I was played. The heat comes up to my neck, my stomach roiling, and I think I’m going to be sick. “Jessica.” It’s his voice now, the voice that I missed last night, the voice that I told Kellie all about, the voice that I smiled at when I heard.
“No.” I shake my head, trying to walk out of the room. I have to get out of here. I walk past him, but he grabs my arm to stop me. “No!” I scream, and Jonathan comes to my side in case he has to intervene. “Don’t touch me.” I’m shaking now; my whole body is shaking.
“I can explain,” he says to me, and I don’t want to look into his eyes. I don’t want to be here, and I don’t want to hear it.
I stand straight, my back going rigid, my shoulders at attention. “Congratulations,” I tell him. “Well played.” He looks at me, swallowing hard.
“Well played?” he whispers the words, and I look around and see that everyone is still here, waiting to get the scoop.
“Well, people, you heard it here first. I got played.” I laugh now hysterically, the three girls looking at me with shock on their face. “The Hollywood Playboy strikes again.” I nod my head, looking at him. “Tell me something. Did they pay you for that story, or was it a freebie, something to help the movie release?” His jaw clenches tight, and he doesn’t say anything. “I guess I should have seen it coming, right?” A single tear escapes my eye, and I angrily brush it away.
He steps forward now. “Jessica.” It’s the last time I’ll hear him say my name before I get the hell out of this place. “I can explain.”
“Really?” I say, crossing my arms over my chest, everyone just watching. “What can you explain exactly? How you planned this, got me into bed, took my picture, and then leaked it?” I smile at him, anger raging through me. “I’m pretty sure I see the whole picture crystal fucking clear.” I raise my phone. “Actually, now everyone gets the whole picture. Is this your revenge for those stories I wrote about you?” I yell at him, and when I turn to walk out, I feel his hand on my arm again, trying to stop me. I stop in my tracks, looking at his hand on my arm, then turning to look over my shoulder. “Don’t you ever touch me again.” I rip my arm away from him and walk toward the stairs, not wanting to be stuck waiting at the elevator. I rush down the steps as fast as I can, barely holding my sobs at bay. I make it to the lobby, then rush out of the door. Running down the street, I put up my hand and jump into the first cab I see. My phone rings as soon as I shut the door, and I see it’s Kellie. Instead of saying hello, the sob finally rips through me, the cab driver looking back at me in shock.
“Where are you?” she asks me.
“In a cab.” My chest starts heaving, and I think I’m going to be sick.
“Listen to me, Jessica. Give the cab driver the address to my apartment building. I’m going to call and tell them you’re coming.” I nod my head, knowing she can’t see me. “Give me something.”
“Yes,” I tell her and then give the driver the address she gives me.
“I am getting the plane ready to bring you here,” she says, and I can hear the tears in her voice as she feels the hurt for me. My tears are now falling without me knowing, without me feeling. They flow down so fast I can’t catch them. “I promise you that I will take care of everything.”
“Kellie,” I say, my voice cracking, “how could he?” Three words, the only three words I can say.
“I promise you that it will be okay,” she says, and I hear shouting in the background. “I promise you.” I just nod my head, and my hand falls, and I finally look outside at the sun shining. The phone rings again, and I look down, seeing it’s Tyler. I send him straight to voice mail, going into my contacts and blocking his number. I get to the address that Kellie gave me, and the door is opened by an older man.
“Jessica,” he says, and all I can do is nod my head. He hands the driver his card and then takes my hand. “Kellie called me,” he says with an arm around my shoulder, walking me back inside. “The car will be here in thirty minutes, and the plane is waiting for you.” He presses the button on the elevator and slips a key card in and takes me to the apartment where I visited Kellie once before. He sits me on the couch and tells me he’ll be right back. He walks away, and for the second time in one day, my heart shatters. Bringing the story back up, I finally see who ran the story. The breaking story is from my own paper, and my co-worker Brooke broke the story.
Isn’t that fucking karma? My own publication broke the story and didn’t have the decency to let me know beforehand. Jesus, this is such a cutthroat industry.
I shut down the phone, and the man comes back with a bottle of water. “The car is here,” he says, and I nod to him, getting up and making my way back down to the street. I get into the car, and everything is a blur as I get into the small plane and it takes off. After it lands, I walk off the plane and see Kellie there standing next to a car. In her cutoffs, white tank top, and worn cowboy boots, she runs to me, and I bury my face in her neck and sob. My knees finally give out, maybe because I know I’m safe, maybe because I know she’ll take care of me.
“Brian!” she yells, and I’m suddenly taken into strong arms and carried. I hear car doors open and then close, and the car is moving. Kellie sits beside me with my head on her shoulder. “You’re safe now.” I close my eyes, and the tears fall again. So many tears, how do I have so many tears, how?
We get to her place, and she holds out her hand for me. “Do you think you can walk, or do you want Brian to carry you?”
“I think I’m good,” I whisper and walk inside her house. Her dogs run up to her and jump, excited to see her. “I think I want to lie down.” She nods her head and shows me to her guest bedroom with the huge king-size bed in the middle with white and pink covers. It looks like a floating cloud, and there is even a step by the bed to help you up because it’s so high. I kick off my pink heels that I put on this morning; he always loved my shoes. No! I won’t think about him and what he loved because for a while there, I almost thought he loved me. Damn him. I fall back on the bed and pull my knees up to the fetal position. I close my eyes and feel the bed next to me move. “I was so stupid.”
“No,” she says, brushing my hair away, “you were not stupid. You were a woman who fell in love with a man.”
“I did love him,” I finally say out loud. “I mean, I thought I did, but I wasn’t sure. Then, well, last night him not being with me, and I missed him like crazy.” All the tears falling make the pillowcase wet. “It hurts,” I admit. “Everything hurts. Even breathing.”
“Close your eyes,” she says. My eyes suddenly feel so heavy, so heavy, and I finally give into the darkness.
I don’t know how long I sleep, and when I open my eyes, it takes me a second to remember where I am. As I roll from my side to my back, everything comes rushing back. My hand rubs my chest over my heart to try to ease the hurt. I blink in the darkness, not wanting to move, but my bladder has other plans. I roll to a sitting position and slowly get off the high bed. A light in the corner under the closed door has me walking that way. I open it and see it’s the bathroom. I walk in and look at myself in the mirror. My eyes are puffy and my nose red, but I look a lot better than I feel. I turn on the sink and splash water on my face a couple of times and then finally relieve myself. I walk back into the room, going to the other door and walking out. I walk down the hallway to the open concept house. Kellie lies in the middle of her big couch with her head on a huge guy’s lap as they watch television. “Hey,” I say softly, and she jumps up and comes to me. This makes the dogs freak out and get excited. She is wearing pink pants with a matching pink shirt.