Chapter 24: Chapter 24

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"You think you're above the law, don't you?"

"No."

"You really thought you'd never get caught? You liars!"

"No." He stepped forward, his gut wrenching,  startled by her shouting and staring at the tears on her cheeks.  "Stop."

"You thought I wouldn't figure it all out?"

"Stop it."

"You merciless killers! You're nothing but a bunch of liars!" The woman took a few steps backwards, her shouts almost echoing throughout the room.  "Plain evil! Just monsters!"

"Stop! Just stop! Okay? You don't know what you're talking about." He grabbed her arms to stop her from running out the door, fearing the consequences, fearing what could happen if she told other people his deepest, darkest secrets.

It might be the end of him.  His career,  his assets, his bright future with Charmaine, his comfortable life, and everything he'd been working so hard for all these years...all gone in a blink.

After he helped her time and time again, giving her a steady, well-paying job, comforting her when she needed it the most, this was how she was going to repay him?

"Don't touch me!" She shoved him.  Once.  Then another time when he didn't let go of her arms. "Murderers! Liars!" She whimpered, screamed, writhed, but failed when she tried to push him away again.

He was stronger.  By a mile.  She was absolutely no match.  He could crush her skull with his bare hands if he wanted to.  He was more than what she saw coming.  More determined.  More powerful.  Had a lot more to lose.  Dead set.

He couldn't lose it all.  No.  Not in this lifetime.  "You're not going anywhere. You understand?" He gripped her shoulders after pushing her against the wall, the bright lights showing him every single tear that drenched her face.

Her soft, smooth, beautiful face.  Her unmistakable scent gripped his senses as she tried to stop crying.  Her pale and trembling hand hid her eyes from his glare while she mewled in his arms, the profound emotional distress in her sobs making his chest hurt somewhat.

For someone stuck in a loveless relationship, he couldn't stand how his emotions were on high pretty much every single day.  Like an unwanted sickness clawing under his skin.  Making him oversensitive to his and other people's pain.  Leaving him feeling distracted almost all the time.  Vulnerable.  Hurting.

Instead of shoving him away again, Jessiah wrapped her arms around his waist to pull him closer.  She embraced him and muffled her sobs with his shirt, pressing her face onto his chest, her shoulders and hands still trembling.

"Hey. It's okay."  He held her still and caressed the back of her head. "It's fine."

She clasped his collar, sniveling, her tears not stopping yet.  "I'm scared, Jenson," she murmured amid her noisy intakes of breath, her voice weak and shaky.

"I know. But you're fine. Everything's okay."  He stroked her hair, unsure of what else to say to lull her.  He could feel she was genuinely afraid of something.  The fear and uncertainty in her scent just overwhelmed him.  It pressured him to comfort her in any way he could. As much as he could.

After all, it was his fault she was acting this way.  Emotionally disturbed.  Hyperanxious.  Erratic.  Volatile.  In need of consolation and a shoulder to cry on.

Not exactly what he thought of himself, but, if she needed someone to lean on, he was very much willing to bend over backwards for her.  He liked her that much.  He liked her company, and she provided him a reprieve from the mental and emotional stress he'd been dealing with lately.  He loved having her around, put it simply.

"No need to be scared," he muttered to her cheek before gently kissing her forehead.

"Don't leave me. Please..."

"Shh..." He kissed her temple while rubbing some warmth onto her stiff back, then on her shuddering arms and shoulders.  "I'm still here."

"Don't leave. Don't go back to her. She's just manipulating you. Don't give her what she wants." She brushed her soft lips onto his jaw, her shivering hand holding the side of his face now.  "Please..."

The sound of her hushed voice whimpering and pleading while she hugged him tight  just felt like a  stab to the heart.  Guilt filled his thoughts for some reason.  He couldn't do much but stroke her face while every part of him loved the heat of her soft body pressing against his.

Next thing he knew, they were both in bed, undressing each other, frantically kissing while fumbling with each other's clothes, growing impatient and more unrestrained by the second.

Her lips.  Her caresses.  Her mouth.  Her kisses.  Fuck.  Just like he imagined, and more.  Much more.

It overwhelmed him just how good she felt.  How much he ached for her...  Desire so consuming it robbed him of rational thoughts and self-control...

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Shit."

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The strident noise blared next to his head just as his sleep-addled brain snapped back into consciousness.  Jenson grabbed his phone on the console to turn off the stupid alarm.  It echoed in his aching head like a damned megaphone on high volume.

For a quiet moment, he sat still on the couch, eyes stuck closed, sighing while trying to recall the vivid details of that strange dream.

What's that all about?  Weirdest one ever.

