“Not really. I mean, I didn’t want to kiss him, but I pushed him away pretty quickly, and I kind of kicked his ass, so I’m good. I don’t like knowing he’s loose in the world, though.”
“As long as he’s on this island, he’ll be watched. Not just here, but everywhere. A few well-placed comments to the right people will also get it out to the media, so women in other countries know. Whether they heed the warning will be up to them.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s go see to that ice cream and wine you need.”
Wayne
I wipe my hands on my jeans, because yeah, I’m sweating. I asked for this meeting with Sonia, but now that I’m standing in the Foundation lobby, I’m nervous as hell. How can I adequately apologize to a woman for ruining her life? I didn’t rape her, but she was raped because of me. She was just an innocent bystander in a war created in a quest for revenge.
“You can go on in, Wayne.”
“Thanks, Alex.”
I smile at her, and walk down the long hallway to Reina’s office. The doors open on their own like they tend to do around here, and then I’m inside. Sonia’s on one of Reina’s couches, with Ellie next to her. Reina is standing behind her, and I don’t know what to say.
“Why don’t you have a seat,” Reina suggests, giving me a sad smile.
I sit down across from them, pulling my sunglasses off, and the hood of my sweatshirt from my head. Leaning forward, I rest my arms on my thighs, and clasp my hands together. “Hi, Sonia.”
“Hello, Wayne.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’m the one who’s sorry. You didn’t rape me, but I said you did.”
“It’s okay. You were led to believe it was me.”
“If I hadn’t been so drunk, I would’ve realized it.”
“Don’t do that. It doesn’t matter how much you had to drink, or if you’d been completely sober. Chad would’ve hurt you either way. He wanted to destroy me, and you were there.”
“Because you tried to take care of me in the bar.”
“I guess. He would’ve found someone else if it wasn’t you, so please stop blaming yourself. You did nothing wrong, Sonia. Nothing at all.”
“I saw you on T.V. You defended me.”
“I did, yes.”
“Thank you. You don’t know how much that meant to me. The things they were saying…they made me second-guess myself. I guess they were right, though. You’re not a rapist.”
She’s still in so much pain, and I won’t have her thinking she’s done anything wrong, so I decide to tell her something. Something I never planned to tell anyone. “I have never raped a woman, Sonia, but I did something without consent.”
I tell her what I did, and how I didn’t even know I was wrong at first. She surprises me by reaching out to hold my hands in hers. “You’re a good man, Wayne. What you did wasn’t right, but I can tell you’ll never do it again now that you know it was wrong.”
“I won’t.”
“We’re going to both have to learn how to forgive ourselves.”
“It may take me some time for that, but I’m going to try.”
“I’m afraid no man will ever want me again, because the whole world knows who I am now. I’m damaged goods.”
“No, Sonia. Any moron who looks at you that way doesn’t deserve you. There are good men out there, I promise.”
“I want to believe that, but it’s hard.”
“I can’t even begin to pretend that I know what you’re going through, but you can call me anytime you want. And I’ll do my best to intimidate any guy who asks you out if you want.”
“I’d like it if we could stay in touch.”
“Me too. Reina will give you my info.”
I stand up and so does she. When she opens her arms, I step into them, and hug her tight. I’m glad I came here to see her, because I think we both needed this. We helped each other heal a little, and I’ve made a new friend for life. I’ll never say what happened was worth that, but I’m glad something good came from it.
24
Wayne
After leaving Reina’s office, I head to the C&C cafeteria, which puts Google to shame for employee satisfaction. There is every kind of food imaginable, game rooms, quiet rooms, nap rooms, and even a lap pool. I always have the urge to walk around the room and ask people if they know how lucky they are to work here. I don’t, because that would be weird, but I do wonder.
When I walk in, literally all conversation in the room stops. There are over 100 people in here at the moment, and they’re all looking at me. I don’t know why until I glance at one of the televisions. Someone paused it, and it’s stuck on a picture of Jenysis kissing some other guy at her father’s palace. What the fuck?
“Nothing to see here, so go back to your regularly schedule lunch shenanigans, people,” Darcy says, standing on a chair, and waving her hands around.
“There has to be an explanation,” Brayden says when I get to their table. “She wouldn’t kiss Lord Dick.”
“That’s him? The guy who wants to marry her?”
“Didn’t she tell you he only wants a crown? She just happens to be able to give him one, but he doesn’t really want her.”
“Yeah, she told me, but now she’s kissing him.”
“So you’re just going to let her go?”
“Hell, no. I’m going to fight even harder to convince her we belong together.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
Jenysis
I’m just heading out to a pre-event party when my phone goes off. It’s Luke Bryant singing, so I know it’s Tegan, “Hey Teeg, what’s up?” I ask, putting my phone in between my chin and shoulder so I can smooth the back of my dress while I sit. It’s not fancy—just a long back sleeveless dress with a band and a bow of white at the top—but I still want to keep it as wrinkle free as possible before I make my appearance.
