At 10:00 a.m., a room full of reporters sit patiently waiting for the press conference to begin.

USA Today, People Magazine, E! Entertainment, US weekly, Newsweek, AP News, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, BBC News, Access Hollywood... Just to name a few.

****12 Hours Earlier*****

*Trisha*

"Stop pacing and focus!" Nate is driving me flipping crazy with his pacing back and forth, and I'm starting to get tired and aggravated now. We've been trying to finalize the notes for the press conference in the morning since Nate- oh so kindly- sprung the news on me last night like this. He needs to provide a statement in his own words for Elliott by midnight.

Jonah, being the night owl that he is, is also helping us with the wording of some of the quotes. Once Paul knew I was in for the night, he went to bed.

"Ok, read it back to me." Nate demands for the thousandth time. I look down at the notepad on the coffee table and recite it word for word..

"First, it will be the introduction, yada yada yada. Ok, a statement was given this morning by Nate Hollan himself.

"No matter who you are, you face challenges as you grow. It is impossible to lead an honest and fulfilling life as a man and not make mistakes. When you have success and you accept the good things, you have to accept all of it. You have to accept the moments of responsibility. And that responsibility involves being a role model. At the same time, I'm a human being, and I've made a lot of mistakes. I've learned from each one. My alcohol consumption became an issue over the past two years and peaked before my heart attack. I was drinking every day. My recovery from my heart attack and then my GI surgery prompted me to take control of my health. I have successfully finished my detox at home and am now striving to continue to live a sober lifestyle. Now that my withdrawal symptoms are over, I will begin to attend Alcoholics Anonymous -"

"Whoa, stop right there, Trish." 

I knew he wasn't gonna like that part I added. But I already discussed it with Jonah while he was in his room earlier.

 "When did I say I'd be attending AA meetings??" He stops his pacing and looks at me.

"When you were handed a bottle of whiskey in a hotel and almost drank it. Fortunately for you, your amazing and beautiful personal assistant saved your life, preventing you from drinking.... THAT'S when." I meet his eyes with a smirk.

"You've GOT to be kidding me."

"Nate, you will need to follow through with AA meetings. Not only for yourself, but for your fans. You said it yourself... you are a role model. So be one. Show the general public it's ok to go to these meetings. Go public with everything." Jonah chimes in from the kitchen. He's fucking eating ...again. He's always eating, that guy.

"But, that's a flat out lie."

"Actually, you're signed up through The Avalon and start on Monday. Three times a week while here, virtual meetings while traveling." I inhale sharply, knowing he's gonna flip.

"Are you for real right now, Trisha? Way to run it by me, first." Nate falls into the chair exhausted, ready to call it a night.

"And, Jonah is going to be your official sponsor. Because he will pretty much be with you here and during your traveling as your personal nurse. So you will check in with Jonah and we will both hold you accountable." I go on while Jonah is feeding his face with pasta.

"How the hell are you not four hundred pounds??" Nate raises an eyebrow at Jonah.

"It's this or whiskey. Be happy it's this. By the way, Trish we need more milk." Jonah chuckles a little and I roll my eyes.

We finish up before midnight and submit everything to Elliott to read tomorrow morning. Everyone is exhausted. Jonah cleans up in the kitchen and heads to bed. I grab my sheets and comforter out of the hall closet and sets up my makeshift bed on the couch.

"I miss my bed." I lay down and huff. 

"Yeah, sorry. Until we get a restraining order in place for Dickhead Dave you are staying right here where you're safe." Nate leans over and kisses my forehead like I'm a little kid.. "It's been a long day, yeah?"

"Yeah." I close my eyes and wait for Nate to go in his room. Then I cry silently on how awful this day has been. If I don't qualify for a restraining order now, I don't know what I'm gonna do. Dave scared the shit out of me today. It was right back to how he was the last few months before I called off the wedding. God, if Nate ever found out how bad it got, I swear he'd kill him and end up in prison. He will NEVER find out. I don't know why I keep going back to Dave but this ends today. This is it. No more. I can't. I tear my mind away from the awful memories and focus on the positives of the day. Getting to hang out with James, continuing to somewhat enjoy our breakfast a little.

