The Aftermath

Ginny opened her eyes finding herself disoriented for a split second before the truth came barging through her guilty brain. Next to her laid Jordan Collins with his legs spread wildly across the bed. Most of the blankets were thrown to the floor on his side with a corner barley covering his ass. Ginny gripped what small amount she could pull and covered her chest. It was clear he wasn't used to sharing a bed. Yet here she was. In his bed. Ginny squeezed her eyes shut trying to erase the images of what she wished was a big drunken mistake. Only, she hadn't drank at all. She couldn't blame it on any substance clouding her judgment. She was completely sober. She had made a full conscious choice. Ginny sat up tugging more of his gray, weighted comforter over her breast. Laying on his stomach, one arm tucked under his chest, she took notice of his long muscular thigh. As if she hadn't shamed herself enough. Annoyed and self-loathing at her betrayal, she got out of bed grabbing a t shirt of his that was laying on a chair to cover her naked body as her own clothes looked nasty crumpled on the floor damp from her steamy dream. Ginny went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. As she sipped the water, the weight of guilt grew heavier. How could I do this to Mike? Ginny picked up her cell phone to see if she missed any calls. It was 6 in the morning. No missed calls. But she did have alerts from TMZ with Mike Lawson's name catching her eye. She opened the app and read the headline. "Mike Lawson and Rachel Patric may be getting back together. Seen in each other's arms and his car never left her driveway." Ginny zoomed at the picture caught by paparazzi. He did appear to be locking lips with Rachel in her backyard patio.

She felt a crack in her heart. Shocked, broken, and deserving.

Jordan found Ginny on the couch with tissues surrounding her.

"Hey. I'm so sorry. We shouldn't have…"

"No. It's…I mean of course we shouldn't have. But Mike slept with Rachel last night."

"What?"

"It was on TMZ."

"You're shitting me right?"

"No." Ginny couldn't breathe.

"Hey. It's gonna be okay. I'm here. Take deep breaths." Jordan sat next to her rubbing her shoulder. "You can't really believe what the paparazzi says. You know that." Ginny passed her phone to Jordan. He looked at the picture. "Oh."

Her phone began to ring. It was Mike. Jordan offered the phone to Ginny.

"No. I don't want to talk to him." She pushed the phone away crying.

After several rings and text messages. Jordan's phone rang.

"Let me take this." He said rising and stepping out to the balcony.

"Hello."

"Jordan. Where's Ginny?"

"She's here, with me."

"I need to talk to her. Can you pass her the phone?"

"I don't think that's a good idea right now Coach."

It was silent for a moment on the other end.

"She saw?"

"She saw."

"Fuck!" There was another silence between them. "Look. I'm on my way down there. Can you just let her know it's not what it looks like?"

"Yeah. I'll tell her."

Jordan walked back inside. Ginny was still on the couch with tissues in hand.

Jordan started a cup of coffee. "He said it's not what it looked like. I believe him."

Ginny didn't respond. Jordan sat her cup of coffee on the coffee table. "I don't think it's what it seemed. You know how the paparazzi…"

"Does it matter?" Ginny snapped. "What difference does it make if he did or didn't! I fucked up Jordan!"

Jordan closed his eyes. He didn't like to think of the best night of his life as a fuck up. But he knew. He knew he wasn't going to get a fairy tale ending out of this.

"I'm sorry." Ginny began. "I….I…I don't know…"

"It's okay. We don't need to talk about it right now." Jordan pushed her hair behind her ear. His blue eyes glassy with a sympathetic compassionate look that suddenly turned very firm. "But…It will never be a fuck up to me."

Ginny squeezed her eyes shut. "No. I don't mean you.. I mean… it…"

"Shhhh." Jordan stroke her cheek. "Don't try to figure it out right now. I'm not going anywhere. No matter what." Ginny closed her eyes and exhaled. That was a relief to hear. "Mike is on his way here. Maybe we should…."

"Here?"

"Yeah."

"Shit. No. I'll text him to meet me at his house. We are going to need to talk."

As Ginny opened her text conversation her phone rang. Assuming it was Mike she answered right away. "Mike, don't come to my house. I'll meet you at yours."

"Hello?" The voice on the other end was not Mike. It was a female. And it wasn't Evelyn or Ameliah. Ginny looked at her caller ID. It was Rachel. Shit! "Ginny?"

"Oh. Hey Rachel. Sorry about that."

"You're meeting Mike?"

"Uh. Yeah. He wants to talk to me, you know, about the show."

"Oh. Yeah. About that. Mike wanted me to give you a call. Look, of course I'm sorry if I hurt you in anyway. You know I love you. It's just… It's not personal. It's my job. I can't pass up on stuff like that."

Ginny exhaled slowly. It seems Rachel has really changed since her show took off.

"Yeah. I know." Ginny speculated. What would Rachel sit on? If she found out about her and Mike would she 'have to' bring that to light? Ginny frowned.

"Look. I know I can't maintain friendships in my line of work. But I know Mike really cares about you. So, I promise to take it easy. I just can't promise to hold back. If that makes sense."

She didn't make sense. But Ginny really didn't have time to have a heart to heart with Rachel. She needed to meet Mike at his house. "I'm not worried about it. I was just caught off guard."

"If you and Jordan would like to come back and share a reaction to his father, I would be more than happy to schedule that."

"Umm. I'll have to talk to Jordan about that."

"Great! And if you see Mike, can you let him know he left his jacket at my house?"

Ginny closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. Her heart beat still around the sharp knife like fresh wound. She could almost bet Rachel mentioned that just to hurt her. "Sure. Sounds like you too had a good time. TMZ has already made headlines of it."

"Oh, you know me and Mike. We love to torcher each other."

"Yeah. Ummm.."

"I'll let you go. Give me a call after you talk to Jordan."

"Yeah. Sure."

"Okay, Bye."

"Bye."

Tears stung behind Ginny's eyelids. Images of Rachel and Mike shredding her heart into a mangled mess. She didn't have time to mull over it now. She needed to get to Mike.

She forced her eyes to focus on the screen of her phone. She texted:

I'll see you at your house.