For the first few weeks after Beck returns from Australia, Jade feels as if nothing has changed. They're still sneaking around, still trying to avoid being caught by anyone who could out them to the general public and expose their 'arrangement'...which she supposes she can actually refer to as a relationship now.
She and Beck are in a relationship.
But she's still trying to avoid anyone finding out. It's as if Wilmer is still alive, as if he could ruin her life at any moment. Neither of those things are true though. Wilmer is dead, he has been for close to nine months, and he no longer has any hold over her life. She's not coming home to him at the end of the day, he no longer has any say in her career. Her life is her's again.
"I don't care anymore." She says out loud one day, taking Beck of guard
"What?"
She had spent the night at his place, something that is becoming more and more regular for her these days. Beck has just gotten out of the shower, a towel around his waist as he looks for clothes, while she sits on the edge of the bed, still only half-dressed herself.
"I'm tired of hiding." She clarifies "Wilmer controlled every aspect of my life when we were married. Why am I still allowing that now that he's dead?"
"I..." Beck hesitates, moving to sit next to her on the bed "I mean, I thought you were worried about how things would look? If people thought you had moved on too soon..."
"What's 'too soon' though? In reality?" Jade asks him "It's my fucking life."
"Where is this coming from?" Beck chuckles, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear
It's shorter now, coming to just below her shoulders rather than to her mid-back. She truly hadn't noticed now long it had gotten until she decided to cut it. A new haircut just felt like the next logical step in her process of 'starting over'. Beck had been surprised when he first saw it, but didn't have any complaints. He thinks it makes her look even hotter.
"I..." She shrugs "I don't know, honestly. It's just all of this sneaking around...trying not to get caught by the paparazzi...it feels like he's still here, you know? Like I'm still trying to hide from him. I want to just be able to live my life without his permission."
"Alright..." Beck nods "Well, if that's how you feel...would you like to go out to lunch today? Arrive and leave in the same car? Maybe hold hands while we're at it?"
"Uh..." Jade takes a deep breath "Yeah, yeah I would really like that. Let's do it."
"Alright." Beck smiles, standing up "Let me get dressed first."
"Getting dressed is preferable." Jade smirks "I probably should too."
"You know..." Beck says as he goes into the closet to look for clothes "There's going to be rumors."
"I know."
"They might say-"
"Let's not accidentally manifest anything." Jade stops him "Whatever is said will be what is said. Let's just see what they come up with."
"If they come up with anything at all." Beck chuckles, emerging from the closet in a fresh pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt "Who knows? Maybe no one will care."
"Maybe." Jade rolls her eyes
"Or maybe, someone more famous will do something completely stupid and even though we make a headline...it gets buried pretty quickly." Beck suggests "You never know."
"Maybe we can get Cat to breastfeed Nova in public or something." Jade teases "I'm completely kidding, by the way. I would never wish that backlash on her."
"It's completely ridiculous that something like that would cause backlash anyway." Beck sighs "Regardless, we're going out to lunch today. In public together, for the first time. Are you sure about this?"
"I'm sure." Jade nods "Are you?"
"I'm sure."
"You know as of right now, you're completely free of all this media craziness?" Jade reminds him "No one is tying you to me. Once we do this..."
"I know what it means." Beck assures her "And I still want to take you out to lunch. I would be honored to be tied to you in the middle of a media circus."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure." He tells her again "I love you, Jade. I want to do life with you. We can't do that hiding in the house and sneaking around all of the time."
"I mean, we could..." Jade sighs "But it wouldn't be much of a life."
"No, it wouldn't." He presses a kiss to her forehead "C'mon, let's go to lunch."
They opt to call a driver to take them out to the restaurant, knowing that both traffic and parking in Los Angeles at midday would be more than frustrating for them both, and either of them driving didn't sound ideal. Jade holds Beck's hand tightly in the backseat as they drive, wondering to herself how long it will take for someone to recognize them once they step out of the vehicle.
It feels so narcissistic to be thinking this way, to just assume that everyone is going to immediately care as soon as she and Beck are spotted in public together. The world inserting themselves into her private life and stating their opinions is something that, unfortunately, comes along with the career path that she has chosen and the life that comes along with it.
"Alright, here you go guys." Their driver says as they pull up to the curb "Just give me a call when you're ready to be picked up."
"Thank you." Beck thanks the driver, then squeezes Jade's hand tightly "Ready?"
"Ready."
It takes a while for them to do so, but eventually the media does catch on to the fact that Beck and Jade are now a public item. There are the obvious accusations made, such as the fact that some believe that it's much too soon for Jade to have moved on with someone new. Her husband has been dead for less than a year. If she had really loved him, she would still be in mourning and the idea of dating someone else wouldn't even be fathomable. With all of that comes the accusations that Jade had never really loved Wilmer in the first place; that she was only using him to advance her career, or just wanted his money. There are jokes on social media and on late night shows about how Jade has 'finally found someone her own age'. Jokes that she had traded her husband in for a 'newer model'.
