7
As Jessie came out of her room, decked out in the new dress she'd gotten with James's mother just for the occasion, James stood to greet her. He looked handsome himself. It wasn't just the tux, he was always dressed well, but he sported a confident expression. "You look beautiful." The compliment was the first he spoke to greet her, then held out his hand cordially. "Shall we go?"
"Yes," Jessie said. She didn't even admonish herself for enjoying the attention, recalling how James said he'd enjoy the event if she did. And she honestly was looking forward to the evening. He linked arms with her as they descended the stairs. The parents and the hired help all stared. All together, it was a good imitation of the princess fantasy. Everyone's eyes were on her, admiring her, including the prince's in particular, James staring her way as she glanced to the side. Jessie turned her attention away shyly, though she certainly did enjoy his.
"Are you ready to leave?" the father asked.
"We'll be making our own way over," James informed.
"Oh? Take care," the mother said with a nod.
"How were you planning to get there?" Jessie asked.
"Well, the train station is nearby here and there," James said, nodding and holding the gate open as they reached the end of the property.
"Weren't they going to get a limo?" Jessie asked as she stepped out.
"Well, yes. I thought it would be nice to spend some time alone," James said.
Jessie nodded, again walking silently by his side. As they reached the station, they stood to wait. They got some attention and stares, but it was all positive, Jessie was sure. This really was like the kind of dream date she'd always wanted.
Now it became obvious that particular dream hadn't really considered the guy that would be involved. Of course, a handsome prince. A faceless handsome prince, while the person next to her had fairly defined features of his own, and demons that Jessie knew of personally. He hid them fairly well, again gingerly taking her hand to help her onto the train once it came. Others seemed to sense Jessie was important and made way for her, giving them a nice window seat across from each other. As the train took off, Jessie's eyes wandered from the landscape to James, who stared right back into her eyes.
"It's nice, isn't it?" he said as she looked back out the window.
"It's like a dream," Jessie muttered.
"So you're enjoying yourself?" James asked.
"Yes," Jessie admitted, wondering if she might be letting her guard down too much. It was fine to enjoy herself to some extent, but Meowth's intention in having her and James come was probably so the parents would as well, and thereby continue to be influenced. She wasn't there just for herself.
"I'm glad," James said. He seemed like he might disagree with Jessie's own conclusion. Maybe it was okay for her to enjoy it after all. He'd really seemed to go out of his way here.
It was a good thing she enjoyed her quaint yet overdressed ride, as Jessie noted right away when they entered the ballroom why this really wasn't a pleasure cruise after all. Team rocket grunts were all around. They were all dressed up, not a hint of their true affiliation, but Jessie recognized at least every other person she saw from work. James might be in the minority as one who wasn't privy to the true nature of this meeting.
And they were all watching her and James from the moment they had entered as newcomers. They tried not to be so obvious about it, but they still kind of were. Groups broke their conversation to look up at the pair of them, before pretending to talk again. The footmen who had been sitting down were suddenly up and working, occasional looks at Jessie and her date before they pretended it was really something else they were interested in.
"Miss Jessebelle and her fiancé! Welcome!" Mondo waved as the first person to actually talk to them.
"Hello, Mondo dear," Jessie said as they passed, on their way to the dance floor. Jessie noted Meowth at his feet, on all fours to try and act like a 'normal' pokemon, though it still kept its eyes on them, not at all subtle about watching.
James didn't appear to notice any of it, his eyes meeting hers, looking forward briefly before back at her. "May I have this dance?" he asked.
"Of course," Jessie said, curtsying appropriately. She tried not to let herself get too caught up as they danced for what seemed a while. It was a losing battle, and she found herself looking into his eyes, relishing that he'd decided to play the perfect gentleman and treat her like a total princess. Once she'd relaxed, time seemed to pass pretty quickly, all too quickly before she got her first interruption.
"Miss Jessebelle? Is that you?"
Jessie turned around, trying not to react too negatively as she saw the other woman. Cassidy was acting totally calm and professional, standing there smiling in a dress with her stony-faced field partner next to her, also dressed formally, atypical for both of them. "Yes!" Jessie said, trying to put energy into her voice. "It's so good to see you."
