“I’m fine,” Wes protested as Adele unlocked the door to her apartment. “Honestly, I just want to go home and drink myself into a coma.”
          “No, you want to go back to the bar, yell at your girlfriend and punch that bloke she was pashing,” Adele scorned. “If I believed you’d just go home and drink I’d let you.”
          “How can you prove I won’t go home and devour the bottle of brandy I keep for medical emergencies?”
          “You said you wanted to pay the cab driver to run them down in the car park.”
          “Do you blame me?”
          “I worry what you might be like with that bottle of brandy in you.”
          “What are you, my mother?”
          “How can you prove I’m not?” Adele chided causing Wes to finally stop pacing her living room floor.
          “You think this is funny?”
          “Of course I don’t,” Adele sighed. “But you’ve got to chill before you burst a kidney.”
          Wes let out a whine and slumped onto the couch. “I should dump her on national television.”
          “Oh yeah,” Adele teased as she disappeared into the kitchen. “That’d be mature.”
          “You have a better idea?” Wes huffed as Adele returned. She sat beside him on the couch, passed him a spoon and opened a tub of chocolate fudge ice cream. “Binge eating?”
          “Trust me, this is a much better way to deal with heartache,” Adele assure him. They ate in silence for a while, the ice cream seeming to calm Wes.
          “I can’t believe she did that,” he announced quietly. “She never, I mean there was never any indication that she wasn’t happy.”
          “There never is.”
          “It’s not fair,” Wes sighed as Adele reached over and squeezed his shoulder.
          “I know.”
          “What am I supposed to do?”
          “Eat more ice cream.”
          Wes looked at Adele like she was crazy. “I mean about Kate.”
          “I don’t know,” Adele shrugged. “What do you want to do?”
          “I wanted us to get hitched, have kids and buy a house in the suburbs.”
          “So tell her that.”
          “What’s the point?”
          “Oh come on, you’re not even gonna fight for her?”
          “I don’t think I want to.”
          “I thought you loved her.”
          “I do,” Wes breathed. “It wouldn’t hurt so much if I didn’t.”
          “Oh aren’t you just in touch with your feelings.”
          “Forget it,” Wes huffed, getting to his feet. “You just think this is funny.”
          “Wes,” Adele called jumping up. “I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”
          “I don’t want mood lightening,” Wes pleaded. “I just, fuck, just help me.”
          Adele let out a long breath. “Fine, from what I’ve seen in the last five minutes she doesn’t deserve you. I mean to go out in public and flaunt another lover like that is just fucking rude. End it, move on and don’t ever sink to her level.”
          Wes blinked a moment. “Shit, you’re good.”
          “I watch a lot of Oprah.”
          “She’s a goddess.”
          “A hub of wisdom.”
          “Yeah,” Wes nodded. He ran his fingers through his hair. “You intrigue me you know.”
          “And how do I do that?” Adele asked, sitting herself back on the couch.
          “Well,” Wes began as he sat down again and picked up his spoon. “It’s weird but we’ve instantly clicked and I feel like I know everything and nothing about you.”
          “Oh? You’d like me to give you a run down of my love life?”
          Wes ate a mouthful of ice cream. “No, just your biggest heartbreak. The one that’s defined who you are now.”
          Adele was taken back a moment, she ate several mouthfuls of ice cream before saying anything. “His name was Matt, we were together five years.”
          “Was he a journalist?”
          “No, he was a copywriter,” Adele breathed. “He proposed to me on Christmas Eve, we planned to marry in spring. Three days before our nuptials he disappeared. He sent me an email on our wedding day. Turns out his was in Thailand and had wed a waitress called Ling.”
          “Ouch.”
          “Yeah ouch.”
          “Did you ever see him again?”
          “About a year later with their new baby daughter Tahnee.”
          “See now I get you,” Wes nodded slowly.
          “How fabulous for you.”
