#have an image of someone grabbing him bu the waist and hoisting him up to sit on that barrier

[lil-shiro]

JAPANESE GP ‘23 – september 24, 2023 (Action Plus Sports Images / Alamy)

[caroline18mars]

A Man On Fire - Chapter 59

Forbid me? FORBID me? WHAT? She felt her face go bright red and hot, goddamn asshole! You can't forbid me anything, this is the 21st century for fuck's sakes, if you want war, you can have war, no problem, no fucking problem at all! Oh fuck, she could cry, how could he? ok..take a deep breath, another knock on the door, what? Come to apologize already? Forget it, I'm not taking any shit from you anymore, Shannon noticed the stormy weather on her pretty face, yanking open the door “hey, Harper..you ready?” he softly said “we really need to go”. She nodded, the sadness in her eyes almost unbearable “I'm ready” she turned to grab her bags and kept her head down as she followed Shannon out of the room, I don't want to see him or anyone, I just want to curl up and be by myself. A couple of big busses were waiting at the back of the hotel, “you go in, I'll take care of these” he took her bags from her and left her no choice to get on the bus that Jared was probably already on. “Darling..” there he was, standing up in front of her as soon as she got on, “save it, ok? Just save it” she didn't look up, she just tried to push past him but he kept on blocking her “I'm sorry..” he whispered, “no you're not! Listen, I refuse to make a scene here, we can do this the hard way or the soft way, your choice” she breathed, torn between being repulsed and wanting to throw herself in his arms and hear him say that they were gonna be alright. “Ok” he took a step back and let her through, she still didn't look up, she just felt a few people piling up behind her, looking for a spot too so she quickly legged it to the back of the bus and plopped down in a solitary spot. Shrugging off her coat she saw herself reflected in the window, eyes brimming with tears, her skin pale, quickly she ran her hands through her hair, combing it with her fingers, in the corner of her eye she could see him still staring at her, no, I'm not gonna let you off the hook that easily, if I don't get respect, how the hell do you expect me to give it?

She opened her eyes, feeling someone plop down next to her, “babe..wake up, we've arrived” Jared's voice made her sit up and rub the sleep from her eyes, without further ado she started to put all her stuff in her bag, hoisting it over her shoulder as she got up. “Can we talk?” Jared looked up at her as he grabbed her hand, “I guess so” she hesitated but then Shannon came looking for his brother, “come on you two, what you still hanging around here for? Jay, you comin'?”. Harper knew well enough that this meant waiting for him in a cold dressing room or getting up there herself, she didn't hesitate and chose the latter, so as soon as they all walked inside the venue for soundcheck, she reported for duty with the tourmanager. Jared took a deep breath, ok, at least she would be safe up there until he could apologize, Sean to be seen anywhere? Nope, ok good! He could focus on work now. An hour later she came climbing down the ropeladder again, lightcheck finished earlier than expected, at least for an hour long she didn't have to feel, she just had to execute instructions, where was he? Ah there with the sound engineers in the middle of the venue. She felt her bladder protest so she hurried to the nearest rest room, but when she washed her hands, she heard someone knock on the door, for god sakes, this was a ladies restroom, and apart from her and Shayla there just were no other women. As she opened the door, she was met by Sean that made her take a step back “can you not scare me like that?” she sighed but soon as she turned to go he grabbed her elbow “Harper, I need to talk to you”. She stared at his hand “I don't think that's a good idea” I'm not gonna get myself into even bigger trouble, even though he could go to hell with all his “forbidding' nonsense “besides, pick a number, everyone seems to want to talk to me”. Sean followed her out of the room, “Harper, it's serious, I can't keep it to myself any longer, you have to see this” his words made her stop in her tracks, a shiver running down her spine.

Jared dancing with a girl..dancing really close..her heart skipped a couple of beats when she saw him kiss her and not the other way round..some serious making out on a dancefloor..what? you goddamn idiot. Sean's finger fastforwarded the video to something that had her seeing stars, “I'm sorry, Coco” he breathed as he showed her the video of Jared fucking the same girl against a wall in a back alley, she kicked the chair back and got up, she couldn't take it anymore and she felt her legs turn to jelly. “Harper..shhh, calm down” Sean rushed up to her and as soon as he did, he had to hold her up before she crashed to the ground “I didn't want to show you at first..but then I felt you needed to know” he breathed in her ear as he pulled her against him. “Let go” she pushed back and tried to gather her thoughts “who else knows? Who else has seen this? Did you film that?” breathing hard she leaned against the wall, even though her vision was kinda blurred, she kept looking at him. Sean shrugged and tried to avoid eye contact “it was sent to me by someone from the crew..” he stammered, “so everyone knows about it and I didn't until now? You all made me the laughing stock..how dare he? How dare you?” angry tears rolled down her burning cheeks, her heart kept skipping beats in her chest. “Harper..” he tried to comfort her, “no..don't! I don't need your sympathy” she yelled as she stormed out of the room, I need to get out of here, a car, I need a car, she could barely see where she was going as the tears unabashedly streamed down her face, the disgusting image she had just seen rolling before her eyes over and over again. Behind him he heard some commotion “what's going on?” he turned to see Sean in hot pursuit of someone, oh no..nonono NO! He jumped from behind the sound desk and run up to the stage “who was Sean chasing?”. He didn't even need to hear him say it, he already knew from the look on his face “stop her” he said to nobody in particular as he jumped on stage and ran out the same door, where was she? He looked right and left only to see the taillights of a cab driving off into the early evening cold.

