Chapter 10 - Soon
~ THE NEXT DAY ~
Nick sat,
along with the others in the conference room. They were told to
say nothing on the matter that Inquirer bought up, just
brush any questions off, as best they could. The others were
dismissed leaving Nick, and the heads of the company in the room.
The receptionist opened the door and showed Jet in, she smiled
weakly at Nick and sat down where she was directed.
“Okay
first off, I know it’s not our business to be telling you
what you can do with your private lives, but once you become
famous, you no longer have a private life. You too are young, and
I can see you seem to have some affection for each other, but I
don’t think it’s wise for both of your careers that you
continue seeing each other” the older man spoke clearly
“You’re
saying we have to break up?” Nick shot back defensively
“I'm
saying you should think about your careers and the results this
could have on it”
“I don’t
get why it should matter, we haven’t done anything wrong”
Jet announced as Nick clutched onto her hand
“I know
that, but does the rest of the public know that?”
“They can
print whatever they want, it wasn’t true”
“It must
have some substance to it”
“The bit
about us dating, but that’s it”
“I
understand where you are both coming from, but all I'm suggesting
is that you think about the future. Also if any questions are
directed towards either of you a simple remark that the article
wasn’t written in truth and that you are in the process of
rectifying the situation”
He than
signaled that the to of them could go. The got up quickly and
left even quicker.
“I still
don’t see why it has to matter” Nick whispered laughing
in Jet’s ear
“Because
it’s all about image, it’s unfortunate but true”
“Well it
sucks, but at least we don’t care right?”
“Nick,
maybe they were right maybe it is best if we slow things down,
just take a break for a while”
“What?
You’re not actually going to let them tell us what to do?”
“It’s
not about them Nick, it’s about us”
“Then we
don’t need a break”
“Maybe we
do. It’s just that we’re both trying to find our feet
and wearing cement shoes isn’t going to help, if you get my
drift”
“So you
wanna break up?” Nick snapped
“Not
break up, just slow down” Jet muttered, sensing Nick wasn’t
too pleased with what she was saying
“I
thought you were different Jet, I thought you didn’t care
what other people said”
“Nick you
know this would be for the best, for both of us”
“Both of
us? Or maybe just your career? Fine Jet, fine, you’re free,
I hope you used me to the best of your ability, it’s been
nice knowing you” Nick huffed, before turning around and
storming out of the glass doors, nearly shattering them with his
forceful blow.
“You did
the right thing” Devin said quietly embracing his sister
from behind
“Did I?”
Jet sniffed wiping a stray tear off her face
“I'm sure
he’ll thank you one day”
“I just
wish he’d understand, I wish I could have told him the whole
truth”
“It’s
what management asked you to do, it’s the best for the both
of you”
“It wasn’t
fair, it wasn’t fair for them to ask that of me, and it wasn’t
fair to do that to Nick”
“Like
they said, Nick will go big places, but to do that he needs the
good publicity”
Jet wiped her
eyes and sniffed quietly. Only a few minutes ago, before she met
with Nick in the boardroom she was told that it was “advisable
that she was to break up with Nick, if she didn’t his career
would suffer, as would the future of Covert” she knew
basically what they were saying, either she break it off nicely
or they would make sure everyone would pay.
“Does it
ever get easier? This whole doing what’s right thing?”
“I wouldn’t
know” Devin smiled “But I'm sure it does”
~ 20 MINUTES
LATER ~
Nick slammed
the front door and stormed up the stairs to his bedroom. He
slammed that door behind him and collapsed onto his bed, his head
hitting the pillow hard. He looked up at the ceiling, he still
couldn’t understand how he’d been so wrong, was
everything that his mother warned him about true? He was so sure
Jet was different.
He rolled over
and sat up on the edge on his bed. He buried his head in his
hands in a torrent of frustrated tears.
~ 2 WEEKS
LATER ~
Keith Parkins
was the newest member of Covert, he’d turned 19 a matter of
days ago, and was quite tall with sandy blond hair, which ruffled
to the front with an almost curly fringe, and hazel eyes. Jet
hadn’t seen or heard from Nick since he stormed out of the
office 2 weeks ago. Every night she prayed that he would call,
but in her heart she knew it was better that he stayed away, she
prayed that he was strong and that he would soon forget about
her, unfortunately she couldn’t forget about him.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
Nick ate
dinner silently, the whole family was seated around the stained
wooden table, this was to be Nick’s last meal at home for a
while, he, along with the others were jetting off on a Asian
tour, which would last about a month. He was mulling over the
idea of calling Jet, he wanted to more that any words could
express he was dying to talk to her, but he was sure she’d
gotten over him, that she was probably out having a good time. He
wished her well, that she was happy – even though he wasn’t.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
Sector B,
Level 3, Cell 102 Prisoner, once known as Ryan McKennith sat on
the hard simple bed, the magazine gripped tightly in his dirty
hands. He scratched his rough beard. The cold hard walls starred
back at him as his eyes skimmed across the page. He was lucky
enough – if you would call it that – to have the Inquirer
given to him every now and again, kind of like a thank you
for helping out in the prison library. It wasn’t exactly
insightful reading, but it kept the long days and the sleepless
nights at bay. He turned the page, and began to read down the
page. Her name stood out of the page like a bright star in the
night sky. He read over his daughter’s name, time and time
again, making sure he wasn’t imagining things. He’d not
seen either of his kids in so many years. A tear sprung to his
eye – he knew what he’d done to her, he knew how he’d
hurt her. All the letters he had written, none ever getting a
reply, seemed so useless and degrading as he read about his
daughter in a trashy magazine. He’d promised himself that he
would find her someday, he would make himself known to her again,
he knew she had moved as so many letter sat under his bed with
“Not known at this address – return to sender’
stamped on them, but now he had a start “Orlando –
Florida”.
