Scarlet scars

Chapter 18: Paparazzo

Cally

We moved to the car with him not letting go of me as he helped me get in, without letting them see my face. Luckily, the windows at the back were tinted black.

The reason why he didn't let me sit in the front passenger seat, I figured. I hate that reporter because look at me sitting where I’m not supposed to sit.

He got in the car and just as we were about to pull out of the driveway, the reporter stepped out of his hiding spot. My guess was he wanted to take more pictures before we left and I was right as he pulled out his camera and tried to focus on it, but as he did, he leaned on the huge flower pot which he must have thought was made out of real cement, but it wasn't so he knocked it over and in turn, it knocked him over and he went tumbling down along with his camera. My first reaction was to look at Jerald and, as if on cue, he looked at me and then came huge fits of laughter.

It was more comical than anything I’ve seen lately and I couldn’t help but laugh.

In our little laughing fit, we forgot about escaping and the reporter got up and aimed his camera at us, but luckily I saw him and warned Jerald.

“Jay! Quick his up” I slid down laughing and tipped my head down so as not to be seen as he pulled out of the driveway and he drove as fast as he could. As if the reporter was chasing us and, after some time on the road, I finally lifted my head to look at the rear wind screen to check if we were been followed.

I sighed in relief when we were far from the restaurant and more so, that nobody followed us.

The thing that surprised me most was that I didn’t recognize the route we were taking and I knew that if we were going to make it to Mr. Grande’s, then we missed the route we were supposed to take. I looked at Jay, who had not said anything since we left and it also surprised me, since it’s very unlike him to be this quiet. He looked lost in thought as he gripped the steering wheel so hard, that his knuckles turned white.

“Jay?” I called out but got no reaction

“Jay?!” I called out again but this time more loudly and he flinched.

"Mhm" he mumbled without looking.

"Can I come sit with you now?" I asked, batting my eyelashes though he wasn’t looking at me. What do you know? I have got to take my chances.

"Jay?" I called out.

"Huh? ...mh.. Oh yes sure". It was as though he had snapped out of some trance, he stopped the car and waited for me to jump into the front passenger seat.

"Is there anything wrong?" I asked as soon as I settled down and we started moving.

"Uhm..no, not really" he hesitantly replied.

"Really?" I asked in a tone of disbelief “since when have you been a stutterer’’ I asked, crossing my arms on my chest. He looked at me for a few seconds and then I realized I’d spoken too much. I dropped my hands to my laps and looked at my fingers hoping he wouldn’t be offended and curse at me.

We went quiet for a while and I could feel that the car stopped moving. I looked up at him and found him looking at me with concern etched all over his face.

I touched his creased brows and traced them in an effort to straighten them. He caught my fingers and took them to his hot lips, and when I say hot, I mean it. I gasped but he didn’t let go. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and when he opened them he said,

“It’s just that I feel bad I got you caught up in this whole mess with the media thing. I don't want to endanger your life."

"But nothing happened. They didn't get my face right?" I said, trying to help him feel better.

"There is no actual guarantee they didn't take any pics and also that they won't follow you", he said. “These paparazzi will do anything to get what they want and it gets on my nerves. I can't have any privacy”, he massaged his temples. I guess being famous has its own disadvantages.

"Of course you're the most famous, handsome, wanted by the ladies, bachelor billionaire.... What do you expect?" I internally cringed when I said wanted by the ladies, it sounded annoying and I don’t know why. He looked at me, raising an eyebrow and in the next second he laughed. He laughed on and I didn’t even get why he was laughing. Anyway, at least he does not look upset anymore.

"When you put it that way, I sound way more appealing, but did I just sense sarcasm when you said 'wanted by the ladies'?" He said jokingly, air quoting it.

"Oh no" I said, jokingly placing my hand on my chest, "how dare I make fun of the ladies’ man Jerald, those ladies can tear me apart piece by piece", I said, and he laughed at that.

“I honestly didn't know until you helped me open my social media accounts. You are on almost every page and I was mind blown when I checked the comments" I said, holding my cheeks-"Seriously Jay, those girls would die to have your attention."

"Yet only one girl has it" I thought I heard him say, but maybe it’s all in my head. But I took the risk to ask still.

"What?" I asked, hoping to hear him say it out loud. Does he mean me or is he seeing someone? Must be that Barbara. I thought, rolling my eyes. I wonder why it got so irritating to just think of that Barbara that I had not even met.

"Uhm. I mean I'm too busy to pay attention to that and, honestly, I only need one person's attention" he said, smirking, eyeballing me at the same time as on the road.

"Oh.. And who's that?" I asked, hoping to hear it, that which I wanted to hear.

"Uhm.. For starters, I'm satisfied because I already have her full attention.. Isn't that enough" he asked, wriggling his brows.

"Oh really?" I asked, feigning surprise.

"Yea.. So I don't really need all that attention I'm getting, this is enough". He shrugged his shoulders.

"Awr.. Such a heart breaker” I was happy with what he said but I didn't want to make it obvious. "Where are we going? I thought you'd drop me off at Mr. Grande's?" I finally asked as he started the car to continue to wherever he was taking me. He is going to get me in so much trouble at work.

"You'll see" he said, grinning. I've never had such an urge to smack someone in the face.

"But I have to work in like 30 minutes from now" I protested.

"Let's just go. You'll like it." he said.

"But Mr. Grand…" He cut me off

"Don't worry, I've taken care of it" he said.

"How?" I mused

"Just know that I did, I’ll tell you about it later. First come with me" he said, as he pretended to focus on the road humming a tune in his deep voice and wow! Can this man get any hotter!

“What?” He asked bemusedly and I looked at him in the same way, ‘I hope I didn’t say that out loud’. I thought. I looked at him again and our eyes met. With the way his eyes shone with mischief he must have heard me. I felt so embarrassed I wished the ground could just open up and swallow me. I must have been as red as a tomato.

“someone is shy after calling me hot” he teased and no that would have been the perfect time for the ground to open up. I kept looking at my fingers until I heard the car come to a stop. He didn’t say anything to me after that embarrassing moment and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. I lifted my head to see where we were but before I could, something warm covered my eyes.

“hey! Do you have to cover my eyes?”I asked trying to pry his hand from my eyes.

“yes, because it’s a surprise. And you seeing it before the surprise will no longer make it a surprise” I heard him say

“but you do know that I could have looked at any time and I would have seen where we were heading, right?” I asked him jokingly after I gave up trying to peek.

“ yes, but you didn’t and so it worked in my favor. And if not I would have found a way to cover your face before you got to see it” he said as he shuffled in his seat. Soon his hands left my face and was soon replaced by a cloth or blindfold. His hands were a better a option even if I couldn’t see anything even with this cloth. But I missed his warmth.