Ricky And Jackie

17. Ricky

"Ricky, Dad wants you out."
"I said I was not going!"
I hear Alexandra groan and I can picture her rolling her eyes at me.
"Look, there's a place I have to visit and it's right down the street, why don't you come? At least you'll be out of that suite."
"You know who I wanna see, and it's not my reflection."

I didn't get up the bed since my conversation with Jackie. She's probably working, so I rather stay in til tonight, when I plan on seeing her again. Whether she wants to or not.

Alex pushes me down the bed and I growl as I land on the carpet.
"Really?"
"Go get ready, I'm leaving in 15 minutes!"
"Is MC coming?"
"Does she have to?" wails Alex.
"I heard that!" scoffs MC from the living room.
"Fine, she can come." mutters Alex with an annoyed glance. "Ugh, siblings..."

I quickly shower and go for a casual look with a white plain shirt, basic jeans and white vans. I meet with my sisters in the hotel lobby.
"Are we walking?" MC asks.
"Yes, we can see the building from here!"
Indeed we arrive about three minutes later. The sun is out though, so I'm already sweating when we step in the dance studio. What in the world are we doing here?

"Ah, your highnesses!" greets us a guy in sweatpants. "You're here to seal the deal, I suppose?"
"I am." Alex specifies. "They're just visiting."
"Alright, you two go and have fun, as for miss it'll be right this way."

Alex leaves for the man's office while me and MC are left on our own.
"It's quite huge, I must say." says my little sister."Let's take a look."

We start wandering around the place. It's actually really cool: there's even a huge room with a chandelier. We are about to go to the second floor when we hear music coming from a room with the door closed.
"Maybe there's a class, I'll go check." decides MC.

She tilts her head to the door's window and quickly come back to me.
"She's in the room."
"Who?"
"Your girl. And she's dancing."
I frown my eyebrows. "You serious?"
"I promise, go check for yourself."

I hurry to the door and glance at the studio. I quickly spot her for she is alone. There's cleaning supplies next to the mirror but she is not using them. She is dancing around in her socks. I can see she took off her shoes as well.
"What do I do?" I wonder as I turn around to face my little sister.
"Go ahead, go talk to her. I'll guard the door for you."
I smile, grateful, and walk in the room. Jackie abruptly stops and her eyes widens when she recognizes me.

"You're really good." I compliment her on her dancing.
"How did you know I work here?" she retorts, averting my gaze.
"Coincidence, we came here with Alexandra."
"I told you we can't see each other anymore."
"Well I hope you didn't mean it."
I come closer to her but she flees.
"I'm not joking, you need to leave! You need to stop..."
I catch her anyway and wrap my arms around her waist. She instantly stop running.
"Please..." I beg her as I kiss her in her neck.
I feel her body tense up and she tries to deliver herself from my grip.
"I have to show you something. Then you'll get why we can't meet anymore."
Curious, I let her go and she rushes to the mirror. She comes back to me with a magazine and throw it to me almost aggressively.
"What's the matter, baby?" I ask her as I catch it.
She averts my gaze so I look down to the magazine.
"It's..." I start, surprised.
"Ricky, they've been following us around, how come we never noticed i?"
"It can't be..."
"For goodness sake, Ricky, my first kiss is documented in a national magazine! Even my sister gets it! I just turn out as a royal hoe! Even Coming to America didn't have such a plot!" She looks at me and add: "I don't need all of this in my life right now, so would you please..." she asks, waving at the door.

I don't listen and in two steps I'm in front of her again.
"There's something you should know about paparazzis", I explain, "They won't come unless you call."
She knits her eyebrows together as she replies: "I don't get it."
"What I'm saying is, somebody called them and told them where we were."
"But who? Even my brother didn't know where I was, and you didn't tell your parents, right?"
"Yeah, only my sisters-" I stop myself.

Who is known by the press and would have their number on her phone?

"Alexandra did it." guesses Jackie at the same time I do. "I'm gonna kill that..."
She walks off to the door but I grab her by the waist and lift her up to my shoulder.
"Put me down! You're too tall!" Jackie screams.
I ignore her protests and put her on my shoulder, her head facing my back. She squeals and wraps her arm around my torso.
"Okay I won't kill her please put me down now."
I put her down but don't let go of her waist.
"Lemme handle this, alright? We don't get to see each other often enough for this."
"We can't see each other period, Ricky, I can't wait for you to get this in your thick skull!"
"You like my thick skull."
"Shut up."
I draw her closer to me and kiss her on the lips. She kisses back, her hands naturally knotting behind my neck.
"Ricky..." she pushes me away. "Your parents came today."
"What?" I try to hold her against me again but her arms are in the way.
"I said, your parents were here earlier and they talked to me."
"Did they threaten you? Are you okay?"
"Yes to both."
She sighs, running a hand through her bronze curls.
"They asked me to leave California until you're married."
"WHAT?!?? You said no?"
"I said I'd think about it."
"And then you said no?"
She smiles, but it doesn't reach her dark eyes.
"No, they left afterwards."
"I'm telling you, me and Ella are going nowhere. I doubt her father even likes me. There's a limit to wanting power."
"I don't know, Ricky, I don't know..."
I hug her tightly and she lets me do, even hugging me back.
"Don't let them get into your skin. It's already tough as it is."
"Ricky, it's just too much for me to bear... I don't have the strength to fight your parents and compete against the next Paris Hilton."

I'm about to answer when my phone rings.
"Its a call from MC, I'll put it on speaker." I tell Jackie.
She nods and leans her head on my chest, closing her eyes.
"Hello."
"Paparazzi." she simply says. "Get out."
"Let them come."
"What?" Both Jackie and MC sound shocked.
"Let them in, I say."
I hang up and look down to Jackie. She seems pissed off.
"What is wrong with you?"
"Just letting them know you're no side chick." I reply.
I trap her between my body and the wall and I kiss her right when I hear the first flash.