The usual disclaimer applies.

Chapter 12 Aftermath

HOLLYWOOD

Bella and Jake sat together on the patio furniture on the balcony of Bella's hotel room sharing a light breakfast of fruits and coffee, waiting for the morning paper to be delivered. It was the morning after the awards show, and they were discussing the previous evening's events.

"I guess I did alright. I hate reading off those Teleprompters. Sometimes they scroll those things so darned fast and it's hard to keep up and you end up looking so foolish", Bella whined with a pout.

"You did just fine, Sissy. God, I felt so bad for those folks that completely lost their places. He was saying her lines and she was saying his lines and I didn't think they'd ever get that award presented".

They laughed together at the memory of the golden oldie couple that nearly brought the roof down when they got flustered at the Teleprompter and yelled at the producer to get his ass on stage and get them out of the mess they were in.

She didn't share her memory with Jake of how she excused herself to go to the ladies room when it was Edward's turn to come on stage to present an award. She didn't have to, he knew. She just couldn't look at him on that stage, she couldn't see him up there so handsome in his suit and hear him talking and ad libbing and entertaining the crowd while her heart was shattering at the sight of him so close to her, so she simply bailed out and left the auditorium to go to the ladies room. She didn't tell Jake that she had innocently dropped hints to people about who Edward might have brought to the event. What Jake didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

There was a knock at her door, and she answered it, accepting the morning newspaper from hotel room service. They finished eating their breakfast as they read the local and national news. She turned to the Hollywood gossip column and gasped loudly, causing Jake to look up from the sports page to inquire what was wrong. She wordlessly turned the newspaper to him:

BELLA'S NEW BEAU?

The caption was displayed under a picture of herself and Jake from the awards show the previous evening. It showed Jake standing very close to her, his hand at the small of her back, just as he began to lead her up the red carpet. She knew it was an innocent picture, captured in a moment in time between herself and the oldest friend she had in her life, and that he would always be her oldest and dearest friend and nothing more. The public didn't know that. Edward didn't know that.

"It's a great picture, honey. Does it really upset you that much?"

"But people think we're a couple now!"

"Sissy, would that be so horrible?"

She put the newspaper down and looked at Jake and realized what she should have realized a long time ago. She had felt for years now that she had been receiving signals from him, but didn't want to believe they were true. Apparently, they were. He was a good and decent man. He was her oldest and dearest friend. She would never think of him in the way he wanted to be thought of and she needed to let him know that, right now.

"Jake, I don't know what to say. I love you dearly, but not in the way that I think you want me to".

"I know. I've always known. I've hoped my whole life that you would fall for me, but I know now that it will just never be, and that's okay. Sissy, I'll always love you, though", he told her.

She started to cry and he left his chair. He took her into his arms and she let him, the one and only time he held her body close to his. She cried and cried, and he stroked her hair and shushed her, knowing that she didn't have a heartless bone in her body, knowing that she wouldn't have ever done anything to hurt him purposely. If her undying friendship were all he'd ever have, he'd take it.

"What are we going to do with you, Sissy? We can't just have you back in Atlanta crying and moping all the time. You think I don't know that you carry on about Edward? You think you hide it so well that you miss him and want him back?"

She wiped her eyes and her face and looked into Jake's eyes. "He thinks I'm having an affair with you".

"What? Where the hell did he get that from?"

She told him about the situation in the condo on Peachtree Rd. when Edward had overheard Jake's answering machine message to her after their fun at THE BAR drinking beer and shooting darts. He learned that Edward had jumped to conclusions because Jake had called her "baby" and revealed that he'd had fun with her and wanted to do it again sometime.

"We argued and I told him to leave. I could have set him straight about you and me, but I have my pride. He doesn't have any right accusing me of being unfaithful".

"Well, you're right about that. But, does this separation make you feel any better, Sissy? Have you made your point to your man?"

She nodded and started crying again. Jake let her move back into her chair and suggested she shower and get dressed. "You need to pull yourself together, Sissy. I have a few things I need to take care of out here before we fly back to Georgia. I'll see you later this afternoon, okay?"

She sniffled and agreed and he departed, leaving her to stare at the picture in the gossip column and wonder if Edward had also seen it.

Author Notes: Poor girl...the man she wants she can't have, and the man who wants her she doesn't want. I hate this achy feeling...time to get them on the road to recovery. Next chapter is one of my favories...and there's not even any sex! :)