"We’re sorry, the cellular customer you are trying to reach is either away from the phone, or out of the service area. Please try your call again later." The operator’s voice came through.
"Dammit," he swore and removed the paper with the numbers on it again. He hesitated as he looked at her home phone number. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth before he came to his decision. He dialed the numbers.
One ring...two rings...
"Hello?"
JC’s breath caught in his throat when he heard her voice. "Hi Laurie. It’s Josh."
"Oh hi!" She said and her heart almost stopped when he identified himself. "You weren’t kidding when you said you would call me as soon as you could."
"Alexandria just went shopping, so I figure I’m safe for a few hours," he laughed easily. "How come you and your husband left? I thought you were going to be there for a while."
"He was needed at work." Laurie was unable to keep the bitterness from creeping into her voice and she changed the subject. "How was your flight?"
"It was all right, I think I slept through most of it. But I had to call...I couldn’t wait to hear your voice again." JC could almost hear Laurie blushing on the other end. He noticed that she had changed the subject. "So what are your plans for the rest of the week?"
"I don’t have any yet," she told him. "I was supposed to be in New York."
"Well...it actually works out a bit better this way. We’re only going to be in Mexico for a few more days before we fly back to Florida and the guys and I need to fly out to LA a week tomorrow to shoot the new video. I’d really like to see you..."
"That would be nice," Laurie found herself smiling. "I’m sure I could get away for a few hours."
JC and Laurie continued to make plans to see each other the following week and talked for a few hours before finally saying goodbye. Laurie reluctantly hung up the phone and her eyes filled with tears.
"I need him in my life," she whispered and wrapped her arms around her knees. She sat there for the next several minutes and let a few stray tears slip down her cheeks. She stood up quickly when she heard the front door open and wiped her face, recovering as quickly as she could.
Craig walked into the living room just as Laurie finished wiping her eyes and approached her with concern. "Are you all right? You look like you’ve been crying." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.
"I’m all right Craig...my allergies are acting up and you caught me at the end of a sneezing fit." Laurie replied and let him embrace her for a moment.
"Umm Laur...I have a bit of bad news," Craig paused and Laurie looked at him warily. "I have to leave again on Saturday. The operations plant up in Vancouver has run into some difficulty and they need me up there to correct the situation. I’ll be gone for almost a month."
Laurie’s heart temporarily sank, but picked up when she realized what this meant. She could spend as much time with Josh as she wanted next week without having to worry about explaining her absence to Craig.
"Fine," she replied quietly and started to walk away from him. He quickly caught up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Laurie, I’m sorry."
"He sounds sincere enough," she thought. "Craig, you promised me that you wouldn’t go on any long trips for at least six months after we got married." Her bottom lip started to quiver. "It hasn’t even been two days."
"Sweetheart I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do about it."
"I’m sorry too," she whispered and her tear filled eyes met his. She was genuinely saddened that he was cutting their time together short, but she was also grateful that he didn’t follow her when she walked down the hall into their bedroom.
The next few days passed slowly, things were strained between Craig and Laurie, only speaking to each other when absolutely necessary and when they did, they were overly polite. Craig spent most of his time in his office pouring over possible solutions for the Vancouver plant, while Laurie shared her time between catching up on her email and writing ‘Thank You’ notes to everyone who had attended the wedding and sent gifts.
Craig left shortly after dawn on Saturday morning to catch his flight to Canada. He didn’t want to wake Laurie, but before he left, he lightly kissed her forehead and then went outside to meet his taxi.
Laurie woke a few hours after her husband had left and realized how empty the house felt without him there, but she found herself counting down the hours until she could see Josh again.
**********
"What do you mean you’re not going?" JC shouted.
"Did I stutter? Or was I speaking another language? I’m. Not. Going." Alexandria said indignantly and continued to file her nails. JC grabbed the emery board away from her and she glared at him.
"Why not?" He growled.
"I have no interest in watching you and your little friends shoot a dumb video." She retorted.
"But yet you have no problem spending the money that I make because of our ‘dumb videos’."
"Of course not," she shrugged. "Why else would I have married you?"
The last seven words that she spoke pierced through JC like a needle finding its way to a vein. "You know what?" He hissed. "I’m glad you’re not going."
Alexandria just laughed as he threw her emery board back at her and stormed out of the room and went downstairs to his studio, slamming the door behind him.
"Who the fuck does she think she is?" He hollered. "Fucking bitch...I can’t believe she’s getting on like this. I’ll show her..."
