I Dated Brian Quinn

Chapter Eleven

Jackie lifted the picture in front of her and stared at it. The picture was clearly of her, framed by Brian's window as she stared out at his neighborhood. It was obvious that she was oblivious to anyone outside taking photos.

"I'm sorry." Brian whispered.

"You knew?" Jackie asked, unsure what she was feeling.

"It's happened to me before. It's why I closed the blinds that night." He walked back to his place at the table and slid a stack of papers toward her. "There's more."

One by one she took the paper from the top and stacked it to the side. There were pictures of her arriving at his place, standing in his window, and even sitting on the steps in Times Square. The one that caught her attention more than the others was the one of the two of them sitting together with her wrist pressed to Brian's lips.

It was an innocently intimate moment that had been stolen from them.

"I never saw them. It didn't even cross my mind that someone would be lurking around us." She shuffled through the pictures again.

"That's part of their job, blending in. These have been sold. My agent sent them through this morning to warn us. Three magazines have purchased the pictures with plans to run them this week." Brian walked back to where Jackie sat and took the seat beside her. "I'm sorry. I knew this was a possibility. I just didn't think it was something that would come up this quickly."

She tried to think back on the other relationships Brian had been in over the years. She couldn't remember any pictures or stories coming out of them. Why now?

"So we have to be more aware of our surroundings, right?" Jackie didn't want to make a huge deal out of having her picture taken, even if it was done without her knowledge and then sold.

"Once these picture hit the magazines, the fans will have their own input. I've got a few that are going to be malicious." He ran his hand down her arm as she flipped through the pictures again.

"I can handle this." She looked at him, wanting him to confirm this wasn't going to cause a problem in their relationship. "I need to keep these." She stacked all of the pictures together and slipped them under her notebook. "Let's finish the meeting."

"You don't have to handle this alone." He felt her mood shifting and he didn't want to be responsible for that. "My agent is ready to issue a statement, but I wanted you to be involved in crafting it. After all, this effects you too. And we can look into extra security for you."

"I don't want extra security. It's expensive and unnecessary really. They're just pictures. I'll trust you to issue the statement through your agent. I don't really know what to say." She looked to him for understanding. "This is just a speed bump, not a roadblock."

Brian nodded. He often forgot how strong Jackie was, even in her weakest moments she could reach down and pull out the strength she needed to make it through.

"I'll get the statement to my agent today, so she can release it with the first print of these." Brian reached out for her hand and intertwined their fingers.

"Why do they care? Who you're dating, I mean." She was honestly curious about what pleasure it held for others to see who he was with.

"It's difficult to explain. There are fans that are genuinely happy to see us happy. And they will congratulate us and wish us well. Then there are the people who make it their mission to see who's happiness they can destroy and how quickly they can do it." Brian leaned back in his chair and ran his free hand through his unbrushed hair. "These pictures are meant to destroy. Trust me when I say they aren't meant to show how happy we are. They are meant to bring out the jealousy and hate in the people who think I owe them something. And it wouldn't surprise me if this was set up by the network in an effort to keep me quiet about the renewal they are trying to push on us."