Drew swore under his breath, as he took the cell phone out of his pocket and looked at it. He placed it on the nearby nightstand, and returned his attention to Jen.
“Aren’t you going to answer it?”
“It’s my sister. I can call her back later,” he replied. “Now, where were we?” Turning his attention back to Jen, Drew began kissing her again, when the sound of a text message came from his phone, which he also ignored, choosing instead to untie the bow of the red silk scarf Jen had strung through the belt loops of her jeans. “It’s like I’m getting to open an early Christmas gift,” Drew said, in between kisses.
“Mmm…me too,” Jen said, as she reached for the top button on Drew’s oxford shirt, opening it and parting the fabric so she could kiss his chest, before moving down and opening the next few buttons, nibbling at each bit of newly exposed skin. She had just reached the last button before his belt buckle when Drew’s phone rang again.
Exasperated, he reached for his phone, and looked at the display. “It’s my mom. I’d better answer it,” he said. “Hi, mom. What’s up?”
After a few seconds, Drew abruptly sat up on the edge of Jen’s bed. “What? When?” then after a minute, he asked, his voice cracking, “How is he? Is he going to be okay?” As Drew listened in silence to his mother, Jen sat up and moved next to him on the edge of her bed. “Okay, Mom. Tell him I love him, and that I’ll be home tomorrow. I’ll call you later, but please call me if there is any change in his condition. I love you, Mom.”
“What happened, Drew?”
“My father had a heart attack this morning,” he replied. “He’s in critical condition, and they’re not sure if he’s going to pull through.” Drew covered his face with his hands. “Oh God, Jen, I love my father so much, and I feel so useless here, and helpless because I’m not there with him.”
Jen reached out and tried to take Drew in her arms in an attempt to comfort him, but he shrugged out of her embrace. “Are there any flights tonight? Maybe we can get you out there sooner than tomorrow,” Jen said, as she stood up and jogged towards the living room to retrieve her laptop.
After searching every possible flight option, Drew came to the conclusion that he would have to wait until the next day to fly home to California. He looked over at Jen, who had been sitting silently by his side while he researched flights, and said, “you’ve been really quiet, Jen.”
“I don’t know what to say, Drew, so I’ve just been praying for your dad,” she said, holding up a set of rosary beads.
A wave of emotion washed over Drew, as he moved closer towards Jen, and said, “Thanks. He can use the prayers.” He gazed into her eyes, filled with concern and love, and reached out to take her hands in his. Hanging his head, he continued, “This is not the way I wanted our last day together before Christmas to end, Jen.”
“I know, but what happened with your father was out of everyone’s control.”
“What should we do now?”
“Well, we still have to eat. Let me make you dinner. I don’t want you to be alone tonight.”
Drew agreed, and asked, “Is it okay if we did something first before dinner?”
“Sure. What would you like to do?”
“I’d really like to go to Mass.”
Jen looked at the clock on her nightstand. “There’s a 5:00 Mass at Assumption, the church over on Cranberry Street. Is that okay?”
Drew nodded his head. “I know my parents would both be happy if I went to Mass tonight,” he said, taking out his phone and sending a text to his mother and sister.
After Mass, Drew and Jen held hands as they took a detour and walked along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade on the way back to Jen’s apartment. Looking across the river towards Manhattan, Drew said, “There’s nothing like this view. It’s the second-best thing about living here.”
“What’s the best thing?” Jen asked.
Sighing, Drew draped an arm around Jen’s shoulder. “You are.”
They continued walking along the Promenade in silence, until they reached Clark Street. When they reached Jen’s building, Drew said, “I need to go back to my apartment to finish packing. I’ll be over in about an hour. Is that okay?”
“Sounds good. See you then,” Jen said. She began to enter her building, and then turned around and called out, “Hey, Drew - do you want bring your things with you, so you can leave from my place in the morning?”
Drew turned, and walked back towards Jen. “I’d love to spend the night with you, Jen, but I’m not sure I’m going to be the best company.”
Jen’s anxiety welled up inside her, and her stomach churned. “I’m worried about you, though, and I don’t want you to be alone. Think about it, and just bring your bags with you if you want to stay over.”
The next hour dragged, as Jen waited for Drew to return to her apartment. She kept busy by scrubbing two potatoes and placing them in the oven with a small filet mignon roast, before sautéing some mushrooms and making a salad. When the prep work for dinner was done, she poured herself a glass of cabernet sauvignon, and wandered over to the living room window to take in the skyline view. As she sipped her wine, she reflected back on the afternoon she and Drew had just spent together, her heart aching for him and his family.
She was immersed in a silent prayer for Drew’s father when the doorman rang to let her know he had arrived. When she opened the door a moment later, Jen smiled when she noticed he had brought his suitcases with him.
