Fyre & Revenge by Mina Carter

her, women’s eyes followed JJ wherever he went and an
affair with a guy like him wasn’t going to hurt any up and coming
wannabe’s career. Which was obviously what this girl was after and,
by the way JJ leaned into her, he wasn’t adverse to the idea. Her
teeth worried her lower lip as she tried to ignore the two in the
corner over in the other side of the room.
    It was over,
she was fairly sure of that. Apart from the physical distance with
being abroad JJ had been distant on the phone, always too busy and
rushing her off whenever she called. So she hadn’t called for the
last couple of days. The silence had damn near killed her. As much
as she tried to kid herself that he was just busy, that he’d call,
she knew he wouldn’t. And he hadn’t. And with the concert over
Zette had no reason to share his bed anymore, so there would be a
vacancy. Convenient.
    “Kidding
yourself Zette, time to move on. He obviously has,” she murmured
into her glass, downing the rest of the champagne in one go. Misery
and frustration crowded into her heart but she squashed them down.
Now that she was facing the fact it was over, however it had
started, she found she didn’t want it to be finished. She was in
love.
    Totally,
stupidly, head over heels in love with JJ.
    She stopped and
studied the empty glass absently. When had that happened? When had
she been
stupid
enough to let that happen? She’d thought
she was in love with JJ before. Playing with the stem of her empty
glass she realised she hadn’t been. She’d just been a teenager with
her first crush. At the time it had seemed all-consuming, a passion
so desperate that when she’d found herself alone, her heart had
broken into so many pieces she was sure it would never be whole
again.
    But it had been
nothing more than a crush. She’d picked herself up and carried on,
the experience hardening her, giving her that edge she needed to
make it. This time though, she was a woman and it would devastate
her…
    “Another drink
Ma’am?” The waiter’s voice broke into her reverie. Zette looked up,
a little startled, into kind brown eyes.
    “Pretty lady
like you shouldn’t look so sad at a party, if you don’t mind me
saying. Whoever he is, he’s a prat.” He placed another drink on the
table next to her, flashing a small smile at her start. Surely she
wasn’t that transparent?
    “I recognise
the look. Have a few drinks and forget him. Plenty more fish in the
sea,” he said, sympathy in his eyes. He had to have recognised her.
Knew who she was. She could almost see the headlines now
‘
Heartbroken
star
mopes
at
party!
’
.
    Somehow though,
she didn’t think that was going to happen. There was something
about him that was sincere and after years in the cut-throat world
of music, Zette had learned to tell the genuine ones from the
fakes.
    A soft smile
curved her full lips. “Thanks. I’m fine, but thanks.” Her voice was
soft, her eyes thoughtful as the waiter moved off unseen. There
were plenty more fish in the sea, but she’d always want the
shark.
    She shivered,
trying to shake off her morose mood, as the microphone crackled
again. She looked up but it wasn’t Christine this time. JJ stood in
the middle of the makeshift stage. He cleared his throat and
spoke.
    “Ladies and
gentlemen, some of you may know me, most of you will not. My name
is Jarrett Jensen but most people call me JJ. Some of you might be
familiar with the name Jensen, I run a little company called Jensen
Industries.” He trailed off as a small laugh went around the room.
Jensen Inc. was one of the major players in the business world,
there weren’t many people that hadn’t heard of it and by extension,
JJ.
    “First off I’d
like to congratulate you on the sheer success this evening has
been. Rarely has it been my pleasure to work with a group of people
so dedicated to a cause and working together so hard to achieve
success. So, kudos to you guys.” He raised his glass to the room in
general.