The apartment is silent. Everyone is sleeping now. Or so I thought. I can hear a little talking coming from Nate's bedroom but can only make out a few things here and there. Julia is up and sounds like Nate wants her to go back to bed. All I hear is his British accent saying, "C'mon darlin, let's go to bed." 

I close my eyes, listening to his voice, almost wishing it were me he was talking to. Because I'm fucking lonely lately and being pathetic. Nate's voice is the last thing I hear before falling asleep myself.

 *****

*James*

[Want me to bring breakfast to you? I'm grabbing a coffee and can head to the hotel]

I tiredly kick off my shoes and let Maggie out in the back yard to do her business.

[I just got home but sure. I can send you my address or we can meet somewhere if you rather do that.]

I almost hope she doesn't want to meet somewhere. I'm tired from the first time back on the night shift in awhile and feeling it this morning. Plus I'm nervous for Julia. I spent half the night texting and deleting messages on what I'd say to her, knowing I wouldn't send them. But I worry about her. Today's gonna be a long day for Julia and she's not used to it.

Once Maggie is back inside I plop on the couch and she jumps up and rests her head on my lap while I pet her.

"You're so needy, you know that, ya big baby?" I lean in and kiss the pups head. What would I do without my little therapy dog? 

Just as I close my eyes someone knocks on the door and Maggie jumps up, startling me. It can't be Trisha already, there's no way. I grab on to Maggie's collar so she doesn't run out, and open the door. 

Hollan is on my front porch.

"How did you find where I live?" I glare at Nate as my dog tries to jump up to greet him. "Maggie, knock it off."

"I have my ways. Can we talk? Out here? I'm allergic to dogs."

"Yeah, whatever, Hollan." I scruff up Maggie's ear to let her know it's fine and step out onto the porch, closing the door behind me. I nod over to the rocking chairs for Nate to sit, but I stay standing and lean on the banister tiredly instead, hoping this conversation is short.

Nate drags his hands down his face and looks up at me like he doesn't want to be here anymore than I want him to be here.

"You really can't even be friends with her?"

"Is that why you're here? Because I'm not friends with your girlfriend?"  I raise my eyebrows at Hollan.  One, this is the last person I want to see after a long shift at work and two, this entire conversation is gonna end without resolve, and Nate knows it. This is a stupid waste of time.

"Listen, James. She's struggling -"

"She's always struggling, Nate. Remember? You're 'the only one who knows how to take care of her'." I remind Nate like he constantly reminded me.

"Cut the shit, Gallo. You may think it's fine to just walk away and avoid her at all costs. But she misses you. As a friend. You guys talked every single fucking day. You were..are her best friend and now you're completely ignoring her."

"She made her choice. YOU. Remember?" I stand up straighter, feeling uneasy saying that.  Nate closes his eyes and drops his head for a moment before he continues pleading his case. I don't know what anyone wants from me anymore. One minute Hollan wants me to stay the hell away from Julia and the next he's telling me to make an effort to reach out to her???

"James... Julia is so sad. She doesn't talk to me like she does you. She feels numb and cries...a lot. And then she hears fucking Trisha pretty much taking her place while she lays in bed all day and night feeling alone. How do you think that makes her feel?"

"Trisha is not taking her place. I've been friends with her for a few months now. How you're just noticing this now is beyond me. It has nothing to do with her. It has EVERYTHING to do with me not being able to be in a room with Julia without wanting to take her home with me. I'm in love with her. It's too hard to be friends without wanting to be with her. And I can't be. I'm a distraction." I say honestly now. I shouldn't have to explain myself but apparently Nate needs this reminder. I will never stop trying to win Julia's heart if I'm around her. That's a given fact.

"You're not a distraction."

