<3
Early the next morning Nick and I had to leave the apartment to catch our flight to New york. Our 'honeymoon' was only going to be two short days and Nick insisted that he book us the earliest flight so that we could take advantage of the short trip. When we left, the place was still a tip from the night before, but Nick had arranged for some cleaners to come while we were away.
A mixture of tiredness and nerves caused the early morning to pass in a blur, before I knew it we were sitting in the plane waiting for our departure.
The flight wasn't too bad, although it wasn't until the plane touched down again that I let myself relax. Due to th time difference, when we landed it was nearing 3.30. We decided to head straight to the hotel, and get ready for dinner.
The almost impromptu trip meant that papparazzi weren't expecting us, and we managed to leave the airport completely unnoticed.
Nick had booked us in to the honeymoon suite in one of the most prestigious hotels in the inner city. When we arrived I sucked in my breath. The entire city was a giangantic concrete jungle. We excited the yellow cab we were in and watched it slink back into a sea of yellow cabs.
“Well Mrs Jackson. Shall we check out the honeymoon suite”
I looked down at the ring on my left hand and nodded
We walked into the hotel, as a bellboy followed behind us with the luggage. I knew there was no turning back from this. Even though Nick and I had been booked in under a psyedom, it would get out that we were here. In a honeymoon suite. In a matter of hours a picture of the ring on my hand would be blasted all over TMZ. But I didn't care.
Nick and I showered and dressed then headed out for dinner. Sure enough when we left the hotel there was a sprinkling of paps.
“Is that a ring on your finger Sarah?” One called out as we walked to our waiting car
“Have you got some news for us guys?”
“please leave me and my wife alone” Nick smiled cheekily as we hopped in the car.
He closed the door before the camera's could go nuts and looked at me sheepishly
“I probably should have asked before I announced that” He murmured “I just want everyone to know we're married”
I smiled and shrugged. A few days ago I would have balked at the idea, in fact I pretty much had. I'd worn the engagement ring on a chain around my neck. What the media reported suddenly didn't matter.
“I don't mind” I replied “Although I hope our dinner reservations are away from any windows” I joked as the car pulled away from the kerb.
I think I've done one better than that. I called a friend a few days ago and organised to book out his entire restaurant. It'll just be us, and the staff”
“You didn't have to do that!” I laughed, we weren't that type of couple. We didn't need anyone to cater to our every whim, so booking out an entire restaurant to keep away from prying eyes seemed a little over the top.
“I wanted to be with just you, tomorrow night we can eat out in central park if you want”
“I wish we could stay here longer. Two nights is just far to short” I whispered as I snuggled in to Nick.
“I know, I promise you a proper honeymoon as soon as I get back from London for good” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and squeezed me.
“Can we not talk about that” I protested, a ball of sadness choked up inside my throat. The last thing I wanted to think about was how in three days Nick would be leaving me for London.
Nick didn't speak and just kissed me on the head.
We arrived at the restaurant shortly after. Nick's friend met us out the front and ushered us in before any prying eyes could get a glimpse at us.
“Nikolai! It's been far to long!” The man exclaimed “You've not been to New york in three years!”
“I've been exceptionally busy” Nick exclaimed as he shook the mans hand.
“Sarah this is, George. George, this is my wife Sarah. George and met when I was out here meeting with some clients a few years back, when I was just starting out. I was here for a few weeks. I came here to eat every night”
“Wife huh! Congratulations guys! Champagne, on the house of course.”
“Sounds great”
George ushered us over to a table and then left us to enjoy each others company. The food was amazing. I could see why Nick had come here every night, I would come here every night if I lived in New York too.
Once we'd finished eating, Nick took my hand
“Dance with me” He whispered.
I looked up and watched his eyes sparkle back at me. He smiled then pulled me to my feet.
“There's no music Nick?” I said softly. I put my arms around his neck anyway and for a moment we danced to silence. Then a song started, one we'd danced to a little over a year ago.
