Helpless (Reece Bibby/James Graham)

Chapter Eighteen

When I woke up, Anabelle was still asleep in the bed beside me. I checked my phone to find no messages from James or any of the other boys. It was 9am. “Ana,” I whispered stroking the hair out of her face. She opened her eyes and smiled at me. “Good morning, Princess. Do you want some breakfast?” I asked and she nodded. “Okay then, let’s get dressed.”

Anabelle and I got dressed before leaving the hotel room. I stopped at Chris’ hotel room on the way to the elevator. “We’re going for breakfast,” I told Chris as he answered the door, “Do you want to join us?”

Chris, Anabelle and I went downstairs to the restaurant. “Have you heard from James or Reece?” I asked Chris after we’d ordered our breakfast. “No, I’m sure everything’s fine though. Tom said they went for drinks with Mia Willis,” he told me and I nodded. “Why isn’t Daddy here?” Anabelle asked me. I smiled and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “He’s busy right now. But he’ll be back soon,” I told her.

After breakfast, I took Anabelle back up to the hotel room to find James. “Where have you been?” I asked him. He groaned and rubbed his head. “Oh, I’m sorry, have you got a hangover?” I questioned. James didn’t reply as he lay down on the bed. “You have a ton of interviews and photo shoots today. Sort yourself out, James. You’re going to be a father soon. You can’t go out drinking and not even let me know if you’re alright,” I told him before taking my bag and leaving the hotel room with Anabelle.

“We’re going to go shopping today. Just me and you,” I told Anabelle as we left the hotel. Anabelle cheered. “We’ll get you some nice new clothes.”

I spent the day shopping with Anabelle. Tom sent me a text message telling me to meet them at the HQ of a magazine. The building Tom had given me the address for was in the middle of the city. I went inside and walked up to the front desk. “Hi, I’m here for Stereo Kicks,” I told the man behind the desk. He smiled at me. “What’s your name?” he asked me. “Jasmine Graham,” I replied.

“Right, it’s the ninth floor. Just go straight up,” he told me, handing me a lanyard with an ID card on it. I picked up Anabelle and walked into the elevator. I pressed the button for the ninth floor and scanned the ID card. When I reached the ninth floor, I came to another desk with a woman sat behind it.

“Hi, I’m Jasmine Graham. I’m here to see Stereo Kicks,” I told her. “Oh, yeah, one of them told me. It’s just through the door to your left,” she replied. I thanked her before going into the studio. All the lads were sat talking to a blonde woman. And as soon as I saw her, I internally rolled my eyes. It was Mia Willis. I put Anabelle down and she ran over to Reece shouting, “Daddy!”

“You have a child with Reece? I thought you were married to James,” Mia asked. I flashed her a fake smile as I walked over to James, slipping my hand in his. “Not that it’s any of your business but yes, I do have a child with Reece. But I am married to James and I am expecting his baby,” I told her, the annoyance evident in my tone.

James removed his hand from my hold and frowned at me. “Mia, would you like to join us for dinner this evening?” he asked her. I looked at him wide-eyed. What the hell was he doing? Couldn’t he see what she was doing? Ha. Of course not. He could only see her good looks. I could never compare to her. She was stunningly beautiful. “I’d love to,” Mia replied, “Will you all be going?”

“Just the lads and I,” James answered. I glanced at Reece who was looking at the situation in front of him with as much shock as I was. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it this evening,” Reece piped up, causing Mia and James to look at him. “I’m spending some quality time with my daughter,” he said, making sure to emphasise the words ‘quality time’.

“That’s alright,” Mia replied, flashing him a smile. “I’d better be going. I shall see you this evening,” she told the lads although it was mostly aimed at James. Once she’d left the room, I turned to look at James. “James?!” I yelled, “What are you doing?”

He held up his hands defensively. “It’s business,” he replied. “Business?” I questioned and laughed humourlessly. “Reece, take Anabelle downstairs. I’ll meet you down there,” I told my ex-boyfriend, not wanting my daughter to see me yell at my husband. I waited until Reece had left with Charlie, Casey, Barclay and Chris.

“May I just remind you that you’re married and you have a baby on the way,” I told James. “Jasmine, this is my career, nothing more. It’s just business,” he replied. “Mate, that’s bullshit and you know it,” Tom piped up. James shot a glare in Tom’s direction. “You fucking fancy her,” Jake spat, obviously angry. James turned to look at me, his eyes holding the fury he was clearly feeling. “You don’t trust me?” he questioned. “Don’t turn this around on me, James.”

“Well, that’s what this is, Jasmine! You clearly don’t trust me!” James yelled. I couldn’t deal with this. I couldn’t deal with the guilt I felt for accusing him. And I couldn’t deal with seeing him with her. “I’m going home. I’ll see you in a few days,” I told him before walking out of the studio.

When I got downstairs, I couldn’t see any of the lads so I headed outside to see if I could find them. It was getting quite dark so when I still didn’t see the lads, I decided to head back to the hotel. I should’ve known it was a bad idea after what happened last time I was in Dublin. But this time it was worse as I was pregnant.

My hair was yanked forward as someone tried to take my bag. But I wouldn’t allow this to happen again. “Get off my fucking bag!” I yelled, tugging at the handle. I kicked and screamed at the person trying to steal my bag. But as they attempted to hit me, I instantly let go of my bag and protectively covered my baby bump. The person took my bag and ran as I leant against a wall, tears streaming down my face.

“Excuse me, ma’am, are you okay?” an unfamiliar face asked as they ran towards me. “No, they took my bag. That had all my money in,” I replied. “Okay, I’m going to call the police and an ambulance to get you checked out,” the stranger said, taking their phone out. I patted my pocket, finding my phone and pulling it out. I dialled James number but it rang through. He was ignoring me.

I tried Jake’s number and he answered after two rings. “Jake, I’ve been mugged,” was all I could get out before I burst into some kind of hysterical sobbing fit.

A/N: Here's a double update for you! Enjoy!