“I thought about it, and realized you were right, Jen. I really don’t want to be alone tonight,” he said after he walked through the door. He placed his bags down in the foyer, and continued, “Next stop, San Francisco.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Jen said, as she moved towards Drew and took him into her arms. She snuggled her cheek against his neck for a moment, then looked up at him and asked, “Are you hungry? Dinner should be ready any minute.”
Drew spoke with his mother and sister a few times during the evening, getting updates on his father’s condition. “The quadruple bypass surgery went as well as could be expected, but it’s going to be very long road to recovery,” he said, after a lengthy conversation with his mother.
“Thank goodness he came through the surgery,” Jen offered, not knowing what to say.
“Yeah, thank goodness”, Drew agreed, as he stared at the floor. Barely able to look at Jen, he continued, “My mom asked me to take over my father’s business, at least for the time being, until he is well enough to go back to work.”
Jen’s stomach churned as she digested Drew’s news. “How long will you be gone?”
Drew shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“But what about your job? And your apartment?”
“I can’t think that far ahead. I have to see what I’m facing when I get back home, and figure out what has to be done at my father’s office.”
As the hands on the clock inched towards midnight, Jen’s eyelids grew heavy and she stood up. “I’m exhausted. I’m going to turn in for the night.”
“I’m going to stay up for a while, just in case there are any further updates on my father’s condition,” Drew said. “With the three hour time difference, my mother or sister might call again, so I’ll just stay out here. I don’t want to wake you up when I’m ready to go to sleep.”
“I wish you would join me,” Jen suggested, tentatively. “Who knows when we’ll have the chance to be together again?”
Drew just looked at her, and shook his head. “I don’t know when, or if, I’ll make it back here, Jen. It all depends on my father’s condition, and his recovery.”
“Then come into the bedroom with me,” Jen pleaded with him.
“Jen, I just don’t think tonight is the right night. I’m just not in the right frame of mind to, you know…” his voice trailed off as he stared at the floor.
�
��Of course, Drew, you’re right. But we don’t have to…umm…we don’t have to be together in the physical sense. We can just hold each other, and fall asleep in each other’s arms. I just want to be close to you tonight.”
After what seemed like an eternity to Jen, Drew nodded his head in agreement, and followed her into the bedroom.
Jen disappeared into the bathroom to wash up. When she emerged a few minutes later in a camisole and plaid flannel pajama bottoms, she found that Drew was already under the covers, and had changed into a faded San Francisco 49ers t-shirt. She sat on the edge of the bed and set the alarm clock, before crawling under the covers and snuggling up next to him.
“You smell so good,” he said. “Like vanilla and sugar.”
“Thanks. It’s just my moisturizer.”
“It smells like the perfume you usually wear,” Drew replied, as he closed his eyes and breathed in Jen’s scent.
“It’s the same fragrance in the moisturizer. I’m glad you like it,” she said.
“Mmm…I love it. Every time I smell it, I think of you,” Drew said, as he kissed Jen on the top of her head and smoothed her hair.
Jen responded by kissing his chest. She sighed as she Drew held her close and, with her head resting against his heart, she fell into a deep sleep.
CHAPTER SIX
After their tearful goodbye at the airport when she begged him to come back to her, Jen spoke or texted with Drew every day after he moved back to California, keeping up to date on his father’s condition.
“Why don’t I come out to see you this weekend? I’m off to Paris tomorrow, but I’ll be back on Thursday, and can catch a flight to the west coast on Friday,” Jen said during one of their phone conversations.
“That sounds great! Can’t wait to see you,” Drew said. “I love my parents, but could use a weekend away from the house. I’ll book us a room someplace, so we can have some alone time.”
“Perfect!”
Jen was distracted the entire time in Paris, and couldn’t wait for the trip to wrap up. Come on, Friday, hurry up and get here, she thought constantly. I need to get to San Francisco. I need to get to Drew.
When she arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport on Friday morning, she found that her flight to JFK was cancelled. “But you don’t understand,” she said to the ticket agent. “I have to get home. Can’t you get me on another flight?”
The ticket agent searched again, but shook her head. “I’m sorry, but there are no seats on any of the flights today or tomorrow.”
“What about from here to San Francisco? Can you get me on anything?”
The agent consulted her computer screen. “I’m sorry. There is bad weather everywhere. The snow in London and in New York is causing so many flights to be cancelled.”
Dejected, Jen turned away from the ticket counter and dialed Drew. “I’m stuck in Paris. My flight was cancelled because of the snow in New York, and I can’t get another flight for two days.”
“Oh, no,” Drew said. “I’m so sorry you’re stuck there. I miss you so much,” he said, his voice unable to hide his disappointment.