          They both let out long sighs. “The ice cream isn’t working,” Wes declared poking his spoon into the chocolate fudge. He heard a sniff from Adele an realised she was crying. “Hey I’m supposed to be the miserable one.”
          “Sorry,” she said wetly.
          Wes moved the ice cream and pulled her into a hug. Adele stiffened, not used to the physical contact and then relaxed. She moved her arms around him, deciding through her sad haze that he probably needed a hug too. “Sorry I made you bring that up.”
          “It’s ok,” Adele sniffed. “Sorry your girlfriend turned out to be a wench.”
          “So am I.”
          They gave sad laughs and sat in silence for a few moments. Adele forced herself to disentangle herself. “I think I’m exhausted.”
          “I blame the ice cream,” Wes smiled. “I should go.”
          “Ah it’s late,” Adele breathed, getting to her feet. “You might as well crash here.”
          “Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out.”
          “I insist,” Adele smiled. “Besides, I still don’t trust you to not go back to the bar and punch that guy.”
          “I’m sure he would flatten me anyway,” Wes chuckled and watched Adele disappear from the room. She returned with a pillow and a heavy, faux mink blanket. “Ohh kinky.”
          “Oh hush,” Adele teased, dropping the items on the couch and snatching up the abandoned ice cream and spoons. As she dealt with things in the kitchen Adele looked out to see Wes undressing. She hadn’t had a man remove his clothing in her living room for quite some time and couldn’t help but enjoy it.
          “Want me to flex or something?” Wes chided, jolting Adele back to her senses. She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
          “Sorry.”
          “It’s ok, I’m not offended,” Wes grinned. “Hey, are you opposed to me playing this story up to Kate?”
          “Yes,” Adele scorned as she sauntered back into the room. “You’re going to deal with things as a mature adult.”
          “You ruin all my fun,” Wes huffed, wrapping himself in the faux mink blanket. He watched Adele go into her room, waited a few seconds and then crept over to the slightly open door. There was a contented looking cat sitting on the bed that he assumed was Frank. Adele stopped to stroke his fur before beginning to undress. With each item of work wear that she removed, Wes decided Adele transformed, especially when she let her hair fall around her shoulders. “Wow.”
          Adele’s eyes shot to the door. “WES!”
          “Shit.”
          Adele grabbed her robe and stormed over to the door. “What the hell are you…”
          “I can explain…”
          “You pervy little shit.”
          “Oh and you weren’t looking earlier.”
          “Don’t change the subject.”
          “You should be happy, I think you look hot,” Wes declared. “You should be more relaxed at work instead of so intense and formal.”
          “I don’t know whether to hit you or thank you,” Adele frowned, pulling her robe a little tighter around herself.
          “I’d prefer it if you didn’t hit me,” Wes chided. “I just wanted to check there was a sexual being under your navy power suit and…” he gave a low guttural growl. “Well quite frankly I’m stunned you’re single.” He lifted his nose in the air and padded back to the couch where he readjusted his faux mink blanket and got comfortable.
          “O-K,” Adele said under her breath and went back to getting ready for bed.

          “Your cat watched me shower this morning,” Wes declared as he and Adele arrived at work. “He refused to get out of the bathroom.”
          “Yeah, he can be a little over protective,” Adele chided.
          “He’s a cat!”
          “Yeah, yeah…”
          “Miss Brodie.” Adele and Wes stopped and saw Harry Eastman standing there looking vaguely shocked.
          “Hi Harry,” Adele smiled.
          “Can we have a word?”
          “Sure,” Adele nodded. “Talk to you later,” she said, giving Wes a playful push.
          “Oh I know when I’m not wanted,” Wes teased. “Bye Easty,” he added, slapping Harry Eastman on the back.
          Adele giggled all the way into Harry’s dressing room. “So, what’s the problem?”
          “Are you dating him?” Harry asked abruptly.
          “Oh, that one came right outta left field,” Adele said, slightly stunned.
          “Are you?”
          “No, why?”
