Chapter 18 – Jasper
“Have you seen this?” Kimber voices, placing a newspaper in front of me.
“Yeah. Marcus gave me the heads up,” I reply.
“And?”
“And what?” But I know what’s coming.
“Why does it look like Otis is kissing some woman?” Kimber demands.
“The woman is called Marj,” I tell her.
“You seem to be remarkably calm at seeing a photo of your boyfriend kissing another woman. I swear I am going to kill Otis,” Kimber states.
“It’s not Otis,” I tell her. “Or if it is him, it will be from when they were dating.”
“Jasper, you have been quiet since you got here. I haven’t pushed, but I think you need to tell me what is going on.”
Lizzie and I had managed to spend a couple of days with Otis before they moved on to China and I flew back to the UK.
Just like on the way over here, Lizzie was a complete champ.
There had been some nervousness, but she had managed to settle and sleep most of the flights.
I had stayed the night at her house, sleeping in Otis’s bed that smelled like him, before I made my way back to Kimber.
Vincent had wanted to make sure that I rested for a few days before taking another long-haul flight.
After what had gone down with Marj, I had wanted to come straight back.
I had told Vincent that Lars needed me. Vincent had disagreed, saying that he had spoken to Daniel, who was going to help Otis and Lars, and it would only be for a week.
“Marj is a fame hungry bitch who is using Otis to become famous,” I tell Kimber.
“How?”
“By being his girlfriend,” I tell her.
“Have you heard from Otis?”
“We have spoken, but not since this photo was leaked. Me, Otis and Lizzie tried to talk to her in Australia but it was no use.”
“How are you doing?”
“Honestly. I’m worried sick. Deep down I know that Otis is never going to start dating her again, but there is a small voice in the back of my mind telling me he will. That I was just an experiment for him.”
“Jasper, I don’t think Otis is going to do that,” Kimber says, but I still see her look down at the paper, and her brows crease together.
The sound of my mobile gives me some welcome relief from this conversation until I see that it’s David’s name on the screen. The time difference would have to mean that they are in the middle of the night.
“Hello.” Answering the call.
“Jasper,” David says, but his tone of voice has me sitting up straighter.
“What is it?” I demand.
“It’s Otis. We have been hiding the papers from him. After China we thought it best, but he has just seen the new picture and is freaking out.”
I’m not sure how I managed to do it, but I was able to sit through and watch the Chinese Grand Prix.
I think being in a different country helped, but within the first few laps of the race I could tell that Otis wasn’t at his best. He made silly mistakes.
He went wide off a few corners, locked up the brakes.
Stuff that I have never seen him do before.
Yet he still managed to come home in third.
But when he was standing on the podium, his smile looked fake.
Like the last place he wanted to be was on that stage.
“Is he there with you?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
“Put him on the phone?” I ask David.
“Here,” I hear David say, so I guess that he’s passing the phone to Otis.
“Otis,” I state.
“Jasper. That photo, it’s not me. I swear,” Otis blurts out.
“Otis.” And I change the tone of my voice, and I hope to God that this works over the phone, “I need you to calm down and listen to David. He will look after you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Otis mumbles back.
“Good. Now give the phone back to David, but you are not to move from David’s side.”
“Yes, sir,” Otis confirms.
“Jasper.” And David is back. “What the fuck did you say to Otis?”
“I told him to calm down. He won’t leave your side and will follow your instructions. I’m going to try and get an earlier flight.”
“Jesus. He submits beautifully,” David says.
“David, that’s not helpful,” I say.
“Sorry,” David adds, “Lars has gone to Vincent, too. I have no idea what he’s going to say, but we’re trying to get you here too. Otis needs you.”
There was a two week break between the races in China and Japan, and I know that Vincent had intended to get to Japan earlier than some of the other teams, to give the guys a rest, and I’m so glad that he did. I now had time to get there and – fingers crossed – help Otis.
“Keep me updated,” I say to David. “I will text you with my flight confirmation. Look after him for me.”
“We will. Bye,” David replies as he hangs up the phone.
“Jasper?” Kimber questions.
“Looks like the guys were trying to protect Otis, but he just saw the picture. He freaked out. David needs me in Japan.”
“Then you need to go,” Kimber says. “Let’s see when the next flight is.”
