CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

"Mr. Reed, could you please tell us what's your relationship with this lady and why you were wrapped in a passionate embrace with her," one of the paparazzi asked.

"Yes, Sir, what's going on between the both of you?" Another asked.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as much as I know how exciting it is to see Chase Reed with a mystery woman for the first time in years, you must understand that a wedding reception is going to take place here, the wedding that everyone has been looking forward to. Security please send them away! Now, Mr. Reed, Ms. Dubois, please follow me," Alexander Rowland, Cesare's personal assistant said and with the help of the security guards, the paparazzi were sent away. 

Not sure of what to do after what happened in the elevator, but wanting to know if Jessie was alright, Chase asked, "You okay?"

"I guess I'm still a bit shaken, but I'm fine," Jessie replied before pretending to feel dizzy.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Chase asked as they all went into the wedding hall.

"Yeah, thanks for asking." Jessie replied weakly.

"Jessica! Oh my dear sister are you alright?" Susanne Dubois, the wedding planner, a blonde woman of average height asked as she ran into the room.

Remembering that she was to play the role of Jessica Dubois, the wedding planner's younger sister, Jessie replied with, "Yes, I am sister. I simply had a fright, you know how claustrophobic I get in elevators."

"Oh poor thing, you must have really had a terrible fright, but darling I have so much to put in place. I can't watch over you, who'd do that dear? You need someone to take care of you in case you faint like the last time." Susanne lied, trying to get Chase's attention.

"She's fainted once before after a situation like that?" Chase asked, studying Jessie as though she was nothing but a fragile glass, that might break soon.

"Yes, the doctor said she must be monitored properly after every attack. I can't...," Susanne was saying before her phone rang.

"Who is it?" Jessie asked as Susanne led she and Chase to the seats she reserved for them, opposite from each other.

"It's the M.C for the reception. He probably wants to confirm something. The wedding ceremony has commenced in the other room. It is for only close family and friends. The reception would hold here in an hour's time so why don't you watch my sweet Jessie for me while I go ensure that the wedding runs smoothly?" Susanne asked before rushing out of the reception room.

"So your name is Jessica Dubois, you're French, right?" Chase found himself asking Jessie after five minutes of Susanne's absence which they spent in silence, watching other guests arrive.

"Yes, my name is Jessica Dubois and I'm French," Jessie replied trying to get used to her false last name.

"Why did you act like you couldn't speak English earlier then? From what I've heard from you so far, you speak perfect English, but your sister has a slight accent," Chase observed.

'It's time to bring out the big guns,' Jessie thought as she tried to remember the methods of flirting which she had been studying ever since Lenore told her the entire plan.

"Well, I guess I'd have to admit that I was fascinated with the idea of you being right in front of me. I mean everyone knows you Chase Reed, you were every girl's teenage idol. Every girl worshipped the ground you walked on and they still do. I guess I was just awestruck by the fact that you were in the same space with me, I mean you're so handsome and you were asking me a question. I had to switch to French, it's something I do whenever I'm nervous," Jessie replied with a smile at Chase.

Chase laughed, feeling proud of the fact that she also found him handsome. He asked, "So you are my fan?"

Already foretelling that he would probably ask this question, Jessie had gotten ready for it by learning all his song lyrics word for word.

"Of course I am. I mean, which girl isn't? I can perform like twenty of your songs. I wouldn't say I'm a crazy fan, but I had your posters in my room." Jessie blushed with a smile which Chase noticed.

"You have a very nice smile, you know?"

"Really, I don't think I smile often. I love your dimples," Jessie replied and realised that it was the only sincere thing she had said since she met Chase. Everything else had been part of a script.

Chase laughed, wondering what exactly made Jessie so fascinating to him. He had had his fair share of women. Yes, Jessie was really beautiful, but he had met even more beautiful people in his life.

Stella was also beautiful and what happened after he got involved with her? Nothing but pain.

He quickly pushed away all thoughts of Stella and his past out of his mind. Those were the darkest moments of his life, something that belonged to him alone and no one else was going to hear about it.

Jessie noticed his change of mood and asked, "Are you alright?" 

"Yes, of course," Chase replied immediately.

Suspecting there was something wrong, Jessie said, "You can tell me. Who knows we might never meet again. I've heard somewhere that the best people to share your problems with are strangers, they wouldn't judge you and you wouldn't meet them again."

Chase gave her a lingering stare while he tried to remind himself that she was indeed a stranger. He knew nothing about her except that she was the wedding planner's sister.

"There's nothing to share. Were you disappointed when I quit music?" He asked, changing the topic of discussion.

