Chapter 10 🤭Guilty as charged🤭

Jessica Gilbert woke up to sloppy kisses from her boyfriend. She squeezed her face and opened her eyes one after the other. He was in a good mood. As she turned in his arm, she crooned into the open space between his armpit and sighed. He had just showered and smelled of his aftershave and some cream. And he wasn't dressed. Jessie knew what that meant. Sex! But she wasn't in the mood for this, not after all that had happened last night. Her conscience had been eating deep ever since he walked into the party last night.

To think she had forgotten him because of the jerk she'd met last night, who, by the way, was one minute into her and the next banging her friend. She breathed in heavily.

"Good morning" Mark greeted

Jessie just sighed, not responding. She pretended to be exhausted and sleepy. But the groping continued. He almost pushed him away, wanting him to stop, "Hey" she finally replied

"Slept fine?" he asked, his head bent over her head. He found her lips and gently kissed her. She responded lazily, but he continued to kiss her. He was in that kind of mood this morning. When she turned and gently pushed him off, his hardened length dropped. It looks like his girlfriend wasn't in the mood.

Jessica played along a little as her boyfriend continued to rub her body and kiss her. It didn't matter how much he tried. She wasn't getting into this right now. Finally, able to pull away, she murmured, "I'm so tired, Mark."

"I figured" he stood up, "You okay, though?" he asked, looking at her, worried. He had met Jessie with her friend having some drawl, and Ainsley had turned down his gift rudely. But that didn't matter, really. Ainsley had always had it for him from the start. But nothing could excuse her being rude. But what bothered him was Jessie not saying anything about it. His girlfriend was a kind woman, always apologising even for things she didn't do. So, unless something were up, she would have said something already.

"Yes?" she scoffed, "Why won't I be?" sitting up, she pulled the bedspread up to her chin.

"Last night, at Ainsley's." he said. Standing up, he began to dress up. "I might you guys in a fight, didn't I?" he frowned, not sure of what it was, but something was definitely up

"Never mind that." Jessie dismissed, "She was just a jerk."

"Yes, like always." he smirked. "And she turned down my gift" he added, waiting for the apology.

Jessie watched him get dressed. He was always dressing in an oversized T-shirt even when she told him it made him look fat. His jean was a bit old and ragged, but he wore it anyway. He tucked in the shirt and held it firmly in place with his belt. He was a good man, despite his poor choice of clothing. He treated her so nicely. He deserved better. Her guilt ate deep into her, and she turned away, unable to look at him or even herself. Her shame at what she'd done made her feel sick. She turned back to see that Mark was looking at her with concern. "Look, can I stay here today?" Jessie said. He was all dressed up for work. "I'm not feeling great"

"Sure" Mark replied quickly. That was it then, she was sick. He walked over and kissed her on her forehead. "I'll see you then?"

She nodded. And he left for work.

All alone, Jessie stood up and went to the bathroom to brush. Her spare toothbrush was in a glass cup on the sink. She brushed hurriedly and went back to the room. She had to text the company's secretary and call in sick before her boss would skew her head off with lousy threats.

She decided instead to call. The lady picked after the second ring. "Hi Fanny." she greeted the lady, "Please inform my team I won't be coming in today. I'm meeting a client and feeling too tired to drive down there first"

"Okay." said Fanny

"Be sure to let Mr. McCarthy know."

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That settled, she sat down to check herself just as a text came in. It was her bank. She was just credited $5000. "The heck?" she stood up and checked to see the sender. "Damian Gregory?" she said out loud. Who was that? She ran her mind through all her client. Nobody should be paying her so much and definitely not directly in her account. Stunned, she rechecked the message as another came in. "For the clothes, thank you."

Suddenly it became clear. The jerk was paying her for the clothes. Who did he think he was? Damian Gregory? Why did that name sound familiar. She brought out her phone and typed in the name. The images brought up showed he was really the man she had met yesterday. No wonder everyone had acted surprised when she brought him to the party. Could it be that they were staring at him not because he was that handsome but for his fame? The man is a celebrity and must have been shocked that she didn't know him.

She read about his flirtations and smiled. It explains his actions last night, taking on two friends. And now, he was paying her off. The clothes they bought yesterday hadn't cost half of what he sent. Whatever he meant by sending her that amount. Did he assume she was a slut or something? Angrily, she grabbed her phone, wanting to call and blast him. Then she remembered to her chagrin that she didn't even have his contact.

