Chapter sixty-five: Please Don't Go

Chapter sixty-five: Please Don't Go

Jessica

"Hello?" I said as I picked up the call.

"Jess, I got engaged!" Rose screamed and my mouth dropped, I looked at Jeffrey through his office door.

"Oh my goodness, Rose. I am so happy for you, congratulations."

"Thank you so much, dear. You will come to the bridal shower and everything, right?" She gushed.

"Of course." I laughed at the fact that she is already planning everything.

"Yes, I will be there only if they are strippers though." I added.

"Absolutely not!" Jeffrey yelled from the other room, Rose giggled.

"What the boys don't know won't hurt them."

We talked a little more about the holidays before hanging up and Jeffrey walked up to me with raised eyebrows.

"You will not under any circumstances be near any male strippers." Jeffrey said and I looked at him confused.

"It is just Rose's bridal shower, what is the worst that could happen? It will all be girls, you can to Sam's bachelor party, have a good time and it will be fun!" He sighed through his nose.

"Well, we have time to discuss this, obviously they won't be getting married for a while."

"Who knows? They have been dating forever, I wouldn't be surprised if they got married in less than a year."

"No strippers, Princess."

"Can't you just let me have a good time? I asked and he sent me a smirk.

"Was doggy style not a good time?"


******************

It was my last week in Paris, Jeffrey and I had done everything you could possibly think of. From sight-seeing to shopping, to eating local cuisine, anything, just name it. But the more time with Jeffrey shortened, the more tense he got. I couldn't figure out if it was just me or if it was something out of my control but he was more short-tempered and I felt like I was stepping on eggshells whenever I talked to him.

Today was the worst of them all, I had just woken up from a nap after our morning in town and I could hear him talking very loudly on the phone from the first floor. I rubbed my eyes and left the bed, going out to the landing to see him pacing the living room.

"What do you mean there is a worse headline?" He fumed and as I began walking down the stairs I heard him again.

"Well tell them they can fúck off, they don't know my private life. Why do they need to know where my money goes?"

I silently made my way to the bottom stairs, hesitant to startle or interrupted him. He sat down on the couch and put his head in his free hand.

"She is not a fucking leech, Jorge. She is my girlfriend and…. what? No, of course not."

I bit my lip, clearly there was another new story out about us. I was afraid to know what it was and by the sound of Jeffrey's voice and the look on his face, it wasn't good.

He immediately hung up the phone with a frustrated groan and out of anger, he threw the phone at the wall, narrowly missing my head. I flinched as it hit the wall, shattering and I almost fell against the staircase. His face immediately turned pale upon seeing how close he was to hitting me.

"Oh my goodness, he gasped, rushing over to me.

"I am so sorry, Princess. I had no idea that you were down here."

I swallowed hard and avoided his gaze, the memory of him with Steven suddenly flashed to the front of my mind when he was so angry that he put Steven into a chokehold. I told him I didn't want to see him that angry again but only a few seconds ago was his cell phone flying across the room and nearly hitting me in the face.

"What are they saying?" I asked, avoiding his original statement. He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Who? Jorge?"

"No, the magazines, Jeffrey. What are the magazines saying?"

He sighed and walked away from me, running a hand through his messy hair.

"I lost a cover shoot opportunity with Rolling Stone because they felt as though our relationship was extremely unprofessional. They don't want their readers to think I paid them to put you on the cover because you are my girlfriend." I pressed my lips, feeling terrible at the loss of opportunity.

"I am so sorry, Jeffrey."

"Oh, wait." He said, holding a finger up.

"There is more, nearly every news channel has our photos posted. All of which are claiming that you are dating me for my money and that is how you are paying for education, from my wallet."

I felt silent, listening to him list more and more rumors, claims and accusations that the public has made about us. I felt my eyes beim with tears, I knew this would happen. I looked down at the two eagles on my wrist, a tear drop landing on one of them.

"This was so stupid." I whispered, I knew this tattoo would be a mistake.

"What, Jessica?" His hands were on his hips, clearly exasperated.

"I can't hear you, what are you mumbling about?"

"I said this was stupid," I looked up at him with tears streaming down my cheeks.

"I knew this would happen but I was naive enough to not believe it."

"What would happen?" He walked over to me.

"Princess, what are you talking about?"

"I knew rumors would be made, I knew I could damage your business if our relationship went public." I shook my head, feeling completely defeated.

"I should have just stayed away…."

"Jessica, no, don't talk like that." He interrupted.

"No, I wanted you in my life, I wanted you to be with me."

"But did you know that it would potentially ruin future opportunities for you? Since you already called me a gold digger and all." I questioned and he fell silent.

"You….you did know?" He bowed his head and stared at the floor.

"I mean, I figured it would happen but not for this long."

"What do you mean, this long?"

"I knew that they would talk about us but I thought they would drop it after a few stories but now it has been thrown into a full-fledged scandal and it is beyond my control." He rubbed his hands over his face, and I looked at the ground.

"Maybe it is best I just go," I said, quietly.

"What?" He looked back at me with wide eyes.

"Where are you going?" I let out a shaky breath.

"My home, Jeffrey. I need to go home, Jorge is right, I am bad for your business and look how it turned out."

"No, Princess. Please don't leave me." He grabbed my hand before I could walk back up the stairs.

"Please, Jessica, don't leave me."

"I need to, Jeffrey." I said, looking away from his eyes as they began to tear up as well.

"I can't stay. If Rolling Stone will drop you because of me, who knows what the next magazine will do?"

I managed to pry from his grip, running up the stairs with him following. I went straight to pack up my things.

"Can you please let Luke know I will be needing a ride to the airport?"

I said but he simply stood in the doorway, speechless. I looked up at him, which was a mistake as tears trickled down his face and he shook his head as if he couldn't believe I was actually leaving.

"I can't leave without you, Jessica." He choked out, I could feel the evident fear stain on my cheeks as more tears began to follow the same path.

"Jeffrey, please don't say that to me." He swiftly walked over to me, wrapping his arms around me in a tight embrace.

"You are everything to me, I don't want to let you go. What am I supposed to do without you?"

I sighed and let myself sob into his shirt. He needed a woman of his age, he needed to focus on his business and not on the twenty year old college student with stupid fantasies over an older man.

"Jeffrey, I need to go. Your business will do better if I am not in the picture anymore…."

"Fúck my business." He spat.

"Fúck Jorge, fúck Rolling Stone and the fúck the news. I don't care about them as much as I care about you." I blinked the tears away and shook my head.

"No, Jeffrey. You need to focus on your business, you are losing opportunities because of me and I just…..I can't keep ignoring the press and what they say about me."

"Princess, they will go away. I promise….."

"But when, Jeffrey?" How long will it take? How many magazines will say no? How many people will turn you away because of your relationship with your twenty year old employee?"

He rolled his lips between his teeth and fell on his knees. My lips parted as he did, he just simply knelt there, his eyes looking up at me.

"You are my everything, Jessica. You have kept me out of so much trouble the last few months, you have kept me sane. You have shown me a side of myself that I hadn't even known before. Please, please, Jessica. I am begging you, don't go."

My face fell into my hands and I let the tears flow even harder, my own knees giving out on me and I fell to the floor. Of course, I didn't want to go but I was destroying his business and career the more I stayed. I couldn't live with myself knowing multiple magazines that turned his fashion away because of me.

"Jeffrey, I am sorry, I just can't keep doing this if this is how it is going to be."

I cried and he looked up at me with reddened, stained cheeks and glossy eyes.

"Please, let me go."