"No, I felt you must have had a reason why you did that. You were at the peak of your career, going on tours, getting awards and living the best life and all of a sudden, you failed to show up for the Sing Awards, the most popular in the London, where you were nominated for best male artiste. You won the award, but then someone else had to accept it on your behalf. After that you announced that you were leaving the music industry. There must have been something else to it," Jessie replied, trying to push him into explaining what happened.

"Let's just say I got tired of the entire thing. Moving on from there, tell me about you. Asides being the younger sister of Ms. Susanne Dubois, the well-known fashion designer in Paris, what else do you do?"

Jessie tried to remember what Lenore had told her to say and replied with, "You make it sound like an occupation."

"What?"

"Being Susanne's sister."

"Really? It's just I don't really see much resemblance between you two. Forgive me for saying this, but your sister looks like the serious-minded type, with average looks and height and you are, you know, you," Chase said smiling.

"What do you mean?" Jessie pressed on, trying to see if he suspected that she wasn't really Susanne's sister.

"Are you fetching compliments now? We'll, I was going to say this anyways. You are extremely beautiful, almost like a fantasy. Let me guess, you must be a model, right?" Chase smiled, revealing his perfectly aligned white teeth.

Thinking to herself if starring in commercials because of her mother back in Paris counted as modelling, she replied, "Yes, I used to model in my teenage years, but I don't do that anymore."

"So what do you do now?" Chase queried, his eyes straying to the top of her breasts which was a little exposed due to her current sitting position.

Following his line of sight, Jessie realised why he kept staring and rearranged her sitting position with a blush.

"Well, I'm a blogger and a novelist. I have a blog where I discuss food and everything related to cooking. I also write romance novels which I publish on online reading platforms in my spare time," Jessie replied.

At least that was true, in her free time, Jessie wrote books and weekly sheets on her blog about cooking. It was her hidden passion and she wasn't sure why she told Chase about it. The only person who knew that was Chanel, her best friend.

"That's amazing, romance novels and blogging about food. It's such a contrast though. I run a restaurant for a living," Chase said.

"You don't have to tell me that, everyone knows it already. You own a chain of restaurants spread across ten countries in Europe. Tell me, do you prefer running C&R to being a musician. It's important to love what you're doing, pas si? (Not so?)

"What does pas si mean?" Chase asked confusedly while trying to evade answering the question.

"It means, not so? It's something that French people say quite often," Jessie explained.

"So do you live here in Paris or someplace else?" Chase asked, avoiding her question earlier.

Jessie noticed he evaded that question, and decided to bring it up later. She turned to look around the room and noticed how every young lady kept staring at she and Chase. It was obvious that they were all trying to get his attention.

"I come here from time to time, I usually stay in London, though. Do you ever get uncomfortable with the kind of looks you get?" Jessie asked eyeing the ladies looking at him.

Following her line of sight, Chase noticed the women staring and answered with a mischievous smirk, "Not anymore, I'm used to it already. Whenever I walk into a room I have that lingering effect on the ladies. You must also be used to men staring at your well-defined assets," Chase replied staring at her face before moving to her breasts.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, of course. I caught you checking me out earlier in the hotel lobby."

Jessie crossed her legs, making the slit on her dress to open further and reveal her graceful legs and thighs. She watched Chase's eyes follow her motion and smiled.

"What I did wasn't far from what you did. You also stared at my breasts for a long time in the elevator and you have been doing that since we started talking here," Jessie smiled.

"I was only admiring them, I wasn't lusting after you or anything like that, I'm a gentleman. You really have a nice figure, are you sure you don't wanna go into modelling?" Chase smiled, still staring at her breasts that were held firm by the fabric of her dress and her legs.

He tried to keep himself from wondering if she was wearing a bra or not and coughed in discomfort. When they hugged in the elevator, she fit just right in his arms, just like she was made to be there.

"Are you alright?" Jessie asked teasingly, bringing him out of his rather dirty thoughts of her.

"Yes, of course I am. I'm going to step out to make a call now, I'll be right back," Chase replied before standing with one of his phones and leaving the room.

Jessie waited for two minutes before picking up Chase's other phone which he left on the table. He had a Face ID lock and the picture of two kids on his screen. 

It was a picture of a boy and a girl of about nine or ten, they had big smiles plastered on their faces and had the same brown hair like his. They also had his chocolate-brown orbs with long eyelashes and Jessie couldn't help, but suspect that the children were either Chase's or related to him.

She quickly launched her G****e App and asked if there had ever been any rumours of Chase having kids. The results came back negative and Jessie felt like she had just encountered another puzzle about Chase Reed which she must unravel.

'This game just got more interesting. If Chase has kids then why would he be flirting with me like that? Who is the mother of the kids' Jessie wondered.