I had wanted to cry, scream, vent and rage over Jay’s secret life to Billie, but after I had poured my heart out, then showed her the map, read out all relevant Wikipedia listings and gone deeper into Google than I ever had before, I was ready to be consoled in the way that only a best friend could. So when, at the end of my tirade, Billie sat there expressionless, saying nothing, my stomach dropped.

‘You knew.’

‘I have known Jay a few years, so naturally I know some things.’

‘And you didn’t tell me?’

‘Well, does he know about your parents?’

‘My dad laid cable for Telstra and my mum worked in a video shop – it’s hardly the same.’

‘Why should it matter where he comes from? I don’t see what the big deal is.’

I couldn’t believe her! She was taking Jay’s side, like always.

‘Look, I don’t care, but I do care about the fact that he was so high and mighty about what I do and the industry as a whole. He’s a bloody hypocrite.’

‘I think you’re reading way too much into it.’

‘No, no, I’m really not,’ I said. I moved to my bedroom, snatched Jay’s cleaned T-shirts and headed for the front door.

‘Abby, where are you going?’

‘To put in my resignation,’ I called back, slamming the door.

‘You sure have some nerve coming back here.’

If Deedee scowled any longer, she’d strip paint from the bar.

I sighed. ‘Is Jay upstairs?’

‘Coming to beg for your job?’ she sneered.

‘Obviously you’re not as important as you think you are, as you haven’t been kept in the loop. I’m still an employee, Deedee.’ I smiled sweetly; little did she know that I wouldn’t be for long.

I didn’t knock, I simply twisted the handle and stepped inside, my brow creasing at seeing Jay at his desk wearing reading glasses, peering at paperwork – a regular Clark Kent. Guess I really didn’t know him at all.

He peeled off his glasses, his smile making my traitorous heart clench until he saw my face, thunderous and betrayed. His eyes dipped to the three T-shirts I held – two of his, plus my Saloon Bar uniform.

‘Laundry day?’

‘I’m giving these back,’ I said coolly, placing them on his desk and stepping back.

‘I was only joking about you taking my clothes.’

‘No, it’s okay. I don’t want anything from you, including this job.’

Jay pressed back in his chair. ‘Right. You have another offer?’

‘Nope, absolutely nothing.’

‘Well, we can keep talking cryptically or you can sit down and tell me what’s on your mind.’

I scoffed. What’s on my mind – is he for real?

‘I actually had a bit of an epiphany today.’

‘And?’

‘And I reckon I am being way too narrow-minded. I came to LA thinking I was going to nail some big movie deal or epic Netflix original series, but you know where it’s really at?’

Jay watched me quietly, sensing the trap.

‘Daytime television!’ I saw something flash in Jay’s eyes and I knew the penny had dropped. ‘But, you know, it’s just like anything in this industry, it’s all about who you know, and I thought that you might have some connections – ’

‘Abby.’

‘Or maybe some tips, you know, some tales from the trenches?’

‘Abby, stop.’

‘No, you stop! Stop lying to me,’ I shouted.

Jay stood. ‘I have never lied to you.’

‘Oh, right. Well, stop pretending, then.’

‘Pretending?’

‘Jay, ever since we met, you have mocked my profession, sneered at the entertainment industry as nothing but a bunch of pretenders out to boost our egos. When you – YOU – have been the biggest pretender of all.’

‘Abby, this is me, this is who I am.’

‘Yeah, a poor rich kid from the Hills wanting nothing more than to fit in with the common man.’

‘And why do you think I’m here? Why do you think that I rebel with every fibre of my being against the entertainment industry? Because I have had it shoved down my throat from the day I was born. I didn’t grow up with normal parents, I grew up with my father being a TV villain. Their life choices are not mine, all I have ever wanted was something real, and despite what you may think, I found that the day I met you.’

I laughed. ‘You made it perfectly clear that I was the biggest fake of all.’

‘I was an idiot – I still am. I should have told you, but I didn’t want things to change.’

‘To change?’

‘Everything always changes when people know.’

It all made sense now, his reluctance to be around the paparazzi, his coyness at the possibility of recognition. Jay had become what celebrities feared most – normal. While most of us were running towards a future, he was running from his past.

‘I’m not living on my daddy’s trust fund. Everything I have is my own: my car, my business, my condo. I’ve fought to be independent, to be humble. I like to think I still am.’

Humble.

The word rung in my mind – the one piece of advice that now made the most sense.

Stay humble.

‘I’ve been lied to before, and I promised myself that I would never let that happen to me again.’

‘Abby.’

‘Look, it’s probably just as well this has happened. I’m in a really confusing place right now. I really should just be focusing on my career and adjusting to LA, and to do that I think I need to keep it simple.’

‘Abby, don’t do this.’

‘Jay, you’re never going to fully accept what I do, and I get that. And it’s not your fault – it makes sense now – but face it, you’re never going to be standing at my side on the red carpet, are you?’

Jay’s jaw clenched, his eyes burning into mine; his silence was my answer.

I nodded. ‘It’s strange, I thought we were from two different worlds, but we’re far more alike than I realised.’

Jay breathed out. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘Too complicated.’