Breaking Point

Chapter 51 // Chantelle

[Blumont]

JesseHarris: guys please stop leaving horrid messages for chantelle on her instagram or twitter. you guys don't know the full story. please don't assume she's to blame. she's not. i still care for her very much and i don't want her hurt from what i've seen.

My Instagram and Twitter had been inundated with degrading, demeaning and despicable messages.

The video circulated the media regarding Jesse's speech at his Copenhagen concert, expressing his regrets and emphasising that everyone should embrace love and what prompted my torrent of Internet abuse. I couldn't confess how many times I'd watched the video. In fact, I first saw an article during my lunch break but I didn't have any headphones in my possession and I didn't want to disturb those around me. With my curiosity lethally piqued, I left the building and headed for the parking lot before I played the video on my phone.

His words seemed to surround me as I watched it for the first time. Then I watched it again when I got home. And again straight after, though that time I studied his expression and body language. He seemed to be doing better than in the photos that were captured of him in Stockholm before he collapsed.

And then he sang.

You know I'd give it all up,
and celebrate with a champagne cup.

Those lyrics... I'd heard them before. Not only had he murmured "you know I'd give it all up" to me when he was half-asleep at the beginning of his tour, but I could have sworn I heard him sing those two lyrics as he exited the tour bus once. Back then I dismissed them as nothing more than a song he was obsessed with at the time or new potential lyrics, and now I was leaning more towards the latter. Was he writing a new song? It was news to me.

And then following the chronicle of Jesse's speech, after my social media profiles were flooded with the abuse, Jesse sent out a Tweet to his followers. The abuse didn't stop – it would never considering I was eternally attributed to Jesse – but it did decelerate. And for that, I sent him a message expressing my gratitude.

Chantelle: Thank you for posting that Tweet. It means a lot x

I don't know whether the fact that he didn't respond was a good thing or a bad thing.

As I was finishing up washing my plate, my phone rang from the counter next to me. With a quick glance at the screen I could confirm it was Natasha so I hastily dried my hands and picked up, putting her on speaker so I could start drying my washing up and shelving everything.

"Hey, you seen some of the comments?" she immediately asked without exchanging pleasantries beforehand. But that was typical Natasha and she was my best friend.

"Yeah," I told her, sighing. "I mean, it's hard not to. I get they're concerned for Jesse and they have every right to be given that they're his fans, but just because I had been in town with another guy – it's disrespectful."