“You moved on pretty fast.”
“I assume you’re referring to my assault yesterday.”
“Assault?”
“My father and I consider kissing someone without permission an assault.”
“Oh, well so do I. I knew it had to be something like that.”
“The photographer didn’t stick around to see me kick his ass, and threaten him with a sword.”
“Of course not. I didn’t mean to come at you so hard, but Wayne just saw the picture.”
“He can’t hate me any more than he already did, so I don’t see the problem.”
“There’s no problem, none at all.”
She sounds amused, and I don’t know why. None of this is funny. Lord Dick kissed me, Wayne hates me, and I have to go to this party and pretend everything is great. Someone should tell little girls everywhere that being a princess isn’t as exciting as it seems. In fact, sometimes it really sucks.
Wayne
Reina stops me after lunch, and pulls me into an empty office. “We need to talk about Alesha.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. You’re sure she didn’t call you about Jeny?”
“I’m sure. I’m also sure she was the one leading the attacks against Sonia.”
“What?”
“Ainsley felt like something was weird about the ringleader, so she dug around. It was a fake profile Alesha set up.”
“Why would she do that? I thought she’s worked with you before.”
“She has, and we wouldn’t have recommended her to you if we thought there’d be a problem.”
“I’m not blaming you.”
“Stella’s blaming herself, but there’s no way she could’ve known Alesha would become obsessed with you. She says she did it all for you.”
“I’m not flattered. In fact, I’m pretty disgusted at the moment. How could she do that to Sonia?”
“I don’t know, but rest assured, she’s currently being dealt with.”
“You’re killing her?”
“No. After
you’re trial, she’s too high profile. We are going to delve into her psyche to see if we can adjust it. If not, we’ll have to figure out another way to deal with her.”
“You made Chad disappear.”
“Chad was a bad man, and bad men often have other bad men and women after them. Especially when they somehow break out of jail.”
“Got it,” I tell her with a smile. “Thank you for everything, Rei.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s go to the airport. We all have planes to catch.”
Jenysis
I’ve been putting on this charity event for three years now, so you’d think I’d be calm and collected, knowing everything will work out. Of course I’m not feeling that way today. The polo match between the professional players and the celebrities will go off without a hitch, lunch is ready in the tents, dinner is going to be delicious, and the charity Reina helped me choose for this year is going to get lots of money. Everything’s great. That all sounds great. What isn’t great is the dancing.
My father and I will share the first dance, but usually after that, I dance with Wayne. A few of the larger donors ask for dances, and I indulge them, but Wayne is always waiting to take me in his arms again. He won’t be here this year, and all the wine and ice cream in the world can’t make that better.
As I stand in the receiving line, smiling my “princess” smile in between my father and Brayden, I hear screaming. Not the kind of screaming from someone being hurt, but the kind of screaming young women do when they’re excited. Leaning forward to look, my knees almost buckle underneath me. I stumble back, and my cousin steps back with me, smiling at the woman in front of me, and motioning for her to give us a minute.
“Easy, Jen,” Bray tells me, clasping my elbow.
“Why is he here?”
“You’ll have to ask him.”
“But you know, don’t you?”
“I knew he was coming, yes.”
“You know more,” I tell him, narrowing my eyes.
“I’m not at liberty to say more.” I start to argue, but he nods to where the line is still stopped, as people wait for us. “We need to get back to it.”
I paste that smile back on my face, and step back into place. My father leans down to whisper in my ear. “Breathe, just breathe. You can do this.”
“Thanks, Papa.”
I swallow hard, and continue receiving the people who’ve paid for the chance to meet us and the celebrities who’ve agreed to be here. The celebrities don’t have a formal line, but they do have security making sure no one keeps them from enjoying the festivities. They don’t have to come through the line, because I make sure to seek them out and thank them, but I can feel Wayne getting closer to me, and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t run, even if right now I want to. Where’s the Warrior Princess when I need her?
Wayne
Jen looks like a dream. Like my dream come true. Her hair is up in a twist, and the dress she has on leaves one shoulder bare, while material is draped over her other arm, and a little bit of black peeks out from underneath when she moves. There’s a giant pink rose on the front, and black and white roses around it, and it’s so her, it makes me want to just fall to her feet, and beg. I’m not above that if need be, but I’m hoping we can just go somewhere and talk.
I’m pulling at my tie as I get closer to her. Stella knew what she was wearing, so she matched me up. I have on charcoal grey pants, a pale pink blazer over a while button down, and a black tie. Loafers are on my feet, my hair is slicked back, and my face is smooth. This isn’t me, but I wasn’t going to come here dressed like a rock star. I’ve done that in the past, but not today. Today, I need to look worthy of having a princess by my side.
I reach Darcy, who pulls on my tie with a wink, Brayden who smirks at me, and then there she is. “Your Highness,” I say, bowing slightly.
“Thank you for coming,” she tells me, holding out her hand, but not looking at me.
