Jessica was happy to see Will at Jen's funeral, even though it was bittersweet. So was the voice inside her head. Tess, however, was happy for a completely different reason.
"Jess. Jess. Let me take over. You have to let me take over. This is what I was born for."
Jess tried to shrug it off, but her head was pounding. She chatted with Will briefly, then found a chair and willed the pain to go away. Even though she felt like she was going to die, the tests had all been negative, so she knew she wasn't.
"Jess. You must let me take over. I have to do this."
Jess rocked a little then relaxed. Tess was in charge now.
"God. How depressing. Jen was a girl who knew how to party. Once. I'm just sorry we never really got a chance to hang out when she was fun. This sucks. I should have let Jess stay in charge…No. There he is." She purposefully mingled back to Will.
"Will." Tess smiled at him with all the sincerity she could muster. "I know you have to see your mom, but maybe we could meet after."
"And talk about Megan?" Will looked sad.
"Yeah, that's it. Talk about Megan." Tess was bobbing her head. "Where are you staying? At your mom's?"
"God no. At the Palace."
"Good. Good." This was working out perfectly. They made plans to meet. "It's so good to see you again. I never thought I'd get another opportunity like this."
"What?" Will was confused.
"I had never hoped to see you again. I'm so glad." And she was. Her business there concluded, Tess left the memorial as fast as she could. She had preparations to make, and damn that reception was depressing. More people seemed to like Jen in death than in life.
Clothes were tricky. She couldn't put on her usual club clothes. Will hadn't seen her in a while, but he was still expecting Jessica. It was the sweet girl he wanted, after all. Tess finally selected the sluttiest thing she could find from Jess' part of the closet and stashed a few packs of cigarettes and her special surprise in Jess' purse. Oh, better get some spare lighters. Maybe some matches, too. Couldn't run out, now.
Had to tone down the lipstick just a tad. There would be time to fix it later. As soon as she got him up to the room, she could do what she wanted. Tess called up the limo and waited.
Tess almost made it out the door when her mother found her.
"You all right, Jessica?"
Tess forced herself to smile. "Yes mom. I am going to see Will."
"Oh, what a lovely idea. Have a good time now."
Well, that was easy. Too bad he was leaving town soon, which is why she had to act so fast.
"Don't worry, princess. Tess is going to take care of everything."
They had arranged to meet at the Palace. It wasn't Tess' idea of a good time, but it was convenient and fit into her plans.
"Will!" Tess steeled herself to smile at him.
"Jessica!" Will looked taken aback at her clothes, but Tess could tell he was aroused. Perfect.
"Let's have dinner, shall we?" Tess would rather have gotten to business, but she knew Will would expect to eat first. She kept her fake smile glued to her face.
Will droned on and on about his dead sister. Tess tried to be sympathetic, but Will wasn't really listening to her anyway. Tess soon realized the odd nod and sympathetic murmur was more than adequate. She relaxed. She was starting to flirt with a guy at the bar, then stopped herself. Boring as this was, she had to keep her mind on business.
Now Will was droning on about Megan. Now Tess was gritting her teeth. Fortunately, dinner was almost over so she signaled for the check. The best thing about the Palace was the service. The waiter was right on it and before Will knew it, they were standing at the door of his room.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Tess was feeling in her element now. Will was too shocked (and turned on) to say no. She sashayed in and was all over him as soon as he closed the door.
"Jessica!" Will was both scandalized and excited. He didn't protest long, though. Tess expertly got him undressed then on the bed. He was starting to relax and get into her when he heard a snap and felt metal on his wrists. Tess, still mostly clothed, sat up on triumph on the bed.
She got up. "Will Rappaport." She rolled the syllables around in her mouth. "Will Rappaport." She spit them out this time.
"Jess, what's going on?" Will was confused and a little scared.
"Oh, you aren't dealing with Jess anymore, hon. Now you are dealing with me."
"And who are you?"
"You can call me Tess, baby. It's funny, you know. You created me and you never knew I existed."
"Huh?" Will was curled up as much as he could be with the handcuffs.
"Oh, is the poor widdle baby all fwightened? That's not the big bad Will I remember. Or is it? You always were a terrible coward."
"Jessica?" Will was terrified.
"I told you, you aren't dealing with Jess now. Good thing, too, she'd be feeling sorry for you. I just think you're pathetic." She opened her purse and pulled out her lipstick. "Ah, now that's better." She fluffed out her hair and pulled out her new pack of cigarettes.
"You can't smoke in here."
"Watch me." She lit up a cigarette and took a few puffs. "Maybe you are right." She stubbed it out on Will's chest. He whimpered. "Oh, does that hurt?" She cooed at him menacingly.
"Jess, why are you doing this?" Tess didn't answer. She was lighting another cigarette.
"You know, maybe I need a smoke after all. Or not." She stubbed out the second one close to the first burn. Will had tears in his eyes.
"Why are you doing this?"
Tess looked at him. "Do you know what kind of hell you made Jess' life? Of course you don't, you self-absorbed prick."
Will's eyes got wide. It was either the shock of Jessica talking to him like that or the line of burns that was forming on the left side of his chest. Jess wasn't even puffing on them any more, just lighting them and stubbing them out.
"What did I do?"
"What didn't you do. You date raped me, you asshole. And you couldn't be bothered to use protection with a known virgin, so you got me pregnant. But that wasn't enough for you. Oh no. You had to insist we carry the baby. She wasn't ready for a child. You certainly weren't. But you wanted to be the big man, so we had to suffer." She took a few puffs this time then stubbed it out viciously. The line had turned into an arrow.
"Huh?"
"Oh, sweet little Jessica always assumed you had the best of intentions. I knew better." The arrow was changing again. "Then, just being the sperm donor wasn't good enough for you. You had to shove out Cristian. I loved Cristian. You broke his heart, you pathetic little prick, and stupid Jessica wasn't strong enough to tell you no. And still you kept pushing." The squiggle was starting to take a recognizable shape now. "We were in high school. She was trying to do the best she could and you just wouldn't stop. Do you have any idea how miserable pregnancy is? The body changes. The hormones. And you were strutting around all proud of yourself."
Will's tears were streaming down his face now. Tess hoped it was guilt, but she assumed it was the pain.
Tess continued. "Then, when our baby died, it was all about you. I carried the life inside me. I felt her in a way you never could have. And yet again, it was all about you. We were expected to make YOU feel better. Now it is all about you. See this M? Whenever you look at it, I want you to think about Megan and what you did to Jessica. You scarred us. Now I scarred you." Tess got up to leave.
"Oh, and if you tell anyone, I will kill you. I was tempted to earlier. It's not like anyone would believe you anyway."
Will was nodding in agreement. "Are you going to let me go now?"
"Oh, I don't think so." She threw the keys on the dresser. "I'll leave the door open for you. Don't ever return to Llanview." She left the door wide open, exposing Will's naked body, and exited the hotel. She called the driver from the elevator.
"Come get me. My work here is done, and I deserve a good time." She murmured to herself. "You're welcome, princess."