Goodbye

"I've been calling you all night, but you're not answering. What happened to your phone?" Jessica asked as she sat beside her on the plane.

All she could see were the clear blue sky, some scattered clouds on the horizon, and the vast blue-green ocean underneath them. The piece of land that she came to call home for the short duration of her stay was nowhere in sight.

They were now flying back to her home since her cover was blown. She could not stay any longer on the island. Dwelling in her fantasy was short-lived and finally over. The time to face reality was the only option left to her.

"I must have put it in silent mode yesterday. I didn't notice your call." Explaining to Jessica about her whereabouts last night would be more complicated, compared to simply making up a story about her phone.

After her scandalous affair with Brad, telling Jessica about her very complex relationship with Raf would only cause more trouble. It was something that she was not willing to divulge to her manager. A secret she wanted to keep to herself for the rest of her lifetime.

"I've been calling you several times to warn you about the press. Luckily, you were able to avoid them. If they spotted you, then it would have been another chaos." Her manager said with a relieved expression.

Jessica was right. It was fortunate that she was able to avoid them and escaped their intrusion in her privacy because it would be another disastrous scandal in the making. Thinking of what Raf would think if he discovered through the press her real identity. That had made her shiver with worry.

"How did they even knew where to look for me?" She questioned. She had heard of the reputation of the island for their privacy, so she wondered what gave away her location. She was sure she had been careful every time she went out with Raf.

"I already told Jacob not to visit you. I was handling everything just fine, but he had to make a fuss and fly straight to you. Now, look at what he did. He led all those reporters and paparazzi to you." Jessica said angrily.

That explained the presence of the media on the island. They were able to follow Jacob's trail when he visited her.

"Jess, he was just concern for my well-being." She tried to defend her friend. It was not his fault that he was followed. She was sure that he took every possible precaution when he went to visit her. The media were just too resourceful to get the information about his flight plans.

"And, I'm not," Jessica interjected, visibly affected by her statement. "You know I'm always thinking of your best interest. Letting you know about that video would do you no good at that time. That's the reason I would rather keep it from you."

"I know that, Jess. I appreciate everything you're doing for me." Assuring her. "You have always made sure of my best interest, but all of what is happening was not your fault. It's time that I finally take the responsibility for it."

"Don't be hard on yourself. You're impulsive and a bit stupid, but that's part of being young." Jessica smiled at her with her kind eyes. It was a rare occasion that you would find her in this manner. Most of the time, people fear her for her candidness and professionalism.

"I'm just stating the truth." She felt the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. She blinked them quickly away. It was not the time to breakdown and cry. She had to be brave and faced her dilemma once and for all.

"Hush now. You just made a mistake of letting your heart decide instead of your brain." Jessica hugged her, just like a mother would when her child was in distress. "It was my job to protect you, but I failed."

If Jessica only knew that for the second time, she had made the same mistake of choosing love over reason, she might have a heart attack on this plane.

"Would you mind if I just close my eyes for a few hours? I'm very tired." Closing her eyes. She just wanted to be alone. Afraid that if Jessica kept on talking about her mistakes, she might finally give in and confessed all her sins.

"Of course my dear. I'll be on my seat if you need me." Jessica finally looked at her with sympathy, moving at the front portion of the plane while she remained seated at the back on her own.

Jessica also blamed herself for not interfering when she noticed her involvement with Brad. She had seen the sign but had allowed her to fall into the trap of a forbidden love affair. She was too late when she tried to stop her. She was already deep in the relationship by that time. She was blinded to reason.

Finally alone with her thoughts, she got the chance to think about the earlier events. Remembering the time she walked away from his house and avoided being seen by the press at the beach as she passed by the villa she was staying in.

There was no way she could go back inside the house for her things. Reporters with their crew were already set up around the house while paparazzi were lurking in the background, waiting for their chance to capture a nice juicy photo.

She even accidentally bumped into a cameraman as she walked on the shore, busily looking at a paparazzi just outside her fence. Luckily, with her hood on her head, the man did not recognize her and just cursed her for not looking where she was going.

She walked briskly, avoiding being noticed or accidentally bumping into anyone else until she came clear and walked at the far corner of the cottage.

She looked back, not at her once living quarters, but beyond. To the house where they created most of her wonderful memories while she was on this island. For the last time, she scanned her surrounding, finally accepting that this would be the time to make her goodbye.