Chapter 6

I didn't feel like eating breakfast, so I stayed in my room for a while longer. I knew that Nina was there at that time and I didn't want to meet her. I was so upset with her for telling Jerome about our conversation. I knew it was understandable, as they were good friends and she didn't know me at all, but still, it hurt. I was also furious with myself for feeling that way. The words of Jerome and his tone of voice were stuck in my head and I couldn't take them away. I told myself that the reason of my uneasiness was the fact that I was probably going to be fired.

I looked inside the wardrobe and wondered if I should pack my suitcases. I was doubting when the phone of my room rang. I looked at it, surprised. I sat on my bed and replied it.

“Ilse Werther?” The voice of the gay receptionist said. “Please, come to reception, Mister Jorg wants to see you” I had to smile when he called him “Mister Jorg”. But the smile disappeared when my fears were confirmed. Was he going to tell me I was fired? I fixed my long hair, put the turquoise thin sweater on, my jeans and snickers and went to reception. Jorg was standing there, holding a magazine in his hands. I joined him at the desk.

“We have a problem” He said. His face was serious and sharp. I swallowed. “Take a look at this” He said, passing me the magazine “Oui”. Surprised, I checked the cover. My eyes opened in shock. There was a picture of me and Dupont, walking among the crowd of fans. “Tell me what does it say, I don't understand a word but I guess I can get the meaning” He was really angry.

“Jerome Dupont has a new girl” I said, in loud voice. What? I looked up at Jorg. “What's this?” I asked, checking again the photo. His hands were on my shoulders and the image was enlarged. “Dupont arrived to the press conference accompanied by a mysterious unknown girl”. I went on reading.

“This is bullshit from the yellow press. It happens sometimes and we have to deal with it as fast as possible” He explained, taking the magazine away from my hands. “The personal assistant of Jerome wants to have a meeting with you. You will write a letter of complaint, under the license of Vox TV, in your best French. The reason why you have to be supervised by Roger is, that Dupont requested it. He wants to co-write the document and send it under his name and the signature of his personal lawyer. He will sue them if they don't rectify” Jorg took a deep breath.

“OK, I'll do it” I said. I was scared to death. What else could go wrong? I looked at Jorg and decided to ask directly. “Listen, has Dupont said anything about my job?” Jorg observed me with curiosity.

“No. Why?” I cleared my throat, trying not to show my nerves.

“I just wanted to know if there was something about my job that I could improve” Jorg shrugged.

“He didn't say anything to me. If he wasn't satisfied, you wouldn't be here, Ilse” He said, as he turned around. “Come with me, Roger and Jerome are waiting for you”.

I walked with him to the elevator. The meeting room was on the top floor. My heart was racing and I was feeling sick. Jorg was quiet and his silence made me feel even more uneasy. We reached our destiny and stood in the corridor.

“There it is, first door on the left” He said. “Meet me at 12 downstairs, we have some work to do in the afternoon. There won't be any personal interview until next week but we have to prepare all the things for the championship” I nodded. He observed me. “Calm down, OK? It wasn't your fault. This happens to all celebrities. We just need you to write under our license so that we have the possibility of taking legal actions against them”. Before he left, I had to ask him one thing.

“Is he mad?” I said. “About the magazine? I guess he's not too happy when they relate him to someone like me” Jorg raised an eyebrow.

“This, you have to ask him yourself. Anyway, don't give importance to it. It's just a procedure, you know. The purpose of this is, that they don't lie about him again” He left and I took a deep breath. I knocked on the door and opened it. It was a small room, the door to the balcony was opened and a chilly wind was coming inside. It was still raining and dark clouds covered the sky. Roger stood by the window and turned around to greet me.

“Werther, come here” He said. I took a sit at the long table. Across sat Jerome, who had a grave face and didn't look at me. “We have a situation” He said, sitting next to me.

“I'll write the letter of complaint. I have here the legal documents from Vox TV” I put the papers on the table and Roger browsed them.