“I miss you too. I’ll call you when I’m back in New York, and maybe we can make some plans then,” Jen said, as she ended the call.
The following Friday, Drew boarded a plane for New York. I can’t wait to see you, he thought, as he looked at photos of Jen stored on his phone. You’re going to be so surprised when I call to tell you that I’m in New York, he thought, as he gazed at a photo taken of them together the night of the charity auction. We’ve been best friends for so long, and now we’re finally going to take it to the next level.
As he stared out the window, his thoughts shifted to the other reason for his trip to New York. I’ve got to pack up my apartment, too, and arrange to ship everything back home. At least I was able to sublet it, he thought, glad that his friend and college basketball teammate, Luke Hanson, agreed to take over his lease.
As soon as he exited the plane, Drew dialed Jen. “How’s my girl?”
“Couldn’t be better, because I’m talking to you,” Jen said. “I was just about to call you, actually.”
“I’ve missed you so much, especially our daily runs. Want to go running together later on?”
“Wait…how did you know I’m in San Francisco? I just checked into the Ritz Carlton.”
Drew stopped dead in his tracks. “You’re where?”
“I’m in San Francisco. Surprise!”
“Oh my God, Jen. Oh, no,” Drew’s voice trailed off.
“I thought you’d be happy to see me,” Jen said, her voice cracking.
“I would be happy to see you, but I just landed in New York.” Drew gulped, before continuing, “I wanted to surprise you.”
“Oh, no. Can you turn around and get on a flight back here?”
“I can’t. I’m meeting Luke to pack up my apartment. He’s taking over my lease,” Drew said, as he sank down into an empty seat at a nearby gate.
“He’s taking over your lease? I don’t understand. Aren’t you coming back to New York once your father gets better?”
Drew closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Jen, honey, I’m sorry. I wanted to talk to you about that this weekend. I can’t see any scenario that will let me come back to live in New York in the near future. Someone has to run my father’s business while he recuperates, and I’m the only one who knows pretty much everything that has to be done because I worked with him every summer when I was in college.”
Tears streamed down Jen’s face. “But what about your job? You were just getting some on air time, everything was going so well…”
“I know,” Drew said, a catch in his voice. “Everything was going well.” They were silent for a minute, before Drew asked, “Can you fly back here? If you catch a flight tonight, we can still have part of the weekend together.”
“I wish I could, but I have a photo shoot in Cabo starting on Monday. I’m flying down there Sunday morning.”
“So when you’re done, just fly back up to San Francisco to see me. It’ll be mid-week, but maybe we can work something out.”
“But I’m flying from Cabo to Cancun on Wednesday, to meet up with my family for our annual winter vacation. I’m so sorry, Drew.”
“I’m sorry too, Jen. My God, it’s like fate is conspiring against us.”
“I know,” she half-whispered. “We’ll just have to keep trying.”
After two more weeks of repeatedly failing to figure out travel logistics, Drew voiced his greatest fear during a late-night phone conversation. “Jen, this isn’t working out.”
“What do you mean?” Jen asked nervously.
“I mean,” Drew hesitated. “I mean, we can’t get it together. I’m stuck here on the west coast, while you’re traveling the world. It’s impossible to see each other.”
“But what about next weekend? Why doesn’t that work?”
“I told you, I have to be at that tennis tournament all weekend. My dad’s firm is handling all the public relations for it.”
“I’ll come to you. My schedule is pretty clear that weekend.”
“But my schedule isn’t clear. I’ll be working the entire weekend.” The silence was deafening as neither of them spoke. Finally, Drew said, “I’m so sorry, Jen. You’ll always be my good friend. Hell, you’re my best friend, but I can’t ask you to wait around for me forever.”
“I’ll wait for you, as long as it takes,” Jen insisted. “We can make this work.”
“We haven’t managed to make it work so far. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but maybe you should get on with your life, without me,” he said, before abruptly ending the phone call.
Heartbroken, Jen replayed the conversation with Drew over and over in her head the following day. But how can I get on with my life, she thought, when you’re the only one I want
to share it with.
Sitting in her agent’s office, she was again lost in her thoughts about Drew, when she heard Mike say “earth to Jen, earth to Jen,” and snapped to attention.
“I’m sorry, I’m just a bit distracted,” she said. When Mike asked what was on her mind, Jen recounted the entire situation with Drew, including the fact that he wouldn’t be returning to New York.
“Sounds like you need a good distraction,” Mike said. “How about a date with a billionaire?”
When Jen wrinkled her nose and didn’t answer, Mike continued, “You know you have to go out with him once. I know you don’t want to do it, but you have to. He paid a lot of money for the privilege of taking you out to dinner, and I have to get back to his assistant. She’s called quite a few times trying to set the date up.”
Anything But Mine Page 4