“Foreigner again?”
Nick chuckled and nodded
“Can I call it nostalgia now?”
“Nostalgia yes, but this can't be our song Nikolai” I replied
“No, it's not our song. We don't have a song. Every song is ours” He murmured.
I felt my face blush and I looked down at the ground. I couldn't think of a witty or smart arsed come back to that. It felt true.
The evening passed by far to quickly. As we left the restaurant I tried not to think how much closer we were to goodbye.
“Are you alright?” Nick asked as we drove back to the hotel. I just nodded and looked out the window at the bright New York lights.
Once we arrived back at the hotel we went up to our room.
“You're really quiet” Nick said gently as he placed the key card on the table in the room. I walked over to the soft plush couch and sat down. I flicked the heels I'd worn off and sighed.
As much as I tried to forget about Nick's imminent departure It just wasn't happening. Tomorrow night we'd head back to LA and then the next day he would be leaving me.
“Sorry, I'm trying not to think about it” I replied “but you leaving is taking over every thought I have”
“I know, Me too” Nick admitted.
He walked over and sat next to me on the sofa.
“I could cancel you know. They could make do with out me” He replied wistfully
“It's your company Nick. You need to be there”
“I know”
I rest my head on Nick's chest. I could hear the rhythmic beating of his heart, I could feel his warmth.
I closed my eyes and took a mental picture. A memory to think about when I felt lonely.
Nick lifted my chin up until our eyes met. He smiled slightly then pressed his lips to mine.
“I love you” he murmured as he pulled away.
“I love you too”
“I'm going to tell you that, every day for the rest of my life Sarah”
I smiled at him then nodded
“I'd like that”
Nick grinned then stood up. He turned and scooped me up, then chucked me over his shoulders.
He walked with me that way until he reached the bedroom. He placed me tenderly down on the bed however and then raised an eyebrow.
“I better tell you now, before this goes any further” He said in a low voice “I'm married”
“So am I” I replied with a giggle
“Well then” he grinned “Let the games begin”
Nick threw his shirt to the floor and leveraged his body over mine, pressing light kisses up my body as he traveled up to my chest. Somewhere in between kissing and touching one another our clothes ended up sprawled around the floor.
Nick and I had always been passionate with one another. We'd been like a sparking fuse from the moment we'd met. Tonight was different though. Nick held me as though I were porcelain, and kissed me like I had lips made of chocolate. Nibbling gently, tugging.
Even time felt like it had slowed down, and I would have given anything to stay in that moment forever. Eventually my body couldn't withstand the building intensity, and together we fell apart in each others arms. Completely exhausted we lay twisted in the cotton sheets naked.
Early the next morning, I woke and found myself sprawled across the bed. Nick was already awake and I could hear talking in the other room.
“hey Dj, yeah she's sleeping. Oh okay.” There was silence for a while
“Well we're back late tonight, I can let her know she needs to be there first thing tomorrow morning?”
I frowned. Nick's flight was at 4pm, If I had to go in to the studio I'd likely be there all day.
“It's alright Dj, I don't know if either of us would cope with a goodbye at the airport”
I stood up, I wanted to say goodbye to Nick. I didn't want to go in to the studio. I wrapped a sheet around me and raced out to the living area of the hotel room, but Nick had already placed my phone down.
“Morning sleepy head. I've order breakfast in bed for us. I thought we could eat, check out and then go spend the day looking around the city”
“Nick I want to say goodbye at the airport” I said, ignoring his statement
“They need you to do promotional material for the tour Sarah, it needs to be done tomorrow so they can get it out by the end of the week.”
“So this is the price I pay for being impatient and not waiting to do the concert” I replied with a frown.
“Oh come on, we both know if we say goodbye at the airport we'll cry like babies. It'll be better this way. Like a normal catch you later Baby”
I looked down at the floor and shrugged. I didn't want to admit that there was any merit in the theory, but he was right. It took some of the heartache out of the situation.