~ THE NEXT DAY
~
“Come on
Max, just this one favor” Ryan pleaded
“You
know, you’re not meant to talk to her” Max said
fidgeting under the stare of the man twice his size
“She’s
my daughter, I need to” Ryan hissed under his breath
Max nodded
reluctantly.
“Gimme a
day or two, I’ll find her”
“Good”
Ryan smiled continuing to shovel the food into his mouth
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
Nick waved
goodbye to his family that had assembled to wish him well, and so
on. The other guys were busy saying their farewells, as Nick
turned to walk up the boarding tunnel. He was afraid if he stayed
one more moment, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from
ringing Jet, but this – space, time away – was what she
wanted, and he would give her that.
~ 2 DAYS LATER
~
“Here”
Max sniffed handing Ryan a folded up piece of paper
“How do I
make it so the prison cant trace the call?” Ryan inquired
quietly, as he looked around suspiciously
“It’ll
cost you 10 packs of cigarettes, but I have someone who can get a
cell phone for ya”
“Who?”
“The
names DC, tall fella, cell block A, I can get word to him”
“How
much?”
“5”
“2”
“4”
“2 max
and I wont kill ya during the night”
“You
ought to be nicer Ryan”
“Fear
commands respect”
“It’ll
also get you in trouble”
“2?”
“2, but I
promise nuttin’”
“In the
meantime if you get a call, dial 839, they wont be able to trace
it, but keep it low”
Ryan smiled as
the two parted their ways, not wanting to draw any unnecessary
attention.
~ 3 HOURS
LATER ~
“One call
McKennith okay?”
“Great my
mother will be thankful” Ryan smiled, after feeding the
charge guard his mother was deathly ill, and longed to hear from
her son
The charge
guard looked unconvinced – as he always did – but
pointed hurriedly in the direction of the phone.
Ryan looked
over his back, the place was swarming with guard’s, but as
long as he kept his head down, they’d be none the wiser. He
dialed 839 quickly before following through with the number
scribbled in black ink on the crumpled piece of once-white paper.
The ringing
started.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
Jet looked in
ore at her phone, for some strange reason she wasn’t sure to
answer it or not, a strange feeling surged through her body as
she reached across her table to pick it up.
“Hello?”
she inquired
Silence.
“Hello?”
Ryan remained
silent, just listening.
“Is this
Jet?” he finally said
“Yeah, who’s
this?”
Silence.
“Hello?”
Jet sighed frustrated
“You don’t
know who this is?”
“No,
should I?”
“Well
honey Ryan says it’s time to say hello to daddy”
Jet dropped
the phone from shock, and looked at it petrified, it couldn’t
be him – could it? Her lips quivered slightly, but she
picked the phone up again, holding it tightly in her hands.
“What do
you want?” she whispered down the phone
“I want
my little baby, in my arms. I want to know that I still mean
something to you”
Jet’s
anger rose, beyond what she could control, she felt it burning
deep inside with every word he said.
“I
disowned you when you killed my mother, you’re nothing but a
rotting asshole, that’s what you mean to me, and I don’t
ever want to see you again”
“But you
will”
With that he
hung up, leaving Jet still holding the phone in her quaking
hands. She wished furiously that is wasn’t him, that it
couldn’t be him. Her and Devin had tried so hard to put all
of that behind them – they’d been running from it for
so long. He wasn’t ever meant to find them – he wasn’t
ever meant to bring it all back – but as Jet dropped onto
the bed, she knew he had done just that.
~ AT THE SAME
TIME ~
Ryan smiled
proudly to himself – he pretty much expected the response he
got from Jet, in fact he pretty much planned it that way. They
would be no more calls – not yet – soon, though. He was
getting tired of waiting – just waiting. Soon, if he could
prove himself and fool all those who would be looking on intently
– he would be out of this hell-hole, and perhaps on his way
to Florida, to reunite himself with his children – and his
enemies. He would just wait a little longer.
“Soon”
he reminded himself quietly “Soon”