The One That Got Away.

Sunday

The rest of the day had been rather uneventful. Jared spent hours on the phone and Kelly fielded texts from Patrick and Erica. Erica thought Jared was a pig. She read all about his gorgeous "secret" girlfriend Valeriya Petrova. The one he claimed to the press and fans he didn't have. Erica said she didn't trust Jared at all, Patrick said he wanted to have his babies. Kris didn't understand why Kelly and Jared were hanging out anyway, who hangs out with their mom's wedding photographer?

Jared ordered dinner from the hotel and they dined in his room. They talked more about Pure Platinum. Kelly was curious to know if all of the strange gifts had come from him so she made him tell her about all the times he gave her money, without hinting at the scenarios so he couldn't lie about it. He said one time he paid a dancer called Abbie $500 and asked if she would slip an envelope into Kelly's locker. It contained a thousand dollars. He wasn't sure if the dancer really did it or just stole the money. Abbie was a student at the University of Central Florida, a couple of years older than Kelly, and an honest person. She did put the money in the locker and didn't tell Kelly who it was from. Another time, he approached a dancer named Karman and handed her a stack of money to give to Kelly but he couldn't remember how much it was. Jared requested that Karman tell Kelly that it came from a customer that she would never question or would never see again. Karman did as asked, telling Kelly it was from a semi-regular customer they called "Miggs" - as in Multiple Miggs, from Silence of the Lambs, which was an inside joke between the dancers. That freaked Kelly out because she didn't like that particular customer, so every time he came in after that she would avoid him. Thus making him the perfect scapegoat. 

Jared was happy to hear all of his gifts made it to her without anyone shortchanging her. With Jared's intense blue eyes and charming way of his, Kelly could see how it was easy to get the dancers to do anything he asked of them. Kelly didn't ask if any of the dancers ever recognized him.

Kelly tried to keep the money a secret from the abusive boyfriend but some days she was so excited she spilled the beans and then there went the money. She was running out of hiding spots and she didn't have a bank account. She was denied a bank account due to not having any credit since she was so young. That always enraged Kelly, how was she supposed to build credit if she needed credit to build credit?! It made no sense!

When Jared asked the name of the ex-boyfriend she said she would only refer to him as "The Dickhead." Like Voldemort, He Who Must Not Be Named. 

Jared said, "Then I shall refer to him as 'The Dickhead' from here on out."

"How about we don't refer to him at all from here on out?" Kelly suggested.

After they had dessert, Kelly was getting sleepy. Jared was still texting away on his phone and making calls. "Business," he said. Kelly decided to crawl into bed and rest her eyes. Before she knew it she was fast asleep.

It is still dark out the next morning when she wakes up to the sound of someone entering the room and a man's voice.

"Hello?" he calls out softly.

Kelly sits up in bed. Jared is still asleep on the floor. Kelly thinks he must sleep like a rock. She flicks on the light next to the bed and squints from the brightness.

"Good morning," she manages to say politely while rubbing her eyes and reaching for her glasses.

"I'm Giuseppe. You must be Kelly- oh my!" He exclaims at the sight of her neck. "My goodness, dear, what happened?"

"None of your business," Jared says from the floor.

Giuseppe ignores his rudeness, "Come with me, my love, we'll get you fixed right up."

Kelly hops out of bed, still wearing her jeans and tank top from the day before.