Rodney is on the phone early too. He tells Jack things aren’t looking good, but that he hasn’t heard any updates on the film yet.
I run on the treadmill in my apartment again. Jack makes coffee for himself and sits outside staring out over the river while I run. I watch him from the gym on my second level, wondering what thoughts are going through his mind. In the past, from what I know through Ashton, dealing with this kind of stuff would have caused him to drink. I don’t believe he’ll turn to it now, but I do think about how he’ll find his way through this mess.
We shower after my run and then eat breakfast. I’m halfway through my yoghurt and fruit when Ashton calls.
“Is Jack okay?” he asks first.
“So far he is.”
“Good.”
“That’s not why you called, though, is it?” I say, sensing tension in his voice.
He lets out a long breath. “No. I need you to fly to New York ahead of me this weekend and prep for the meetings. I’m not going to make it out of here before Sunday night at the earliest.”
I eye Jack, who’s reading an email on his phone. The timing of all this couldn’t be any worse. I don’t want to leave Jack to deal with everything on his own, but I can’t say no to Ashton.
When I don’t respond straight away, Ashton says, “Jack can stay with Lorelei while you’re gone. She’s already suggested that.”
“I’ll mention it to him. And I’ll take care of everything for New York. Do you think you’ll be there in time for the Monday meeting?”
“I fucking hope so. But if I don’t, you know what needs to be discussed.”
“I do. Having said that, they’re expecting you.”
“I’ll make sure I’m there for Tuesday if I can’t make it for Monday. I don’t want to reschedule with them again. We need this to go ahead.”
As we end the call, I contemplate all the things I need to do now to make this happen. I wasn’t scheduled to fly to New York for these meetings. Ashton was going to hold them by himself. He wanted me to stay with Jack. Everything is prepared for the meetings, and he’s right that I know everything to be discussed, but I’m going to have to ready myself in a whole other way if it’s my responsibility to lead Beckett Pearce and Jameson Fox through Ashton’s proposal.
I take a deep breath.
I know I can do this, but I never just do things; I level up at all times. And I damn well want the COO role in Ashton’s company, so this is the perfect opportunity to remind him I’m more than ready for it.
“I have to fly to New York on Saturday,” I say to Jack.
He glances up from his phone. “For Ashton’s meetings?”
I nod. “Yes. He doesn’t think he can make it in time for the Monday meeting, so he wants me to take point on it.” I pause. “I don’t want to leave you while you’re in the middle of dealing with all this stuff, but I’ll only be gone for a short time.”
“Sweetheart, I’m good here. I’ve got that movie premiere to attend on Saturday night, and then I’m going to that breakfast on Tuesday. Rose is keeping me busy, and she’s handling all the bullshit that comes my way. You go do your work.”
“Do you want to stay with Lorelei?”
He smiles as he leans back against his chair and shakes his head. It’s the way his body looks so relaxed that helps me believe everything he’s saying. It helps me believe he’ll be okay. “No, I want to stay right here.”
I stand, moving into action. “What are your plans for today?”
“I’m going to see Mum again for a few hours and then I plan to sit my ass out there”—he points to my terrace—“and finish reading that book you recommended.”
“What are you thinking about it?”
“I think you’re absolutely right that it’d make a good movie.”
“Are you considering that?”
“I don’t know, but my brain is exploding with ideas, that’s for damn sure. I got my laptop out yesterday and did some writing.”
“What kind of writing?”
“The kind that caused me to lose three hours without even realising it.”
I want to ask him a million questions right now, but I sense he’s not ready to talk about this yet. I think he just wants me to know where he’s at with all this, but is still in the exploratory phase that requires time and space to work through.
“That sounds like the best kind,” I say softly. Losing time to something like writing is a good thing for him. It means he’s in a state of flow, and that means his creative side has been sparked. And that means he’s happy.
“Yeah, it is.” He stands. “Are you ready to go to work?”
“I will be in about ten minutes. If you want to get to your mum’s, we could ask Axe to have one of his guys drive me.”
“Fuck, no. I want to drive you.” He moves closer to me. “I want to make the most of this time while I’m not working and spend as much of it with you as possible. Fuck knows, shit will get hectic soon enough.”
He’s right; things will change before we know it, and when Jack’s filming, it can feel like he’s living on another planet. Shooting a movie consumes him. He might think he hasn’t given his work his all up to now, and sure, he probably hasn’t while he’s been drinking. But if that was him not giving his all, I can only imagine what work will look like for him going forward. I, too, want to make the most of my time with him now.
“I’d like that,” I say about him driving me, and about him spending as much of his time with me as possible.
He kisses me before lifting his chin at me. “Go, before I change my mind and refuse to let you out of my sight.”
“I like that you think you could refuse to let me do something. It amuses me.”
“I live to amuse you, baby.”
“Jesus, Jack.” I only just stop myself from rolling my eyes. “We really do need to find you some other things to pass your time with. I don’t need a man in my life whose sole focus is me.”
He pulls me to him and smacks my ass. “You talk a good game, Jessica Calvary, but we both know you’re into this.” His mouth brushes against my ear. “Your pussy doesn’t lie, sweetheart.”
I’ll be having stern words with my vagina later.
She needs to start lying occasionally.
Jack does not need her encouragement.
Thursday and Friday fly by. I barely notice them in between prepping for the New York meetings, putting out other fires for Ashton, and living through what feels like a thousand more stories being published online about Jack and me.
Social media seems fixated on Jack right now. I haven’t read much of it, but from what Jack has told me, everything else happening in Hollywood is taking a back seat while he’s getting ripped apart. It feels like someone is doing their best to ruin him. I bring this up on the way to the airport early Saturday morning.
“Do you think someone is out to get you?”
He’s concentrating on the traffic, so he takes a moment to respond. When he glances at me, I note the frown etched into his forehead. “I hadn’t thought of that.”