Three's a Crowd

It wasn’t hard for Alex and Johnny to live together because Alex was hardly home, always out looking for work, and Johnny was always with the guys just hanging out or in the studio, so they rarely saw each other. Often times, Johnny invited Alex along with him to the studio or out to the bar with the guys, but after the article claiming her and Brian were together, she simply didn’t want to be seen with anyone in the band. It only got worse when a new article had seemingly come out of the woodwork three weeks later, when Alex had found a job, and she thought that life was going to settle down for a while so that she could relax and not have to deal with all the drama that came along with being a celebrity’s girlfriend.

“Alex have you seen this article?” Her new boss, Candy, asks her as she walks into the office Friday morning.

“No, and I probably don’t want to,” Alex mutters, not taking her eyes away from the computer screen.

“You probably don’t want to, but you’re going to look anyways because I’m going to leave it here on your desk. I’ll be in my office if you want to talk,” Candy tells her, dropping the magazine onto Alex’s desk where it lands in front of her with a thud.
Alex sighs when she’s sure Candy is out of ear-shot and looks down at the magazine with the article glaring up at her. The headline reads, Jared Leto; New Woman?

“Dammit Candy,” Alex mumbles, picking up the magazine and hesitantly dropping it into her empty trash bin next to her desk.

No more than a few seconds later, her office phone rings, startling her. After chuckling at herself for a minute, she picks it up and answers it, “Good afternoon, this is Alex,” she greets the person.

“Alex, have you seen the rags?” Johnny’s voice comes through the phone with a slight crackle, indicating he was on his cell phone.

“Candy dropped one at my desk and I threw it out. I don’t want to talk about it, I just want to finish my day and go home for a hot bath and a bottle of wine,” she replies, going back to the photographs on her computer screen.

“Alex, it’s his ex. Did you not even look at the picture?” He asks her incredulously.

“No Johnny, I don’t give a fuck. I’m going back to work,” she snaps, slamming the phone down and staring at her monitor.

Angrily, she swivels her chair around and pulls the magazine out of her trash bin, inadvertently knocking it over as she does. The front page has a picture of a Jared next to a woman whose face has been blocked out. Growling she flips through the pages until she gets to the article and what she sees makes her stomach churn.

Multiple pictures of Jared and his ex-fiancé, not just ex-girlfriend, were plastered all over the page with one lone picture of Jared next to Alex at one a red carpet event from earlier this year, off to the side. Skimming the article, she found that according to ‘close friends and family’, Jared and Cameron were trying to work things out again, and were still very much in love as they had been years ago. With a growl, Alex rips the pages out, balls them up in her fist and throws them at the tipped over trash can, not bothering to pick them up as she grabs her bag and shuts off her computer monitor.

Nick, always ever present in her time of need, happens to be walking towards her as she walks out of the small cubicle and towards Candy’s large office. He grabs a hold of her elbow and gently pulls her to a stop, turning her around as he grins at her, “Easy there fire cracker. Let’s not get fired alright?”

Alex glares at him but lets him lead her towards the elevators. When the doors open, Candy is standing there with Jared next to her, neither of them looking happy. Alex clenches her jaw as Nick tightens his grip on her elbow. The four of them stare at each other for just a few moments until Candy clears her throat and walks past Alex and Nick to get out of the elevator, leaving Jared to follow her. Alex turns around and raises her eyebrow at her boss, not caring if it was professional or not.

“Where are you going?” Candy asks her with only curiosity in her tone.

“I’m taking her for an early lunch,” Nick tells Candy as Alex simply continues to glare at Jared.

“Alright, have her back in an hour,” Candy states, dismissing them.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Alex finally snaps, directing the question at her boss.

“Alex,” Nick mutters, subtly shaking his head at her.

“Mr. Leto is here for an interview at Darrel’s request,” Candy tells her, a tone of warning in her voice.

Alex groans and turns around, stepping into the elevator and leaning against the side wall, not bothering to look out the doors or wait for Nick as she slams her finger against the button to bring her downstairs. Nick slips in before the doors close and leans against the opposite wall, “you know,” he starts, “you’re usually a really calm person Alex, but lately you’ve been kind of moody.”

“Don’t even fucking suggest that,” Alex snaps, panic in her eyes as she looks up at him.
He shrugs and looks away from her, watching the numbers above the door slowly count down, “I’m just saying that it’s a possibility,” he states.

“It’s not, so just forget it,” Alex growls at him.

“Temper, temper,” he mutters, smirking sideways at her as the doors open.

Alex can’t help but laugh at Nick as he shakes his finger at her, scolding her as if she was a small child. The pair of them makes their way out of the building and across the street to the sandwich shop most of the other employees frequented, both of them fairly quiet until they finally order their subs and find a seat at a booth near the back.

“So, you want to tell me why I haven’t heard from you in a month?” He asks her after sitting down.

“I’m sorry Nick, I’ve been so busy with finding this job, and moving out of Jared’s that I haven’t even had much time to myself,” Alex tells him, genuinely feeling bad about not making time for her friend.

“It’s alright. Just don’t forget about me,” he states, chuckling.