"A friend of yours?" James said.
"That's right," Jessie said. "It's my friend, Cassidy."
"Yes, we met in Kalos," Cassidy added. So, she was right on top of their scheme here. It was like her to try and butt in and take the credit. Even so, she couldn't take Jessie's place here, could she. "And you are?" Cassidy asked.
"This is my fiancé, James," Jessie said.
"Oh? Congratulations," Cassidy said. "Do you mind if I have the next dance? I'd like to get to know my friend's beau."
No. Jessie wanted to shout it out, but held back, not wanting to let her mask slip too much. Before she could give an appropriate response, James answered instead. "Yes. It would be my pleasure."
With that, Jessie was left standing by herself. Even seeing Cassidy's dumb partner reach out his hand silently wasn't enough to distract her. She eventually took it, dancing with him all while looking back at her charge and Cassidy. The two of them spoke quietly to each other as they danced together in a somewhat intimate fashion. It was really distracting. That was the reason why, though she was normally so graceful, Jessie accidentally stepped on her dance partner's foot.
Cassidy's partner swore as he stepped back. Jessie put her hands on her hips as she approached him. "Toughen up. You're not handling yourself very professionally here," she chided.
"Like you're really some pristine rich lady," he shot back.
Jessie was about to fire back her own insult as she noticed the man's gaze travel across the room, first in the direction James had gone before spotting where James's parents stood near the door. "We were just helping out, you know. Distracting so that one meowth could talk to you," the man explained.
"Where?"
"It's somewhere around here. With Mondo, probably."
Jessie wandered around the edge. James might notice her and get suspicious, she worried. Checking the dance floor, she caught sight of him, still wrapped up in conversation with Cassidy. Feeling annoyed, Jessie decided she didn't much care if he noticed, and went right toward Mondo as she saw him.
"This way," Mondo said, ushering her out of the room. Jessie followed, then slumped down on a couch in an otherwise empty sitting room. Meowth hopped up on a taller chair to make up for its stature, and Mondo stood by the door.
Jessie wanted to complain, but held her tongue. The room was nice enough, and no one there was responsible for her irritation. Besides, they looked bursting with excitement. Mondo grinned as he clenched his fists, while Meowth smirked to itself. "You're doing so wonderfully, Miss Jessie!" Mondo exclaimed once the door had closed.
Meowth nodded, a little more contained though it was certainly pleased. "Yeah. This went better than I could have expected. I thought for sure you'd be pissing off the groom and give us just enough info for a heist."
"Oh really? Then why did you bother convincing me to go?" Jessie asked, purposefully glaring at the pokemon.
Meowth waved its paw. "Relax, I exaggerate! It was a tough gig, but your skills were more than enough. And boy did it pay off! Your new in-laws put their cash behind some rocket science projects in a big way."
"They did?" Jessie said.
"They sure did. They're chatting it up out there with our scientists as we speak, completely sold," Meowth said.
"You and Master Meowth were overwhelmingly successful! The boss is so pleased," Mondo added.
"Yup. Mission complete," Meowth said.
"Oh," Jessie said. That should be good news, but she felt unsettled about it. "So..."
"So, I thought I'd talk to you in person about what's next," Meowth said.
"So, an exit plan, basically," Jessie said. Of course, this was always what was next. She shouldn't feel guilty about it, but she'd gotten to know the person she was lying to out of necessity. So without meaning to, she started to think of what his reaction might be to her just being gone. Would he be sad, since he'd gotten sweet on her recently? Or would he figure out the truth after she was gone, and maybe even after he spoke to the actual Jessebelle, and then be disturbed? Jessie should be able to take the next steps without thinking about it too much, but she was anyway.
"Well," Meowth began, raising an eyebrow as it looked at Mondo.
"Well what? This was your plan, you never thought what might happen next?" Jessie asked.
Meowth finally gave its full attention after that accusation. "Not at all! I've thought of plans for multiple outcomes, and I can adjust. Are you willing to?" it asked.
