Reality (Linstead AU)

Chapter 84

Unsurprisingly, the first thing Erin asked Jay about when she got home that evening was how his day with Clementine had gone. Aware that what he had to say wasn't going to be what she was expecting, he gave her a summary of most of what they had talked about, neglecting to mention the marriage stuff.

"So, we didn't get onto talking about her character changes at all," he confessed. "That's on me. Although, you don't seem annoyed."

"I'm not," Erin said. They had settled down together on one of the couches in the living room, while Kayla busied herself in the kitchen fixing their dinner. "Talking about the character changes was one of the objectives. Another was to establish yourself as Clem's agent and producer. You've clearly done that, so I'm pleased. It sounds like you had pretty deep conversations, so on a personal note, I'm very proud of you for that."

That meant a lot to Jay, but he didn't interrupt her.

"Professionally, you'll need to find another time to get together with her and talk about the character and creative direction. You need to do that, and soon. Can I leave you to organise it?"

"Way ahead of you on that," he said with a smile, happy to be presented with a perfect segue to the other thing he had omitted from his summary. "Clem invited me down to their place. We'd talk business, have dinner, I'd stay the night there, then fly home the next day."

Erin looked surprised, in a good way. "And you agreed to that?"

"I did," he was pleased to say. "Shame you can't come down too. We could even try and get Raquel and Z in on it too. Clem and Alexa live in Orlando, and so do they."

"It wouldn't be right for me to socialise with Clem and Alexa. You already know the awkward position being friends with Z and Raquel puts me in."

Jay's newfound confidence reared its head. "I think maybe you could relax a bit on that."

"Sorry?" Erin asked, surprised more by the fact that he had challenged her than what he had actually said.

"The whole thing with you not wanting to socialise with employees. I think you imagine people being more bothered about it than they actually are. I'd like it if we spent more time together with Raquel and Z. I'm sure they would too. Anyway, who cares if a few people are a bit bent out of shape over it? You're the boss for God's sake."

"I'll give it some thought," Erin promised, sounding impressed with his counter-argument.

While the going was good, Jay pressed ahead. "Also, hearing Clem talk about how happy she is with Alexa today made me think that we really should get to planning our wedding. We keep talking about it but not doing it. I know we agreed we'd get married at your dad's place, in his garden, so that means we'll want to wait for summer weather. That doesn't stop us planning it all now."

Erin moved closer to him, put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him. "What's happened the past few days? It's like a new Jay. New and improved."

"I'm feeling good," he said simply, downplaying it.

"I can tell. And you know what? I'm going to listen to you. At some point in the next few weeks, we'll both go stay with Raquel and Z for a couple days. Assuming they want to invite us obviously. And we'll sit down next time we have a full day at home together and start wedding planning. Definitely, this time."

"That's great," he said happily. "And of course they'll want to invite us. I'll catch up with them at the next event and mention it."

"Okay. Love you," she said, and Jay could tell that somehow she meant it even more than ever.

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The one negative that had been on Jay's mind over the past few days had been lingering there since the day he had spent with Clementine. It was the feeling that he hadn't been as much of a friend to Raquel as she had been to him. It made him feel guilty in a way that he never had before – in a way providing evidence of his self-improvement. Now he was better able to take Raquel's feelings into account and consider what she might need from him. He was determined that today was the day he was going to start living up to his end of their friendship.