per·sua·sion

53.

Hero

I step closer to her, and she tenses as I kneel in front of her. "Jess," I say softly, trying to get her to look at me, but she only attempts to back up and then realizes she can't.

"Jess," I repeat, but this time she covers her ears. Her eyes are closed, almost as if she doesn't believe I'm in front of her.

Sitting down, I pull her hands gently away from her ears, pulling her into my lap. I wrap my arms around her. "I'm here," I say, hugging her tighter.

She sighs, hiding her face in my neck. "I'm going to pick you up now, okay" she nods, tightening her grip.

Sitting on the end of the bed, I reach over and switch on the light. So many questions are running through my head.

How did she even get on the floor, to begin with? More importantly, why was she sitting like that? How long has she been down there?

"I thought you were.." she repeats it but can't seem to get the words out as she pulls back to look at me, tears filling her eyes "it's not important I missed you, Tiffin. I missed you so much," she looks down embarrassed tears running down her cheeks.

I tuck her hair behind her ear. I want to ask her what happened, and I want to call Kristen and chew her the fuck out. How could she just fucking leave her like this? How could she not check up on her? But that's not what she needs right now.

"I love you" a small smile rises on her lips as she looks up, and I place my hand under her chin as she leans in so I can kiss her.

"I should have told you I was coming. I'm so sorry. I never meant to—" she stops me pulling my hat off.

"It's okay," I shake my head.

"It's not. I shouldn't have said all that bullshit to you on the phone earlier because it's not true."

She nods. "I know, and all of this, along with everything else, can't be easy on you. That's why when you asked about my mom, I didn't want to burden you with it. You were only trying to surprise me," she shrugs, placing her arms around my neck."It's not your fault we always seem to have terrible timing."

"Can we talk about it? Your mum, I mean," I ask her. She takes a deep breath nodding her head.

"I guess we need to. Promise you'll at least attempt not to get too upset," she says, and I nod.

By the time she finishes, I want to bash her fucking father's skull in. What kind of man threatens his daughter over something so insignificant?

It's not like that bitch wants Jess to be there. It's all for the show, which pisses me off even more. If they don't care enough to be around when it doesn't suit them. Why should she do this for them? Why keep up appearances?

"I'm going with you."

"But you have that Ferragamo conference call on Wednesday."

"I'll reschedule it," she shakes her head "no, you won't. We have been through this work comes first. I can handle this. He won't even be there, and she won't cause a scene with all her friends there."

"Fine," I groan, "but I'm going to be there as soon as I'm done."

****

"JESS" I hear Kristen yell from the living room, waking me up. Her footsteps continue as they are coming up the hallway quickly. "JESSICA, I SWEAR IF YOU AND HERO ARE.." Jess groans, shifting from my chest and rubbing her eyes.

"What time is it?" she asks, stretching.

"2:00 pm," I reply, looking over at the clock.