it take me this long to believe her? Why did I need proof just to believe her. What's wrong with me?

"You need to apologise to her." Mike advises

I finally look up and meet his eyes. "Yeah. I do."

I rub my face. Look out of the window at the rain falling. I've really done it this time. My stupid trust issues ruined my friendship with Harmony. One that took so long to build. One that I value. One that I love.

She didn't deserve what I said to her. Not one word. It was mean. It was down right cruel. And I need to fix things. I need to apologise. I'll get on my knees and beg for forgiveness if I have to. So long as I can repair what I broke.

Mikes talking but I'm not listening. I'm a million miles away. Thinking about her. Our argument an hour ago running through my head. Our argument that we had two days ago running through my head.

"She's taking a few days off. So you won't be obligated to see each other for a few days. Let her have a break. It's all a bit much." Mike says which snaps me out of my thoughts. She's taking a break? A few days?

"What?" I say blinking a lot.

"She needs time away Jude. You hurt her feelings very badly." Mike looks disappointed. Makes me feel a bit shit because he's like a father figure to me. Never seen him look at me like that before even when I was causing messes for him to clean up with all my scandals, left right and centre.