The One That Got Away.

The Cover-Up

Kelly reaches for the only slice of pound cake, then pauses, "You gonna eat this?"

"Be my guest," he laughs. "You eat more than my girlfriend," he says looking around at all the empty dishes.

"I bet," she says with a mouth full of pound cake. "I'm not body-shaming her," she adds quickly. "I'm sure she has to stay thin because of her job."

"She's lucky, she's naturally thin. She's got a good appetite and a great metabolism. Maybe not as good as yours, though."

He gets up from the table, "Wait here," he tells her as he nips off to the bathroom. Kelly wonders if he's going to call Valeriya. 

As she finishes her pound cake she thinks about calling Patrick back but dreads it. What in the world is she even going to tell him? Or Erica? And what were they thinking? 

Jared returns several minutes later.

"OK, so, I have someone from Gucci coming here. But he can't make it until tomorrow morning the earliest."

"I'll be out of your hair by then, no problem," she says stacking the dirty plates in an orderly fashion and brushing away crumbs.

"He's coming here for you," Jared says. Kelly is confused. He continues, "Gucci has some talented make-up artists who can do amazing FX makeup. We'll get that thing covered for you." It was yet another favor from Lalo.

Kelly isn't sure what to say. "Oh, uh, thank you."

"He'll cover it for you, then he'll show you what to do so you can keep it covered until it fades. No one will ever know it's there. Until then..." he flips open his suitcase and pulls out a piece of purple fabric. "Put this on."

"What is that?" she says wrinkling her nose at it.

"It goes around your neck. Here like this." He gently ties it around her neck, fashioning a bow on the side to cover the mark. 

Kelly looks in the mirror. "This looks ridiculous, Jared. I look like I'm trying to hide old lady neck waddle. It doesn't even match what I'm wearing."

"Nonsense, it looks cute."

She unties it and yanks it off, hands it back to Jared. "No way, but thank you for trying."

"It looks like your only other option then is to hole up at my hotel with me so no one sees you," he smiles.

"Fine, I'm already going to burn in fucking hell."

"Are you quite religious?"

"Not in the least but I believe in hell on Earth and that's what my life is going to be after this."

"You sure you aren't an actress because you certainly have a flair for drama."

He stuffs it back into his suitcase then moves close to her. He gently brushes the hair away from her neck, "Are you sure it doesn't hurt?" He tenderly caresses it with his thumb, a pained look on his face.

"It doesn't hurt, I just bruise really easily. It looks worse than it is." She was telling the truth, it didn't hurt and she did mark up very easily. She could accidentally bump her shin and welt up like someone hit her with a baseball bat.

All that food and lack of sleep left Kelly feeling drowsy. She yawned, longing to crawl right into that large, comfortable bed. But she wasn't going to temp Jared like that again. 

"Wanna lay down?" 

"Nah, I'm good. So what are we going to do today? I mean, until your FX guy gets here?"