The One That Got Away.

The Contest

"So, how crazy is that?" Kelly feigns excitement as she shows Josh the email. "I've already called Emma and we can meet them tomorrow." Then she adds as an exit option, "I'm not obligated, they have a runner up."

"That's great, Kelly!" Josh is genuinely excited for her.  

"Ok, so I guess we'll meet them tomorrow?" She asks one more time.

"Yeah, let's do it!"

Kelly has the feeling that Josh's excitement is twofold. He was excited for her, of course, but also excited to meet Jared, his favorite actor. If he had any questions or skepticism about the "contest" his excitement surely overshadowed it.

As Kelly drives to the Ritz-Carlton she wonders just how awkward this is going to be. Would Josh see the infidelities written all over their faces? Would Josh instinctively know they already knew each other, had already been together?

"Hey, don't be so nervous," he rubs her leg as she drives. "They picked you for a reason, you're the best!"

Kelly takes one last deep breath before knocking on Jared's hotel room door. He opens the door before she's able to knock. Once again she stops him dead in his tracks. During the entire week they had spent together she was always dressed in plain jeans and old teeshirts. Even at the beach she never wore a bathing suit, just ratty old shorts, and tank tops. She didn't even bother with a stitch of makeup or fixing her hair during that time either. Now, however, she stood before him in a delicate, short yellow sundress decorated with a cherry pattern. Her long, strawberry blonde hair was wavy and bouncy, and while she didn't have much make-up on (she didn't need it, she looked younger without it anyway) she did have on a touch of mascara and lip gloss. A little went a long way on her. She wore open-toed sandals and her toenails were painted the same light pink color as her fingernails. Jared wonders if she did this for him or if this is how she normally dresses for Josh. 

He can barely keep his composure to greet them. He stares at her so long, she nervously says, "Hi, we're here for uh, Emma Lockley and Jared Leto."

"Yes, right," he says opening the door wider to invite them into the suite. "I'm sorry I was uh, well, never mind. Please, come in." 

Josh and Kelly enter Jared's far-too-lavish hotel room. If Kelly was impressed by the Hilton, this penthouse suite at the Ritz-Carlton was off the charts. 

Jared had seen pictures of Josh but he wasn't prepared for seeing him in person. All 6'4" of him. He looked much younger than his 30 years, at the most he looked 22, but that matched Kelly who still barely looked 21. Josh was very attractive, had a well-manicured beard, and Jared notices right away, he is wearing a wedding ring. Kelly still isn't wearing hers.

"Hey, man, I'm Jared," he says to Josh, extending his hand.

Josh grabs it and gives him a firm shake, "Nice to meet you, I'm Josh. This is my wife, well, you guys probably already know each other." He says it completely innocently but Kelly almost has a heart attack. 

"Uh, yeah, sort of. Hi, I'm Jared," he says to Kelly, taking her hand and placing a kiss on it. 

Kelly pulls her hand back, "Yeah, hi."

Emma joins them and Jared introduces her. For all her mousy looks and meek demeanor, Emma Lockley was a force to be reckoned with. While the public viewed her as prosaic and a mere servant to Jared, behind closed doors, to the people that knew her and worked with her, she was fierce. She was the real secret to Jared's success. If it weren't for Emma, he'd have been forced to crawl back into the muddy banks of the Mississippi, long, long ago. Emma had been Jared's business partner, and the real brains behind the business, all of the business, for 15 years. No one was savvier than her. She built Jared and his empire. The rumors about his enormous wealth were true, all because of Emma. People who thought she was a lowly errand girl had no clue but Jared certainly knew what he had in Emma. He treated her like gold. More times than not it was Jared who ran Emma's errands, made her coffee, walked her dog, and paid her quite well. Five years ago Jared introduced her to the love of her life, Tomas Cavendish, the man she ended up marrying and having two children with. Jared had even officiated their wedding.