Something Real | Jen & Cooke

2- Adventure Of A Lifetime

August 8, 2014 - January 2, 2015

On a Friday in August my relationship with Chris Martin, known to the world as my rebound, my first whirlwind romance, my partner in crime in a series of mystery hook-ups, began. I suppose in truth it was everything the rumors had predicted it to be. He was the first man I was with after my long and deeply loving relationship with Nicholas Hoult came to an abrupt end. He was my rebound if I had to have one and I was his. In a series of life-altering events his marriage had crumbled, he was alone, a first in years. We found something in each other that had been long missing from both of our lives and hearts. The excitement and uncertainty of new love. He flew me out to his home in Malibu for our first date. We had a quiet dinner in, kept safe from the paparazzi's camera flashes in the privacy of his gated in mansion. After dinner we sat out on his patio and opened a bottle of wine. That's where we had our first kiss and I felt butterflies fluttering deep in my stomach for the first time since breaking up with Nic. That's when I knew love was not lost on me. My journey to finding my one true love had only began with Nic, it wasn't meant to end with him. About one month after our first date Chris came to visit me where I was staying at the Chateau Marmont. We met up in the hotel lobby for dinner and drinks, then I took him up to my room where we had sex for the first time. From that night we became infatuated. Our relationship took off in to a whirlwind of dates, meet ups, and late night phone calls. We couldn't see each other all the time because of my steady work schedule that never seemed to ease up for more than one or two days at a time, but when we got together we were inseparable. I spent my free nights in Malibu with him, laid up in a silk lined California king sized bed. That September, I went to see him in concert, when he sang it felt like he was singing just to me. We flew across the globe in his private jet, had dinners out and drinks in and did any and all things necessary to keep the flame alive. We didn't expect each other to put our lives on hold for the other, instead we met where we were. In late October I drove out to his house, for our last night together before my promo tour for the third installment of The Hunger Games movie franchise began. We didn't leave each others arms for more than thirty seconds during the entire twelve hours we spent together. In the morning I snuck out to catch my plane, leaving only a simple sweet note on his pillow as a reminder that no matter where my body went my heart would be staying in Malibu with him. I spent months away, busy with work. At first I missed him and wanted to come rushing back, but after a while of being away my feelings began to dwindle. My hours were filled with new friends and old ones, late night out in New York, and putting all my passion into my job. He did nothing to make me want to leave him, but deep down I knew I didn't want to stay. I never returned to that bed were so many wonderful memories were made, but somehow my heart fell back into it's rightful place in my chest without ever having to go back to find where I left it. My eyes wandered to new faces and new places, without any uncertainty holding me back. Chris Martin was not the man I was meant to be with for the rest of my life, he was just a stop along the way. I would always look back on our time together fondly, and he would remain an important person in my life, but there was no reason for me to have to commit to him just because I had no reason not to want to. His impact on my life would be unforgettable he taught me that I could love again after Nic. That my love for him and anyone else was not wasted love just because the relationship had to end. Being with him changed the way I viewed the world and other people. I no longer felt like a failure when a relationship came to it's inevitable end, I felt grateful for the memories and ready to make brand new ones with someone else. We met up one more time after our last night, not as lovers but as friends. There's no one I would've rather spent the first day of the new year with eating sushi and having wine, but in the back of my mind I knew that next year I'd be a brand new and there would be someone else in his place. I didn't feel sad knowing that we'd both move on to bigger and better things. I felt good knowing I got to be a part of his journey in life, just like he was a part of mine. There would be more adventures to come, new things to try, new ways to love and to be loved, but he would always hold a place in my heart. One small moment in time that would grow smaller and smaller as new loves took their course. Our connection felt like magic, like diamonds taking shape, with each other we felt alive again, our hearts beating beneath our skin, reveling in the life we made, sharing all our strengths and weakness, all the things that make us human, finding new highs and new adventures everyday. Everything we had we gave to each other. It was the adventure of a lifetime.