The time was 05:30 in the morning and Jennifer was sitting in the garden, waiting for the sun to rise. It was a crisp morning, the air still had a chilly sting to its breeze.
She took a few deep breaths as she felt the wind gently brushing through her hair. She loved the feeling of it, it calmed her.
"Jen, I'm leaving now, " Jennifer heard her husband say and she immediately turned to face him.
"Oh, okay. Have a nice day, honey, " she answered back and wrapped her arms around his body, giving him a light peck on the lips.
"And when you get home, we maybe can start working on-"
Jennifer stopped in the middle of her sentence when she noticed Brad raising an eyebrow at her, and her heart dropped when he began to speak.
"Jen you know it's not the right timing, I'm in the middle of shooting a movie and-"
"A movie we agreed on you would never sign up for," Jennifer interrupted, saying it as a matter-of-factly. She folded her arms across her chest and backed away from him.
Brad was rarely home anymore. Since signing up for Mr. And Mrs. Smith, he has been spending more and more time on set, much to Jennifer's dislike.
Jennifer knew that shooting a movie came with a lot of sacrifices, one of being having to spend time away from loved ones. She understood that Brad needed to be on set, but he had been there an awful lot recently, much more than she knew an actor needed to be.
This wasn't how she had expected her life to be like after Friends ended. Both Jennifer and Brad had agreed that it was the perfect timing for both of them to take a step back from their careers and focus all their attention on their family life.
Jennifer was ready to do so. She wanted a family, children, more than anything in the world. She had a dream that she had painted in colours, beautiful colours.
But that same dream had slowly begun to slipping away from her fingers when the script for Mr. And Mrs. Smith was sent to Brad. He couldn't pass it on. It was an opportunity of a lifetime, he had argued.
"Jen.."
"No, go do your thing! Have a nice day." Jennifer waved her hands in front of her face and turned away from him. She began to walk towards the sunbed she earlier had sat on. With each step she took, her heart broke a little more.
Brad signed deeply out of frustration.
"I'll talk to you later, " he said and left.
Jennifer turned her head and watched her husband disappear around the corner of their house. She was left alone. Again. She felt how her eyes began to water, but she refused to let the tears fall freely.
She refused to spend another day crying.
She sighed and returned her attention to the beautiful view she had in front of her. The sun was beginning to rise, making the sky look like it was on fire.
Jennifer loved early mornings.
Everything was quiet, only the sound of birds singing their beautiful melody lingered in the air.
It was a calm and beautiful morning. Everything was at peace, except for one thing. Her.
Jennifer's thoughts drifted away to the one person she always found herself thinking of whenever she was upset. She couldn't help it, it was like a force. A force she couldn't control, no matter how hard she tried to.
David.
She fidgetted with her hands as she remembered how she always used to tell him about her dreams, and how he carefully used to listen to every word she said. David made Jennifer feel important, that every word that left her mouth meant something. Jennifer's heart broke when she remembered how David had told her he wanted the same thing as her.
She would never forget it.
They had shared a dream of having a family.
Jennifer had shared the same dream as David but she had believed that Brad was the person she wanted to experience that dream with.
Brad still was the person she wanted to have a family with. However, she couldn't help herself but doubt, and she hated herself for thinking that she had made a mistake. That everything she had worked for, every heartbreak she had caused and gone through herself, every tear she had cried, was for nothing.
In the end, Brad hasn't done a very good job of assuring her that he would give her everything she had ever wanted.
Children.
Jennifer buried her face in the palms of her hands as she tried to erase her thoughts of David. It was driving her crazy. She didn't want to think about him because it made her question everything she had with Brad, and she didn't want that. It wasn't fair to anyone.
David.
Jennifer could picture every detail of his face. He was pierced into her memory. Chills ran down her spine as she thought of him.
She missed him. A lot.
She loved him. She longed for him.
It's been three months since she had talked to him.
Three months.
That's 90 days.
It's the longest time they have been apart. It's the longest time they haven't spoken to each other.
You probably think Jennifer has gone crazy but yes, she has kept count.
How could she not?
........
1994.
"Do you want children?" Jennifer asked as she ran her hands through Davids's hair, massaging his scalp. She and David were in David's dressing room waiting for rehearsals to start again. Jennifer's eyes followed every movement on the TV screen that was placed in front of them. David was playing a videogame as he was resting his head in Jennifer's lap.
