Page 110 of When Glitter Meets Gold

“Yikes,” a flat voice comes from over my shoulder. I turn to find Justin and Reza standing behind me. Francis is tucked in behind them, grinning like he’s proud of himself. Justin turns to Drew. “That was a low blow, man.”

Drew leaps to attention, his entire demeanor shifting in a single heartbeat. He reaches toward Justin, taps him on the back a couple times and delivers one of his famous dazzling smiles. “Oh no,” he says, forcing out a false laugh. “I didn’t mean… You caught the wrong end of that.”

Reza draws in a long breath. “Actually, we’ve been here awhile.” He nods as though giving thanks to Francis. “We heard everything.”

“Wait a minute,” Drew says, his eyes shifting from Justin and then to Reza. “Let’s just rewind a second. I think we’ve all had a little too much to drink, right?”

Reza shakes his head. “You lied to us. And you thought you could get away with it.” His mouth twists to one side. “Which means you think we’re idiots, and honestly, I take that pretty personally.”

Justin nods absently. He’s one hundred percent more intoxicated than the rest of us, but despite his floppy demeanor, he appears to be keeping up with how things are unfolding pretty well. Drew on the other hand, refuses to accept his fate and remains in an awkward state of denial.

Then, a presence moves in behind me and scents of warm pine and sweet leather cradle me to a calmer place. My shoulders relax as I peek to my left to find Jack beside me.

He doesn’t say anything, but the corner of his mouth tugs upwards. A cruel half grin aimed at Drew. I squeal internally because it’s been too long since I saw that gorgeous, brooding side of him.

Drew scoffs. “Perfect.” He shifts uncomfortably again, sighing and groaning and generally behaving like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. “Why am I the only one who can see this guy for who he is? Can we focus on him, or better yet, let’s focus onyou.”

I cough. “Me?”

“I lied because Vandenberg is a jerk, I was trying to do everyone a favor by exposing him,” Drew says, rolling his shoulders.

Jack doesn’t react. Nobody reacts, except to exchange looks of pity. Drew watches me carefully, his mouth twistedinto a smile void of any humor. “You lied to me, Walter, everyone, all because you thought it would get you a job that ended up in my lap anyway.”

The nauseous feeling returns, and I pray that he won’t continue, that he won’t do this here, not in front of Jack - whose hand begins to curl into a fist.

“The hike Sara,” Drew replies smugly, sending a pulse to drum rampantly against my temple. “The hike you lied about to make yourself look like you had your shit together when in reality, you were checked into a five fucking star spa. Letting everyone believe you were this brave adventurer.” He laughs, “But you even screwed that up, because this guy”—he flicks hateful eyes at Jack who looks like he’s about to lunge—“had to step in because you couldn’t even go one day without your dumb antics?—”

Something blurs in front of me before connecting with Drew’s face. Everyone gasps.

Drew’s hand flies to his cheek before he instinctively draws back a fist.

A half second later, Burke appears, standing in front of him like a wall of deadly, murderous calm, daring Drew to move another inch.

“Oh my god!” I shriek, looking atFrancis, who’s holding his wrist like a pulsating cartoon hand lives on the end. “Are you okay?”

“Oh my god!” Francis says like he might slip into shock any second. “I slapped him.”

I nod a couple times, placing a hand on his back and rubbing small circles before the side of his head leans into my chest, and he continues to cradle his hand. “It’s okay sweetie, you’re okay.”

A moment later, we’ve moved on from the weird but also appreciated, slapping incident.

“So that’s it?” Drew looks to Justin and Reza as he’s dragged away. “After everything I’ve done for this company?”

“You tried to bring down the company’s biggest client.” Reza laughs, shaking his head. “It’s over buddy.”

Drew nods, a false and sinister grin spreading across his face. It’s so alien and unlike the Drew I’d idolized and held in such high regard all these years. “No problem.” He winks at Jack. “But I’ll see myself out.”

Jack sighs, leans toward Drew, and lowers his voice so that only the three of us can hear. “You’ve got a couple of lawsuits coming your way, Dawson. You’re in no position to negotiate. So, why don’t you let my buddy Burke see you out.” Drew doesn’t move but is clearly uncomfortable with Burke’s presence, being that he’s wearing one of the most sinister looking grins I’ve ever seen on another person. Seriously, where did Jack find this guy?

Jack lowers his voice further, “Or, I can do it. And Drew, you don’t want me,” Jack says grinning as he nods to Burke without breaking eye contact. “This motherfucker might be crazy, but I’ve got more reasons to hate you.”

Drew’s body tenses, his hand curling into a fist at his side, but for the first time this evening, he appears to consider the consequences his actions may bring. He rolls his shoulders, visibly attempting to shrug away the unease. Finally, he goes, allowing‘crazy’,sinister grin Burke, to steer him into the lobby, closely followed by Justin and Reza.

“I’m going to make sure he goes quietly,” Jack says, keeping his face neutral as he leaves to follow the rest.

The crowd disperses quickly, putting their best efforts into making it look like they weren’t eavesdropping on the entire exchange.

I take a steadying breath as I look at Francis who’s since recovered from earlier. “Why’d you hit him?”

---