The focus had shifted. Ana felt the tension of the moment release, though she kept Ellis in her peripheral vision, just in case he decided to grab someone and throw them over the ever-present white line while they were all distracted byThe Jade and Jax Show.
“Babe. C’mon,” Jax said, holding his phone up as though this made everything okay. “We talked about this. Filming stuff makes me feel better, y’know?”
“I DON’T CARE!” Jade was losing it. Her face had turned red. “I don’t want to be filmed. Don’t you get it, Jax? This is not good. We don’t want anyone to see this, ever. Even if we…”
Jade stopped, catching the word in the air before she could say it. Her arms folded defensively across her chest. She looked imploringly up at Jax.
“I don’t want…I don’t want to berememberedlike this. Oh, god…” She broke off, pushing her fist into the corner of her eye, trying to hold the tears inside.
“Aww, babe,” Jax said, putting his arms gently around her. She snuffled into his shoulder.
Off to the side, Ana noticed a movement. Ellis had sat down on the old tractor and was watching the show, a laconic smile on his face. All he needed was some popcorn.
Jax was kissing Jade on the top of her blonde head. They stood wrapped together, a genuine warmth between them.
Briefly.
“SERIOUSLY?” Jade pulled herself away, hands planted on her hips with all the ferocity she could muster. Jax grinned sheepishly, lowering his phone. He had been filming their tender moment.
“You look really hot?” he offered tentatively.
Jade seemed like she was about to burst. Her mouth dropped open, fury pouring off her. Ellis was grinning now. The entertainment had just got good.
Jade was taking violently deep cleansing breaths, glaring hard at Jax all the while. He withered a little, flashing her a weak version of his kilowatt smile, cocking his head cutely on one side.
It fell flat. Jade took two steps towards Jax and, quick as a whip, snatched his phone from his hand.
Before Jax could stop her, she swung around and flung the phone across the white line. It landed with a sickening crunch a good fifteen feet from the line.
There was a long silence as all eyes turned back to Jax.
“Why did you do that?” Jax turned to Jade, shock and betrayal written deeply on his face. “How could you do that to me? Everything I have is on that phone. My whole life is on it. Jesus, Jade. How could you?”
He walked up to the line, his toes on the edge as he stared longingly at the small black rectangle. So near and yet so far.
Jade folded her arms again and raised her chin defiantly.
“Look, I’m sorry, but if you had just stopped filming us when—”
“Don’t you get it? When I post the footage from this place, can you imagine what’s going to happen? I’ll blow up. I’ll get over a million followers. Easy. I’ll get sponsorships, collabs, and money. So much money…”
He was talking to the phone. His voice as loving and affectionate as he’d ever sounded talking to Jade. His toes pushed forward into the white spray paint.
There was something in his manner, his body language. Ana felt a jolt of nerves run along her spine. Jax wasn’t that stupid, was he?
“I thought you understood, babe.”
“I do. It’s just so irritating. You’re always on your phone, always filming.”
Jax had turned back to stare at his phone.
“I think it’s only ten, maybe twelve feet.”
Jade looked like roadkill. Her mouth was open again and her eyes had grown rounder. The realization of what was going down hit her firmly. She panicked.
“Wait. Jax, what do you mean? It’s just a phone. Okay? Look, we’ll follow Ana’s plan. We’ll find Bates and get out of here and I’ll buy you a new phone. Just come here. Come away from the line.” Her voice was tinged with desperation.
“It’s not the phone, Jade. I need the footage. I’ve got everything on there. The voting, the deaths, it’s all there. It’s gold.” Jax had turned back and was staring at the black rectangle again. “If I wait, it’ll be fried; there’ll be nothing salvageable. Looks like ten feet to me. Yeah. I’m fast. I can do this.”
