Chapter 19

Jesse

Jesse seized the phone from Mark’s hand and peered closely at the image on the screen.

“Where did you find this?” she asked, looking up at her friend with wide eyes.

“That other pop magazine, The Vibe, or whatever it’s called,” Mark said, his voice solemn.

“Oh no …” Jesse’s head was spinning. If Elaine saw this image and recognized her, there was no way she would get out of that situation intact.

“Look, I’m sure it won’t be that big of a deal,” Mark tried to calm her, but even his words rang with falseness.

“That’s it,” Jesse said, mostly to herself. “I’m done.”

“No, you’re not.” Mark took hold of her shoulders and forced her to look up at him. “This is going to blow over just like everything else. Just like it always does, okay?”

Jesse nodded and took a few deep breaths to calm her raging nerves. She knew that images like these were often swept under the rug just as soon as they came up. Still, she had never been in one of them before, and the idea of being seen in a photograph with one of the most famous men in the world was somehow entirely unwelcome.

“Come on,” Mark urged her quietly. “It certainly won’t help your case if we’re late to work.”

Jesse nodded again, certainly in agreement on that point at the very least. She followed her friend on their usual path down the hall and allowed him to lead her through the streets. They selected a different coffee shop than their usual, as Jesse was horrified that someone would recognize her there.

Fortunately, the two made it to the office without incident, and Mark escorted Jesse all the way to her desk.

“See?” he said as she set her things down on the desk. “Everything is going to be fine. See you at the meeting?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jesse nodded and offered Mark a small smile before he turned and left her.

Alone, Jesse propped her elbows up on her desk and buried her face in her hands. How could she have been so stupid? She knew that spending an afternoon with a celebrity was about to have its repercussions, but she had thrown caution to the wind. Now, she regretted every second.

Still, she knew that she would only make matters worse by sitting there just wringing her hands. She got her laptop out of her bag and set to work organizing her notes into a typed document detailing the progress of her article thus far. It calmed her somewhat to be working on something, but it also reminded her that the time was coming where she would have to go to the meeting and come face to face with all her coworkers, and beyond that, her boss.

Jesse wished she could have stayed hidden at her desk for the next week, but she knew she couldn’t do that. The time finally came for the morning meeting, and she did her best to stay fairly well hidden among the crowd of her coworkers as they all filtered into the larger meeting room.

Jesse quickly scanned the room, and her eyes easily landed on Mark, who had, of course, saved her a seat. She kept her eyes on the ground as she moved over toward Mark and took her seat. Shortly thereafter, Elaine entered the room, and the meeting began.

Jesse felt her heart pounding and her face flushing with each and every scrap of gossip and news that was being brought up. She had the horrible feeling that she was not going to escape this meeting without being called out, but with each piece of news that wasn’t about her, she felt a mixture of hope and relief build within her. Maybe she would be able to get out of this situation unhurt after all.

“And lastly,” Elaine’s voice rang out over the congregation of vocalists. “We have, of course, the category of celebrity love stories.”

Jesse felt her stomach sink. She knew her time had finally come.

“And today,” Elaine dragged it out. “We are fortunate enough to have one of our own featured in the latest photograph that was captured of Hal Roberts in a small coffee shop. Let us all give Jesse Clarke a round of applause for her accomplishment.”

The room broke out into a soft bout of clapping, but it ended quickly, much to Jesse’s gratitude.

“That’s all for this morning.” Elaine dismissed the group. “Good luck to you all. Miss Clarke, you will follow me to my office directly.”

Jesse swallowed drily and looked up at Mark, who gave her a weak smile of encouragement. Jesse took a shaking breath and gathered up her things. She vaguely noted that she was becoming entirely too familiar with the route that led to her boss’s office.

It did not take long for Jesse to cross the building and arrive at the door to Elaine’s office. Elaine was already there waiting for her, and the woman silently held the door open for her. Jesse kept her eyes fixed on the ground as she advanced into the room.

“Jesse,” Elaine said, her tone seeming bored. “Have a seat.”

Elaine gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk as she took a seat in her own chair behind it. She said nothing as she sat and waited for whatever Elaine was certain to unleash upon her.

“As you probably already expected,” Elaine said, casually looking over her perfect manicure, “I am incredibly interested to hear all about your romantic coffee date with Hal Roberts.”

Jesse blushed to hear it called that, and she hurried to protest.

“It wasn’t like that,” Jesse protested. “We had just gone to lunch, and …”

“Lunch?” Elaine raised an eyebrow, and Jesse felt foolish at having disclosed yet another sliver of information.

“Well, it wasn’t lunch, exactly,” Jesse stammered hastily. “It was more like a continuation of our interview.”

Elaine raised her eyebrows again.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Was the initial interview not sufficient for you?”

“It was …” Jesse said, looking for a way to get herself out of her situation. “I just thought we could benefit from a less stiff setting.”

“Interesting,” Elaine noted drily. “Go on.”

“So, we went out to lunch,” Jesse continued. “And we both had a few drinks. So we decided to go for a walk just so we could both sober up?”

“And this was after lunch?” Elaine cocked her head and peered over the desk at Jesse.