David paused the videogame and looked up at her.
"Yes, I do, " David answered with a smile. The thought of children made his heart happy. David has always wanted to be a father and he couldn't wait until the day he would hold his firstborn child in his arms for the first time. He longed for that day to come.
"How many do you want?" Jennifer asked curiously whilst gently caressing David's cheek with one of her fingers. She noticed how his eyes lighted up before he broke their gaze and turned his head to look at the TV screen.
Jennifer smiled shyly down at David, she knew he was nervous. David looked up at her again and immediately starting to blush when he noticed the sweet smile that was placed on Jennifer's lips. Her eyes were piercing, shining with curiosity. It was something about the expression on her face that left David unable to speak. He couldn't think of anything to say.
Silence.
Jennifer lifted her eyebrows and tilted her head, waiting for David to answer her question.
"I've always pictured myself as a father of three children. I want them all to be girls, " David said after a few seconds of silences. He felt how his cheeks began to heat up even more, for some reason he felt embarrassed. He had never told anyone that before.
David felt his heart beating in his chest as Jennifer moved her face closer to his, her warm breath tickling his face.
Jennifer's heart grew warm as she thought of David with children. She was certain that he would be a wonderful father, one of the best.
"I want three children too, maybe even more. It has always been my dream, ever since I was very young."
David watched Jennifer with admiring eyes as she talked. She truly was one of the most beautiful women he had laid eyes on, and the picture of her with children made her even more beautiful to him.
"Really?" David asked surprised. He took a liking to her words, making a mental note.
"Yeah....I love children. Always have, always will," Jennifer answered back with a smile. She was confident with what she wanted and she knew that her dream would become her reality one day. She only had to find her Prince Charming.
Jennifer couldn't wait until the day she would become a mother for the first time. She longed for that day to come.
David began to picture himself with more than three children. He hadn't thought that kind of thoughts before, but hearing Jennifer's words made him think.
His heart began to beat a little bit faster.
Silence fell over them, a comfortable one. Just the two of them together, nothing in the world to interrupt them.
Something was happening, and both of them could feel it. It lingered in the air. Jennifer and David both yearned to be close to the other, it always felt right to be with one another.
Their relationship was not complicated, yet the most complicated relationship of them all.
"You're so sweet, " Jennifer whispered as she playfully ruffled David's hair, earning a chuckle from him.
Davids's heart began to beat even faster, blood was rushing to his head. He couldn't fight the smile that was forming on his lips.
Jennifer was making him feel all sort of things, and it scared him. He had a girlfriend. He couldn't feel this kind of feelings, it wasn't right.
Jennifer laughed at David's reaction and looked down at his face. Her stomach was filled with butterflies, she wanted to kiss him all over the face. But she couldn't. David had a girlfriend and she respected that.
They had only known each other for a couple of weeks, but the connection she felt with him was something she had never experienced before. From the moment they had met, she felt an unexplainable attraction towards him that she struggled to wrap her head around. He had quickly become her closest friend, someone she would miss whenever they were apart. She always found herself wanting more of him. She wanted more of the feelings he made her feel.
David was becoming like a drug to her.
David felt how his heart skipped a beat as he lingered to the words that seconds previously had left her mouth.
He closed his eyes and savoured the feeling of her running her hands through his hair. It felt perfect in every way. Too perfect.
Was he falling in love?
No. That couldn't be possible. Right?
..........
"All of the papers are signed. Congratulations, the apartment is yours."
David was staring at the pile of papers in front of him. He had just bought an apartment in New York. He was moving.
"Sir?"
The room deathly was silent. David could feel sweat forming in the back of his neck. Thousands of thoughts were running through his head at the same time. He bit his lip hard, already tasting blood in his mouth.
What has he done?
He needed to get home, as fast as possible. Everything was blurry, he could hear the blood rushing in his ears.
"Yes, sorry, " David quickly apologised and stood up from his chair. "Thank you very much, " he then said before he left the room without looking back.
David loosened the tie around his neck. He needed air. He couldn't breathe
Something was telling him that moving to New York was a mistake, but he decided not to listen to it.
Jennifer. Her name was ringing in David's ears. She was the only person he found himself thinking about since Friends ended. David saw her face in every person that he interacted with. He was pretty sure he had gone crazy.
