Something Real

by Nellie Christine

  Next, it was back to the meetings. This meeting would be fun, because in this one, he’d have to pretend that he was simply in a manager/client relationship with Grayson Paul who he was also currently in a weird place with, romance-wise.

  He walked into the room and was earlier than Grayson. That part shocked him, but then again, he realized that Grayson did have a long day ahead of him planning all of this. He was probably busy running all over the place.

  Elijah shook hands with the woman from artist development, Ginger West, his new publicist who Grayson had apparently hired, Anthony Redmond, and Thad from marketing. Elijah couldn’t remember Thad’s last name. If he could be honest, he didn’t give a shit.

  They all welcomed him to the label and they enjoyed small talk over lukewarm coffee and Dunkin Donuts. It was weird having a team that was responsible for helping him become a star. Elijah was going to have to get used to that.

  Grayson walked in eight minutes later, apologizing for his lateness. He shook hands with everyone first and then smiled at Elijah before sitting beside him. The smile was promising, and Elijah made note of how Grayson slid his chair closer to him which wasn’t necessary. The seats were pretty close as it was. It made him… hopeful.

  Then he listened to the conversation at hand.

  “I will be handling all promotional tweets,” his publicist said. Apparently he was the same publicist that The Pretty Committee and Minx the Rapper would now have, and he worked with other celebrities as well. “But, Elijah can feel free to post messages to fans thanking them or anything else that would shed a positive light on him and his brand. I highly recommend not following fans to DM them or hookup.”

  Grayson smirked, glancing over at Elijah. Elijah nodded.

  “I’ll try my best.”

  The meeting carried on for forty more minutes like this, before finally, he was being shown some sort of video on what it means to be in the spotlight. Elijah tried not to roll his eyes. If this is what it meant, then he’d probably ask for his job back at the mailroom. At least there were no boring trainings at the law firm.

  They concluded the meeting and Grayson checked his watch as the two of them stepped out of the conference room. Elijah hoped that maybe they’d be able to talk before going their separate ways again, but with how busy Grayson was, he understood.

  “It’s almost four,” Grayson said before taking a deep breath. He looked exhausted already. “I really should get down to the park and make sure things are running smoothly.”

  “Isa is there, isn’t she?” Elijah asked.

  He smiled. “I sure as hell hope so. Doesn’t mean I want to make her do everything. Wouldn’t really be my show if that were the case.”

  Elijah nodded. “You’re right.”

  Grayson waved to a couple people from marketing as they walked by. He waited for them to distance themselves and then turned to Elijah.

  “I know you’ve got to get to your meet-up with the girls and all…”

  Elijah nodded. He and The Pretty Committee were supposed to make an appearance at a children’s hospital beforehand for pictures and to hand over a check from Harvey Paul.

  Because this was the type of shit Elijah did for a date nowadays.

  “Yeah. I should probably go down to the van before our new publicist has something to say,” Elijah said.

  Grayson smiled. “Probably. If you come to the park early, you can sit at the piano and I’ll play you something this time.”

  Elijah laughed, tightening his hands around his water bottle. “Is that so?”

  “I wish,” Grayson told him. “There will be way too many witnesses and my dad would punch me in the back of the head. But we can talk. I think we seriously need to talk.”

  Elijah agreed. He started to put his coat on as they approached the elevator.

  “Walk down with me?”

  Grayson smiled. “Of course.”

  The two arrived out front of the building and Grayson waved hello to The Pretty Committee who he hadn’t gotten the chance to see all day. He told them he’d see them at the show soon and turned to Elijah, smiling as he told him not to get into any trouble at the children’s hospital. Elijah promised he wouldn’t.

  Grayson made his way down the block, hoping to get a cup of coffee before his insanely hectic day continued. He couldn’t help but think about how lucky he was that things weren’t weird between him and Elijah, even though the two of them hadn’t really spoken. That was a good thing. It meant that they knew the things they said were spews of in-the-moment nonsense that they’d have to apologize for and move past. Grayson knew he didn’t mean the things he said. He just wanted the day to be the success he envisioned, and for him and his boyfriend to celebrate the way they should’ve the night before.

