× "Hey, man. Back so soon?" The uniformed guard stared at Jenson and pressed the button to lift the metal barrier in front of her. Jessi walked past the barrier after giving the older man a slight smile. "Yeah. Gotta work hard to stay afloat in this economy, Walt," Jenson replied to the guard while he stood behind her. "Ayt, then." The guard chuckled and gave Jenson a mini-salute. "Don't stay in there all night, man." "I'll try." A smile stayed on her face as Jessi watched the friendly exchange. "Welcome and nice meeting you, Miss Kinley." "Likewise," Jessi replied with a smile and a timid wave after the cheery security personnel returned her ID. Jenson gently held onto her wrist as he led her past the security check. The guard didn't call him "Mr. Ross" or something more formal than
×"So what's the real deal with that gropey asshole?" Jenson munched on the last dumpling on his plate and waited for his dinner companion to answer. He couldn't call her his new secretary yet. They still had paperwork to sign for formality and Jessiah just accepted his job offer barely two hours ago. At his candid questioning, she avoided his eyes and continued eating her chicken teriyaki while she sat in front of his messy desk. "He said he's only here in LA for a business conference," she murmured after glancing at him."Huh. And he just randomly bumped into you outside that mall?""Yeah.""Sure.""He was shocked, much as I was.""Why was he gripping your arm?" He eyed her, minding her uneasy reaction the second he mentioned that well-dressed creep. Jenson sat back in his swivel chair, observing, gauging, and patiently waiting for her to talk to him with more honesty and less reticence.
×"You think you're above the law, don't you?""No.""You really thought you'd never get caught? You liars!""No." He stepped forward, his gut wrenching, startled by her shouting and staring at the tears on her cheeks. "Stop.""You thought I wouldn't figure it all out?""Stop it.""You merciless killers! You're nothing but a bunch of liars!" The woman took a few steps backwards, her shouts almost echoing throughout the room. "Plain evil! Just monsters!""Stop! Just stop! Okay? You don't know what you're talking about." He grabbed her arms to stop her from running out the door, fearing the consequences, fearing what could happen if she told other people his deepest, darkest secrets. It might be the end of him. His career, his assets, his bright future with Charmaine, his comfortable life, and everything he'd been working so hard for all these years...all gone in a bli
×Work. Late nights. Stress.A momentary stasis of recurring self-doubts and moodiness.More work. More stress. Then the inevitable fatigue.Tedious and numbing, but it was just his routine lately. After years of working in Hollywood, he was no stranger to the exhausting cycle now. Jenson breathed out a sigh. He knew early on that his jobs required more than a pretty face, a stroke of luck, big-name connections, some money and a bit of talent.Acting was the easy part, actually...for him at least. But his career and professional duties didn't begin and end in front of the lens.Sometimes he was the one behind the lens, busy working behind the scenes with the other top bosses. As one of Road to Valhalla's showrunners, his post-shooting days didn't mean all he had to do now was look good on came
×-1 new messageCharmaine VDH"They need me to stay for the qtr review. See you next week. Xx"Today 18:04-Next week? That's it? Not even a tentative date? What the shit. She couldn't even send him a lousy text that's longer than two sentences. His calls went straight to her voicemail, too. As if telling him she was too busy to be bothered."Fuck." Jenson slammed his phone onto his desk and got up from his swivel chair to fix himself a drink. The alcoholic kind. "Lying, two-faced bitch." His anger just made him grit his teeth. For almost a year. One whole year. Nothing had changed, and he was done pretending he was fine with her practically treating him like a clueless, overused doormat. At this point, he no longer needed much evidence to prove his suspicions. She had to be cheating on him. Her recent behavior spoke volumes. He just didn't know who the other guy was. Not yet. He would confront her next week, if she wasn't lying about coming back home soon. Pretty big "if", jud
× Prioritize his tasks. Done. Ease his workload. Check. Cook him dinner. Done. Join him for dinner and clean up. Also done. If he really had to travel to New York tomorrow by himself, she should check and prep his go bag and include sanitary toiletries. Rubbing alcohol. Gel sanitizer. Wipes. Soap. Face masks. A face shield. Like Kel said, "better safe than sorry". Jenson appeared physically fit on the outside, but he wasn't getting enough sleep lately. Work and stress-induced anxiety or something. The previous travel restrictions were getting a bit laxer now. Well, here in the US at least. Only 300 or so positive cases so far. Mostly in New York and here in California. Hot spots due to the population density in the main cities. Social distancing, masking up and hand hygiene protocols were still encouraged all over the country. In the big crowded cities, especially. Health experts had already concluded months ago that it was a serious flu-like epidemic and seemingly more cont
× Contingency plan. She heard too much. A lot of things she didn't need to know. Things that could ruin him and Darren. Their career. Their life. Everything. He could have stopped Darren from blurting out their secrets, but, too late. And Jessiah could've called the cops already. Dammit. Too risky. He needed to do something now. No time for procrastination or feigning optimism. Jenson swore in his head. He slid a pill into his pocket. Maintain control of the situation. Not let more shit hit the fan. A lot was at stake. Before rushing out the door, he glanced at Darren in the corner. The guy remained on the divan, clutching his phone, facing the wall while lying on his side, almost in a fetal position. Darren seemed sedated now. No longer crying. Or hysterically shouting things no one should hear a
× Right. The CCTV cameras. Of course she didn't forget. She probably memorized every inch of his office like the back of her hand. She was observant as much as she was hardworking, meticulous, and creative. Talented. Nice. Caring. Intelligent. Beautiful. Damn. Why was she still single? Sometimes it boggled his mind but it was none of his business, so he didn't pry. Once she left, he would check the camera that was pointed towards the doorway. Just to make sure that it was still on standby mode, not actually recording any real-time footage. Jessi didn't know that. Good thing he didn't tell her yet. "Safe flight." As they stood beside his work desk, Jessi leaned forward to hug him. He froze while her arm wrapped around his back. It wasn't an intimate embrace, but it still surprised him, leaving him speechless in her arms