It serves me right! She thought, standing up. The room was a mess. The least she could do was clean up her mess before leaving. Damian was a mess she intended to handle later. Picking up the towel Mark had dumped on the chair, she said, "But this mess goes now". From picking up tossed clothes and doing the laundry, she found herself scrubbing and cleaning the floor. Each time she felt guilty about something, she cleaned. Just as she knew that no amount of cleaning could scrub the dirt, she felt clustering over her soul.

Mark was a good guy who would never cheat on her. And if asked, she'd have said, she never would either, until yesterday. They had met at the company when Mr. McCarthy had her call the computer service company for their faulty systems. And it was Mark that was sent over to do the work.

"Hi." she had said to him while taking him to their system room. "Virtually all of them need fixing." she told him

"Really? How long ago did we send someone over?" he asked, dropping his backpack on the desk and sitting in front of one of the systems.

"Been a while. I can't even remember. Fanny does all that, but she's not on the seat at the moment."

Mark looked up from the computer; he had been poking around it, "Looks like it's been a while. I'll get to work."

"Alright." she said and had left the room so he could work. The next room was her office, and Mr. McCarthy was giving one of his speeches. His voice had been so loud that Mark had heard everything. After the meeting, her teammates had left for their marketing while she had to stay back until Mark was done. "Hello, again" she greeted

"I'm halfway through." he told her.

She sat down to keep him company and also check the systems he had fixed. The first one came on instantly, and she typed a few words on it.

"By the way, the boss, I mean the man shouting his lungs out." he said to her by way of conversation

"Mr. McCarthy, the boss here"

"Yes, him... what was that he was screaming about? Please don't call that motivational speech."

"Well, what can I say?"

"Wait, it is?" he crossed his heart over his chest and looked heartbroken. "Who the hell says stuff like that?"

She had then taken her time then to look at him over. He was dressed to depict a nerd; big rimmed glasses, an oversized shirt and plain trousers. She knew his type. They were always dull and unconcerned about what others do. At least that was how the ones that had been coming over were. The last guy could only grumble 'good morning', and that was it. But he did his job well and fast. This guy here was different. He was chatty. "He does appear and loves it too." she said to him.

"I take it you all don't listen, though"

"It's hard not to listen with all that screaming."

Mark had stopped working on the system and turned her way, "You shouldn't." he said, seriously, "You can do it."

They had started laughing and were so loud Mr. McCarthy had walked in. He had given them a cold stare and called her to his office. Mark resumed his work but stopped short when he heard him yell about her incompetence. "Do something about those numbers today." he yelled and stormed out. She had sat down in tears, worried about her job. She wasn't the team leader then.

Mark finished his job before going to her office, feeling bad he had somehow caused the uproar, "I'm sorry." he said, walking in. "Has he always being likes this or did I do something to...."

"No, it's not you" she replied and quickly stood up, wiping her face. "He's always like that when we fall short a couple of numbers, and I need two people to complete my cycle."

Mark looked at her thoughtfully, "How about I drive you to my office, and you can speak with my boss?"

Looking at him, optimistic, "Will he be interested?"

"Well, his company gets some money fixing your computer. The least he could do is pay back in any way he can. It would be best if you billed him" he laughed.

So right, she thought and was smiling when suddenly he stopped laughing, "What?"

"That was a joke." he said, looking serious. She looked sad, and he explained further, "My boss might be interested. I heard him searching for some products online, and since he gets something here, he'll switch"

She had ridden with him to his office while what he said had stuck. He was right. All the companies that worked for hers and got some stipulated change could be blackmailed shyly into becoming clients. It was a strategy she continued to use and had brought her up the ladder. She had been given the team leader post after that with a sudden rise in her clients.

Mark's boss had signed up with her alongside some of the staff and Mark himself. To thank him, she had invited him for dinner the next day. They started dating ever since. It's been two years now.

Done with cleaning, she sat down exhausted on the kitchen stool to fix herself a light breakfast. Mark had stocked his fridge recently. She reached for the bread and jam and ate. Once through, she packed her things. At the door, she stopped to look back at the room. Everything was as it should be, spotless. She closed the door, knowing she couldn't stay here, not with the mess she had made. Until it was fixed, she would rather stay away.