But then my phone is ringing again and this time it’s Vincent’s name on my screen.
“Hey Vincent,” I say as I answer the call.
“Jasper, is there any way that you can get to Japan? I’m not a hundred percent sure what’s going on, but Lars is pretty insistent that you come out here.”
“I was just looking at flying back,” I tell him honestly.
“Good. I have managed to get you on tomorrow’s flight. There will be a car waiting for you when you land in Japan to bring you straight to the hotel,” Vincent adds.
“Okay.” And because I want to keep up the pretence, “Is everything okay with the guys?”
“I think this ex of Otis’s is causing issues. I’m concerned. This isn’t the type of press exposure he wanted.”
“Yeah, it’s not great,” I confirm.
“I think David and Lars are just as worried as me, and that’s why Lars wants you here. You seem to have a calming influence on us all, and we need that at the moment,” Vincent says. “Jasper, the press, they are worse than when the picture of David was leaked.”
“Shit,” I reply.
“Yeah. Charmaine and I have no idea what to do. We think that she’s staging these pictures now, instead of using old ones. Some people were beginning to spot some of the differences in Otis’s image.”
“The person in that photo is a very good likeness,” I say as I look over to the picture again.
Marj has angled the man in her arms so that they have their back to the camera, but they are dressed in an outfit that I have seen Otis wearing.
He’s about the same height and build, so at a glance, this could be Otis.
“We’re trying to see what legal action we can take, but it’s taking time,” Vincent adds.
“Maybe a statement needs to be made,” I say, “Like David did. He came out and confirmed that the person in the photo was his husband.”
“Yeah, Charmaine and I have been discussing that option. Then Otis may need to go on record and say that they aren’t going out.”
“Has Marcus seen anything on social media that could help?” I ask.
“There are a lot of mixed reviews. Some call her a gold digger. Others are calling Otis names. It’s a mess.”
“Well, I’ll do my best to help when I get there,” I say.
“Thanks, Jasper,” Vincent states, before hanging up the phone.
When I look up, I see that Kimber is staring at me, waiting for an update on what is happening.
“Vincent got me onto tomorrow’s flight. Looks like they have discovered that Marj is staging these photos,” I tell her.
“That’s good. Look, there is a client that I think can help. I’m not entirely sure what he does, he told me that he’s a private detective, but he seems to make quite a bit of money for that. I’m going to ask him if he can help. Give him some discount on his services.”
“You can’t do that,” I protest.
“Just try to fucking stop me. I’m not going to let her destroy the happiness you have with Otis,” Kimber says, and she’s using her tone of voice that I know means that nothing I say is going to change her mind.
“Then what?” I ask.
“Let’s wait to see what they find, if anything. But I might have a word with my lawyers too,” Kimber replies.
“Vincent is doing that already.”
“Well these are my lawyers, who I trust a hell of a lot more than Vincent’s.”
“Kimber, don’t do anything that could affect the business. Otis would hate that,” I say.
“I’m not,” Kimber confirms. “But I have one of the safest brothels in the UK, and it does come with its advantages. No one would try to cross me, not with the information I have.”
“Kimber.” But I’m smiling at her.
“Otis is family, and we protect our family,” Kimber states. “Now, I’m going to call the client. Let’s get this ball rolling. We will take this bitch down.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you would make a great Dom? You’re very demanding when you need to be.”
“Maybe you can train me, and I can add it to my repertoire. Your presence has been missed,” Kimber states.
I go to open my mouth to say that I can come back, when the words dry up in my mouth. And for the first time, I realise that I don’t want to come back, and I see when Kimber spots this, too. The smile spreads across her face.
“Otis is special,” Kimber says gently, “and you deserve to be happy, it’s been a long time coming. Now, let’s get moving. We have a lot to do before you catch tomorrow’s flight.”
Kimber had been true to her word. She called her client, who had agreed to come and see us that evening.
I told him everything that was going on, including that I was secretly dating Otis.
I hadn’t wanted to, but Kimber said that we needed to give him all the information.
She explained that he would never go to the press. I had to trust her.
It turned out that he was a huge F1 fan, and had put on a rather sizable bet that Otis would become world champion in his rookie year. He promised to look into Marj and to send me any information he found. I then promised that if he helped us stop Marj, I would organise a meeting with him and Otis.