Chapter 2: Are You KIDDING Me???

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A/N: This story started as a one-shot. I've tweaked the first part so that this part makes sense. Thanks for joining!

I sputter about my home wondering what, exactly to say. What the fuck is going on? How did this happen? I thought it was over.

Jamie's text appears: Heads up...incoming photos. Please don't be alarmed. All staged.

Shit head. Why? I reel in my inner bitch and reply: Why, exactly, is this happening?

His reply is less than satisfactory. It's what needs to happen. Means nothing. Please hang with me.

In the meantime, my publicist is insisting on additional photos with Chris to solidify that I am attached and not hankering after a married man.

I have never been more pissed with my life than I am right now. I reply to my publicist: Three days. That's all you get.

Then I reply to Jamie: You have three days of me with Chris to endure. Given what I've seen from you, hope you choke on it. Playing the pregnancy card? Really?

His reply is almost immediate: You KNOW that is not even a remote possibility. She has a pooch and that is her issue, but it's NOT a baby.

I need to get him back on point. Why are you still being seen with her if you've filed? Why the show? You know that every minute you expose pix of you two, that is more time that we can't come out? We can't be a couple if you are a public couple with what the world thinks is your wife.

I drink two glasses of wine while I wait for his reply. I love you. I want you. I intend to have you and be with you for the rest of my life. This sucks, I know. Please hang in there with me. Let's get through this wave and I really think things will settle down and we can be what we want to be.

He is so damn naïve. What do I say? I love him, I want him, but I know better than anyone that this is not going to be a walk in the park. He's played the family card too long, and now the couple in LA card. There is no easy out.

I decide to meet Stella for dinner. She's got love life issues too, so we spent the evening commiserating with each other. I was stunned when I pulled in my driveway to find Jamie's car. The lights were on inside, so he'd obviously let himself in with the key I'd given him. I'm not really ready for this conversation, but I should have expected it, I guess.

He's sitting at my kitchen island with a half a bottle of Guinness in front of him. He stands when I enter and approaches me with a wary look. "Hi Baby. I wanted to see you before you leave tomorrow." He reaches for me and pulls me in gently to hold me to him, one big hand pressing my head to his heart. "We need to clear the air." He kisses the top of my head and whispers in my ear, "I'm sorry you felt ambushed, but there really is a logical explanation if you'll listen to me."

I pull back from him and reach down to scratch Zep who is anxious for my attention. I move into my living room and plop into a chair so I can keep my distance. "Jamie, if you've filed for divorce, why is she even here? I thought you were done with her."

He leans a hip against the arm of the chair and takes my hand, but doesn't quite meet my eyes. "We're done, but we're doing it a bit differently. She wants to be the one to file and she wants to ensure that she doesn't look like a wife who was tossed over for another woman."

I freeze and take my hand from his, "So you DIDN'T file? You lied to me?"

He swings to me then, "NO! I DID file, but I withdrew it in order to keep the peace and let her do it her way. I can't afford any drama with the girls and if I didn't agree to this, she would have made it exceedingly difficult for me to share custody."

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