“Can we talk?”
“I have a very busy day.”
“One dance, then?”
“I suppose it would be fitting for us to dance while Adele’s singing one of her breakup songs.”
I know I’ve already stopped the line, and also that everyone is listening to us. I don’t care. All I care about is the woman in front of me.
“I love you, Jeny girl. I know I messed up, but I want another chance.”
She looks at me then, and I see the tears shining in her eyes. “You do?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to sit with me at lunch?”
“Hell yes! I mean, that would be lovely.”
“Oh no you don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
Instead of answering, she reaches forward. She rips my tie off, tossing it over her shoulder. I help her when she pushes on my blazer, taking it off. She looks around, and motions for one of her guards.
“You can have this.”
He takes it as I laugh. “Giving away my clothes?”
“These aren’t your clothes.”
Next, she unbuttons my shirt a few buttons, tosses my cufflinks behind me to some squealing girls, and rolls my sleeves up to my forearms. “Are you done?”
“Nope.”
Her hands are in my hair, pulling it forward so it’s over one eye, and then she puts her hands on my face. I place mine over hers, and we just look at each other. “I love that you just messed me up.”
“You know you don’t have to change for me.”
“It’s just clothes and hair,” I say, shrugging.
“I like my rock star.”
“I love you,” I tell her again.
“And I love you,” she replies, leaning up to kiss me.
I pull away after a minute, because we’re holding up the line, and I have introductions to make. “Jeny, I’d you to meet my parents. Mom and Dad, this is Princess Jenysis, but you can call her Jen.”
“Oh wow. I am so honored to finally meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Preston.”
“We’re pretty happy about it, too,” my dad says.
My mom grasps her hand tightly. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you.”
“I’ll make sure you have seats with us at the match, so we can talk.”
I step over to her father next, bowing again. When I look up, I see amusement in his eyes. “Hello, Wayne.”
“Sir.”
“I’m glad to see you here.”
Here goes nothing. “I was hoping I could speak to you privately before the dinner tonight.”
He studies me for a moment, and nods. “I’ll make time. Someone will come get you when it’s time.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re most welcome, Wayne. Just keep making my daughter smile like she is right now, and I won’t throw you in the dungeon.”
I think he’s kidding, but I know they do indeed have a dungeon. I manage to get out a nervous chuckle as I walk away. So far, things are going great. But there’s more I have planned for this day, and I need that to go smoothly as well. Knowing us, it probably won’t, but one can always hope.
25
Jenysis
Wayne stays near the line while I greet everyone else. After the first hour, I ask someone to take him a water. He tips it towards me with a smile, and waits another hour for me to get done. Once everyone has gone through the line, I walk over to him. We have a little bit of time, and I’ve instructed my guards to keep people away for us while we talk. I’m excited and nervous at the same time.
“You didn’t have to wait here for me.”
“I wanted to see you, see that you’re real, and this isn’t just another dream.”
“I pinched myself a few times,” I admit.
We just stand and smile at each other. He starts to reach for my hand, but stops. “May I hold your hand, Jeny?”
“You don’t have to ask me to do that.”
“Yes, I do,” he says, laces his fingers through mine.
I re
alize what he’s doing, making sure he has my consent. “You don’t need to ask for things like holding my hand, or putting your arm around me, or kissing me. Honestly, you don’t have to ask for anything. You just need to stop if I ask you to. I don’t anticipate that happening very often, but that’s all I need from you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, and thank you for this,” I say, squeezing his hand. “I appreciate you asking.”
“I don’t want there to ever be a question again about my respect for you. Consent and respect go hand in hand, and I want to make sure you know I understand that, and I won’t screw it up again.”
“I know you won’t. You know you have the same rights as well, right? You can tell me to stop, and I will. Consent isn’t just for women.”
“Yeah, I know it doesn’t get talked about a lot, but when I was looking stuff up, I saw that.”
“You looked stuff up?” I ask, my smile growing even wider, because I know he did that for me, to make sure he didn’t do something wrong again.
“I talked to Reina, too. I didn’t go into details, but when I talked to Sonia, I told her I’d done something I was sorry for.”
“You talked to her? I’m so glad, for both of you.”
“I saw Chad, too. We talked with our fists, though.”
“What?” I look him over, but don’t see any bruises.
“Kenny fixed me up,” he says, laughing. “I know you were thinking I should look pretty bad. I did look bad, but it was worth getting my ass kicked. What he and his friends did to you…I-I…you didn’t have to do that for me.”
“I didn’t have to, but I wanted to. Even if you never talked to me again, I wasn’t going to let you rot in jail while he went free.”
“I appreciate that, and I wanted to go into that room and punch the bastard a few times. For all of us. Mostly you, but I hit him for me and Sonia, too.”
“That’s pretty hot.”
“If you’d seen me, you wouldn’t have thought so.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I would’ve.”
Society Girls: Jenysis Page 16