          Harry swallowed. “No reason.”
          “O-K.”
          “I have some questions for you to look over,” he said distractedly and handed her a piece of paper. “Are you interested in him?”
          “What? Oh Wes,” Adele laughed. “Nah, he’s got a girlfriend. Well, he might not have for much longer as she’s a bit of slapper.”
          Harry seemed to relax a little. “Right, ah look over those questions. I’ve ah, got a few things to do.”
          “Sure,” Adele mused and watched Harry leave, his mind obviously elsewhere. “Strange man.”

          Wes slipped out of filming early at lunchtime and hurried to a nearby café where he’d organised to meet Kate. He fingered the well-used salt and pepper shakers, poked the laminated menu and generally mooched about until Kate appeared. She was 20 minutes late but look sensational. Her long hair was hanging limply over her shoulders, which were exposed by her strapless top and her tanned skin made Wes reminisce about every inch of it that he knew.
          “Hey baby,” Kate cooed as she slid into the seat opposite him. She leaned across the table to plant a kiss on his lips and he couldn’t force himself to push her away.
          “Hey,” Wes swallowed. “You look gorgeous,” he added and cursed himself for being so weak.
          “Aw, thankyou baby,” Kate beamed. “So, are we ordering lunch?”
          “Actually,” Wes paused and swallowed. He remembered Adele’s words and pushed his weakening resolve to the back of his mind. “We need to talk?”
          “About what?” Kate asked and Wes felt her legs brush against his.
          “Last night I went to the bar after work.”
          “Oh, which bar?”
          “You know which bar.”
          “There’s lots of bars honey.”
          Wes counted back from ten, willing his desire to push the table over and call her a whore to go away. “Katie, I saw you orally pleasuring another man.”
          “Excuse me?”
          “You were kissing another guy and don’t lie to me because I have witnesses.”
          Kate’s eyes widened before she looked down at her hands; her knuckles were white. “I’m sorry.”
          “What? That’s it?”
          “No.”
          “So tell me,” Wes begged. “How well do you know this guy?”
          “Quite well,” Kate winced. “Oh Wes, I was going to tell you.”
          “T…tell me?” Wes gasped. “Tell me what?”
          “Your career is doing so well, I’m so proud of you,” Kate breathed and reached out to take his hands in hers. “But I think we’ve grown apart, we want different things and…”
          “Wait, you mean this wasn’t just a drunken pash!” Wes gasped and pulled his hands back. “You’ve been seeing this bloke for a while?”
          “It just kinda happened…”
          Wes sat there speechless a moment. “Fuck, I always thought we’d get married, have kids, all of that.”
          “Oh Wes, it was never gonna happen,” Kate sighed and got to her feet. “I’ll move my stuff out before you get home.”
          “There’s no rush,” Wes mumbled as Kate stopped to drop a kiss on his cheek and left.
          “Do you want to order sir?” a perky young waitress asked, sidling up with her notepad and pencil.
          “What?” Wes breathed getting to his feet. “No,” he added and hurried into the restrooms. He paced the room, not sure how to express what he was feeling. Eventually he lunged at the condom dispenser and hit it until he was out of breath and could only let out a frustrated cry.
          Adele had been forced into another strange and uncomfortable meeting with Harry Eastman where he sat in silence as she looked over a few questions, none of which needed changing. She was relieved when Barry finally appeared and dragged Harry off to a lunch meeting. There wasn’t much time left by then, so Adele had grabbed a muffin from the cafeteria and was heading back to Harry’s dressing room to eat it when Wes appeared.
          “Hey how’d lunch go?” she mused. “I’ve only just escaped bloody Harry.”
          “I hurt my hands,” Wes declared and showed off the cuts he’d acquired from beating the living daylights out of the condom machine.
          “How’d you do that?”
          “The rubber dispenser looked at me funny.”
          “Things not good then?”
          “She should be moved out before I get home.”
          “Ouch.”