“They're in German, I don't understand a word. Jerome, please, take a look” Dupont leaned over the table and I saw his blue eyes scanning the lines. Roger took his jacked from the chair. “It will take some time, so I'll go and get a coffee” I opened my mouth to protest, but then closed it. What was I supposed to say? Don't leave me alone with him? It was too ridiculous and childish. The door closed and I found myself alone with Dupont. He was reading the papers in silence. I observed his face. He looked really upset and I felt even worse. Was it so bad that they thought I was his girlfriend? Was I so ugly that he wanted to clean his name with the intervention of lawyers? I didn't know what to do. Should I speak or should I let him finish reading? I looked around, checking the decoration of the room. It was expensively furnished.

“I will use the layout I always use in those cases” He said, suddenly. I started. His voice sounded more like a murmur. He looked at me for the first time. “Will you write the letter? I'll attach my documents later”

“I thought that Roger wanted to supervise what I write” I commented.

“I will supervise it” He said, crossing his arms over his chest. He was staring at me and I wondered how was I going to write a whole page under his gaze. I opened my folder and connected my laptop. I tried to gather my thoughts, but I found myself staring at the screen, clueless. I knew what I had to write, but somehow my head didn't want to compile all the information. I started typing a sentence. My hands were shaking a bit. Then, another pause. I took a deep breath.

“Listen, I can't write this if you're sitting there and just looking at me, I'm sorry” I said, hoping he wouldn't take it in the bad side. I waited for his reply as he went on staring at me. What did he want from me? “And...” I went on. “I would like to apologize” His expression changed, but didn't become softer. “About what I said to Nina. I promise you that I didn't tell anybody else. It's just that we had that argument in the bus, and then I heard you saying that, and...” Words left me. Why was he so silent? “Please, say something” He moved forward and rested his elbows on the table, making the distance between us smaller.

“I want this to be the last time we have this conversation” He said, in low voice. “I don't want to have more arguments with you, they're a loss of time and energy” I felt myself blushing,but nodded.

“I'm sorry about the magazine” I said, and he looked at me surprised.

“Why? It wasn't your fault” He said, still upset. I wished he left that sharp tone of voice and acted like a normal person.

“You know what I mean” I murmured, looking at the screen of my laptop. Suddenly, he took it away from me and closed it. He spoke before I could protest.

“No, I don't” He kept my folder as well, leaving me unable to go on working. I wished that Roger opened the door in that very moment. But he didn't. Silence filled the room.

“I'm sorry that they think I'm your girlfriend. It must be humiliating for you, considering that I'm neither a model, nor an actress. I know it will damage your image and I will make sure that the magazine removes this edition from all kiosks”. He watched me in silence and then smiled. It was the nicest smile I had ever seen in my whole life and I hated myself more than ever for saying that. Suddenly, Roger opened the door and stormed inside.

“Are you advancing?” He said, looking at Jerome as he kept my laptop in his hands. “What's going on here?” He said, watching us.

“We're discussing how to write the document” Jerome explained, as he returned the laptop to me. “She's almost done, it's just a paragraph” I opened the laptop and typed like a crazy. After ten minutes, the work was done. Roger checked it, signed it and put everything in a big envelope. He added another folder from the lawyer's office and smiled satisfied.

“This will keep the bastards quiet” He said, as Dupont stood up. He looked down at me.

“Thank you, Werther”

“Yes, thank you” Echoed Roger. I stood up as well and shook hands with him. Then, I turned to shake hands with Jerome. His grip was firm and I had the feeling he held his hand longer than necessary.

“See you next week” He said. Roger left the room. We were alone again. “Have fun seeing Paris”

“If I'll still have the job ”I replied, walking to the door. He followed me.

“You will” He smiled sincerely for the first time. Then, ran downstairs. I stood alone, next to the elevator. He didn't take the ride with me. This little detail made me feel depressed.

Jorg and Otto were waiting for me in the main hall. I walked towards them as they asked me if my job was finished. I nodded and Otto left without saying a word. Jorg sighed.

“I'm glad it's solved now. This week Dupont belongs to another people, he will film a commercial, train every day in the mornings and be the host, together with his team mates, showing Paris to the audience. There will be a special program about that”

“Yes, Dupont said we won't see in one week and today is Wednesday”I commented.