  Symphony Café was too far away, so he decided to stop at a little Starbucks on the end of the block. Despite it always being crowded, it was probably the best choice right now. As soon as Grayson was about to reach for the door, he felt a hand grab his arm. He turned around, curious as to who it was, only to find Stephen standing there with a hopeful look on his face.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me, Stephen.”

  “Give me five minutes,” he answered. “Five minutes for closure, and I promise I’ll leave you alone for the rest of your life.”

  Oscar had done a number to his jaw. The least Grayson could do was give him five minutes, hopefully tell him off like he’d always wanted to, and then send him on his merry way. He sighed, looked up at the sky, and forced himself to get this over with.

  “Five minutes,” Grayson told him. Stephen smiled, about to move closer when Grayson spoke again. “BUT. In this five minutes, you will not touch me, nor will you ask me to take you back, because both of those will result in me walking the fuck away from you.”

  Elijah glanced down the block as his publicist shouted at the driver to hurry up. He could clearly see Grayson and Stephen at the end of the block talking, and Stephen gesturing that the two walk off together.

  Grayson followed him.

  Elijah got into the vehicle. He shook his head, not even sure what to think. What he did know was that if Grayson wanted to play this game with his ex, he didn’t need to include him in it.

  ∞

  Stephen walked them to a pub on 6th Avenue. Grayson had never been there before. He didn’t think he’d been at any bar this early in the day, but happy hour would begin soon, and the place would fill up.

  He took a seat at the bar beside Stephen and asked for a coffee. The woman taking orders smiled at him.

  “He likes it light and sweet,” Stephen said, smiling at Grayson.

  Grayson rubbed his temple before turning to look at him. “You technically have two minutes left so I suggest you get to the point.”

  Stephen sighed. “I realize that I made a big scene at your party last night and that was never my intention.”

  Grayson tried not to roll his eyes. “You could’ve fooled me.”

  “I’m being honest,” he told him; his blue eyes set on Grayson’s face. “Oscar was the one who started everything, if we can be real with one another.”

  Grayson thanked the bartender as she placed the coffee in front of him. “If Oscar didn’t hit you, my boyfriend would’ve. Be happy that it wasn’t the both of them.”

  Stephen seemed taken aback by the term ‘boyfriend.’ “So you two are still together?”

  “No thanks to you,” Grayson informed him. “Listen. We had our time together. It was good when it was good, and it was terrible at other times. But Stephen, you taught me a lot, and for that, I’m grateful.”

  Stephen picked up his beer and shook his head. “I just wanted you to know… Drew and I weren’t involved.”

  “I really don’t care.”

  “No,” Stephen continued. “You and Oscar and whomever else seem to think that he and I were like in a full-fledged relationship while I was still with you. That didn’t happen. We – We did what we did a few times, but as
soon as I realized my mistakes, I told him we couldn’t be friends anymore.”

  Grayson nodded, sipping slowly from his coffee. “I’m sorry your fuck-ups ruined what seemed to be a nice, long friendship.”

  “Me too,” Stephen said. He looked over at him and took a deep breath. “You’re doing really well for yourself. This show you’ve got going on –”

  “Before you continue, you aren’t invited tonight.”

  Stephen nodded. “I figured as much.”

  Grayson looked at him. “I hate to be this guy, but I’m serious. I really do wish you the best, but the best isn’t here with me. I’m happy with Elijah, whatever it is that we’re making, and my happiness – in no stretch of the word – involves you. I hope you understand that.”

  Stephen looked away, but he did nod. “I did say I’d leave you be if you spoke to me, and I meant that.”

  “Okay.” Grayson took another sip. “And I really hope you find your happiness. I’m not joking when I say that I wish you the best.”

  He watched as his ex finished what was left in his cup in one swig. Grayson sighed.

  “I hope I do too,” Stephen said with a smile. He looked down at his watch and stood up. “It looks like I went a little over our five minutes. I’m sorry.”

