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"Shit," Kline said, handing the phone back to Jill without looking at her. "Jim," he said to the driver, "take me to the airport. Now. I don't need to go back to the hotel, just take me straight to the airport."
Jill stared now, "What about your--"
"This is more important," he cut her off, holding up a hand.
She huffed slightly. "You won't be able to leave right away. Go back to the hotel and get your things and call to make flight arrangements."
Kline took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then nodded. "You're right," he looked at her. "I'm sorry. It's just--I keep making things worse without even trying and I can't take care of this over the phone."
"Of course, you can't," Jill said reasonably, looking out the side window to avoid eye contact.
"Where are we going?" the driver asked.
"The Bowery," Kline said, "Or do you want to go home first, Jill?"
"The Bowery, Jim. Take him to his hotel."
They arrived at the hotel to find a small throng of photographers waiting outside. "Drive around, Jim," Kline said. "We'll go in the back way."
The driver did as he was told, and Kline and Jill took the security entrance to the service elevator and went up to his suite. When he walked in, he heard his cell phone ringing and went to retrieve it from the bed where he'd left it. "Hello?"
"Kline? Where are you?" Roland asked.
"I'm at my hotel. I'm packing."
"I need to tell you something."
"I found out. Colbert had everything all ready for me when I arrived."
"Stop packing," Roland said. "You run home and it looks like you've done something wrong. You keep your happy ass in the city, and you do the Today show and Kelly tomorrow. You go on and you charm that Guthrie bitch out of her panties. Let me handle damage control."
"You can't handle this, Roland," Kline said, seriously. "Not all of it. Rhiannon's terribly upset and I need to help sort this out."
"So, call her and explain, Kline. You didn't do this. Those fuckers at the STAR did it. It's not your fault. Stay in New York and do your interview."
"I can't! This is my life, Roland! We’re talking about my personal life!"
"We’re talking about your career! You want to risk everything you’ve worked for over a girl you met an hour ago?" Roland growled. "If she's for you, then she'll understand. Otherwise, you've blown your wad for nothing. Now listen to me. You go on that show, and you smile like a trooper. You do it for your career and you do it so it's died down before Jack gets home. You come back to LA now and blow off an interview, and you've just assured yourself of another two weeks of media blitz. You understand?"
Kline gripped the phone and closed his eyes, his son's name working wonders in bringing rationality back into focus. He knew that Roland was right. If he went home now, it would only exacerbate the situation. Best to stay and finish the press as though nothing was out of the norm and work on mending things with Rhiannon when he got home. "Yeah," he said, finally. "Alright. Just fix it, Roland."
"Done. Consider it done."
They hung up and Kline let out a sigh before turning to Jill. She was watching him with her carefully blank expression, but her eyes spoke volumes. "So, it's that serious, huh?" she asked softly. "Very serious."
He stared at her, then ran his hands through his hair. "She's upset, Jill. There are naked pictures of her all over the internet. She’s just been exposed to the world because of me."
Jill licked her lips, then bit the bottom one, completely unsure of what to do or say. "Okay," she said, furrowing her brow. "I should--go? Do you want me to go?"
Kline sighed. "I think it would be better. The media will be on full alert now. Even more than they already were. You have enough to deal with without getting mixed up in my mess."
She nodded slowly, eyes welling again. "Okay. Well…good luck."
"I'll call you when this blows over, okay?"
She nodded, but then turned back at the door. “Actually, no. I don't know if that is okay. Can I be honest?" He didn't say anything, so she went on, "I still have feelings. For you. I didn’t realize it until I saw you again, but–wow. It’s all really fresh. I…I don't think I can do this. I realized it last night. Last night, mistake or not, I would try to make that happen again because I really wanted it. So, maybe it's best not to see you. And honestly again, I don't think you'd ever put me ahead of your work like you're willing to do for Rhi, so, you should go with that. I'm just going to disappear. Again. Well, from personal things with you."
"Jill--"