“I said that Dupont will be busy with another people, which doesn't mean we won't need you. German audience will need an interpreter for the city tour. Of course, Jerome will be too busy to deal with you, but you'll be with our team to learn about our job” He saw my expression and added: “Of course, you'll have time for yourself and to be alone. Although the sightseeing with the team will be pretty intensive and I don't think you'll want to walk around the city for more time” I thought about it. About seeing Paris with a bunch of football players and journalists, with streets closed and bodyguards. The good side was, I would avoid the crowds of tourists. The bad, that I wouldn't be able to go where I wanted. Jorg left and when I was getting ready to call a taxi, Nina showed up.

“Shit” I murmured, turning around.

“Wait, Ilse” She said, coming towards me. She looked so sad that I couldn't help feeling bad for her. Anyway, I couldn't forgive her for telling Dupont about that. “I know that Jerome got mad at you, I really didn't expect it”

“You didn't?” I asked, skeptically.

“No, how could I expect that he would get so mad? Didier was surprised too. Anyway, he told me that now you're in good terms again”

“Nina, if you will tell Jerome all what I tell you, then it will be hard for me to trust you” I said.

“I won't, I promise! I just wanted to help you” She showed me a magazine, opened in the central pages. “I saw what they wrote about you” I looked at her and shrugged.

“I know, they think I'm Jerome's girlfriend” Nina frowned.

“No, not only this... there's a whole article about you” I took the magazine, shocked.

“The unknown girl has the height and the complexion of Anna Kournikova, but without the muscles, obviously. She looks like someone who doesn't care too much about fashion and styling. Her long brown hair could be pretty in a Jennifer Aniston way, as it has the same texture. The color is darker and needs some serious hydration treatment” I couldn't help feeling terribly bad about all those critics about me. “We don't understand what could Jerome have seen on this girl. She's pretty, but average. Let's take a look at Cristiano Ronaldo's girl” I saw the picture of a model in bikini and the comment “this is the woman that all football player demands. Is Jerome lowering his level?”. I felt tears in my eyes. Nina took my hand.

“All what they say is not true” She said.

“It is” I replied. “I'm not a model and it's obvious. What I don't like is the bitter way they wrote about it” I wondered if Jerome had read it. I was sure this was what he thought of me.

“But Ilse, there are also kind comments... they say you have the complexion of Anna and the hair texture of Jennifer” She smiled. I closed the magazine.

“You know what? I don't care. Once my job here is done, I'll go back to Germany, back to normal life. And then, I won't ever see any of those people again. I didn't come here looking for friends” Nina looked down.

“You're the first girl who wants to be with me. All the rest have envy or see me as a hard competition because I'm pretty. But you don't mind about my looks, you even went with me to see the city!” She said.

“Why wouldn't I go?” I asked, surprised. She smiled.

“See? This is why I think you could be a great friend. I never had one. Men only want to sleep with me and women hate me” I believed that.

“You have Didier, cheer up” I said. “And now, I have two hours free before lunch, and I obviously won't have time to go to the center of Paris. Do you have any plans?” I asked.

“Actually, yes. Today the selection has an open training, meaning that the coach allows the audience to sit and watch them. Do you want to come? It will be full of journalists but I have access to the VIP area, Didier arranged everything for me” I knew the answer to that.

“No way” I said. She sighed.

“Jerome won't even notice you're there. Come on!” So I was right. He didn't want to see me. Well, I couldn't blame him.

“Listen, if I go, the press will think there really is something going on between us. I don't want to cause him more trouble” I said, and she observed me, confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know, he will have to clean his name again. That's why I had to write that letter to the magazine, to clean his name” Nina shook her head.

“They didn't tell you?” She asked, looking around us. “ Otto freaked out when he saw the magazine, he said you're his youngest employee and felt responsible for you. Jorg was so angry that I thought he would beat someone. This was all about you: yellow press can destroy you, Ilse. You're too naive and you don't have any experience in this world. Otto and Jorg were just trying to protect you” I watched her in silence, processing the information.

“Jerome is not mad at me?” I asked.

“Hell, no!! This is why he volunteered to write the letter and send a notification from his lawyer. You didn't do anything! Come on, let's go watch the training” I followed her in silence, thinking about what she had just said. I knew it was all Jorg's and Otto's idea, it had to be. But the fact that Jerome had cared a bit... that made me strangely happy. The fact that he hadn't looked at me during the whole training made the happiness disappear. And I hated myself for feeling that way.