Alex rolls her eyes and takes a sip off her soda, her eyes scanning the room. Finding no one in particular, she turns her gaze back to Nick, who’s watching her carefully. With a half-smile Alex raises her hand to her face, feeling around for something, anything, to explain why he was staring at her, which causes him to laugh.

“There’s nothing there, I’m just shocked,” he tells her, laughing.

“Shocked about what? I don’t look different do I?” She asks him, smiling.

“You look good. Happy good, not just content,” he tells her, smirking mysteriously.

“Alright, what is it that you know and I don’t?” Alex asks him, crossing her arms and leaning back as a woman comes by and puts their tray of food in front of them.
Nick quietly thanks her before turning his attention to his sandwich, completely ignoring Alex as she continues to stare at him, not even paying attention to the food on her tray. Nick looks up and gestures to her food, “eat or you’ll be hungry later,” he tells her before going back to his own food.

“I’ll get it to go, so tell me what I don’t know,” Alex prods, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.

“Have you been seeing Brian in the last month? Even if it’s just a casual thing, have you been seeing him?” Nick asks her.

Alex stares at him in confusion, “what does that have to do with anything?” She asks him, not seeing the connection.

“Alex just answer the question,” Nick tells her, grinning as he takes another bite.

“Yes, I have. We go out every Thursday now, but it’s just casual,” she tells him, rolling her eyes.

“He makes you happy Alex, I can see the difference in you.”

“I’m glad someone’s making her happy,” a new voice interrupts their peaceful lunch.

Alex closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before turning to face the new comer with a forced smile, “Jared, what brings you here?” She asks him quietly.

“I wanted to stop by and apologize for not telling you about Cameron and I before you read it in the magazines,” he tells her, a slight smile on his face, though she couldn’t tell if it was genuine or not.

“There’s no need to apologize,” she tells him, turning to Nick with irritation written over her face she says, “I have to get back to work Nick, but we’ll go out tomorrow night, bring Jess.”
Without saying another word, or taking a look at her untouched lunch, she stands up and walks past Jared and out the door, letting the fresh air into her lungs as she hurries across the street and into the office building. Blinking away tears, she gets into the elevator, her stomach churning and her heart aching painfully in her chest as the doors close.

“Get it together Alex, you’re going to see Brian tonight and you can talk to Johnny as soon as you get home,” she mutters to herself, taking deep breathes to calm herself down.

By the time the elevator arrives on her floor, Alex feels and looks much better than she had getting on. She walks confidently back to her cubicle and quickly picks up the trashed magazine off the desk and after righting her trash can, puts it in there along with the balled up pages scattered on the floor. As she sits back down, she hears heels clicking down the tiled floor, getting louder as they get closer, but she ignores them and turns her monitor back on to finish working on her project.

“Alex, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you he was coming in, I thought he’d be in and out before you took lunch,” Candy tells her, her voice ringing with sincerity.

“It’s not your fault, and I shouldn’t have gotten angry like that. What he does is none of my business anymore,” Alex tells her without looking away from her computer.

“Want to go out for some drinks with me and some of the other girls from the office tonight?” Candy asks her, finally getting her attention away from the computer.

“I would but I’m going out with Brian tonight,” Alex tells her, a smile coming to her face.

“Alright but you have to go out with us one night,” Candy presses, smiling down at her.

“How about Saturday night?” Alex suggests, still smiling.

“Saturday will work. Where do want you to go?”

“Where do you guys usually hang out?”

“Opera or we get tickets to The Viper Room,” Candy tells her, smirking now.

“The Viper Room? Really?” Alex asks her, chuckling and shaking her head.

“That’s it, it’s decided. We’re going there,” Candy states, grinning like a child in a toy store.

Alex shakes her head and turns away from her boss to look back at her computer screen, chuckling when Candy drops a piece of paper with her small handwriting on it, on her keyboard. With a sigh, Alex puts the paper aside and gets back to working on the article she had been assigned to that morning.

Five-thirty rolled around fairly quickly after that, which was something Alex was grateful for. She was going to see Brian for dinner, and even though seeing Jared earlier on had made her heart ache, she was glad for it in a way because it only made her excitement about seeing Brian that much better. With a sigh, she walks into Johnny’s house with a shout, “I’m home short shit!”

“Stop being a bitch!” He replies from inside the house in the direction of the kitchen.

“Don’t make too much! I’m heading out with Brian soon,” she calls back to him as she walks towards the stairs.

“About that,” Johnny calls, causing her to pause on the first step.

Johnny appears in the doorway of the kitchen, a spatula in his hand that he uses to point at her, “I talked to him today and I really think you should cancel.”

“What?”

“He’s going to ask you to be his girlfriend, and in all honesty, I don’t like it,” Johnny mutters while crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe.

“Johnny you shouldn’t have told me that,” Alex states, sighing, “and why does it matter if he does?”

“I’ll tell you whatever I want to tell you, and I don’t like it because I think he’s moving too fast.”

“Johnny, we’ve been going out every Thursday for the past few weeks, and you can’t tell me that it’s moving too fast when the last girlfriend you had, you slept with two days later.”

“Whatever you do Alex, be careful. He’s my best friend, but you’re even better, and I know how he is with girls.”

“Johnny, get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich,” Alex mutters before turning around and jogging up the stairs.