JC stormed back upstairs to the main floor of the house and then continued up the second flight of stairs that led to the bedrooms and the main bathroom. They were supposed to leave for LA until Monday, but he packed his bags and went back downstairs. Alexandria was still sitting where he left her.
"I’m spending the next two nights with Lance," he told her. "If you’re going to be a bitch, be a bitch to someone else."
That caught her attention.
"You can’t leave!" She cried. "We’re supposed to be on our honeymoon!"
"Well you don’t need me around to spend my money, do you?" He asked her, his voice laced with ice. "After all, that’s why you married me? Right?"
"JC, I was kidding when I said that," she laughed nervously. "You didn’t take me seriously, did you?"
"If you want to talk, you know how to get a hold of me."
With that said, he turned his back on her and strode toward the front door. He deactivated the alarm on his car, threw his luggage in the back and drove to Lance’s house.
"I was kidding when I said that," JC mimicked and ignored a stop sign. "Stupid bitch...how dumb does she think I am? Why didn’t I listen to the guys when they told me she was a money grubbing whore..." He punched the steering wheel. "FUCK!"
An image of Laurie drifted in front of JC’s face and he made a last minute decision and bypassed Lance’s house, heading in the direction of the airport. "California, here I come."
The flight from Orlando to LAX seemed to take forever. JC drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair and stared out the window as the world passed by, miles below him. He wasn’t sure what flying to LA early was going to accomplish… or what he would do once he got there. He just knew that he had to see Laurie. Even though he had had just the one night to become reacquainted with her in New York, he had a feeling that she was what was going to keep him sane.
The plane landed smoothly and it was a short ten minute wait until JC could gather his things and leave. He glanced towards the row of pay phones on the wall and debated on calling Laurie to pick him up or getting a taxi to take him home and calling her when he got there. He opted for calling her when he got home.
JC paid the driver, left him a generous tip and dug his keys out of his pocket. He unlocked the door, dropped his bags on the floor and collapsed face down onto his black leather couch. Once he was sufficiently relaxed, it dawned on him that no one knew where he was. Alexandria thought he was spending the next two days at Lance’s house. He grabbed the phone off the end table and dialed his younger friend’s number. He got his voicemail.
"Hey Lance, I just wanted to let you know that I flew out to LA a couple of days early. I’m here now and if you could let the rest of the guys and Johnny know where I am so nobody panics, I would appreciate it." He paused as he remembered something. "Oh and my car is at the airport. Could someone pick it up for me and drive it home? Thanks...see you in a few days."
JC ended the call and looked at the phone. Now would be the perfect time to call Laurie. He sat up and took his wallet out of his pocket and quickly found the piece of paper he had scrawled her information on. He dialed the number and got comfortable while he waited for her to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Hey you," he smiled the moment he heard her voice.
"Hi! Two phone calls in one day...what did I do to deserve this?"
"Well...I figured that since I’m in the area, that I would call and let you know."
"You’re in LA already? I thought you weren’t supposed to be here until Monday."
"If you’re not ready to see me, I can always fly back to Orlando," he teased. "Actually, if you want the truth, Alexandria and I had an argument and I left..."
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah...I think now that Alexandria and I are married, she’s starting to show her true colors...the guys warned me..." JC sighed. "Do you want to go for a coffee or something? There’s a Starbucks around the corner from where I live..."
"I’d love too," Laurie grinned. She looked down at her attire and her grin quickly faded. "Give me about an hour so I can have a shower and change...do you want me to pick you up?"
"That works for me...I’m so tired from my flight that I don’t even want to think about driving." He laughed.
"Ok...I just need your address. Don’t worry, I won’t sell it to anyone."
JC laughed. "2513 Colfax St. Do you know where that is?"
Laurie’s mouth dropped open. "You’re kidding. That’s where you live?"
"No," JC replied. "Why?"
"Josh...I live right around the corner." She began to laugh. "I don’t even have to drive over to pick you up."
"Unbelievable...to think that all this time we weren’t very far from each other." He mused. "Anyway, I’ll let you go and have your shower. I’ll see you soon?"
"You will," Laurie replied softly. "Bye Josh."
"Bye Laur."
Laurie hung up the phone, feeling exhilarated. All this time...all these years he lived right around the corner from her. She started singing softly as she turned on the water to have her shower and brushed out her hair. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she noticed her cheeks were slightly flushed. She looked like a woman in love.
Forty-five minutes later she gave herself a final check in the mirror and took a deep breath. She felt like she was cheating on Craig. She gave her head a shake and brushed away the small twinge of guilt she felt. Laurie picked up her car keys and her purse and drove over to 2513 Colfax St.
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