Is This True Love? (DNF)

Chapter 58: Reactions

Jimmy POV

My eyes narrowed, watching as Clay’s car approached the bridge and I sighed at the driver in front of me. “Chandler, you can slow down.” I instructed, and his eyes narrowed but he nodded.
“Wait, why?” Kris asked from the other seat, seeming confused. “Why would you have us stop? We were gaining on them!”

“George is terrified of the water.” I responded, a small grin growing as I realised that surely Clay wouldn’t do anything, not if he truly loved George.
“Surely George would have a panic attack if they went anywhere near the bridge.” Sure enough the car began to slow and I let out a sound of relief.

"Shouldn't we still follow though?" Chandler questioned. "To make sure they head back?"
"No need. If we do then that can break the illusion to George, thus breaking it for our audience."

But the car in front of us began to speed up, and my eyes widened with shock. I hadn’t been expecting this, and the pair looked over at me, wanting to know what I wanted to do. “Should we follow them?” Chandler asked, already preparing to drice regardless of my answer.

“There is no point.” I sighed patiently. “There are no cameras outside of the island except for establishing shots. We won’t be able to find them if Clay gets paranoid and tries to hide.”
“But how are we going to have our show when our star just got kidnapped!?” Kris’ question was rash and panicked.

I managed to keep myself calm, responding to Kris with a level head. “We have fed the audience the idea that George is upset about the break up and to respect his heartbreak we’d give him an afternoon alone.” I had heard from through my headpiece as I was in communication with Matthew back in the main room.

He and I had been coordinating for the past few minutes, and he had immediately cut the feed and sent out that message about his heartbreak. According to what he had told me, the chats were going wild. Most of the audience were freaking out about the fact that Clay had suddenly wanted out of the relationship.

There were some people who were making some conspiracy theories about what was going on. Most of it was just insane rambling, but there were one or two accounts saying that something deeper was going on. These didn’t end up getting much attention, yet they still lurked.

“Besides,” I added on. “We control all of the exits and entrances onto the island, they can not go anywhere. We’ll just let George and Clay drive around for as long as they need before Clay gets bored and drops him back off to us.” I managed to keep a smile, composing myself for the other people around me more than anything.

Reluctantly Chandler changed the direction that we were driving. “Head back to Niki’s house.” I instructed, well, watching out of the side window at everyone in the town. Most of the people who had been at home began filtering outside to see what was going on. They all began whispering to one another, rumours spreading inside the dome just like online.

“Matthew, can you deal with this?” I asked, keeping my voice low enough that even the others in the car couldn’t hear. “I don’t want this to keep spreading around the town.”
“Of course.” He muttered, and I heard ferocious typing which rang through my head from the other end of the call.

I continued to watch the scene outside of the window as we reached Niki’s driveway and watched as people slowly began heading inside of their houses and shutting the doors. Some I saw sneaking over to their windows to continue watching the scene.

Niki was standing by her car, not saying anything and keeping her gaze lowered. My lips pressed themselves into a line as our car came to a stop, with me stepping out to approach the woman. She had her face in an unreadable expression and I approached her, glaring with my fists tensed up.

“Why the fuck did you leave the two of them alone?” I asked her, bitterness and anger clear in my voice and tone.
“I-I’m sorry Jimmy.” She kept her gaze down. “I was trying to give them respect, a proper chance to say goodbye to each other.”

“Well that decision caused us to lose our star. You should be very disappointed in yourself. You ruined everything.” I managed to keep my voice calm despite the anger which continued to grow inside of me. “This whole world could be torn apart because of you. We’d all lose our jobs.”
“I-I’m sorry Jimmy.” She repeated.

“You didn’t even do anything when they headed to his car.” I added on. “You just let them get in and drive off.” I walked past her, going over to the empty spot of the driveway where Clay’s car had been parked up until recently.
“The cameras had been ripped out.” Matthew noted. “And the GPS.”

“I figured as much.” I murmured to myself. From behind me I heard Niki’s footsteps, glancing over my shoulder to see Niki approaching. She didn’t seem to be timid anymore, slightly more annoyed as she walked to us.
“I don’t see how this is my fault.” I added on with a grumble.

I turned to look at her. “This is your fault. When you agreed to host Clay we told you to keep an eye on him. We said that he could interact with George but you allowed the interaction to develop into love. If it weren’t for you then Clay would have been gone weeks ago, and George would be living his life normally.”

“You’re treating me like I’m a damn bodyguard, like an escort.” She glared, cursing me out under her breath. “I still have a life to live here! You’ve given me a job, friends to visit, I can’t dedicate my whole life to babysitting a guest star.”
“That’s been proven today, hasn’t it?” I asked.

She didn’t speak again and after a moment I sighed. “You’re fired.” I stated blandly, beginning to walk towards the car I had arrived in.
“You’re firing me?” She asked, agitation beginning to build. “Because I can’t spend every second dedicated to watching someone?”

“Yes.” I stated, allowing my eyes to shut. A hand drifted to my face, and I breathed slowly, continuing to keep myself calm. “I want your stuff packed by tomorrow morning and for you to be ready to go.” She seemed shocked but she managed a stoic expression as she turned to leave.

When she disappeared inside I allowed myself to continue walking to the car, when I had returned to my seat Chandler and Kris looked over at me. “Jimmy-” the woman began, pity flooding both of them which was directed towards Niki. When I looked over to them though she just fell silent, unable to think of anything to say.

“Let’s just begin coordinating a search.” I muttered. “This afternoon, we will go and begin looking for them.” Neither of them spoke, instead just nodding at me.
______________________________________
1202 words