lacy | jude bellingham

chapter 11.

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THE WEEK AFTER TYLA'S PARTY, LOUIS HAD ARRANGED A meeting to discuss how the first two months of the publicity stunt have gone. louis was seated at the head of the conference room table, while jude sat next to him and marcus and tyla opposite of them. the room was quiet, and all you could hear was the shuffling of papers as louis went through his notes.

when louis was ready to start, he cleared his throat and broke the silence. "well, thanks guys for taking the time to come today," he began. "i know the meeting wasn't supposed to be until next month, but i wanted to talk about how things are going right now—you know, what's working, what isn't, and what we can improve on."

louis turned to look at jude, but he remained quiet as he stared off into space. "um, we've had some progress," louis continued. "but i think we all know this hasn't gone as smoothly as we'd hoped."

marcus leaned in now, wanting to see where this meeting was going while tyla just shrugged, not too concerned about anything. louis though, took a deep breath before continuing, because he knew that this was where things might start to get tricky.

"well i want to go over the areas where we can push forward, but also acknowledge the...challenges that we've faced," he said as he looked directly at tyla. "and maybe we can take a step back in some places."

tyla raised an eyebrow towards louis, but didn't say anything.

"okay well first off," louis continued as he turned to look at jude. "how are you feeling about everything jude? i know it's been a lot."

jude sat up slightly, uncrossing his arms. "i feel okay," he said with a sigh. "but i'm here though, right?"

louis nodded, acknowledging the vague response. "right." louis felt the tension and was about to say something else, but tyla sat up and opened her mouth first. "you know you were talking about challenges, and i've been thinking...i know exactly how to make things better."

"we need to be seen together more," she continued. "like a lot more. not just dinners or walks, but bigger events, you know something that people can't help but talk about."

jude's jaw tightened at her words, and louis could see the subtle shift in his posture. he looked uncomfortable, he has since he walked into the meeting room, though he wasn't saying anything about it.

"we should go to premiers, fashion shows, and more parties," tyla said enthusiastically. "people love to see us dressed up and being the it couple, we just need to sell the image more."

marcus, seated beside her, nodded in agreement. "she's right. the more high profile appearances you make, the better this will look." he looked towards louis, as if he was expecting him to agree with their suggestions. "we've already gotten some traction, but it's not enough yet. we need to step it up."

louis, who was now watching jude mostly, noticed how his gaze dropped to the table. he knew that he was uncomfortable, and this time he couldn't just ignore it.

"you know maybe..." louis started, trying to choose his words carefully as tyla and marcus paused, waiting for him to agree. "maybe this just isn't working."

the room fell silent for a moment. tyla blinked, surprised by his statement, while marcus just looked ready to counter.

"what do you mean?" tyla asked, confusion laced in her voice.