None of it is great to hear, at least not from where Jade stands. She wishes that she could make a tell-all video explaining the truth, or most of the truth, and post it to social media. She could tell the world that while he had been a brilliant director, Wilmer was a less-than-fabulous husband...or even human-being for that matter. She could explain that at the beginning she really had loved him; admired his brilliance and humor, found him to be quite charming and handsome...but that their marriage had deteriorated over time and she was no longer happy. She keeps all of the details to herself though, for many reasons. One reason being, no one ever wants to admit to being unfaithful to a partner, regardless of the circumstances. Another reason being, she knows that Collin and Issac already have one idea of their father painted in their minds, and will remember him that way. She doesn't want to incriminate him, or make that idea of him worse for them. They're better off not knowing, at least for now. Maybe one day she'll write a tell-all book, and leave instructions for it to be published only after she herself is also dead, but for now she'll keep it to herself.
"Can we talk?" Beck says to her one night as they're getting ready for bed
She stays over pretty regularly, his house is more spacious and is more centrally located to work for them both. Jade has recently started work on a new series for HBO, working with a director other than Wilmer for the first time in almost ten years. It's the first part she's had to audition for in that time too, but she feels a sense of pride knowing she earned the part herself rather than received it for being married to the right person.
"Um...sure?" She hesitates, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she walks towards the bed "There's usually nothing good that follows that question."
"It's nothing bad, I promise." He assures her "I just...I know that when you were married to Wilmer, he did a lot of telling you how things were going to be instead of asking you what you wanted. I just want to make sure that we're on the same page."
"Oh, okay." Jade nods "Thank you, I...I really appreciate you taking that angle."
"Of course."
"So, what is it that you want to be on the same page about?"
"Well, for starters..." Beck smirks "What would you think about living together?"
"Aren't we kind of doing that now?" Jade chuckles
"Not officially." Beck points out "I'm talking about selling your condo, and moving in here permanently."
"I don't hate the idea."
"I feel like there's a 'but' coming though..."
"I want to live with you, Beck. Really, I do." Jade assures him "I love going to bed next to you and waking up next to each other in the morning. It's just that...this is your house."
"But it could be ours."
"It was yours first, though. Long before I came back into the picture." Jade reminds him "And I know, this is sort of where we reconnected and-"
"Well, if we're going to be technical, we reconnected at the Ritz." Beck reminds her "This is just the first place we fucked."
"If it's really what you want, and you're not willing to part with it...I'd love to move in here." Jade tells him "But what I would really love more than that...would to be some place that is ours from the beginning."
"So...buying a new place together?" Beck clarifies
"If you're open to it." Jade shrugs
"I'm open to it." He grins, leaning forward to kiss her "Under one condition though."
"A garage for your cars?" She smirks
"How'd you know?"
"I remember you saying it was one of your favorite parts of the house." She tells him "The first time you invited me over. The first time that we-"
"Did it in the back of the truck?" He smirks "Jade, you know we did that all the time when we were teenagers. That wasn't the first time."
"I was going to say, 'reconnected'." She laughs
"Oh."
"We'll make sure that there's room for your cars."
"Thank you." He smirks "We'll start looking for a relator first thing tomorrow. I should still have the information for the guy that sold me this place."
"Sounds perfect." Jade smiles "Now, what else?"
"What do you mean?"
"You said 'for starters'. Is there something else that you want to make sure that we're on the same page about?"
"No, not at this point at least." Beck shrugs "I think...I dunno, the universe brought you and I back together. I think whatever else it has in store for us is exactly what is supposed to happen."
"I'm excited to see what the universe has is store for us."
"Yeah." Beck admits, leaning in to kiss her "Me too."
"Oh my goodness, Nova!" Cat gasps, looking to the eight month-old on her hip "Look at this place! It's so pretty!"
"I don't know if 'pretty' is the word for it..." Jade chuckles as she closes the door behind them "But it's definitely very nice."
Beck and Jade wasted no time on moving in together. With the help of Beck's realtor, they very quickly found a large home in the Hollywood Hills, not really all that far from where Beck had originally been living, with six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. It has a large backyard with a pool and a beautiful view of the valley, as well as ample garage space for all of Beck's cars, including his old truck, and the new BMW 430i xDrive that Jade purchased for herself. After being back in Los Angeles for so long, she figured it was only appropriate for her to have a car of her own to drive.
"I love the wood." Cat admits as she looks around "It's so clean and modern. Do you mind me asking how much you paid for it?"
"Fourteen."
"Million?"
"Yup."
"Makes sense, for the size and the area." Cat nods "That's about what we paid for our place too."
Jade is fortunate that she and Beck are both in a position to be able to spend that kind of money on a house, and to be able to do so while they're still waiting for their previous residences to sell. Jade's condo had sold rather quickly, earning her back about what she had paid for it, but Beck's house is still on the market.