          “Yeah ouch,” Wes breathed. “Apparently we want different things. For her that’s a man who can reach her intestines with his tongue.”
          “Poor Wes,” Adele breathed and gently coaxed him into a hug.
          “I think I might need more ice cream,” Wes breathed into her shoulder, not wanting to let go just yet.
          “Ice cream?” Adele chided. “More like a bottle or seven of something very alcoholic.”
          “I thought I was being mature.”
          “You picked a fight with a condom machine.”
          “It was asking for it,” Wes said half-heartedly as he pulled away. “I really don’t want to go home tonight.”
          “I know,” Adele soothed. “You can crash on my couch again. So long as you don’t start perving on me like last night.”
          “I’m a broken man,” Wes chided. “As if I would.”
          “Oh and you weren’t a little broken last night…” Adele teased as Harry appeared looking annoyed.
          “Miss Brodie,” he announced curtly. “With me.”
          “Coming Harry,” Adele sighed. “We’ll talk later,” she added, gave Wes’s arm a gentle squeeze and scurried off after Harry Eastman.
          Adele caught up with Harry in the boardroom. There was a smattering of writers hunched over notebooks and she assumed an afternoon meeting was on the agenda. “Is there a problem?”
          “You mean aside from one of those ghastly rags printing horrendous paparazzi shots of yours truly with fabrications about drinking problems and anti-social behaviour?” Harry spat bitterly as he thrust a clipboard into Adele’s hands. “I’d like a final check on my questions,” he added and then marched out of the room.
          Adele let out a heavy sigh; she was sick of looking at his damn questions and was getting tired of Harry’s bizarre mood wings. She started looking over the questions, stopping only to flip over the first page. The next page wasn’t more questions however; it was a note to her:

          Miss Brodie,
          I for one am pleased you have become the latest addition to my show. I appreciate the work you do, more than you can possibly imagine
          I would be honoured if you would accompany me to dinner tonight as a thankyou for all your hard work. I would also hope we could get to know each other better.
          Yours truly,
          Harry

          Below the message was the address of the restaurant and the time to be there. Adele sat there stunned a moment and then nervously looked around the room to make sure no one had seen her read the note. Of course no one had, so she read it again.
          Adele sat through the afternoon meeting in a stunned silence. She didn’t hear a word that was said and only glanced up briefly to look at Harry who looked away from her embarrassed like a teenager. When the meeting finished she was first out of the room and hurried straight into the restrooms where she locked herself in a cubicle. Adele lowered the seat, sat down and unfolded the note from Harry. Her eyes read the words over and over, trying to read in between them to understand why he had asked her to dinner. The more she read, the more evident it became that she desperately wanted to go. Although she really couldn’t pinpoint why as there were numerous things that made the proposition attractive. It could by all means be very good for her career, the prospect of being spoiled absurdly and the idea that perhaps it might cheer the man up.
          Taking several deep breaths with the decision clearly made, Adele unlocked the cubicle door and headed back into the corridor. She checked her watch and was pleased to see that if she left straight away there would be plenty of time for her to change and get to the restaurant.
          “Del!”
          Adele turned to see Wes idling up the corridor. “Wes.”
          “Are you busy?”
          “Super busy.”
          “Oh.”
          He looked crestfallen and Adele felt a stab of guilt and gave his arm a squeeze. “We’ll catch up after the show and talk until dawn about how Kate has broken you ok?”
          “Sorry,” Wes breathed. “It’s just, you can’t talk to guys about this kinda stuff.”
          “Unless they’re gay,” Adele countered.
          “You don’t know my gay friends,” Wes half-heartedly joked. “They’d just say they always thought she was a wench and then try and grope me.”
          “Nice friends.”
          “Yeah.”
          Adele checked her watch again. “I’ve really got to go,” she frowned. “We’ll talk later,” she added and hurried for the exit.
          Wes let out a heavy sigh and dropped his head to look at his feet. “But I really need to talk.”
         
 
 

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