Jessie was fighting the arms that held her back, ready to reach out and yank the hair off the other woman for everything she said. Only when Niko spoke did she truly realize he was there.

Shit. She hadn't wanted him to see her like this.

"Niko! She attacked me! I was just getting ready, and she just went feral!"

"You bitch, I will show you feral..." she spat, trying to reach around Niko's frame again to reach at her.

"I've had enough of your nasty rumors and comments. I don't give a damn if you think I'm a whore or whatever. Don't fucking touch me again!"

Natalia didn't even have a chance to speak before she was put in her place and had to back down. It seemed like the girls retreated for now.

Jessie, however, was still angry. Once everyone seemed to go back to getting ready, she walked past Niko's arms to her makeup on the ground, collecting it in her bag. After it was picked up, she got her things together and covered her exposed chest to maintain some sort of decency.

"I'm not working tonight."

And she walked out of the door, her mouth tasting of metal and tears burning at the corners of her eyes.

She's clinging to her shirt tightly, trying to keep herself from being indecent or flashing anyone because of the tear. Tears are threatening to break through the dam she was trying to hold, and the second he called her name, she broke.

"I want to go back to my place."

Of course, she meant the place she was staying here in Verdanturf. She didn't want to be here, out in the open. Especially now that she was crying.

"What is there to talk about? I'm fine," she said, though it was unconvincing with her voice wavering and a sniff from her nose.

Jessie, who had been insistent on not letting him see her cry, looked at him, about to oppose. Why should he come to her place now? Didn't he want to go back in, watch the other girls perform? But she stayed quiet as he put his jacket over her.

She just nodded, walking quietly back to her home with Niko in tow. She led him to her room, so she could remove her makeup and change out of the ripped clothes and into something comfortable. Sitting on the bed, she fiddled with her fingers.

"I didn't start it..."

"You're firing her?"

It was a mixture of relief and a scared feeling in her stomach.

"They think I have special treatment, Niko. If you fire her, won't that enforce that idea?" she wondered out loud, nervously playing with her hands.

"They all call me a whore. Tell me I don't belong here. Say that I make more money, that my hair is fake. I mean, yeah, I dye my hair but... but..."

Jessie's crying again. She joined this life to escape the bullying of the Black family, but now she was ensuring it again.

Jessie felt his arms come around her. In her emotional state, she let herself fall against his chest, allowing herself to finish crying before she spoke again.

"I'm not quitting. I'm not a quitter."

She sniffed.

"Why me, Niko? Why am I so special?"

He could have anyone he wanted. Yet he seemed so infatuated with her, a troubled girl from a messed up family.