Beck is on set for the day, but Jade takes Cat and Nova on the grand tour of the new house, still a bit in awe of it herself. When she moved to New York with Wilmer years ago, she never imagined herself being back in Los Angeles for anything longer than a visit, let alone owning a home here.
Their tour concludes in the backyard, with each of the women taking a seat on a chase lounge chair by the pool. Nova reaches her arms out to Jade, and Jade is more than happy to pull her favorite goddaughter into her lap to sit with her.
"Are you happy, Jadey?" Cat asks her
"I am, yeah." Jade smiles
"You look it." Cat tells her "Seriously, that smile? You're glowing."
"Thanks." Jade can't help but blush
It's been just over a year since Wilmer died, and Jade will admit that she still finds herself thinking about him from time to time. Her marriage wasn't all bad, in the beginning they did have some happy times, and they had been in love at one point. Every once and a while she'll see an M8 convertible when she's out and about, or catch a whiff of his favorite cologne, and she'll think of him. While she's happier with Beck, and knows she's where she meant to be, there are still moments where she finds herself wondering what her life would be like if she and Wilmer hadn't encountered the issues that they had. Would things have worked? Would they be happy? She'll never know, and that's okay. The new therapist that she's seeing has helped her come to terms with that.
"Do you think you and Beck will get married?"
"Maybe one day, but not any time soon." Jade admits "We haven't talked about it, because I don't think that's on either of our minds yet...but I don't want to rush into another marriage. I want things to happen organically, and I'm not sure I'm ready to be married again yet."
"That makes sense." Cat nods "But you're happy?"
"I am yeah." Jade assures her "We both are."
"Good." Cat grins "So I must admit, a house tour is not my only excuse for asking to see you today."
"It's not?" Jade raises an eyebrow at her "Wait, are you pregnant again?"
"Oh my god, no." Cat laughs "We've talked about having another, but not until this one is more self-sufficient."
"I was going to say, it feels a bit soon." Jade smirks "What is it then?"
"Well, we have a plan in place for my new album." Cat informs her friend "First single is going to drop at the end of the month-"
"Have I heard it?" Jade cuts her off
"Yes, you've heard the whole album at this point." Cat laughs "Anyway, first single will drop end of this month, and the album will be out mid-November. Then we're planning a world tour next year."
"And you're here to talk to me because...?"
"Because we're going to film the tour to make a concert film." Cat says "And I want you to direct it."
"Me?" Jade laughs "Cat, I've never directed anything before, let alone something like this."
"I know." Cat shrugs "But you want to try one day, don't you?"
"Well, yeah..."
She had always figured that one day when she got sick of acting, or was just looking to make a change, she would try her hand at directing. Being with Wilmer for so long, and working with him so often, she knows a lot about the process and what it would take. It's just not something that she would consider to be 'on her radar' yet.
"They're booking me in stadiums, Jadey. Not arenas, fucking stadiums." Cat adds "Not to mention this album is so heavily influenced by Nova, and by my reconnecting with you, and just how happy my life is right now. This tour is going to be so special, the film is going to be so special. I want you to be part of it. Please?"
"I..." Jade hesitates "Okay."
She can't think of any reasons to say no. She's working right now, but has time off from filming throughout the year. They'll be able to work something out, especially for an opportunity like this one.
"Okay? Is that a yes?"
"Yeah, I'll do it." Jade smiles
"Oh my gosh! Thank you!"
Cat practically jumps on top of Jade, hugging her tightly. It's only when Nova squawks with discomfort that the two women break apart, giggling at the silliness of the situation.
"Thank you for the opportunity." Jade tells her "I'm honored that you're trusting me with something so special."
"There's no one else that I can trust, honestly." Cat shrugs, taking Nova back from Jade "I know you'll do the project justice, and that you'll put a lot of heart into it."
"I'll do my best."
Cat and Nova are gone by the time Beck arrives home from set later that night. It's late and Jade is already in bed reading a book when he finds her. She shares the news of her latest venture with him, and he tackles her in a hug on top of the bed.
"That's such great news, Jade!" He grins, pressing a kiss to her lips "This is a fantastic opportunity for you!"
"I know, that's why I'm so nervous." Jade admits
"What? Why are you nervous?" Beck asks, sitting back on his knees and allowing Jade to sit up as well
"Cat's pretty popular, a lot of people are going to see this film." Jade shrugs "I dunno, I was married to Wilmer Gordon for eight years. What if-"
"He doesn't define you." Beck reminds her "You're your own person, who is going to be her own director with her own style. Fuck anyone who makes any kind of comparisons. It doesn't matter."
"I needed to hear that, thank you."
"Any time." He smirks, crawling over to sit beside her before wrapping her up in his arms and pressing a kiss to her temple "I'm really proud of you, and I know you're going to do great."
"Thanks." She smiles, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against him "I love you."
"I love you too." He tells her "And I'm so proud of you. You're going to do great."
