The One That Got Away.

Pay Day

Josh never had a conversation with Kelly concerning the financial compensation he would be receiving for joining Thirty Seconds To Mars, or the weekly pay he was promised in addition to that. She had not asked, nor had it even crossed her mind. As far as she was concerned, with the $250,000 from Jared that had already hit their account, Josh could do it for free. The only reason he had not discussed it with her was that it still didn't feel real to him. And it wouldn't; not until that money was sitting in the account fair and square.

The day following the rum and weed fiasco was going to be a busy one. Jared is already downstairs and working by the time Kelly wakes up, and Josh is getting dressed. She opens her laptop to check her bank account, just out of habit. 

"Wait!" Kelly cries out as Josh plants a quick kiss on her on his way out.

"I have to go, they're-"

"Look!" she yells. "Something is wrong! This isn't right. What is this?!" She points at her screen.

"What?" Josh is annoyed, he has no time to play I.T. tech with her right now. He looks at the screen and his eyes bug out. "Oh damn, they paid me already," he says as if he didn't expect it to ever really happen.

"Who did? What the fuck?" Kelly can't even comprehend if the account is in the positive or negative. She's visibly confused.

"Oh my God!" Josh laughs as it sinks in. "Jared said the sign-on bonus would be two million dollars, in addition to what they will pay me every week." 

Two million?... Dollars? Kelly is stunned. She is completely devoid of words. She mouths something but no sound comes out.

"Shit, I have to go," he says giving her another quick kiss. "We'll celebrate later," he calls as he hurries away.

Kelly must have been sitting there with her mouth agape for several minutes, in sheer astonishment when Shayla walks in with breakfast. Kelly closes her mouth and snaps back to reality. 

"Breakfast," Shayla says, setting it on the table. "Jared tells me what to bring you but if want something else from now on just text me the day before. You don't have to eat what he says." 

"Thank you, Shayla," Kelly says politely.

"You're welcome. I'll bring lunch around 1." 

Kelly's speechless astonishment was quickly turning into an explosive excitement. Two million dollars was a lot of money in her opinion. Then she remembers Josh saying something about getting paid every week and she is speechless once again. 

After breakfast, Kelly grabs her camera, tucks her new skates under her arm, and heads to a section of the compound suitable for skating. Putting her skates on and skating to the area was not a good idea, due to the many stairs and varied tiled flooring on the way. And while pictures from around his house were not what he had in mind, she wants to shoot some of the weird-ass things taking up residence here. She just wants to shoot for fun today.

After nearly an hour of skating, exploring, and taking pictures around the place, Kelly is surprised to find Jared in one of the hallways. She skates into his arms and he kisses her on the lips. He still thinks I love you in his head every time he kisses her. He still hasn't said it out loud to her.

"You've got your camera," he notices. "Hey, I just want to let you there will be a little get-together on Sunday, just family. My mom and I will be cooking." 

"Oh," Kelly is caught off guard. She's extremely nervous about meeting the illustrious Constance Leto. She has already played that scene out in her head and even in her imagination it doesn't go well."Hi, Jared's Mom, I mean, Mrs. Leto- no, not Mrs. Miss, no I mean-"