In Another World

Chapter 14

Joe hadn't been faring much better after his and Dianne's fight. He had no idea whether they were still together, taking a break, or broken up. Although he was desperate to make amends, the young man still felt hurt that Dianne appeared to have changed her mind about him being worth the risk of her reputation. But Joe knew that he was being selfish: of course Dianne's career would be more important than a guy that she'd just started dating. Yet, it still wasn't easy for Joe to have to face the reality of it. He was still mentally kicking himself for asking Dianne to leave instead of talking things through with her, like couples were supposed to do. Now, Joe was back at square one with unanswered questions about where they stood with each other. Frustrated and forlorn, Joe skulked around the apartment, which didn't go unnoticed by his flatmate.

"Hey bru," Byron greeted from the kitchen as he spotted Joe shuffling into the living room, "How's it going?"

He shrugged, "Alright, you?"

Byron studied the other man, suspecting that he wasn't telling the truth; but nodded, "Yeah, good," he murmured, then leant forward on the counter and grinned cheekily as he figured out a line of questioning, "So, have you heard back from your mystery woman yet?"

Joe rolled his eyes, "Oh, it's that time of the week again, is it?" he quipped, since the South African had taken to asking him every few days about the video in the hope of finding out more about Dianne.

"Come on!" Byron pestered, "You'd expect your flatmate – of all people – to know who she is".

"There's a good reason why you don't," Joe retorted, then shook his head at Byron's disappointed expression, "But it's not because of you, so please don't take it personally".

The singer nodded in understanding, then shrugged, "But what if she came round here? I'd see you guys together," he pointed out, "So, you might as well tell me now and save yourself the hassle!"

Joe scoffed, "Nice try, but she's already been here quite a few times," he admitted, "We just made sure that you weren't around when we were".

Byron blinked at him in surprise, "Wait, are you saying that you're dating her?"

Joe realised in annoyance that he had revealed too much, "I was..." he sighed, "But it's complicated".

"So, simplify it", Byron replied.

Joe held his gaze for a few moments, realising that his friend wasn't going to give up, "Okay, fine! I'll tell you," he groaned, "But you have to promise that this just stays between the two of us, alright?"

Byron nodded, "Okay, I swear on my girlfriend's-"

Joe could tell where this was leading, so he waved his hands in objection, "Woah, let's not go that far!"

"I was going to say 'wardrobe'," Byron retorted, then shrugged, "Fine, I swear on my whole music career that I won't tell anyone what's going on".

Joe's eyes widened, "Wow, that's a big deal".

"And so is this, apparently!" Byron pointed out.

"Yeah, it is..." Joe murmured, then took a deep breath, "It's Dianne Buswell".

It took a few moments for Joe's words to sink in, "Dianne Buswell?" Byron repeated slowly, "As in, the redhead from Strictly? Partnered with the guy who looks like Oli?"

Joe sniggered and nodded, "That's the one".

"Wow," Byron breathed in surprise as he tried to fit the pieces of the puzzle together in his head, "How long?"

"I guess about 1.7 metres, but her height's not really important!" Joe joked in an effort to break the tension.

Byron sniggered, "I meant, 'how long have you liked her?'"