Chapter 19

Jessica, Matt, Jeff, Jay and Adam had been waiting in the office for over thirty minutes before Vince finally came in. Everyone stood but Jeff who was nursing an ice pack on his back.

"Sit please." Vince said to them all.

"What's going on?" Matt asked him.

"I'm sorry to keep you all waiting but we had to notify the police." Vince said.

"Why?" Jessica asked but already knew the answer. She had seen the ladder break. It was not natural the way it split in half.

"The ladder was tampered with." He said and Jessica closed her eyes.

"It was him wasn't it?" She said.

"We don't know for sure but the police are looking into it. However, based upon what's been going on, I believe it was." There was a knock on the door and two policeman entered.

"Did you find anything?" Jeff asked them.

"We're still investigating, but we have the ladder and your cell phone from this morning. Now what time would you say you got the phone call this morning?" One of the cops asked him. Jessica looked up and realized they were questioning Jeff.

"What phone call?" She asked. Everyone fell silent and looked at her. It broke Jeff's heart when he saw the realization on her face.

"He called you." She said with tears in her eyes. Jeff winced as he reached out and touched her. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine."

"He hurt you." She whispered.

"No he didn't."

"I'm sorry." The cop interrupted them. "When did you get that call?"

"Uhm, a little after nine." Jeff told them.

"What was said?"

"He said something like didn't you get my message I told you to stay away." Jeff said watching Jessica. He could see in her eyes that she was trying to block everything out. "Don't do it." He said to her.

"How long had he been calling you?" She asked and Jeff wished he could be anywhere but here.

"Since you returned."

"This is my fault." She looked away.

"No it's not." He took her hand but she pulled it back.

"Don't touch me!" She jumped up.

"Why?"

"He's watching. He'll hurt you." She started shaking.

"Honey, calm down." Vince said grabbing her arm. She shook him off.

"Why did you let me come back? This is all my fault. If I would have stayed away, none of this would have happened."

"Don't do this." Jeff came over to her. "Don't let him get to you."

"He tried to hurt you."

"But he didn't."

"This time, what happens when he tries again and he succeeds?"

"He won't." Vince said from behind them. "I won't let that happen."

"No." Jessica shook her head. "I won't let that happen." She looked at everyone her heart tearing apart. "He wins. I'm out."

"You are not!" Matt said. "Look, I know it's tough right now, but you've come too far."

"I'm sorry, I can't. You guys mean so much to me, I don't know what I would do if he." Her voice trailed off. "Not when I could stop it."

"How are you gonna stop it? By quitting? By shutting out everyone you care about?" Jeff said to her.

"Don't" She touched his cheek.

"This is what he wants. He wants you to cut us off; he wants you all to yourself."

"Fine, he can have me."

"No he can't." He grabbed her arms. "I'm not going to let you do this."

"Don't you understand? He could have killed you! I can't let this happen again. I'm so sorry." She looked into his eyes again, her fingers touching his lips. "I can't." She pulled herself from his grasp and ran from the room.

"Jessica!" Jeff yelled and hurried after her. People in the hallways moved to the side as they saw the two of them running. Jeff finally caught up to her.

"Let me go!" She yelled.

"Why? So you can run away; lock yourself up in your house again while he keeps calling till you can't take it anymore?" He was yelling so loudly that his voice echoed through the halls. "How long then Jess? How long then, before we get a call from you dying on the bathroom floor?" His pulled down one of her gloves exposing her scar.

"I'm not going to hurt myself like that again!"

"You already are." He forced her to look at him. "Every time he reaches you, you shut yourself down deeper and deeper."

"You think this is easy?" She yelled at him. "Do you think I want this? I am so tired of feeling like this! I'm tired of crying, at shutting everyone out, I'm tired of being alone! But it's the only way I know how to deal!" She was screaming loudly and didn't care who heard. She turned to walk away but Jeff stopped her. He softly touched her face.

"It doesn't have to be. He wants you to feel alone but you're not." He stared deep into her eyes, "I won't let you." Without thinking he leaned down and allowed his lips to softly graze hers. He thought about pulling away but her arms wrapped around him, so he pulled her closer and they kissed again.

"I'm not gonna let you leave me again." He whispered to her. "We'll fix this. I promise." They no longer felt the people that were all around them; it was only them. They held onto each other for a long time until Jeff felt someone tapped his shoulder.

"Uh Jeff." Shannon said. Jeff turned to him and finally realized that everyone was watching them. He glanced around at all the shocked faces. All the wrestlers who were still hanging out and everyone from the room were now staring at them. He looked to Matt. Matt was staring across the room gesturing to Jeff. He followed Matt's gaze till his eyes rested upon Meg. She was standing there leaning against the wall just watching the two of them. When their eyes met Meg turned and walked away.

Jessica gazed at the girl.

"Is that your uhm?" Jessica's voice trailed off.

"Yea."

"You should go talk to her."

"No it's okay." He said not wanting to leave her.

"Jeff, it's okay. Go. I'm all right now." He still wouldn't budge and he still hadn't let her go.

"Trust me." Jessica said. "You need to talk to her. I'll head back with Matt."

"Promise me you won't go home." He said to her.

"I promise. Now go." She said and let go of his hand. She watched Jeff walk away and was torn. She wanted to call him back; pull him close to her and never let him go, but she knew she couldn't and she felt terrible. She remembered the pain of finding out Jeff cheated on her; she couldn't believe that she had inflicted that same pain on someone else. She glanced around the room and suddenly became conscious that everyone was still watching her.

"Okay people. Meltdown's over. Everyone can leave." She said out loud. She walked over to Matt. "Get me out of here please."

"Come on, let's go." Matt said. He grabbed her hand and led her out to the car.

"Don't say anything." She said when they got in the car. "What did I just do?" Matt didn't say a word. He just put his arm around her and let her cry the entire way back to the hotel.