Breaking Point

Chapter 35 // Chantelle

[Orlando, FL]

Preston cleared up our plates from our room service.

"Well, I'm full. I don't think I'll be moving for the next few hours," he announced, stretching after placing our empty plates on the coffee table in front of the TV.

Then he fell back onto the sofa next to me and closed his eyes. I wondered whether he was going to fall into a food-induced coma with the amount he'd just consumed. He'd not only finished his meal but mine as well.

"You going to sleep there?" I asked.

"Fuck no. You can help carry me into bed."

"Good luck with that," I teased. "You shouldn't have eaten so much."

He whined and mumbled incoherent gibberish, tilting his head back. I allowed my gaze to rest on him as he was so placid right now before turning away. Things had been good today, despite my nervousness that had built up knowing Jesse had a meeting with Kennedy tonight. This had provided a good distraction for me, and I welcomed it graciously with open arms. Preston didn't need to insist with the plan to stick on something random on the TV as we ate room service because I had no objections anyway.

My phone plinked from my bedside table, the vibration almost startling me. Preston undisturbed, I made a beeline to my phone and when I picked it up, half of me wished I hadn't. I had a message from Jesse with what could only be an incriminating message. What had happened?

Jesse: Please don't look at the news. Let me explain first. Call me x

My stomach churned uneasily and I instantly knew something was wrong. My nausea was heightening.

But I was naïve and curious and piqued and I found my fingers typing in Jesse's name onto Google before I could stop myself. Natasha hadn't called me to warn me about anything, and Preston was just as clueless as I was considering we were acting as normal as ever. But I knew that Jesse had a date with Kennedy and there was no way this couldn't be attributed to that event. Maybe that's why I found myself wanting to divulge the information as quickly as possible.

That feeling was unmistakable: the feeling of my heart breaking and each tiny piece cascading into my stomach, into the land of the forgotten. I thought this feeling would have been shelved long ago, back when I was trapped in alcohol and smoking. Waking up abruptly and incandescently broken, and then fleeing.

There wasn't much information to offer as each company wanted to be the first to announce the headline, but there it was. Jesse and Kennedy captured at the Indiana Farmer's Coliseum before arriving via cab to a local Burger King, and then they were captured lip-locked. Jesse's eyes were either closed or he was gazing at her through low-lidded eyes. Her hands were on his arms at his side. And they were kissing. Right there.

That was never part of the contract.

Either Kennedy orchestrated the infidelity or it was real. From where I was looking and from what I knew regarding the two of them, I was more inclined to agree with the former. Jesse seemed stiff and almost startled. Kennedy was relaxed. I knew for a fact that when Jesse kisses me he's akin to how Kennedy portrayed herself in the photo.