“Where did you meet him? Last I saw you were surrounded by models.”
“He came to our room. He’s a design assistant for Gucci and they sent him out to do some grunt work but he needed to borrow something. We just clicked. Even if we can’t understand everything we say to each other. Hmm, maybe that’s why we clicked,” she said before bursting into laughter.
“I’ll try to not keep you away for too long, but I wanted to talk to you about work.”
“He has to leave soon anyway, they have a lot of work to do too. Plus I can’t wait to hear about your day with Will.”
“That’s the thing, Dianna, it was the worse day of my life.”
I broke into tears I didn’t realize were waiting at the surface. Dianna tried to hug me while still holding onto her sheet. The sight of her waddling towards me, one arm outstretched made me laugh, ending my tears. Quickly telling her what I thought I could, I explained the day’s events.
“And now Will is gone. He’s back in Canyon Cove and I can’t think about anything else but going to him. He needs me. I know it.”
“And what about the show? This was your dream and you worked so hard on it,” she said.
“I know, and I’m torn but to be honest I almost don’t care. He means more to me than the show. I did it once, I can do it again. I’ll get another show.”
“Sure you won’t regret leaving?”
“Right now when I think about staying, I see myself regretting not being with him.”
“Then you know what to do.”
She was right. I did know what to do. I had to be with him. Even if being with him only meant waiting for him to open up again.
“He left the jet. I’ll ask Stewart about getting it ready so we can go. At least you’ll get to ride on the fancy jet.”
“Thanks Deb, but I’m going to stay. I have my plane ticket and I don’t mind slumming it on a commercial line. I need to see where things go with Jean-Marc. I’ve never met anyone else like him.”
“Well, I’m going to need details,” I said jokingly, echoing what she said to me the day before. “Call me when you get back. I know I don’t have to tell you to have fun.”
“You know it!” She said as she grinned widely and waved before heading back through the door to her bedroom.
I heard giggling then squealing almost immediately and laughed as I distanced myself as much as possible from her door.
***
Stewart was able to get the jet ready for us to leave later that day. As I sat in my seat across the aisle from him, I wondered where I was going to go once we got back. I didn’t have my apartment and all my things were at Will’s.
“You look like you have something on your mind,” Stewart said as he closed his eyes and leaned his chair back.
I sighed. “Yes, I do. You brought all my things to the house. What if Will doesn’t want me there anymore? I just realized I don’t have anyplace to go.”
“I know Will better than anyone, Deborah. I also know you feel closer to him because of everything you both went through. I’m sure he feels the same.”
“Yes, but—”
“But,” he said interrupting me, “just because you haven’t heard from him doesn’t mean he’s not thinking of you. Trust me on that.”
It was hard to not trust anything Stewart said. While normally a man of few words, he never said anything unless it was true. Although Will’s father made the wrong choice of abandoning his son, despite his reasons, I definitely thought he made a good decision when it came to who raised him. Stewart was a dangerous man, but at his core he was one of the best men I knew.
***
It was late when we finally landed at the Canyon Cove airport, but I couldn’t help but think about my cat Trap and wonder how he was doing with Ashley and Xander. I sent her a text figuring that if she was asleep she wouldn’t respond until morning, but instead she called me back.
“Hello? Ashley?”
“You sound surprised,” she said as she laughed.
“I was worried it was too late. It’s 10pm and you have a baby.”
“Exactly, I have a baby. That means I don’t sleep. I’m kidding but seriously I’ve always been a night owl. Ten is too early for sleep. Is everything ok? I didn’t expect to hear from you while you were away.”
“I just got back. I’m actually still on the plane. I was wondering how Trap was doing without me.”
“He’s great. I’m not sure he even realizes you’re gone.”
“Damn cat. That sounds about right,” I said laughing.
“What’s really going on, Deborah? You’re home early, Fashion Week hasn’t even started, and all you’re talking about is your cat. I’m not stupid.”