David hasn't spoken to her in three months, and every day he asked himself why.
David knew his answer.
He was going crazy without her, and if he talked to her, he feared that he would go completely mad.
He needed to move on and he believed that not talking to her was the only way to do so. But he had been proven wrong.
It was not the right way.
...........
Jennifer was sitting on her bed with her phone in her hand, debating whether she should call David not.
She wanted to hear his voice again. She needed to hear his voice. But despite how much she longed for it, she was still hesitant.
When did it become so difficult to call him?
It had once been one of the easiest things for Jennifer to do. Without hesitation, she would call him whenever she needed someone to talk to. She would even call him without having anything to say to him, and that was what she had cherished the most. They didn't have to have anything to talk about, just knowing that the other person was on the other line was enough.
Jennifer took a deep breath as she looked at the phone in her hand. After much debating, her fingers began to dial his number. She held her breath as she waited for him the answer.
He didn't pick up.
Jennifer sighed frustrated as she ran her hands through her hair.
She was angry. But anger masks sadness, so it makes sense.
She yearned to hear his voice, it would be a sweet relief. She just needed to hear him breathe, that would be enough for her to calm down. It would instantly melt all her worries away.
Jennifer longed for his company so much that he had started to feel fictional to her, and she needed him to become real again.
Three months. That's way too long.
How did they end up like this?
Suddenly, her phone started to ring and Jennifer immediately reached for it, hoping it was David calling her back.
It was Brad. That was great too.
"Hey, babe! " Jennifer happily answered her phone.
"Hi, Jen. I just wanted to let you know that I won't be able to come home tonight."
Jennifer's smile immediately faded when she heard Brad's words through the phone.
She had to spend yet another night alone. One more night, out of many.
"Oh, okay... Ehm, " Jennifer cleared her throat, trying to release forming the lump.
"Is... Is Angelina going to be there too?" she then continued hesitantly.
She chewed her nail as she waited for the answer she knew was coming. The answer she feared the most.
"Yes, we have a few scenes together that we have to shoot."
She felt like someone was stabbing her in the heart.
"Oh.... Well, tell her I said hi."
Jennifer wanted to trust Brad, but she didn't.
"I will. Jen, I have to go now, I'll talk to you later. I love you."
Jennifer closed her eyes.
"Yeah, okay.... I love you too, " she said back, but she didn't end the call, waited for Brad to do so.
She didn't have to wait for long time. Within the next second, the call ended.
Jennifer immediately started to dial the number she knew true to her heart.
David. She wanted to talk to him.
She needed to talk to him.
"Please pick up, David. Please, " she whispered to herself.
He didn't pick up.
Jennifer looked at the phone in her hand. Her eyes were burning, the lump in her throat made it hard for her to breathe. She couldn't hold her tears back any longer, so she allowed them to fall.
Her hands were shaking. Everything was falling apart. The two people she loved the most was slipping away from her.
......
David stared at the phone in his hand. He had two missed calls, and both of them were from Jennifer.
He had simply looked at the phone when she had called him. He wanted to pick up, but something was preventing him from doing so.
So.... he didn't pick up.
Why?
Because if he did, then he would regret his decision of moving to New York.
He would regret letting her slip away from his grip, the grip he had loosened three months ago.
Guilty. Angry. Lonely.
David needed to think of himself. Jennifer was moving on, and it was time for him to do so as well.
David had to move on, but he needed to do it in the right way. He needed to get his closure and to tell her everything that was on his heart.
He never got the chance to do so three months ago, he had been too emotional.
The truth was that he wasn't ready today either, but he couldn't wait any longer.
David picked up the phone and dialled Jennifer's number. He took a deep breath as he waited for her to pick up. He didn't have to wait long.
"David."
David closed her eyes when he heard Jennifer's voice on the other line. It has been three months since he had heard her angelic voice. It brought tears to his eyes.
"Jennifer, hi."
........................
*Authors note*
Thank you guys sooo much for the wonderful response I got on my first chapter. I didn't expect it at all, but wow, I'm so incredibly grateful, you have no idea! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it.
I'm honestly super duper nervous to publish the rest of the story. I don't want to disappoint you, haha.
Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that this book will be a total of 10 chapters. It's pretty short, I know, but I have a plan and I'm going to stick with it.🥰
Thank you again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you think!
Xx