  Grayson acknowledged that he needed to get downtown and quick. He stood up as well and put a twenty on the bar. The woman looked at him like he was crazy when he said he didn’t want change.

  He liked when people didn’t know he was the son of Harvey Paul.

  Stephen paid for his things and followed behind him. “Best of luck,” he told him. “And I’m sorry about last night.”

  Grayson stepped out into busy Midtown Manhattan and waved down a taxi. “That happened and it’s over. Goodbye, Stephen.”

  Stephen waved goodbye.

  ∞

  “Oh my god,” Elijah said with a laugh as he walked into Washington Square Park.

  It was really dark in the sky, despite it only being 7 in the evening. Fans were handing in their gifts and being ushered over to where the show was. Elijah walked over to his family and hugged them all one-by-one, incredibly surprised to see his father there. His father hated the city the way that Elijah hated Long Island.

  He picked Lily up and kissed her on the cheek as Josie kept taking pictures of him. If Elijah felt like shit before, he felt better now.

  “I can’t believe you got Mom and Dad here,” he told his sister, hugging her again for good measure.

  His mother looked so happy that Elijah almost started crying. His parents had never looked this happy because of him.

  It sucked that he’d have to tell them he wasn’t signing this contract, he guessed.

  “You know they wouldn’t miss this for the world,” she said.

  Lily looked like she was trying to go to sleep, and Elijah wasn’t having it. He kissed her four more times on the face and smirked when she tried nudging him away, only she was super stiff in all the layers she was wearing. “Make sure you wake her up for my set? I think I go on at 8:45.”

  Mark walked over and started hugging Elijah’s parents. He smiled at his friend as Josie spoke.

  “I hope you don’t think she’s missing the Pretty Committee.”

  Elijah laughed. “True.”

  “Are you going to tell me what happened with Fallon?” Josie asked her brother.

  He rolled his eyes as soon as the name left her lips.

  “I don’t know anyone named Fallon,” he answered.

  Josie looked at Mark. He shook his head.

  “Unfortunately, neither do I,” Mark added.

  Elijah glanced over at the piano in Washington Square and saw Grayson standing there. He was smiling, almost like he hadn’t just been with Stephen a matter of hours ago. Elijah had been thinking about the two of them since he saw them together – where they went, what they did. He wondered if Stephen got Grayson to realize that he was more his type – guys with money and brains and whatever the fuck else Stephen had going for him. He passed Lily over to Mark and told his family he’d be right back.

  Edwin turned to watch him go. “What time does this thing start?” he asked. “I’m freezing my balls off out here.”

  “Edwin!” Juanita scolded.

  Mark looked over at Josie, smiling as she shook her head.

  “So where’s your gal?” she asked.

  “She’s on her way,” Mark said with the widest grin she’d ever seen.

  Josie laughed.

  ∞

  Grayson licked his lips as he saw Elijah walking over. He had to remember to be as professional as possible, despite Elijah walking towards him looking the way that did. His boyfriend was in a black and grey leather letterman jacket over a dark hooded sweatshirt, and blue jeans that were calling Grayson to pop the button open. God, he did the badboy look so well. He was going to tell his father to give the wardrobe department a lovely Christmas bonus.

  He rubbed his palms together, trying to think of something to distract him from his dirty, dirty thoughts. Literally nothing helped.

  Elijah stopped in front of him. “So, how was your date with Stephen?”

  Oh. That helped.

  Grayson’s face dropped. He opened his mouth to speak when Elijah continued.

  “I never thought I’d have to say this after last night, but maybe Fallon was right. Maybe the both of you were, and all the bullshit I’ve given people is just coming back to bite me in the ass.”

  Grayson looked around. He nodded. “Are you done, Elijah?”

  “No,” he said. “Tell me how your date went. I want details, because I’ve been making up scenarios in my head for the past few hours.”

