• Tomorrow Will Be Different • {J.C} (P.1)

•Chapter Thirty-Six•

Erin stood before Julian's door, nervously wringing her clammy hands. She needed to talk to him; by the time she managed to go after him, following his startling confession, she discovered that Julian was already gone—he had already left.

She knocked on Julian's door again, taken by surprised at the sight of Albert on the other side—dressed to the nines in suede shoes with a stylishly ragged suit and tie.

"Whoa, you look... amorously appealing." Albert gawked, eyeing Erin up and down. He shook his head, forcing his wandering gaze to fixate on her eyes. "Go change."

"What?" Erin chuckled nervously, looking down at herself in confusion.

She had changed multiple times before deciding to buy something new, which then led to her spending hours in dressing rooms, trying on different outfits.

"You heard me—go change."

"Why—what's wrong with it?"

"Everything."

Erin cocked a brow at Albert. "I don't see the problem with it." She looked down at herself once more, analyzing the outfit in question.

It was nothing risqué, just a grey ruched square neck, crop top. The skirt may have been a little much, which was why she went with the mid length mesh with a split thigh instead of the usual mini skirt. The boots had been the most expensive part of the outfit.

"Do you like- get off on fuckin' with Jules?" Albert asked, his tone drenched with annoyance.

Erin crumbled in defeat. Of course not—she wished for nothing more than to make Jules happy. Showing up at the Mercury Lounge for their first residency performance was most likely going against her own wishes.

Erin sighed, "You're right. I should stay—I don't need to be showing up there. It's not the outfit... it's me. I don't need to be there."

"So you break his heart and then stand him up. That sounds like a great idea." Albert forced a condescending smirk.

"It's not like that and you know it."

"I told you not to hurt my friend. I told you I didn't wanna be in the middle of it when the shit blew up in his face. I told you, Jules is a good person- he doesn't deserve this."

Erin huffed, pushing past Albert as she barged into the room without an invitation. She sat on the edge of Julian's bed, nervously bouncing her legs.

"Where is he?" Erin asked. She half expected him to be hiding somewhere in the room, but he wasn't.

"He's already at the Lounge, gettin everything set up." Albert tousled his wild curls before slipping a pack of cigarettes in the breast pocket of his blazer. Erin assumed Albert was getting ready in Julian's room because she had taken too much time getting dressed in his room.

"I really need to talk him. I tried to last night but... he was already gone." Erin kept her eyes on the floor, too ashamed to looked Albert in the eye.

It was made clear that Albert knew what she and Julian had done. She felt stupid, regretting her decision to keep up the charade by playing things aloof. If Erin had been made aware that Al already knew, she would've been more open about her feelings with him.

Julian hadn't exactly been helpful about the situation; his cold and callous attitude stung more than his passive aggressive comments. Erin thought Julian didn't want Albert to know; but to her surprise, he had already told him.