Page 67 of The Uncomplicated Café
Poor Jayce. Nadia’s words reverberated inside CeCe’s head, loud and punishing. With today’s cancel culture, Jayce stood to lose everything. His status in Hollywood, his career, and his reputation. And what about his screenplay? Had he really come so far only to be blacklisted?
“Are you okay?” Sage placed a gentle hand on CeCe’s shoulder.
CeCe’s eyes stung as she stared at the screen, watching helplessly as Gretchen continued to defame Jayce’s name. “No,” she whispered, unable to meet her friend’s gaze. The friend who had every right to sayI told you so.
Lies tend to cause more problems than they solve—those had been Sage’s exact words. And they couldn’t be more true.
“I’m so sorry, CeCe.” Sage wrapped an arm around her shoulders, offering support.
“You heard it here first, in a prerecorded exclusive interview from earlier this morning,” Hair Gel boasted, displaying a little too much glee at Jayce’s professional demise. “Was La La Land’s leading man caught in a web of lies? What exactly does the Hollywood Huckster have to say for himself? Let’s find out.”
Suddenly, Jayce appeared on-screen.
CeCe stiffened.
“We reached out to the A-lister for a comment, and he agreed to appear via live stream from an undisclosed location with a special message for our viewers.”
As Jayce addressed Hair Gel with more grace and civility than the man deserved, CeCe tried to place his whereabouts. Hewas supposed to be at Logan’s bachelor party. They’d planned to attend a classic car show with a Four Tops tribute band, then barbecue on the beach. It was hard to decipher his exact location since he appeared to be video-calling the interviewer from his cell phone, but from the sliver of sunset in the background, she guessed they’d made it to the beach already.
“What I did was wrong,” Jayce acknowledged, his voice steady and sincere.
CeCe’s chest squeezed. It hurt to watch him in the hot seat, exposed for the world to judge and condemn, but she couldn’t look away.
“I made a bad judgment call when I was trying to help a friend,” he admitted. “But the motive behind my actions doesn’t excuse them. I shouldn’t have lied. And I deserve whatever repercussions come my way.”
CeCe wanted to jump into the screen, to stand by his side. Every fiber in her being longed to defend him from the harshness of cancel culture. Yes, he’d lied. They both had. And she wouldn’t argue that they’d done the right thing. But did he really need to lose everything as a result?
“I also owe my fans an apology,” Jayce continued, his words heartfelt. “Especially my younger fans who look to me as a role model. I value honesty and integrity. And I didn’t exhibit either quality when I chose to fabricate a fake engagement with my best friend. That’s why I think it’s important to come clean and confess the whole truth.”
He paused, and CeCe held her breath. What was he going to say?
“When I told the world that I loved and planned to marry CeCe Dupree, I’d only told a partial lie. We weren’t really engaged, but I’ve been in love with her most of my life.”
“Finally! I’ve been saying that for years!” Mia shouted at the screen as if he could hear her.
CeCe blushed as the rest of her friends swooned over his sweet response. Had Jayce just declared his love for her on national TV?
“It took a fake engagement for me to finally confront my true feelings,” Jayce confessed. “CeCe is the most incredible woman I’ve ever known. She’s kind, compassionate, and can bake a killer coconut cake.”
At the unexpected compliment, CeCe laughed along with her friends.
“She’s fun, supportive, and isn’t afraid to give me a kick in the pants when I need it. And trust me, I need it—a lot.” Jayce grinned, and for a moment, CeCe felt as if he were speaking to her alone.
She smiled up at the screen even though he couldn’t see her.
“She’s been my best friend from the time I learned to tie my shoes,” Jayce said. “And as long as she’s in my life, worries like whether or not I’ll have a career tomorrow don’t seem quite as consequential.”
CeCe’s chest swelled with a surge of affection. And also pride that he’d taken ownership of his actions with such maturity. While she hoped and prayed their poor judgment wouldn’t end his career, she admired the way he’d handled himself in the aftermath.
“If there’s a takeaway from my situation,” Jayce told the camera, “I think it’s this: Often, it isn’t enough to merely avoid dishonesty. Sometimes, the hardest, most rewarding thing you can do is to tell the whole truth. Even when you’re afraid.”
When Hair Gel thanked Jayce for the live-streaming exclusive, his tone softened from one of exaggerated accusation to borderline respect. Jayce politely ended his video call, leaving the man to dissect the conversation and disseminate his overinflated opinion, which CeCe didn’t find all that interesting. She unplugged her phone from the projector.
“Wow,” Nadia breathed. “That was quite the emotional ride.”
“No kidding,” Sage agreed. “But Jayce handled himself admirably.”
“He was a total prince,” Mia lauded. “And Mr. Spray Tan and Gretchen the Ghoul can kick rocks.”