"I am. She needs to focus on her health and getting through the Avalon. All I'd do is make it worse and she'd go back and forth between the two of us again. And I'm not gonna back down from wanting her. So it's easier to just walk away altogether. Don't you get it, Hollan? I will always fucking love her. Seeing her with you just tears me apart." 

"Just please, check in with her once in awhile. She misses you so much. She doesn't have anyone else. She'll never talk to me the way she does with you." Nate repeats and stands up now. "She just wants to know you even care."

"I do care. That's why I'm doing this. You don't think I've written a million texts to check in on her before deleting them?"

"Then don't delete them. Send them. Find a way to mend your friendship with her without complicating it. Because she's fucking struggling, James. you have no idea how much she's struggling." Nate ends the conversation when he see's Trisha pull up to my house. She gives me a confused look as to why the hell Hollan is here and I shrug and shake my head. I watch her get out with a tray of two coffees and a bag from the local bakery.  Paul with her, of course.  Yeah this is gonna go over well with Nate.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She cocks her head at Hollan.

"I could ask you the same thing." He shakes his head and brushes by her, clearly pissed off that she's here.

"I'm just having breakfast with my friend. But you...you're trying to cause trouble aren't you, jackass?" She smirks at Nate. He waves her off behind him and gets into his car.

"Enjoy your breakfast, Banks. The press conference is at 10am. Be in the studio by then." We watch him slam the door and back out of my driveway before she heads up to the front porch. 

"What was that all about?" Trisha raises a brow.

"What press conference?"

We both say our sentences at the same time and laugh a little. 

"You're not allergic to dogs, are you?" I ask before opening my door. Trisha shakes her head no, and I reluctantly let her and Paul into my home. My world. 

This woman, who is probably just as much of a millionaire as her boss, is probably judging my small house.... unlike Julia, who fell in love with it the moment we pulled into the driveway. I always loved that about Julia. She loves everything about my world for what it was. I didn't need to impress her with money or material things. That's just not Julia.  I miss her.

*****
*Trisha*

"So he's going public with his addiction? Do celebrities usually do that?" James asks while eating his breakfast sandwich. We're sitting out in his backyard so his dog can run around.  It's cute.  Every once in a while, it will drop a tennis ball in front of James, and he'll throw it.  The thing wants nothing to do with me, though, and stays by James's side.

Paul is making a phone call inside. Something to do with the 4th floor of the hotel.

"Yeah, most of the time they are forced to go public after they do something stupid like a DUI, but Nate has a lot of events coming up so he's trying to stay ahead of the game." I sip my coffee and watch the dog run around the yard.

"Smart."

"Are you gonna tell me why Hollan was here earlier? Or are we just gonna ignore that part all together?"

I watch James as he sighs and leans back in his chair, his legs apart while bouncing one knee nervously. I find myself wishing I was on that lap. Oh my God, I can't believe I just thought that.  I need to get laid.  I look away when James catches me staring at his lap, and smirks at me.  He always catches me checking him out.

"Were you just staring at my package, Banks?" He laughs a little and rolls his eyes.

"Maybe I was. Maybe men in Marriott attire turn me on. You got a problem with that, Gallo?" I tease him right back.

"You're weird."

"No, I'm just having a dry spell." I blurt out and laughed when I catch his eyes widen at my bluntness.

"You realize you just said that out loud, right?? Not in your head."

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever." I brush him off. "Nate. Why was he here?"

"Wait a second. Dry spell.... Let's go back to the dry spell." James smirks.

*****

*James*

"What... you brought it up!" I shrug while somewhat flirting with the blonde sitting across from me.

Trisha takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a moment. "I just wish I could erase the last person from my memory all together." She confesses.

I know she's talking about Dave but make a joke to lighten the atmosphere.

"Hollan's that bad in bed, huh."

Trisha almost spits out her coffee from laughing, and it reminds me of Julia.