  Grayson nodded. “Well you were wasting your time –”

  “Tell me about it!” Elijah damn-near shouted. “I’ve been wasting my time for two weeks now, thinking about you, and how incredible you are, only for YOU to break MY heart instead of the opposite, like what everyone assumed would happen. I guess I had this coming, didn’t I? I mean, I was the idiot who broke all of my rules for you.”

  Grayson tried his hardest not to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. Elijah looked like he was about to explode, but before he could go off on an even longer tangent, Grayson pulled him forward by the drawstrings of his hoodie and their mouths found each other’s seamlessly.

  Mark smiled, making sure Elijah’s family saw exactly what was going on. Juanita didn’t even know who Grayson was, but she was happy he was finally ‘settling down.’

  “I ship it too,” Mark whispered to Lily. She smiled at him, despite being in the process of going back to sleep.

  Elijah pulled back with a shocked look on his face. He wasn’t really sure why that just happened, but he knew it was fucking fantastic. He also knew he was supposed to be furious, but it was really hard to be mad right now.

  “What was that for?” he asked.

  “Mostly to shut you up,” Grayson started. “But also because I really wanted to kiss my boyfriend.”

  Elijah stared at him. He glanced around, and sure enough there were people staring. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  Grayson couldn’t find it inside himself to care. “Stephen asked me for five minutes, and although he doesn’t deserve five seconds more than he’s already been given, I gave it to him.” He pressed a few keys on the piano and shrugged. “He understands that it’s you that I’m with and that it’s you that I want, and he’s accepting that.”

  Elijah licked his lips and looked at Grayson, still pretty unsure of himself. “You told him that?”

  Grayson nodded. He looked around at the crew making finalizations on the set and watched The Pretty Committee walk into their trailer. “I am sorry that you saw me with him and assumed the worst, but Stephen means nothing to me, Eli. He hasn’t for a long time. I’m also sorry about the things I said last night. I don’t think you’re anything like the person you were before we got together. I don’t blame you for what went wrong between Stephen
and me. Whatever happened was because he and I couldn’t fix our shit, not because of you.”

  Elijah took a deep breath. “I was about to tell you that I didn’t want to extend my contract because I thought you were having lunch with him or something.”

  Grayson shook his head. “I’m sorry that it looked that way, but that wasn’t the case at all.”

  Elijah glanced around at the fans who were still watching them and smirked. “As long as you know you outed us to the whole internet just now with that kiss.”

  Grayson definitely hadn’t meant to, but the deed had been done. He looked around at all the people cheering him on and smiled, shaking his head. “Well I guess since the cat’s out the bag…”

  “Kiss me again?”

  Grayson laughed, moving in for another kiss. There were a lot more wolf whistles this time around and Elijah held him tighter as they deepened it. Once his dad found out, he knew he’d be a dead man. But hey, artist or not, at least he’d have Elijah.

  Chapter 22

  The show was everything Grayson hoped for and then some.

  He got to meet a bunch of parents who thanked him for what he was doing. He met a bunch of kids who were glad that they could help out, buying a toy for someone less fortunate. Grayson knew for sure this would be an annual thing, whether or not his father would bite his head off when he got wind of all the photos and videos of him kissing his client flooding Twitter, Instagram, and everywhere right now.

  Oscar and Eleanor were cuddled up as they enjoyed the first half of The Pretty Committee’s set. Grayson smiled at them from where he stood with Elijah’s family. Of course Oscar was fanboy #1 with no shame.

  And yeah. That was right. Grayson was with his boyfriend’s parents and his older sister, holding Lily as the baby girl watched the performance; binky in mouth. Juanita wouldn’t stop talking to him. She really liked Grayson. Edwin was disinterested at first, but he seemed to warm up to Grayson when he told him he’d take him to a sports bar afterwards to see the end of the Islanders game.

  Suddenly, he was Edwin’s BFF.

  Allison had arrived about twenty minutes into the show, and she and Mark were too adorable for words. Mark was more anxious than anyone, Grayson thought, and it was cute. It was good that Elijah had someone like that in his corner after the fallout that happened with Fallon. Despite what she had done, Grayson hoped that the two could at least be on speaking terms once more.