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It was Saturday. The last three days passed so fast that I was barely aware of what was going on. Early in the morning, we woke up and worked for the TV channel. After lunch, we went to the sightseeing tour with the players, where dozens of journalists fought to get the best shot of the buildings, landscapes and so on. I was following the group like a zombie, in my own world. I saw Notre Dame, the Latin quarters, Montmartre, Montparnasse, the Eiffel Tower again and then we went by ship through the river Seine. It had been an amazing week, that was true. I was with Jorg most of the time and I didn't see Jerome or talk to him since the meeting. I told myself I was so lucky to have had the chance to see the city with an exclusive group. I just wanted to have a cup of coffee alone in one of Montmartre's old coffee shops.

The opportunity came that Saturday in the morning. Nina was still sleeping and I decided to take a taxi. He left me on the top of Montmartre and I enjoyed the walk on my own. Before I could reach the street I was looking for, I saw a girl taking a picture of me and smiling. Two more girls followed and when I realized, a crowd was gathering around me. I got scared when a man tried to kiss me and claimed to be my biggest fan. I pushed them away, running away and entering an old building. I closed the wooden door behind me. My heart was racing. It was dark inside. I hoped that the owners of the apartments wouldn't mind my intrusion. Outside, the crowd screamed all sort of things.

“How is Jerome in bed?” One said.

“Where do you buy your clothes?”

“I want to be you, I want to be you!!”

It soon became so unbearable that I decided to call Otto. I had a paper with all phone numbers written down. I dialed and waited. No reply. Frustrated, I dialed Jorg's number. It ran several times before he replied.

“Jorg! I need help, there's a crowd out there harassing me!” I explained him where I was and what had happened. My voice was shaking and I was breathless.

“Hold on a second, Ilse” He said. I heard voices behind him.

“Ilse?” A new voice said.

“Dupont?” I asked, surprised.

“Do you have paper and pen?” His question was so weird that I didn't reply for a second.

“Yes, I think I do” I browsed my bag with my free hand and found them.

“Write down this number and call him. He'll pick you up wherever you are and you'll be safe with him”

“Who is he?” I asked.

“My chauffeur. Now, listen to me. Don't panic. They won't do anything to you, I promise” I listened to him, hoping he was right. “When you'll arrive in the hotel go to the restaurant. Jorg wants to see you”

“Jerome!” I said, before he hang up. He waited. “Thank you. Really” I said.

“See you, Werther” He said, disconnecting. I dialed the number with trembling fingers.

Two hours later I was safe in reception. Nina and Didier were waiting for me. Jorg was with them and didn't look too happy. When they saw me, relief showed on their faces.

“I knew this would happen” Said Jorg, mad. “Don't go alone to Paris again, understood?” I watched him in horror.

“What? Are you telling me I won't have a chance to see the city again?” I could feel the tears coming. How could that be happening to me?

“I said alone. If you find a way to see it with someone who can protect you, then you may go” I looked at Nina.

“Can I go with her?” I asked. Jorg shook his head.

“She was on TV and Didier's fans are also harrassing her. You both will stay safe here until we find out a way to solve it” I couldn't believe what I was hearing. “There's a lot of work, Ilse. You wouldn't find too much free time anyway”

“But there's a party tonight” Said Nina. “For the players of all selections of the world, their partners, press...” She saw Jorg's face and shut up.

“I don't think Ilse is interested in parties anyway” He spoke for me. It seemed that Helga had told him all about me. But that time he was wrong. I found myself actually wanting to attend that party. But it was stupid. I didn't have a dress, I didn't have shoes. I didn't have anything. What would someone like me do on a place like that, rounded by celebrities?

“It's OK, I have a book to read anyway” I said, trying to smile. Nina looked at Didier and translated the conversation into English. He shrugged.

“Sorry, Nina” He apologized. “I'm only allowed to bring one companion”.

I didn't want to cry. I was going to spend the weekend alone in the hotel, without being able to see Paris! Jorg left and Nina walked next to me.

“You will come to the party” She whispered. Didier watched us with curiosity. “Meet me here after dinner”

“Nina, I don't have a dress, I don't have anything!” She looked at me impatiently.

“Shut up, they'll hear us! I'll take care of everything! I owe you one” I saw her leaving with Didier and I checked my watch. Still noon. It was going to be a long free day.