“Fine then!” I replied finally “So we're still going to have a picnic in central park right?”
“Yes, we can go to the airport straight after”
“Alright”
We spent the rest of the day site seeing. We were recognised a few times, and at lunch the paparazzi found us again and hounded us while we ate pizza. The pizzeria owner ended up allowing us to sneak out the back. Later that evening we ate hot dogs in central park. Nick had the driver he'd hired for the day take us to the airport around 8pm.
When we finally arrived home, we both fell in to bed, and fast asleep. Exhausted by the mini holiday.
The next morning, I woke before Nick. I took a long shower and dressed. When I left the bathroom Nick was in the kitchen making coffee. I frowned. This was the last time I was going to see him for a little while.
“I'm so sorry I can't be there at the airport” I grumbled as I picked up my keys
“Baby, remember we talked about all the tears. I don't want to say goodbye to you at all, let alone in an airport.”
“See you later, Not good bye” I grumbled, Nick checked his passport and ticket before looking back over at me. He walked over and wrapped his arms around me. We embraced for what seemed like forever, but it still wasn't enough. I was about to head to the studio, and my husband was about to leave the country.
We kissed one last time, just softly. I refused to make it a good bye kiss.
And then I left.
I spent the rest of the day at the studio working on a song for the free promotional download. At 1pm when Nick was due to leave I sent a text.
He didn't reply, but that was because he would already be on his way.
Once I was home I fell in to bed the past couple of days was beginning to catch up on me, and I needed to catch up on sleep. The flight wouldn't land for hours yet so waiting was silly. I had to get up early the next morning to go over the concert program and make any last minute changes. Nick had told me he'd set his alarm to ring me at 8.30 am LA time.
I was woken at 6am instead, my cell phone was ringing. I smiled, Nick obviously couldn't handle waiting any longer. I fumbled around for my phone. Some how, I managed to answer the call without moving anything but my right arm.
“Sarah, the company called. Nick never arrived” Janie said quickly, her voice stressed.
“Huh? What?”
“Nick didn't arrive, they had someone waiting for him at the airport and he never got off the plane”
my heart lurched and I had to withhold the urge to vomit.
“What do you mean he didn't get off the plane? Janie!”
“I tried calling him before I called you, his phone is straight to voicemail.” janie exclaimed, unable to answer my question.
Nick never turned off his phone. He was pedantic about charging it, and always carried around a spare battery just in case. This wasn't happening. This was some ridiculous prank and at any moment he was going to jump out of the closet, laugh at me and then proclaim himself king of surprises again.
I almost prayed for it to happen. A prank would be preferable at this point.
What if he'd crashed on the way to the airport?
I dropped the phone and ran for the bathroom. I had a million thoughts running through my head, each and every one more terrifying than the thought before it. I hung my head over the basin and dry wretched until my throat was raw and burning. I stood up and stared at myself in the mirror. The fear in my eyes was obvious.
Surely there was a reasonable explanation. I washed my faced and then walked back in to the bedroom and picked up the phone.
“What do we do?” I whispered, my voice was so quiet I may as well have said nothing. Luckily Janie heard me.
“Stay there, Marc and I are coming over.”
I didn't say anything else, I just let the phone fall from my hands on to the bed. I could feel myself shaking, it was uncontrollable. I needed to hear his voice.
I picked the phone back up and dialled his cell phone number. The phone went straight to voicemail like Janie had said, but I kept listening.
“Nikolai Jackson here, sorry I can't take your call right now. You're important to me, so please leave a message with a phone number and I will get back to you”
The obligatory beep followed and then empty silence.
“Nick where are you” I mumbled “This isn't funny”
I didn't want to hang up, I couldn't. I hoped that if I held on long enough he would answer. Eventually I pressed the call end button. There was something odd going on. Nick and I had just married each other. We we're expecting a baby together, We'd had an amazing mini honeymoon in New York.