"What do you mean?" Jessie asked.
"Well, things just went so good. Seems like 'you've' got a lot of influence there. Why give it up?"
Meowth's implication left Jessie speechless. The other two in the room just waited for what she had to say silently, with pleased expressions that didn't indicate anything strange about what had just been said. "Are you suggesting I just... Stay? Forever?"
"Sure, if you can pull it off that long," Meowth said.
"If it's Miss Jessie, I'm sure she can!" Mondo said.
"Are you saying I'm only a valuable Team Rocket agent if I can pair off with this guy?" Jessie said.
"Na, you could do other stuff, but this would be your main thing," Meowth said. "He's not even that into 'you', right? So you could do your own thing in between."
"Actually, he might be getting sweet on me," Jessie said.
"Of course he is! Who could resist Miss Jessie?" Mondo said.
"Sure. That's even better, ain't it?" Meowth added.
"No, it's worse," Jessie said. Not that the whole thing wasn't fraught with various issues in the first place, but at least when he hated her, she wasn't in danger of falling for a guy she'd never really been herself around, and knew awkward details about besides.
"I can go to the wedding, can't I?" Mondo asked.
"Hey!" Jessie finally decided to be firm about this. "There isn't going to be a wedding! You need to make an exit plan right now, Meowth."
"Like what? I mean, since you suggested it, if you leave, maybe they won't be so keen on funding us," Meowth pointed out.
"I thought you considered everything," Jessie said as she stood up.
"Sure! But there's good and bad options."
"Well then, think of a good option that doesn't involve me having to deal with their awkward family situations indefinitely. It's up to you to make the plan, so make it," Jessie ordered.
"Um, sure. But can't you just consider? It can't be that bad, right?" Meowth said. "It's a cute rich guy, and you'll be luxury when you marry him. What could be better?"
"You marry him then," Jessie said, turning toward the door.
"But Master Meowth can't-"
"You're the one that's-"
"Enough!" Jessie said loudly. "I'm not leaving now, so there's time to really think about this. So adjust, like you said you could, and think of the best plan for Team Rocket. Something better than me staying until it falls apart."
"Sure, Jess," Meowth agreed.
"Good. Now I should get back before he notices I'm missing," Jessie said.
"Please keep us updated, Miss Jessie!" Mondo called.
Jessie went away from the ridiculous duo and back toward the ballroom. She eventually found James standing at the side, still absorbed in conversation with Cassidy. "There you are, Miss Jessebelle," Cassidy said, apparently not missing a beat in their undercover operation. Now that Jessie thought about it, should she have used the other woman's real name? Oops, too late to think about that.
Instead, Jessie took James's arm. "You've spent a lot of time with my James tonight, haven't you? I think it's time I took him back."
"Of course. You really have a winner, Miss Jessebelle. I hope you two are happy together."
"I think we will be," James said.
Jessie tried to enjoy the rest of the night out, but couldn't relax. Between having to play the part of her look-alike, Meowth's ridiculous suggestion, and knowing others were probably watching them in some fashion, she was just exhausted by the end of it. In the train, she was about to fall asleep, then felt James's arm around her, and was awake again. "You seemed bored by the end," James said.
"What about you?" Jessie asked. "You don't like these kinds of things, right?" She definitely wasn't acting as 'herself' then, but was too tired to think about it much.
"Not usually, but this time it was fun," James said.
"Oh, right. You spent a lot of time with Cassidy, didn't you." Jessie knew jealousy was a very immature emotion, but couldn't help but feel it then. Something about Cassidy always got under her skin. Of course she was going to be jealous of her getting the attention of the guy who had just been giving her all the attention.
"Yes! That was nice," James said, completely cluelessly expressing happiness as she recalled the meeting.
"What was so nice about it?" Jessie asked.
"Well, I hadn't- I mean, it's just been us two, hasn't it? I wondered if I could get to know you better by talking to one of your friends," James said. "I feel like we'll be closer if I do."
