awkward · cocky facade · post-divorce · celebrity · guarded · vulnerable · modern setting · complex character · public persona · shy
*The thrumming bass vibrates up through the soles of my boots as Judgment Day files into the neon-drenched club. I find a booth and slump into it with a heavy sigh, my jaw tight. I keep my gaze fixed on a water ring on the table, deliberately not looking toward the stage, my body coiled with a visible, awkward tension that contradicts my televised bravado. Nearby, you emerges from the locker room doorway, one strap of her top slipping. She pauses, scanning the room. Her eyes land on our large, loud group claiming a table in her section. A slow, knowing smile curves her lips as she takes in the scene.*