Something had happened. Something bad.
I ran from the bedroom and in to the kitchen. I rifled through the mail, maybe there would be something in here. A note from someone, anyone. This type of shit had happened to us before, there was no reason it wouldn't again. All our demons, and the people behind them had long prison sentences though, there was no one left to torment us. Right?
It seemed like forever before Janie buzzed. I'd bitten my nails all the way back to my fingers, ruining the perfect manicure the stylist had insisted I get. I didn't care though, right now the only thing I cared about was finding Nick.
When the door finally buzzed I walked over and pressed the button to allow her access. I opened the door and waited at the elevator door. It opened and for some reason I still prayed this was a joke, that Nick would be with them. My hopes were dashed when the doors opened and only Marc and Janie walked out. Janie looked worried as did Marc. Damn it! They were worried too.
“Has he left me?” I cried, the words came out hoarsely, I didn't want to say them, or believe them. But everything was a possibility right now. Janie walked over to me and pulled me in to her arms.
“Sarah, Nick loves you”
“Then something has happened!” I shouted “Something bad”
“Lets go inside and think about this and then give the cops a call” Janie suggested as she turned and began to edge me toward the door.
After I walked back in to the apartment, Janie shut the door behind us and locked it. I didn't go and sit down immediately, instead I walked back in to the bedroom and grabbed the pillow from his side of the bed and wrapped my arms around it. I looked out to the window and for a slight second I contemplated if our fate was similar to Romeo and Juliet after all. Janie had once compared us to that, perhaps our lives were always destined to be a tragedy.
A pang of nausea turned my stomach and made me feel sick, as if to remind me of the life inside me. I looked away from the window then walked toward the door still holding the pillow.
I sat down on the couch with Janie and Marc and we discussed the events leading up to Nick leaving.
“So you left the house in the morning”
“Yeah, I left at 9:00am I had to go in to the studio so they could get everything for the concert tour promo by tomorrow.”
“His flight was around 4pm right?”
“He said he was going to leave here at 1pm”
“so there is a window of what, 7 hours” Janie concluded. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket then stood up.
“I'm going to go call the cops. I'll be right back”
I nodded at sat back. I felt completely numb like I'd taken an ice cold bath and everything was deflecting off me. Nothing was sinking in.
“Nick mentioned something last week. Something about Josh” Marc said
Suddenly the numbness was gone. My back stiffened, the mention of Josh's name always got me, but this time It wasn't because of the past it was because of the present. I turned and looked at Marc.
“What did he say?”
“He made me promise not to say anything Sarah. I told him to tell you, but he didn't want to worry you. He said he took care of it”
I clenched my teeth, suddenly furious at my missing husband. Our communication had never been the greatest, and we'd always tried to shield each other from potential hurt, even after the josh thing. But he kept something about josh from me just days before he was due to leave?
“What did he say?” I repeated as calmly as I could.
“He received an email from someone claiming to be from a Josh. He said it just said 'One day. From Josh'. He said that directly after the incident he would get similar emails from different email addresses. Trolls trying to scare him. He said you knew about those”
I nodded, I did. Copy cats, wannabes. They had dwindeled out though.
“He brushed it aside, Josh doesn't have access to email. I just thought I'd mention it”
I closed my eyes and whispered a thank you. The truth was I couldn't brush it aside. If I'd known earlier I'd have pleaded and begged with him not to go. I would have thrown the mother of all tantrums to stop him leaving. I'd had the sinking feeling for days now and knowing about that email would have solidified my intuition.
And he would still be here.
A/N
Alright, this chapter had a pretty big twist about half way through . Please don't hate me. This is a MAJOR arc, and things will take most of the rest of the book to be resolved. there will be differing POV's from all of the main characters (Sarah as normal, Nick and One from Janie, One from Marc). Please have faith in the direction of the story. Again, love ya's.