DREW
My heart was still poundingwhen I dropped Kate off at her apartment.
The apartment where she lived all alone…because she was single.
I still couldn't wrap my mind around it.
What had gone wrong? She said Nolan hadn't treated her very well and that he had changed after they got married. But what did that mean? It could be a dozen different things.
Gwen had been different after the show, but that was more like how high maintenance she was without me knowing. Like how she had to have a new pillowcase every day, and how she refused to eat leftovers. Definitely not things to get divorced over…even if they were annoying.
Another thing I couldn't wrap my mind around was the fact that Kate was still single after her divorce. She'd been dating one guy or another ever since she graduated high school—my social media stalking had told me that—it was hard to imagine her not being in a relationship anymore.
Was she okay? She had to be hurt, having gone through whatever it was that had caused the marriage to dissolve. I wished she had told me right from the start, so I wouldn't have accidentally rubbed salt in the wound every time I asked about Nolan.
I walked into my kitchen and found the container of food Carmella had left for me. Even though I enjoyed my weekly pizza night, with an extra dose this afternoon in honor of Aiden, I usually tried to eat clean and keep with the nutrition plan my personal trainer had given me. During filming I'd been on beaches, in pools and hot tubs, and thankfully, it was a little less daunting since my trainer Kieran had helped me turn my average build into one with more definition.
If there wasn't something like millions of viewers talking about your abs or lack thereof for workout inspiration, I didn't know what was.
I checked the time as I sat down to my early dinner. I was supposed to call Gwen in forty minutes.
Yeah, we had to schedule our phone calls to make sure we'd be alone while talking and not have anyone figure out that Gwen was the girl I'd chosen.
Our phone calls had started out nightly once filming had ended. Then after our first couple of weekend getaways, the calls turned into every other night. Now it was normal for us to only call each other two or three times a week.
And sadly, we didn't even seem to miss the calls.
Which probably wasn't a good sign for our relationship.
At least it wasn't something that should happen when you were supposed to be head over heels, can't-wait-to-get-down-on-one-knee in love.
Our last weekend together had been fine, and we got along okay, but something just seemed to be missing. There wasn’t the spark that I thought should be there.
And it wasn't just me who felt it. Gwen wasn't nearly as invested in me either. And when the time came for Dion to pick her up to go to the airport, she'd seemed almost excited to leave.
We really needed to fix that. But what were we supposed to do? We couldn't just go on a date anytime we wanted to. I couldn't just drop by her work with a bouquet of flowers. I couldn't even send her flowers, since Alexis was so paranoid that someone would pick up on it and spoil the show's ending.
For a show that wanted people to find everlasting love, they certainly made it hard for them to stay in love…or inlike, as it was in my case. I really didn't want to disappoint everyone, and I really didn't want Alexis to sue me for ruining her show. I did like Gwen most of the time, even though the fun, cool version of her from filming had seemed to disappear. I knew that girl was still in there somewhere—she couldn't have been faking it the whole ten weeks we were together…right?
"We needyou to come in for more pickups this week. Today would be ideal if you have the time," Mallory, the story producer's assistant, told me Monday morning. I was in my home gym, finishing my Kieran-approved workout.
"Didn't you guys get what you wanted last time?" I asked.
"Oliver wasn't exactly happy with the way they came off."
In other words, you suck at acting, Drew.
I sighed. "I can push a few meetings around. When do you need me?"
"The earlier, the better. It might take a couple of hours, and we'd love to be done by three."
"Okay. I'll be there."
I finished my last few reps then hit the shower. Once dressed, I had my driver take me to the studio. If I was going to be hung up in there for a couple of hours, I needed to get some work done on the commute.
"We need you to wear this first," the head story producer, Oliver, said, pointing to the black V-neck shirt, gray jacket, and denim jeans I'd apparently worn on my date with Melanie in Holland.
I took the shirt and slipped it on, then pulled the jacket over it, not bothering with the jeans beside them. The pickups only showed me from the chest up so the top half was all that mattered.