Hey, everyone, hope you all doing great! ^^
Back again with another chapter. Before anyone would wonder, I didn't mention what year it is in the story because, to be honest I don't think it is a big deal, and the timeline and filming locations of Jared's are not matching the real time and location, so don't overthink. :D
Please vote if you liked the chapter, thank u <3
Arriving back home I took a couple of deep breaths before I got out of the car.
Grabbing my handbag, over-packed with my stuffs I had laying around in Jared's house, I made my way into my apartment.
Once in, I lazily kicked my shoes down, letting my handbag fall to the floor as I looked up just to see Lynn smiling from the kitchenette.
"Avery! Welcome home!" grinning skipping towards me.
"Hey," I smiled halfheartedly.
"Oh... how are you feeling?" she asked pouting, rubbing my arms.
"I'm okay..." I shrugged.
"Fake! Your eyes could speak a whole poem. But no worry, I know what would cheer you up," she smiled pulling me towards the counter.
I tried to look excited as I followed her.
"I knew you gonna be sour as hell today so I prepared a wee something for the best gals' night to cheer you up," she started as she opened the fridge and pulled out a jug of something with green leaves in it and ice. "Mojito paired with a playlist of the early two thousand's... aaand..." she pulled a magazine from top of the counter behind her. "Cosmopolitan," she grinned excited.
"Oh gosh, that magazine still exists?" I shook my head having a look on it.
"Of course, and only getting dirtier by the issue," Lynn wiggled her eyebrows as I peeked at her then down to the headline of the magazine.
"5 reasons to go down on your man's hole...?" I raised my eyebrow looking at Lynn who smiled wide. "Are you serious?"
"What? There's like different quizzes, like how to tell when your other half's faking it... or... best foreplay for a good anal sex... and..."
"Lynn, I'm not gonna go into these... especially with you!" I stated stunned shaking my head.
"What? Why?" she whined.
"You are my little cousin..."
"But we used to read cosmo all the time..."
"Yes, when it was about girly stuffs not... something you shouldn't even know about!" I frowned.
"Avery... have you ever had anal?" she asked as she took two glasses to poor some drinks.
"Uh... Of course, not... Gosh..." I wrinkled my nose.
"Well..." she looked at me with a grin. "You should try, it's not that bad if your man knows what he's doing, and I bet Jared does."
I looked at her in disbelief as she pushed the glass into my hand.
"Come, it's gonna be fun!"
"Oh my..." I muttered having some big sips. "How was today, though?" I asked trying to get into a new and more interesting topic as we moved to sit onto the couch.
"Oh the Studio visit was great! Oh, my God, the Friends set up. I sat on the couch, have you checked my Instagram? It's up there," she smiled swinging her legs up onto the couch.
"Yeah, love that too. I haven't been there for so long, there must be some new stuffs," I stated lost in thoughts then looked back at Lynn. "You liked James and Haley?"
"Oh yeah, they are much fun!" she smiled taking a sip. "Do you know if James is seeing someone?"
I shook my head uncertain.
"I... don't think so... why?"
"He is so cute! I think we had a little thing going on... you know sparkles..." she smiled wide.
"Don't even think about it, Lynn; he is my age!"
"And?"
"Well... and I don't think getting involved with a man in his thirties who, by the way lives thousand miles away from you is what you need now in college," I explained.
"Wow, okay, sorry for mentioning that I thought he is cute," she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what's the age difference between you and Jared, again?" her voice was dripping from sarcasm.
"That is a totally different situation. After a certain age, age gap doesn't matter in a relationship." I stated firm.
"Yeah, I heard this from my mother when I was eighteen and dated the twenty-five-year-old guy. She was like, seven-year age difference is different in your twenties than in your teens. Now I'm twenty-three and suddenly now I have to be in my thirties to not be judged by my preferences," she pouted.
"Come on, it's not like that. Of course, age doesn't matter when it comes to love, but... wow, I'm happy I didn't know about that relationship of yours," I stated in disbelief.
