The One Where The Lines Get Kinda Blurry

The One With The Work Wife

David felt like his heart had physically broken in two as he ended the call and slumped heavily back into his chair.  This was it.  This was the exact moment he had always feared would happen.  He knew that she wouldn't be able to wait around for him forever no matter how much she told him she would.  She was gorgeous, fearless, talented and so easy to love that he had always expected someone more available and better than him to come along and sweep her off her feet.  He hadn't expected it to be Brad Fucking Pitt though.  How could he even hope to compare to someone like him in any possible way.  Oh God, how was he going to handle being around her every day knowing that she was going home to someone like him?  He had told her to walk away, to leave him behind and focus on her new life, her new happiness and her new love.  But the cost to him was going to be enormous and strong as he was, he didn't know how on earth he was going to get through this.

9.17am Monday morning, the first day of Season Five, and David was as usual first one to arrive at the studio.  He was dreading today.  He didn't know at all how he was going to react to seeing her again when the last time they had been together was in London which now felt like a whole other lifetime ago.  9.28am she walked in, obviously feeling the same level of trepidation and uncertainty as he did.  It was written all over her face as she scoured the room, looking everywhere until she found him.  She made her way straight towards him, barely stopping to say hi to anyone else in her sightline.  She dropped her purse on the floor at his feet and pulled him into the most warm, welcoming and loving embrace, burying her head deep into his chest as his arms instinctively wrapped themselves tightly around her.  They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, no need for words, no way they could be torn apart, just holding each other in a silence that spoke volumes.  Finally, she pulled away slightly, looking into his eyes with tears threatening the corners of hers.  "I love you" she whispered, "I will always love you. I don't want to hurt you, ever."

"I know" he whispered back, fighting the lump in his throat as he fought to swallow the rush of emotion he felt at seeing and holding her again, "I know."

"Come and see me later and we can talk properly ok?" she said, pulling away further as she sensed others getting closer as the room started to fill with various cast and crew members.  She took hold of one of his hands, interlinking their fingers and squeezing it tightly as they made their way out of the corner of the room and began meeting and greeting with everyone else.

They had spent well over an hour locked in Jen's dressing room later that day where they'd had a huge heart to heart, both of them re-declaring their love for each other, but both of them agreeing that Jen had to at least give this thing with Brad a real try, David assuring her he had absolutely no hard feelings at all and although he hurt for himself, he genuinely gave her his blessing to move on without him if that's what she decided she wanted to do.  They had ended the session with a long, deep, emotional kiss.... swearing that nothing at work should or would change at all.

And they were almost true to their word.  Although David found it incredibly difficult to hear Jen talking about Brad to people around set, he put his head down and threw himself even deeper into his work, shadowing every director who would allow it with a view to directing some things himself one day.  And Jen was as respectful and aware of his feelings as she possibly could be, trying her best not to mention Brad when she noticed he was around, and still ensuring that their little routines and interactions changed as little as possible.  She still brought him coffee every other morning, she still spent lots of time talking to him on the set or in their dressing rooms, she still sought him out for advice on many different occasions.  But their level of close body contact and flirtation took an obvious decline.  Obvious to them and also obvious to those around them, and although nobody voiced it, everyone noticed it.