“Yes,” Jesse confirmed.

“And correct me if I’m wrong,” Elaine leaned back and crossed one leg over the other, “but this was on a work day?”

“Yes, it was,” Jesse confessed, looking down into her lap.

“I see,” Elaine’s brows met in a frown. “And it didn’t occur to you that you should probably get back to the office? To, you know, do your job?”

“Well yes, but …” Jesse struggled to justify her actions the previous day. “Well, I was hoping that I could get more information for the article.”

“Right, the article,” Elaine said, unconvinced. “Well, by all means, go on.”

“After we had walked around a while, we decided to go grab some coffee,” Jesse said.

“I was wondering where that would come into the picture,” Elaine’s expression perked up, and she gave Jesse a predatory smile. “Given that the picture was taken in a coffee shop, after all.”

“Yes,” Jesse nodded. “Well, we got the coffee, and we were talking for a while … and then he spotted someone with their phone out, taking a picture. So … he took my hand, and we ran out.”

“I see,” Elaine said simply and was silent for a moment as she looked at Jesse from across the desk.

The silence stretched on, and Jesse feared that she would soon break out in a sweat if Elaine kept looking at her that way. Finally, though, Elaine blinked and shook her head with a sigh.

“And that was the end of your little adventure, I presume?” Elaine asked as she leaned back in her seat.

“Yes,” Jesse answered. She was half-worried that Elaine would be able to tell that she was lying, but her boss merely nodded.

“Good,” Elaine said. “Well, fortunately, this isn’t such a big issue.”

Jesse released a sigh of pure relief. After this interrogation, she had been seriously worried that her job was on the line. She had definitely not expected Elaine to say anything of that nature.

“However,” Elaine said sternly, and Jesse felt all her tension return, “I really do expect this article to be a real piece of work.”

At that, Jesse felt her stomach drop. She knew that she had enough insight into his life to create the article that Elaine was really wanting, but she also knew that she had given her word to Hal that none of it would be used in the article. Normally, Jesse would have had no problem lying to a celebrity about the use of their interview, but this time, she couldn’t shake the guilt she was experiencing.

“Jesse?” Elaine’s voice called her out of her thoughts.

“Of course.” Jesse nodded and gave Elaine a grateful smile.

“Another thing,” Elaine said, seeming to be lost in thought. “We might be able to create a spin-off of your relationship with him. So, if you’re going to keep seeing him, it wouldn’t hurt too much to get a few more candid shots with him every now and then. Then I can put someone else on covering your relationship. We can really keep the media moving. Maybe we’ll get to interview you at some point!”

Jesse couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable with the idea, but she had to admit that the notion of being in a relationship with Hal Roberts definitely carried quite a lot of appeal for her, though she did not appreciate the idea of it being used to create stories for the magazine.

“I don’t really thing that will happen,” Jesse confessed, and Elaine raised her eyebrow, seeming genuinely curious.

“No?” the older woman asked, a slight grin blooming on her face.

“Um, no.” Jesse shook her head and felt a blush rising up on her cheeks. Elaine laughed at the obvious color in her face, which only served to make her blush deepen.

“Oh, youth,” Elaine said with a sigh. “Let me guess, you’re horribly self-conscious, and you couldn’t imagine any man falling for you, much less the billionaire celebrity Hal Roberts?”

Jesse made no comment and looked down into her lap.

“Trust me, honey, from woman to woman,” Elaine said with a knowing smile. “You’re not giving yourself half the credit you deserve. I don’t want this to get too personal, but you have a spark about you. Hell, it’s a part of the reason that you’re even here.”

Jesse looked up at her boss and blinked. Elaine had never been so personal in conversation with her before and to hear her give her praise so frankly and essentially tell her that she had a chance with Hal was certainly unexpected.

“So,” Elaine clapped and gave Jesse a wide smile. “Are we back on track now? Shall I expect the article from you soon?”

“Yes,” Jesse said with a vigorous nod. “Absolutely.”

“Excellent,” Elaine said with a smile. “That’s all.”

Jesse nearly collapsed from relief right there. She rose from her seat and began to make her way to the door of her employer’s office.

“Oh, and Jesse?” Elaine called, and Jesse tensed as she turned to face her.

“Yes?” she answered, waiting for the other shoe to fall.

“Try not to take any more extended lunch hours,” Elaine said as she flicked through some papers on her desk. “We don’t pay you to go gallivanting with celebrities.”

“Right.” Jesse nodded, once again relieved.

“Very good,” Elaine said and turned her full attention to the items on her desk.

Jesse lingered a second more just in case there was something else Elaine had forgotten, but when she was sure the other woman was finished speaking, she wasted no time in dashing out the door. She moved down the hall quickly and found solitude in the elevator. She leaned against the wall and let out a long breath of relief. She could feel her heart still pounding in her chest, and she could feel her hands shaking.

She scolded herself for ever letting herself get caught up in a situation like this, though she had to admit there was no way she could have ever anticipated such a thing actually happening to her.

Jesse marveled at her situation, but eventually shook her head. The elevator reached the floor where her desk was situated, and she cleared her mind, determined to get to work on the article that she had been neglecting for so long.