The road to love (editing!!)

Chapter 7 - Picture Perfect? (edited)

Dedicated to @PuRpLe_EaStEr_EgGs - Sorry I took so long!

Jessie

It was Monday morning and I sat staring at my computer screen, the same thing I'd been doing for the past two hours since I got to work. For some reason I just could not get my mind to focus and start working on the layout for the coffee shop's menu's.

After Saturday night's unplanned get-together with Dean, Bianca and Duncan, I had been walking on a cloud. It was the most amazing night out I had had in years. Even though Dean had to leave when he did, the rest of us stayed a bit longer and I got to know Duncan and Bianca better. Bianca was a lot of fun, actually. A bit of a flirt, though I think it was mostly to tease Duncan into some kind of a reaction just to test his feelings for her. That girl had it bad and Duncan definitely defined the whole "strong and silent" type to a T. Other than the kiss on the dance floor, I didn't see any major form of affection from his side the whole night, so I'm pretty sure she initiated the kiss. Though he didn't seem to protest too much.

Although, maybe I wasn't really looking close enough. Now that I thought about it, there actually was the odd, heated look between them every now and then as well and he was sitting very close to her the whole night, apart from when she went off to dance with some random guy who asked her. Then Duncan kind of had this hard look on his face, watching them intently as they danced to a fast paced song. He made sure to tuck her close to him again when she came back to our table, while almost growling at the guy who had danced with Bianca, while she had a satisfied smirk on her face. I saw their fingers intertwining once or twice when they thought no one was looking too. Bodyguard... yeah, Duncan gives that word a whole new meaning!

I hadn't seen Dean in traffic this morning, so naturally my high became a low by the time I got to the office. I was so looking forward to seeing him smile at me again!

Sharon came bursting into my office excitedly, frantically waving something in her hand and startling me out of my thoughts. "Oh my goodness! Jes, did you see the paper this morning?"

I groaned. I didn't feel up to her perky self right now.

"What?" I kind of growled back at her.

"Geez Jessie, who ate your cheerios this morning?" She frowned at me.

"Oh just forget it." I huffed. "What are you so hyped up about?"

Sharon ignored my mood and dumped a gossip paper on my desk. I frowned down at the offending object of her excitement. "I told you, Shar, I don't...

"....read the gossip papers, yes I know, but I think you need to see this!" She pointed to a picture on the front of the glossy paper.

I froze at what I saw there, feeling the colour drain from my face. Oh. My. Word.

The photo on the page... it was me, in Dean's arms, on the dance floor, grinding my booty on him! Shocked, I read the caption under the photo.

It seems Dean Parker, eldest son of Greg Parker of the Parker & Sons Construction group, has found himself a new playmate. Though we were not able to gather the young lady's name, they were quite cozy on the dance floor at Club Dusk on Saturday night. Don't break out the tissues just yet, ladies... we don't think this fling will last! Just ask his last flavor of the month!

I sat back in my chair, stunned. Playmate? Flavor of the month? This was bad. This damned picture made me look like a... a... cheap floozy! I balled my fists, feeling the anger seep into my bones. Jessica Jones was no FLOOZY!

"I'm so, so sorry, Jes. I never should have insisted we go there. It's all my fault. I'm going to phone this paper's editor and give him a piece of my mind!" I heard Sharon's pleading voice through my anger haze.