His life sucked.

“You’re shitting me.”

The quirk of her eyebrow told him the opposite.

JC stood up.  “Well that’s just fucking perfect!”  He complained before proceeding to have a hissy fit a toddler would be proud of.  “Fuck that Shannon!  I thought you said that I didn’t have to see her that much.  I may have been hungover but I remember that part of the deal.  Because that’s the only reason I ever agreed to this shit in the first place and now you’re telling me I have to see her on my fucking vacation!  Well isn’t that just fucking perfect!  I can’t believe this shit!”  He tried to calm down and be somewhat rationale.   “You said we’d barely see each other and if we did it wouldn’t be for that long Shannon.  That’s what you said.”

Shannon put the papers in her hand on the table in front of her, “It’s only for a couple of days JC.  It’s not that long.”

“Anything more than twenty-four hours, hell half an hour with her is long.  Trust me.”

“JC you have to understand that…”

“NO don’t even say it.”  He threw his hands up in frustration.  “I can’t last a couple of days with her Shannon.  You know that.”  JC gazed at her pointedly.  “You’ve seen it.  You know how she is.  You know how I am.  You know what we’re like.” 

Her eyebrow arched up again.  “Seemed to be pretty cozy a couple of days ago.”

He rolled his eyes.  “Yeah well you weren’t the one that had to pretend,” he retorted shaking his head thinking about it.  That moment before she left for LA.  It’d seemed so natural.  Right.  But what had it been really?

Awkward.  Uncomfortable. 

Wondering what he was supposed to do.

He couldn’t smile.  So he’d frowned.  And then thought the better of it and attempted some sort of in-between.  It didn’t work.  A frown still remained on his face. 

Lucky for him it was fitting.

Lucky for him she had the same expression.

Maybe it’d been because the guys were watching.  Maybe it’d been because the bodyguards were.  Management.  Probably hiding paparazzi.  Random scattered fans in that hotel lobby, people that worked there, whoever.  But when Aliesa moved away towards her bags, he hadn’t let her go right away.  He still didn’t know what it was exactly that made him hold on for.  Okay.  Maybe he did.  He just didn’t like it though. 

He knew that. 

She knew that. 

Good thing nobody else but Shannon knew that.

But he’d frowned.  Frowned when he drew her back, when his hand lightly brushed the small of her back, when he nestled his cheek against her hair, and held her.  He’d just frowned.  Hating every second of it and not being able to do a damn thing about it.   Just watching as she took a breath.  And another.  Watching as she bit her lip, probably to stop from screaming at him he imagined.   And watching still, when matching frown in place she unwillingly leaned into him.   He still held her. 

“Bye baby.”

“You already said that JC.”

“I know.” He paused, and then added bitingly, “Ali.”

Her arms had wrapped tighter around his neck in response to that.  Any tighter and he’d have chocked.  “Then why aren’t you letting me go sweetie?” 

“Because I can, and because it pisses you off,” he’d whispered smartly, watching the bitterness she swallowed outwardly flash in her eyes, when everything else said otherwise. 

“Get off your power trip.”

“As if you weren’t on one back in the restaurant with the guys?”

“You kept on calling me Ali.”

“You were calling me Joshy.”

“Who. Cares.”

“I.  Do.”

“Like I said, who cares?” 

“I’ll miss you,” he’d said sweetly at that, bringing her even closer to rest his forehead against hers.  Saying it loud enough to pretend he wasn’t meaning to be loud, when they both knew he wasn’t saying it for her benefit. 

“And I’ll miss you too,” she’d cooed back, reaching up to caress his cheek, moving to lightly brush it with her lips.  Adding quietly when she got close enough,  “When hell freezes over.”

He’d turned his face the exact second the words escaped and kissed her because he wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction.

The bitch bit his lip.

And had the audacity to smile up at him when she pulled away.

Another thing to add to the long list of why he didn’t want to spend spare moments in the company of Aliesa Montaine, especially in his first free days in months.

No way.

No fucking way.

No fucking way in hell was he going to put himself through that.

She got to escape to LA why couldn’t he go home?  Why did he have to pretend some more?

As if Shannon could read his thoughts she broke in, “We’ll you’ll have to act for a while longer JC.  You’re the ones who decided to get drunk off your asses and get married.”

“Don’t I fucking know it, I’m paying for it right now.  I’m never touching alcohol again,” JC sighed wearily.  “But God Shannon can you cut me some slack?  Just a little?  My life is a fucking circus at it is without having to deal with Aliesa Montaine for a couple of days.  I’ve done more than enough for this whole thing.  I'm the one who had to announce we were married on national television just now.  I’m the one who had to sit through two days of management on my back for ruining my image and deterring sales one minute, and then bitching about how I should have thought about waiting because I could have strategically planned a high profile wedding that would have given the group more publicity the next.  I’ve been fielding calls from my family.  Pretending to be lost without my “wife” with the guys so they won’t ride me about it.  I’m fucking tired of it already. I’ve been married for all of three days and this is bullshit.   Diva princess is sitting pretty in LA.  Let her make something up.”

Shannon nodded understandingly, “Look JC I know this is hard.”

“But?” he cut-in knowing that there was going to be one.

“But.  This is something you’re going to have to do.  You knew this wasn’t a quick fix,” Shannon replied, ignoring his heavy sigh at the response.  “You don’t need any more tabloid speculations JC.  It’s bad enough as it is.  You’re not the only one dealing with backlash.  Aliesa’s manager Jeanne is scheduling some press stuff on her end too.”

JC sank back down into his seat, absently laying his head in his hands.  “And what does my wonderful wife think?  Is she as peachy keen as I am that we’re going to be running around LA in love?”

He heard Shannon rise from her chair,  “It doesn’t matter if she’s happy or not about it.  What matters is that we’re going to get a press conference together and you two will play nice for the cameras for now so in the long run you guys can have an out.  That’s what you wanted right?  An out?”

JC lifted his head up, meeting her gaze.  “Yeah,” he answered lowly.

“So you’re going to LA?”

He watched as she slid the plane ticket in front of him, and frowned.  “Do I have a choice?”
 

Four
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