"Oh, God, please give back the fun side of Avery?" she sighed looking up. "Sometimes I feel like I am talking with my mother.
"This is how thirties look like," I stated with a winning smile.
"Yeah you should skip it, Jared makes it look like the forties are much more fun," she pointed at me. "And that's why I need you to loosen up and take this quiz with me," she grinned pulling the magazine between us. "Is your personality shining through your style?"
"Shining?" I raised an eyebrow looking at my black yoga pants with my very old black Mars merch hoodie.
"Hey, come on, and get excited!" she slapped my arm frustrated suddenly. "You are the girlfriend of a Rockstar! Living every girls' dream and you are just here like, pulling faces and not wanting to get out of bed and giving me these judge-y looks...."
"I'm sorry, I know... I know!" I sighed. "This might be every girls' dream but for me it's just a roller-coaster and most of the times I just wish Jared would work down in the corner shop so our life would be easy."
"Easy life is boring. Jared's a catch. He is the real deal, Avery; don't start being possessive with him like you were with Brian because he is gonna run. And he has the money to run faaar," she warned me as I looked at her stunned buy her raw outburst.
"I know and I am trying, but it's real hard..."
"You were always so supportive of him. Keep it that way. And that you didn't go back working for him was a big step and the best decision. Let him be free and he'll always fly right back to you. I see it on him," she smiled encouragingly.
I smiled back with a nod.
"After these months apart, when he will come back to you and you realize there were no other women, groupies or whatever he did before, it will be easier for you too to let him go next time."
"Yeah I hope so," I smiled feeling a bit more at ease as I took another sip.
The rest of the evening was on the happier side. I did agree to do a couple of those cosmopolitan tests and with the help of the alcohol we laughed a lot on some of the articles we read out loud.
We went to bed at around midnight and now promised to Lynn that we will be up early and head to Santa Monica to start our first actual day together.
Alcohol helped me fall asleep fast, but I did wake up at 3 am, for some reason thinking that if I turn, I'll be facing Jared, but as I did, reality hit me that he is gone.
I hugged the pillow he used while sleeping at mines, but his scent was long gone, and I just stared out of the window feeling so alone.
I was thinking back all that happened in these two weeks. It's crazy that it has only been two weeks since Jared and I got together. We also, did not spend a single night alone ever since then and suddenly my bed felt colder than ever thinking how long I won't have him around. My heart flinched just by the thought and I would have given all I have for Jared to walk through my door again, and hug me into his arms, so I could go back to sleep.
This reminded me of those many dreams I used to have with Jared in it where he would suddenly pull me close and kiss me, or sweetly caress my hand while confessing his feelings for me. I always woke up feeling embarrassed and I wouldn't even dare to look at him that whole day.
Now I felt like I just woke up from one of those dreams; I let the tears out silently as I was hugging my pillow as I slowly drifted into sleep.
Before I totally would have shut down I felt the light of my phone screen hitting my eyelids so I lifted my head to look at it.
There was a message from Jared.
Hey, I guess you are sleeping now, not gonna disturb your dreams. We just landed, didn't even leave the plane yet. There is a lot ahead but message me when you are up, and I'll call you asap. Love, J.♥️
I smiled lightly and without giving it a thought I hit the call button and after just one ring there was a cheerful answer on the other end.
"Av! Hey, why aren't you sleeping?" he asked, and his voice brought a sad smile to my face.
"I don't know... it's not so nice without you..." I sighed turning to my stomach leaning onto my elbows.
"Oh, babe, I know. I'm happy that the night is far away for me now."
"Did you get some sleep on the plane?" I asked.
"Couple hours. I just jumped into work; sketched some new merch design, ran through my lines, caught up on some of my business e-mails, I had Olivia print them. I didn't realize I have postponed this much of work."
"Oh... yeah I was surprised you gave yourself all the free time this holiday season," I smiled.