"Not Nate, you dope. Dave." She shakes her head at me while laughing. "Nate is amazing in bed."

"Yeah, I really didn't need to know that." I toss the tennis ball for Maggie to fetch. "Nor did I need to know you've slept with him."

"You've never heard of friends with benefits?" Trisha says casually.

"Obviously, I have. So it doesn't get to you that he's with Julia?" I've always wondered if there was more between Nate and Trisha than just the casual shit.

"Not at all. Me and Nate. We will never be a thing.  We're best friends. That's all we'll ever be." She explains, but there's a hint of sadness in it that I catch right away, whether she realizes it or not.  But I only nod, not wanting to embarrass her by calling her out on it.

"Now why was Hollan here!?" Trisha becomes impatient.

"Kinda the same thing we were just talking about. He wants me to reach out to Julia and stay friends. That kid confuses the hell out of me. But I guess she's not in a good place, and apparently, it's all my fault." I bite the inside of my cheek a little feeling the truth in that sentence.

"She's really not doing well. But James, that shouldn't fall on you. At all."

"C'mere Mags." I get my goofs attention to stop digging a hole in the corner of the fence, and she heads my way. I notice she really doesn't give Trisha the time of day, certainly not like she does with Julia.  I feed her a little of my breakfast sandwich, and she lays by my feet.  "So what would you do? If it were Nate. And he was going through a shit time?"

Trisha sighs and puts her coffee down, and stares at it for a moment before making eye contact with me.

"I'd be by his side. No matter what." She reluctantly answers. "He's my best friend." Trisha pauses. "But that's just us. We've been friends since we were teenagers. We practically grew up together. You and Julia have known each other for less than a year. You shouldn't feel obligated to bend over backward for her."

"That's just it.  We connected from the very first day she walked through the hotel doors, and aside from a few days here and there, we have pretty much spent every single day together. For hours on end. So it feels like we've known each other for years."

"Then don't listen to me. I'm not a fan of Julia. I find her a little too dependent and needy. So you can't go by my opinion because I'd say ditch her and move on with your life. I'm sorry, James, but I don't get the infatuation you and Nate have over her besides her being beautiful." Trisha shrugs, and I respect her honesty even if I don't agree with her.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand. I'm saying this in the nicest way possible."
I wait for her to nod before continuing.

"You are the complete opposite of Julia. You're right. She is dependent and needy. You're independent and don't give a rats ass what anyone thinks of you. Which is admirable. But Julia,  I don't know.  She's sensitive and so caring.  She gives you her all. The good and the bad. There's no filter. She's brutally honest and compassionate and sweet and-"

"I get it. I get it. Jesus James." Trisha interrupts me and throws a piece of her sandwich at me, hitting me right in the forehead before hitting the ground for Maggie to eat. "She's perfect but broken."

"Exactly.  And great in bed. Actually, phenomenal in-"

Another piece of food gets thrown at me.

"Yeah, I didn't need to know that." Trisha gives me a sarcastic look.

"Payback." I say, for when she said it about Hollan.

Trisha leans over the patio table and takes my hand in hers, being serious now. The second her hand touches mine, my stomach ties in a knot.

"Maybe it will be easier for you once you find someone to replace what you had with her. Then you can go back to being best friends because you're both with other people."

I know Trisha is into me, just from the elevator interaction alone, but should I make a move or should I give it more time for things to settle from Julia? I find myself getting lost in my own thoughts while looking down at Trisha holding my hand.

"Earth to James." She squeezes my hand.

"Sorry. I zoned out. I haven't slept well lately and last night's shift kicked my butt." I take a deep breath and our hands fall apart. I pick up my coffee instead since I don't know what I want right now and don't want to lead her on. At the same time, I do. I think about Trisha a LOT lately. I'm just not sure either one of us is ready. Me with Julia and her with everything that happened with Dave.
*****

*Trisha*

James gets lost in his own thoughts and his hand falls away from mine. I don't take it to heart. We've both been through the ringer relationship wise lately. I still think about the 'what ifs' if we kissed near the elevator, though. 

