Trace of Innocence | Sweet and Sour (Book 4)

Chapter 6

(No Control | Holding Me Ransom - 6 - Start Again And Find Somebody)

"Don't let her go!" Karen shouts at me desperately, brushing fruitlessly at her skirt with her hand. "Go after her! She's going to the press!"

"She's not going to the press," I sigh, wearily.

"Do you really want to take the risk?!" Karen snarls.

"I really, honestly, couldn't care less," I reply. "I deserve whatever is coming to me. But I'm telling you now, she won't sell her story. She isn't an attention seeker, and she would never deliberately hurt me."

"Even though you broke her heart?!" Karen rages.

"Even though I broke her heart," I mumble, staring back at my feet again.

"Well I'm sorry, Harry, but I'm afraid I don't share your faith. I've seen a woman scorned too many times. Someone needs to stop her!"

"Go on then," I sigh, and she stops wiping her skirt and lifts her head to stare at me.

"What, me?!" she says incredulously. "She won't listen to me!"

"I'm not going after her," I declare, stubbornly. "I've treated her badly enough. The last thing she wants is me begging her not to sell me down the river."

Karen lets out a growl of rage and steps past me and into the corridor, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor and she strides towards the stairs in pursuit of Jess. I wait until I hear the door swing shut, and then get up out of my seat, step out into the corridor and look out of the window into the car park.

Antos, a bald-headed driver for Modest, is opening the door of what looks like a black Mercedes, to let Jess in. I watch as she slips gracefully into the back seat, her hair scooped forward over her shoulder. He shuts the door behind her and walks around the front of the car to the driver's side, and that's when I see Karen emerge from the front door of the building. She crosses the car park with purpose, and as she reaches the car the back window slides down and I can see Jess's face. Even when she's angry, she's beautiful.

I can't hear the conversation from up here, but it doesn't seem to be going too well for Karen. I smirk as Jess rolls her eyes in Karen's face and winds the window back up again while Karen is still bent down trying to talk to her. Eventually she stands up and watches with her hands on her hips as the car backs out of the space and crawls out of the car park.

Once it has disappeared she folds her arms and walks back across the car park to the entrance. I slip back into her office and sit down, and after a minute I hear her heels clicking along the corridor again. She sweeps into her office and shuts the door behind us, a little louder than necessary.

"Well it's safe to say my skirt is ruined," she snaps as she sits down behind her desk.

Safe to say my life is ruined, but whatever.

"It's only water," I mutter.

"This is dry clean only," she says stonily.

"Oh."

"I can't believe she wouldn't listen to reason!" she explodes, slapping her palm on the desk in annoyance. "Why didn't you let her sign that bloody agreement? It would have prevented all of this!"

"All of what?" I huff. "She hasn't done anything, and she won't. I trust her. She won't betray me."

"You're so naive," Karen sighs.

"I'm not naive!" I protest. "If it was anyone else I would wholeheartedly agree with you. But I know her. She won't let me down. That's what makes all this harder."