Oh. So that was it. James gently pushed a strand of hair out of Jessie's face, doting on her. So, it was about her, like she'd wanted it to be, but she just felt humbled instead of relieved. Even so, she wasn't going to tell him to stop. She relaxed, only realizing she'd really fallen asleep as James gently tapped her arm. "We're almost there."
Once they had arrived, she stepped off the train by taking his offered hand, then walked arm-in-arm to where a car awaited them. Once they were back at the mansion, James dismissed the man who'd driven them back right away. He noted she was still close to him as they walked upstairs, and into the sitting room that linked their own.
James didn't even let go of her hand once they'd entered. "Ah, well, I suppose I should go dress down for the night," she said, shaking free to give him the hint.
"I'll help if you'd like," James said, taking off his jacket.
Really? Was he implying what she thought? It couldn't be, since he didn't even want to be touched by her. Then again, despite that declaration, he'd certainly been doing so, and they were supposed to be engaged besides. It wasn't that weird he'd want to get up close and personal, except for the other facts she knew about the situation. Though she might like what he was suggesting, there were plenty of reasons to back out of it right then.
"Come here," James said. Instead of following through on her thought, Jessie sat on the large couch with him. He reached up, carefully taking out the ribbons and pins that held up her hair. Jessie sat still as he did so. This kind of innocent thing was fine, she convinced herself.
Eventually, her hair fell down over her shoulders and in front of her face. She reached to get it out of her face, and then found James doing so instead. He smiled at her as he lifted up her hair, smoothing it out of her face. "Your hair's quite long, isn't it?" he said.
"Yeah," Jessie said softly. Of course, Meowth had noted that the women she was impersonating probably had shorter hair, but Jessie hadn't been willing to go as far as to cut it for the job, saying it was normal for people's hair to grow. Maybe she should have listened. It almost felt like James was looking right at her, rather than 'Jessebelle'.
"I never noticed before," James said. "I suppose since it's up all the time." He continued to help her pull her locks back. Jessie felt him close, but didn't do anything. It was kind of nice, she thought, even as his face came so close to hers. Before she could object, he goaded her face toward his own, and then kissed her.
It was different from James's previous shy attempt. He leaned forward, pushing himself against her. Jessie also found herself getting into it, kissing him back. As they separated, she noted his flushed face, and felt a sense of wanting herself. Even so, there was more than enough reason to stop. She definitely shouldn't have let things get even this far.
"You don't really want this," Jessie said, having trouble looking the man in the eyes. "Do you?"
"I do," James said firmly. "I want you."
There were no signs of doubt that Jessie noted. How confident and bold he was being also had her wanting him all the more. He kissed her again without hesitation. Jessie found herself getting into it. This was really wrong, wasn't it? Even if he said he wanted 'her', he didn't mean her, did he?
He could. After all, she'd been the one he'd been with the past few weeks. Before that, his feelings for his fiancée had been the opposite of what he was showing now. Being around her and not anyone else, he'd changed like this.
And she liked him. It hadn't been that long, but somehow the passion of this often gloomy man had started to appeal to her. Maybe if he seemed hesitant, she'd tell him to stop, but he seemed completely decided in that moment. Jessie allowed him to continue to kiss her and otherwise touch her, only hesitating when he started to take off her dress. "Do you have protection?" she asked.
James closed his eyes in a moment of thought, before opening them and looking at her with a half-smile. "We don't need to bother with that, do we?"
Jessie's face flushed even more than it had before. Right, James was thinking of her as his fiancée. Children had been a topic, not just with his parents, but with him, she recalled. It wasn't a problem, at least from his point of view, to just do this without any kind of worry about consequences. In fact, maybe he wanted a certain result.
Of course, it should be a problem, or at the very least a second thought for her, Jessie told herself, but didn't give it any closer consideration, enjoying the physical closeness as she and James continued. Finally, he put his hand on her hip, ready to remove her underwear. As he hesitated, Jessie felt pause, some of the thoughts she'd been quelling starting to enter her mind. "What is it?" she asked, sitting up as James glanced away. "Something wrong?"
James looked back at her, still with that confident smile he'd started the encounter with. "Nothing," he said. "Except... Well... Who are you?"