"Why don't you get some sleep.  I should go anyways. Things are gonna get crazy once the news gets out about Nate. Press conference and all that." I get up, and James nods, following suit and standing as well.

"Thanks for the Julia pep talk, Banks." He says seriously, and before I can even process what's happening, he wraps his arms around me to hug me. The second I feel his embrace, I welcome it and hug him back, melting  into him. My whole body tingles from his touch, making me know for sure I'm very much 'into him' and the attraction is strong on my end.

I feel him lean into me a little more and bury his head in the crook of my neck. My heart is pounding again. Shit. I'm REALLY into James.  I close my eyes and can smell his cologne which is pretty damn intoxicating and his muscles contract when he squeezes me a little before slowly pulling away. Too slowly because now, once again, we are inches from eachother's lips, and both stuck on staring at each other's mouths for longer than normal.

I move my hands up to the nape of his neck and thread my fingers in his hair. I want this. I've been dying for this moment to happen again. I need to kiss him.

"James...." I whisper with my eyes stuck on his lips.

"Yeah."

"I'm gonna kiss you now." I don't ask. I  tell him, and let my lips brush against his when I say it.

"Ok." He holds me tighter against his body. I've been waiting for this moment for awhile and  pull James down to my lips.

"Sorry to interrupt." Paul swings the door open, and James and I both step back before our lips even touch.

Damn it, Paul!

"Trisha, Nate's calling your phone. Twice now." Paul holds up my phone I left near my purse in the living room.

I exhale irritatingly and close my eyes.

"Ok. Coming." I glance over at James, who slides his hands down his face in frustrating and walks towards the door.

"C'mon Mags. Bedtime." He says softly, knowing the moment has passed once again. The dog follows him as he walks past Paul and heads inside.

"What was that? You know what.. never mind. I don't want to know." Paul shakes his head at me and hands me my phone.

I see the two missed calls and a few texts from Nate.

[On my way. Traffic.] I lie to Nate and head inside James's house to say goodbye.

James is in the  kitchen leaning against the counter. He senses I have to leave now.

"Sorry. I gotta head out." I sigh as Paul comes back in the house right behind me.

"Yeah, I need to get some sleep anyways. Thanks for breakfast." James walks me ... and my stupid bodyguard...out.

*****

*James*

Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, I think to myself as I watch Trisha drive away. But now, I'm really sexually frustrated. And tired. I head up to bed and Maggie follows me, hopping on the other side of the bed.

"Eventually you're gonna have to sleep in your doggy bed, you spoiled brat." I shake my head at my dog while getting undressed. It takes me all of five minutes to fall asleep.

*****

I wake up and look at my alarm clock. It's two thirty in the afternoon. I slept a couple of hours. A hard, deep sleep so even though it was only a few hours it was enough. Maggie at some point hopped off the bed and is playing with one of her chew toys in the hall. I scratch the back of my head and sit up, grabbing my phone to scroll through a little before getting out of bed.

It's the first thing I see. News about Julia being at The Avalon.

"Shit." I read the article. Then click on another. And another. "Shit." I mumble again and head to the den to turn the news on. 

Poor Julia. This news was supposed to solely be about Nate and his problem but Julia is now being talked about as well. Replays of the press conference and Susan Hardy asking her question are on every channel as reporters pick apart both Nate and Julia now. She can't catch a break. All from fucking just knowing Hollan. 

I try to call Trisha but she doesn't pick up. She's probably too busy trying to clean up after Susan Hardy.  I wonder if Julia even knows about this being broadcasted for everyone to know. Probably not. 

I have to reach out to her later. I can't ignore her like I've been doing. She's gonna need a friend when she finds out. Nate is right. I need to be there for Julia. It's what Trisha would do for Nate. I just need to put my feelings for Julia to the side and focus on being a friend to her. It's gonna be hard.

 But this isn't about me anymore.