Why was Jessiah in his dream?  Again?  He'd been dreaming of her for a couple of days now.  Some were hazy, disorganized, and didn't make sense at all.  But that latest one...

Heck.  Too graphic.  Too intense.

Too realistic it should freak him out.  He could even smell her in the dream, and feel her touching his face, his neck, kissing him and embracing him.  In his dream, she was also in tears,  pleading for him not to leave.

But why?  Why would he leave?

Oh.  Right.  Just another weird dream.  It's probably just the stress.  Nothing to think about.

Three knocks on his office door disrupted his train of thought before he could get up from the divan.  Jenson stood up and rubbed the grogginess off his face.  Working overtime for four days straight now left him too tired to drive home last night.

Well, he didn't have someone to go home to, anyway.  Charmaine was on another business trip.  Out of the country as usual.  At this point, he should just accept it as their reality.  Their routine.  Their future.

On the bright side, at least she seemed happy with her life.  Her recent posts on her social media told him so.  He should just be the ever-supportive fiancé.

"Jenson?"

"Yeah?" He walked towards the door, his head still bleary, limbs still weak from his long nap.  Did he forget to take his meds again?

"Morning," his assistant greeted with a big smile when he opened the door for her.  She smelled of citrus fruits and was dressed in a peach pantsuit plus a white shirt underneath.  Light makeup.  Straight hair tied up by a ponytail.  Looking good like always.

"Morning," he muttered in reply.

"What're you having today? Cappuccino? Mocha? Espresso?" Jessi stepped into his office and flumped her handbag onto the small couch.

The long divan he liked to sleep on was in the other room beside the bath, in his substitute bedroom whenever he preferred to stay in the office overnight.

Lately it had been happening a lot.  Deadlines to beat.  Executives to impress.  Pending tasks to check off his to-do list.  All that jazz.

"So, I called Grant, the guy who submitted the new storyboards." Jessi stood in front of him and fixed his collar after glancing over his wrinkled clothes.  "Said he's gonna drop by later. Also, I went over the list McKenna gave you the other day. Read through the scripts. I think Joe Scully and Hannah Samson would be great additions to the team."

"What?" He stood still and blinked at her flawless face.  "You read through all of it? In three days?"

"Most of 'em," Jessi murmured with a restrained smile that didn't show her white teeth.  "And Viki wants to push back your 2:30 today, family emergency."  She leaned closer to flick something off his sleeve.  "Breakfast? The usual?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"You need clean clothes? I can drive by your place now if..."

"No." He brought a lot of spare clothes last weekend, knowing he had a bunch of things to work on and go over this week.

"Anythin' else you need this morning?"

"Nothing," he replied while trying not to stare.  He cleared his throat and sat beside her bag on the couch, fully aware that he was wearing the same clothes he wore all day yesterday, and fully aware of an unwanted hard-on straining against his tight fly.  He stifled a yawn and frowned at the smell of his morning breath.

She, on the other hand, looked like she just walked off a fashion show.  Always well put together.  Always eager to get to work.

Ever since Jessi started working for him, she always dressed and acted like a true professional.  Clearly she took the job seriously, and she didn't complain whenever he asked her to do other stuff, either.

She would still do his hair and makeup whenever necessary.  Interviews, TV show guestings, and so on.  Even non-office-related jobs.  Boring errands.  Making and getting him coffee.  Taking him to places whenever he was too busy or wasn't in the mood to drive.  Being his stylist and shopping new clothes for him whenever he had promotional appearances to fulfill.  Even sorting out his dry cleaning.

Not exactly what he expected when he first thought of offering her the job.  He didn't think she would be worth every buck he was paying her.  Sometimes he thought she was too perfect for the job.  He should probably give her a raise next quarter.

Lately she took care of him like she would care for a husband.  She did everything she's told and more.  Hiring her was the best thing he'd ever done for himself this year.  By far.

He got lucky.

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Work.  Late nights.  Stress.

A momentary stasis of recurring self-doubts and moodiness.

More work.  More stress.  Then the inevitable fatigue.

Tedious and numbing, but it was just his routine lately.  After years of working in Hollywood, he was no stranger to the exhausting cycle now.  Jenson breathed out a sigh.  He knew early on that his jobs required more than a pretty face, a stroke of luck, big-name connections, some money and a bit of talent.

Acting was the easy part, actually...for him at least.  But his career and professional duties didn't begin and end in front of the lens.

Sometimes he was the one behind the lens, busy working behind the scenes with the other top bosses.  As one of Road to Valhalla's showrunners, his post-shooting days didn't mean all he had to do now was look good on cameras while promoting their show,  before and after it's processed for mass release and consumption.

