.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。
—𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒, 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐀

—𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲

"So your flight is in two days," Lydia, Arabella's manager, spoke through the phone. "I'll explain everything about your incoming work when you get here. All I can say is that it's exciting."

Arabella smiled on the other end of the phone, her excitement about the new project evident. Apparently, it had been in the works for some time, and now it was finally given to her.

Arabella felt honored to work on it, but there was one tiny problem: Drew still didn't know about it.

She had been planning on telling him, but it kept getting delayed. They had both been so busy, there was never a moment to sit down and talk to each other.

Okay, maybe that was a little bit of a lie. Arabella was simply scared to tell Drew. Things had been going so well between them, and the thought of bringing up the project felt like it might ruin everything.

She knew it wasn't fair to Drew, and she couldn't ignore that.

Drew had been keeping her updated on everything. For instance, he had told her about his trip to Rome to film Queer three months in advance, keeping his side of the deal. But Arabella... hadn't done the same.

"Hello?" Lydia's voice broke through Arabella's thoughts, making her snap back to reality.

"Yes," Arabella replied urgently. "Sorry."

"It's all right. What I was saying is that you're going to be in the same building, just a different floor. Once you get to New York, we'll discuss all the details."

"Okay," Arabella exhaled, relieved. "Sounds great."

"Perfect," Lydia said cheerfully. "I'll see you soon, Belle."

"Bye, Lydia."

The line clicked, and Arabella glanced at the time—2 pm. Her eyes then drifted to the piles of paperwork on the kitchen counter. She sighed.

Drew was supposed to be gone the whole day, so the only reasonable thing to do was get all of her work done, which, for once, she did.

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。

Arabella sat on a stool near the spacious kitchen island, focused on completing some work.

The past few days had been hectic for her—juggling paperwork for her new project in New York City while keeping up with her regular workload had been stressful.

Arabella bit her lip, completely engrossed in her work, so much so that she didn't notice the front door open. It wasn't until she heard footsteps entering the kitchen that she realized Drew was home.

It was 10 pm now, she's been doing work for the past 8 hours. 

She looked up from her computer, a smile forming as relief washed over her at the sight of Drew after such a stressful day. "Hey, how was your day—"

"You want to tell me something?" Drew cut her off abruptly. His tone was sharp, a stark contrast to the usual warmth he showed her.

Arabella was taken aback by his reaction. What did he mean? Her eyebrows furrowed at the harshness in his tone. Keeping her eyes locked on Drew's, she slowly started to shut her laptop.

"Well?" Drew pressed, his voice sharp.

"What do you mean?" Arabella finally managed, her voice laced with confusion. She truly had no idea what Drew was talking about.

Drew scoffed, avoiding Arabella's gaze as he looked around the room instead. Without saying a word, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and started scrolling through it. Arabella's frown deepened as he did this.

He finally turned his phone around, holding it out for Arabella to see. Her eyes scanned the screen, and as the realization hit, she pursed her lips tightly and dropped her gaze to the kitchen counter, unable to meet his.

On Drew's phone was a tweet revealing details about Arabella's project in New York City. Someone had leaked it. Arabella's stomach sank as she stared down, her mind racing.

"Is it true?" Drew asked, his voice tight with frustration as he looked at Arabella, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know how they know that..." Arabella sighed as she shook her head slightly.

Drew let out a sarcastic chuckle. "So it is true."

Arabella felt terrible. The last place Drew should have found out about this was on Twitter. If she were in his position, she would feel the exact same way.

"I was going to tell you," Arabella tried to reason, looking up at Drew. She couldn't decipher what emotion he was feeling based on the stoic expression on his face. "I just didn't know how to."

"I don't think you understand, Belle. I'm hearing this from Twitter and not even my own girlfriend." Drew's voice was tense, and Arabella cringed at the sound of him calling her Belle—he never called her that.

Arabella stood up slowly, making her way over to Drew. "I know, and I'm sorry. We were doing so well, and I didn't want to ruin it."

Drew pursed his lips. "Do you know how humiliating it was at the read-off when Daniel told me to congratulate you on your new project, and I didn't even know what project he was talking about?" He shook his head. "It felt like I was the last to know."

Arabella winced as she absorbed Drew's words. "You weren't, baby. I was going to tell you, I promise."

"How many people knew before me?" Drew asked, his voice oddly calm, his frustration building beneath the surface.

"You're not listening to me—"

"How many people knew before me?" Drew repeated, his tone colder now. As much as it pained her to admit, it reminded her of Noah.

Arabella took a deep breath. "Just Ivy, Madison, Maddie, and Lydia."

Drew nodded, and for a moment, Arabella hoped he'd understand.

"What I'm trying to say is," Drew continued. "I want to talk to you. About everything. I want to hear about what you ate for breakfast, or what you're doing at work, even what you saw on Instagram. I don't care."

Arabella nodded, understanding where Drew was coming from. "I know, I know," she whispered.

The silence between them felt heavy, and Arabella hated it. It wasn't the comfortable silence they used to share—it was the kind where neither knew what would come next.

"Is that why you've been acting so distant recently?" Drew asked, finally breaking the quiet.

Arabella didn't answer. She just nodded shamefully, keeping her eyes focused on the ground, unable to meet his gaze.

"Okay," Drew said, his expression tight. "When do you leave?"

"In about two days," Arabella replied, looking up at him. She saw his face tighten even more, if that was even possible.

Drew let out a deep breath. "At this point, I'm contemplating if you were even going to tell me to begin with, or if you were just going to leave me in the dark again."

Arabella's demeanor shifted immediately at Drew's words. She knew he understood how much it hurt her when he brought up the past in their relationship, and this time, she wasn't going to take it.

"What did you say?" she asked, her brows furrowing as she locked eyes with Drew. There was no remorse on his face.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Drew snapped. "I'm trying my best to communicate in this relationship right now. I'm trying to mature from the problems we had earlier. It seems like you aren't, though."

Arabella fought to keep the hurt off her face. She never expected this situation to escalate like this.

"Excuse me?" Arabella scoffed. "I get it, Drew. You're upset that I didn't tell you about my project, and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. But bringing up that is just irrelevant and uncalled for."

"It's not irrelevant when that is and has been our main problem for the entirety of our relationship," Drew shot back. "It takes two people. I can't be the only one putting in work in this relationship."

Arabella stared at him in disbelief. "You're acting as if this relationship is a job." She didn't know where the words were coming from, but the anger clouded her judgment.

"I never said that." Drew groaned, dragging a hand down his face in frustration. "You're twisting my words now."

"I don't know what you want me to say anymore. I'm sorry, Drew. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you I got a project in New York City," Arabella said, the frustration in her voice clear.

"I just don't know how long distance is going to work since you're going to New York and filming for Queer is taking place in Rome in two months. Which I told you before, because, you know, I'm good at communication—"

"You're acting really childish right now, Drew," Arabella cut him off. "Because if you're bringing up the past, I can bring up how you used to be at communication."

Drew clenched his jaw, biting the inside of his cheek as he exhaled. "I think I just need to sleep on it."

Arabella shook her head. "No, I want to fix this now. I don't want to wait."

Drew ignored her protests. "I'll take the guest room. You can take our room."

"Drew." Arabella tilted her head, trying to reason with him.

"We'll talk about this later, Belle," Drew mumbled, his tone colder now, before walking out of the kitchen. Arabella let her shoulders slump.

Once he was gone, she didn't try to call after him. Instead, she stayed in the kitchen, alone with her thoughts.

Which, she knew, was never a good thing.

authors note!
Anddd they're fighting... lmk
who's side you're on?? Because
I'm conflicted!!!!

©𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