Left Behind

Broken Trust

The next day Jessica and Danny were starting their morning routine as usual. They made their coffee, packed their lunches, and made a quick breakfast to-go.

Jessica was exhausted. She didn't get any sleep the night before. She was up all night working on her draft that finally got finished. Danny had stayed up with her to keep her company so he was a bit tired as well.

Jessica told Danny about Evan coming over. She was still feeling so guilty about letting him in when Sarah didn't want him around. Jessica had no plan of telling Sarah and she prayed Evan would keep his mouth shut.

Jessica was slowly pouring her coffee. She began to close her eyes and Danny rushed to her side to stop the coffee from over flowing.

"Be careful there, hun." Danny chuckles

Jessica rubs her eyes "I'm sorry... I'm so tired!" She whines

"Think about it... you have your quick meeting with David, then you stop into the office and you're home for the weekend." Danny swaddles Jessica and kisses her numerous times.

"This weekend will be filled with helping Sarah. I can feel it." Jessica says with irritation

As much as she loved Sarah and wanted to help she had her own life too. She missed her privacy and being alone with Danny. Sarah wasn't very pleasant to be around at the moment which put Jessica on edge.

Danny sighs "You and I will have a nice weekend. Don't worry, baby."

"That sounds great."

//-//

After Jessica left the house she headed straight up to David's office. She had her draft secured in her arms. She marched into his office and waited for him.

"Ms. Lange, He is ready for you." His secretary says.

Jessica fixes herself then walks into his office. David was right there to greet her.

"Jessica! Hello!" He says as he hugs her then kisses her cheek.

"Hello, it's great to see you." She smiles

"And you too. Please, sit." He says

Jessica sits down and David sits across from her.

"Here is my draft." She smiles handing him the binder

David flips through it briefly.

"I know it will be great." He says setting it down.

Jessica was a bit stunned. She thought the meeting would be about going over the draft and reviewing it. She could tell he had no intention of doing so.

"What about Left Behind. How far have you gotten?"

Jessica had totally forgotten about that story. She always did. Whenever she worked on it, it was when something was going on.

"Left Behind? Aren't we here to talk about this book? The one I spent all last night working on?" Jessica's tone in voice quickly changes.

"Jessica, I'm not worried about the photography book. Lately I just keep thinking about those chapters you gave me. I want to publish that. It's so amazing."

"What do you mean you aren't worried about my photography book? I work so hard on those! What, is it just an easy publish for you? Skim it then your done?" Jessica raises her voice and David gets nervous

"You are blowing this out of proportion. You are a brilliant photographer and writer. It's not that the book is an easy publish. I just know it's great. I'm curios about Left Behind because you know how badly I want that in stores. It's great."

"I've told you many times, I'm never going to release Left Behind. That book is something that I used to vent. That book is my life over the last few years with a few name changes. That book holds my secrets. My husband doesn't even know that book exist. I can never release it. I thought you knew that." Jessica didn't expect to get so heated over a simple question. The book was a way for Jessica to escape all the problems she had been through over the last couple years. It started from the day her father became sick to her moving to New York leaving behind her family. Thinking about publishing something so deep and personal made her sick. Now, her and Danny were together. Things were different in a good way. She no longer felt attached to the book.

David didn't mean to upset Jessica. He felt terrible. "I'm sorry. It's your work, not mine. I was excited for you once I read those chapters. You write so beautifully. I understand if you want to keep it to yourself."

Jessica cools down a bit. "No, I'm sorry. I flipped out."

"Don't apologize. Why don't we go over your draft and call it a day."

"That sounds like a plan."

//-//

Jessica was still a little irritated after her visit with David. She didn't know why, she just wasn't having a good day.

She stopped at the office to help train some interns then she headed back home.

When Jessica got back to the apartment she saw all of Sarah's things waiting at the door. She thought it would be a while until Sarah left but she thought wrong.

"Sarah? What's going on?" Jessica says as she walks in

Sarah comes stomping out of Jessica's bedroom with Aspen in her arms.

"How could you!" Sarah yells

"What are you talking about?" Jessica says

"You'll never guess who knocked on the door today, asking for his wallet that he forgot here, yesterday!"

Jessica's heart sunk. She knew exactly what was going on.

"Sarah-"

"Don't Sarah me, Jessica. I told you so many times that I did not want Evan seeing my daughter. He told me everything. I can't believe you. Going behind my back and letting him see her when I told you what he did to me? You're a horrible friend!" Sarah snaps

"... I am finding a hotel until I leave for Minnesota. I can't stand to look at you." Sarah adds

Jessica stood there. She has never seen Sarah so angry with her. It wasn't Jessica's place to let Evan see aspen but she felt bad and was struggling with her. Jessica dug herself deep and didn't know how to get out of it.

"I'm sorry. It was wrong of me, I should have asked."

"What you should have done is kicked him to the curb. We are suppose to be best friends and trust each other. I trusted you with my daughter. Remember when you lost the baby, how I kept that secret for so long because you trusted me? Remember all the shit you put me through? And you do this. Wow. You help out the guy who ruined everything. Well fuck you Jessica Lange. Fuck you, fuck you!"

//-//