The only thing she heard was the rapid thumping of her own heart and her heavy breathing, stop crying, just wipe them away, this excruciating pain was nobody's business, she knew it, she had known ever since this morning, she had been so bloody naïve trying to make excuses for him. She spurted inside, ran to the front desk to ask what their room number was, “the bags are already inside, Miss” the clerk handed her the key card with a smile that turned into a frown seeing her distress. She banged on the buttons of the elevator, and caught her own reflection in the mirror which made her cry even more, stupidstupidstupid cow, how could you be so dumb to think you were the only one for him?. Clutching her heart she made her way through the long corridor, 258, how she managed to get the door open was beyond her, didn't matter, inside, take your bag and out of here..her whole body ached as she sat down on the bed to catch her breath for a few minutes. The tears just wouldn't stop coming, her heart breaking into 15 million pieces she almost didn't hear the voice that appeared on the other side of the door, “Harper? Sweetheart? It's me, Sean” the words made her shoot up again, she needed to get out of here, grabbing her bags she stumbled to the door nearly falling into his arms when she opened it. “Careful sweetie” Sean grabbed her wrists to hold her up, he was so glad she opened the door, maybe she would..his thoughts were interrupted by the running footsteps behind him, Jared, fuck!. “Let go of her, Sean” he ran up and pushed him out of the way, making her stumble even more, “I've got her”, before she could register what was going on, she was being pushed back inside the room, “let go of me” she protested but his arm folded around her waist, her feet leaving the floor as he carried her back inside. “Sean, get the fuck out of here” he shouted, “no Jared, not this time” Sean ignored him which he shouldn't have as Jared put her down and ran up to him pushing him back  out “I said, get the fuck out of our room”.

The slamming of the door and then nothing except for Harper's sobbing that took his breath away “Babe..let me explain..” he started but her head shot up “stop it Jared, just stop lying for once!” her voice was but a shriek, “no, I..” but she wasn't gonna let him finish “I saw you! I saw you fucking her! Why Jared? WHY?” there was a rage in her eyes that left him breathless. “Babe, listen to me, it's not what you think, I..” he tried to grab her hand but she yanked it away, “you were fucking her, Jared!” she yelled “how long, Jared? Tell me the truth, how long has this been going on?” her voice all hoarse now. “How long and how many? How many of those girls you put your dick in?” why wouldn't he answer? Stop staring at me like you've seen a ghost, you cheating, filthy fucker. “It's not like that..Harper you've got to believe me..I don't remember..” it was the truth, he didn't remember, not until this morning anyway, “oh really? You don't remember? Classic! What's next? You accidentally kissed her and you accidentally pushed your dick inside of her? Or it's her fault, she made a move on you? Well guess what? You have a choice, Jared! But that's exactly your problem isn't it? Choice and having too much of it”. Jared took a deep desperate breath and tried to gather his thoughts “Harper, come on, please..this meant nothing..it was a drunken mistake..”, what? And that's it? Fuck it Harper..you're never gonna get an answer, you're an idiot for even hoping for an answer, it is what it is, get your sorry ass out of here, and maybe one day in a hundred years from now, I'll look back on it and..no, I'll never look back on this because even in a hundred years it'll still hurt like a motherfucker.

“You've got to believe me, when I woke up this morning and realized what had happened, it made me sick to my stomach, it still does..I was too scared to even..you and me..this relationship..” he stuttered and it was really getting on her nerves. “You should have thought about that before you fucked her, it's  really simple Jared, if you're afraid of a real relationship? then don't be in one” her voice was almost completely gone, cold as ice she turned towards the door, don't look back, don't let him see that you're in such pain that you can barely walk. “No..no..Harper, where are you going?” of course he knew but it was the last thing he wanted, all his fears were realizing right in front of him, stay with me, I'm not gonna survive “we can work it out, I know we can..I know things are rough and what you saw was..” he rushed to her side. “What I saw, Jared..was the ugliest truth, there's always gonna be opportunities and challenges..and you're just not the man to walk away from them..the grass on the other side is always greener for you..” she shook her head “I'm just sorry for all the time I wasted on you, I wasted time on the man who I thought was the first real big love of my life, while that man never even gave the thought of me being his real big love of his life a second thought”. She pulled up the handle of her suitcase, even such a simple move felt like she was bruised and battered inside, “no..don't..please don't” tears started rolling down his cheeks but she just breathed “goodbye Jared..” before she opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, unstable on her high heels as the sobs uncontrollably raced through her body. Walk away, this was the undeniable and most painful end, you've done this before feeling the same excruciating pain, only this time it left the worst taste in her mouth.