So far, his off-cam colleagues still trusted him with the more serious responsibilities when it came to keeping their show alive.  Like Magnus and the other big-time executives.

But it definitely took a toll on him physically and mentally.  Shaking off the thought, Jenson stepped out of his small office bathroom, fresh out of the shower, wearing clean clothes now,  bad breath-free and no longer groggy.

He glanced at the wall clock.  9:58AM.  He cussed under his breath.  He wasted too much time in the shower, pondering.  He had a meeting to prep for in half an hour.  Some research to do.  Some paperwork to review and sign...

"You're funny."

"What?" He looked at the well-dressed woman sitting next to his work desk and watched her hold back a smirk.

"Another plain black shirt," Jessi mumbled with a restrained grin that etched small dimples beside her pinkish lips.  She appeared to be sorting through his backlogged paperwork to better prioritize his workload today.  The usual.  "Almost forgot you got dozens of them in your closet."

"What, I can't wear black anymore if I've worn black all week?"

"No." She snickered and glanced at him while her manicured hand covered her mouth.  "I don't mind.  You're still the boss, and it's your favorite color."

"Exactly. So drop the judgy looks, Ms. Top Model." He sat in his swivel chair now, starving, not ready to face the piles of paperwork he had to finish reviewing and signing by today.  He couldn't help grinning at the sound of her muffled giggling, though.

"I'm not judging you." She curbed another laugh. "I'm just..."

"Sure."

"I'm not modeling on the side anymore. Not even on my off days," she muttered while trying to keep a straight face.  "Because you need me here too much."

"Yeah. And I told you I would. So stop complaining, Top Model." Jenson scoffed and glanced at the oven toaster.  The enticing smell of brined fresh pork, cheese, his favorite spices and toasted garlic bread caught his attention.  "Anyway, I need some nutrition. ASAP."

"Of course." His ever-handy assistant got up from her chair but didn't stop smiling, as if she found him amusing or something.  She served him his two-serving sandwich breakfast on a plate, then returned to her seat while drinking some tea.  "How's Charm?"

"Busy."

"When's she coming back?"

"Dunno. Next week, maybe," he murmured before taking a bite of his meal.  He almost moaned once the mouthful of pork and his favorite spices landed on his taste buds and palate.

Fresh meat.  Good quality bread.  Chili garlic.  Warm.  Crispy.  Savory.

Jessi always made sure he ate the best food, even when it comes to take-out food.  Sometimes she would even prep and cook him fresh meals in his makeshift mini-kitchen in the adjacent supply room.

"Oh. Real busy, then.  Congrats, by the way." Jessi beamed at him and reclined in her swivel chair with a thick folder labeled "R2V S3 Budget and Financing Updates".

"Huh?" Jenson squinted at her cheeky grin. Why was she congratulating him?  For a job well done?

They were far from done.  Post-production was still ongoing and he didn't even have time for promotions yet.  Some online and local interviews here and there, but nothing mainstream or international.  He just didn't have the free time, unlike Darren and the rest of the cast did.

"You're tying the knot soon." Jessi stared at him and chuckled.  "So? You excited? Nervous?"

What?  He was getting married soon?  Who told her?  Charmaine?   Utterly confused, he pulled a face, not expecting the questions at all.  "Who told you?"

"Charm." Jessi glanced at him before she got busy with her noisy phone.  "We chatted a little, last time I dropped off your dry cleaning. She asked me if I preferred aqua blue or teal, for the motif."

"What?" He almost yelled the word and laughed.  What she said just sounded odd.  Hilarious.

First off:

1. Charm hadn't told him she changed her mind and wanted to get married soon.

2. Nor had she mentioned anything about "choosing a motif".

3. Charm hadn't talked to him about their wedding plans at all the past weeks.

Oh.  Shit.  Wait a sec.

Charmaine must be playing mind games with him...and Jessiah.  Charm seemed to be leery of Jessiah the past few weeks.  She even commented that Jessi seemed "too young and inexperienced" to be his personal assistant.

Clueless, naïve Jessi...

Jenson sighed to himself, not that surprised by his fiancée's behavior.

Clearly, Jessi thought Charmaine was just trying to be friendly.  "Why? You don't like blue? At all?" Jessi put her phone away and regarded him with a slight frown that creased her dark, shapely brows.

"What else did she say?"

"About what?"

"Anything," he muttered, disinclined to mention he and his fiancée were having issues at the moment.  Trust issues particularly.

"Not much."

"Anything else besides the motif?"

"Nice. So you are getting hitched soon..." Jessi grinned again.  "When's the tentative date?"

"Don't know, actually."

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