"I gave YOU all the free time," I heard a smile in his gentle voice.
"Now you just making me feel guilty," I muttered, picking on the corner of my pillow.
"Don't be. I honestly needed it, and needed you and nothing else before this trip," he stated.
I turned onto my side, laying the phone next to me as I put him to speaker.
"Very busy schedule?" I asked but talking and loud noises started to come from Jared's end, I had to lower the volume down.
"Yes... Okay, we are now getting off the plane, I'll call you later okay?" he asked in a hurry.
I took a deep breath, hoping I could talk to him a bit more.
"Okay..."
"Talk to you tonight, love you!"
I wanted to say love you back but by then he hung up.
"I love you too," I whispered, locking my phone as I turned to my other side and couldn't help but feel saddened by the thought that this is probably how most of our conversations are going to be like in the next months.
The next day I did put on a happy face for the sake of Lynn and because I wanted to show her that I can be fun as well, which honestly turned out the way I planned.
We started in Santa Monica, then drove around Hollywood and Los Angeles; we ate in great restaurants, both breakfast and lunch. Lynn was more than amazed as I knew all the places which served extraordinary vegan food and for her luck, we ran into one of her favorite Youtubers, she said. I had no idea who that person was, but she seemed pretty starstruck as always.
We finished the day back in Santa Monica to check out Shannon's café, although he wasn't in I brought Lynn to see and have some great coffees as she is a big fan as well.
Later that evening I was waiting for Jared's call, what, of course, never happened, so as my usual lame self, I cried myself to sleep.
The next day, fourth of January, I had to go back to work which was only about answering a bunch of e-mails and catching up on the news. My boss, Larry, of course was still on holiday so I didn't have to stay in longer than really needed, although I liked being back at work. It was great way to wake my brain cells up and was nice to see my colleagues back as well.
"Miss Forbs," I looked up from behind my desk to see Evan, the secretary walking towards me. "There was a woman here; she left you a note, asked me to give it to you."
Evan handled me a small paper folded in half.
I took it hesitantly.
"Oh, thanks... did she give you a name?" I asked as I unfolded the paper.
"No. Nothing," he shrugged as I looked down just to see a typed line saying: "I'd watch my back if I were you. Hollywood can be cruel for a country girl like you. x"
My eyes grew wide as I read the line then raised my gaze back up to Evan.
"How did the woman look like? Who dropped this?" I asked trying to hide the panic in my voice.
"She... wore a huge hat and sunglasses, I really haven't..."
"You must have seen something!" I burst out before taking a deep breath. "Sorry... it's just... weird... but... thanks..." I mumbled with a nod then looked back to the paper swallowing hard.
I didn't want to bother Jared with this, but he was the first person I wanted to call, but taking the fact that he never called me back I assumed he had enough on his plate without me telling him about this note.
It's most probably nothing anyway. It can't be anything... whoever it is, I was hundred percent sure it was one of Jared's side chicks and I honestly grew up from this kind of behavior and I am not going to go down that road. The last time I got a nasty note on a crumpled paper was way back in high school.
I shook my head throwing the paper into the bin under my desk and with that I decided that I had enough for that day.
Driving home, I tried not to think about that stupid note, when my phone rang.
I dug it out of my bag with my right hand to check who's calling and seeing Jared's name on the screen made my heart flutter. I quickly paired the phone with the car speakers before I answered.
"Hey," I smiled gently when the call connected.
"Now I can't sleep..." Jared croaky voice was heard, and I instantly got the urge to hug him tight and caress his soft hair.
"Oh, baby..." I sighed sadly.
"How is your day going so far?"
"It's... going. I started working today too. How is London?"
"Gloomy... cold..." he sighed. "But the people are very nice. We are going to start shooting in a couple of days, I'm waiting for that... be someone else for some time..."
"And who are you gonna be this time?" I asked with a smile, keeping my eyes on the road as I crossed lanes.
"A blind mastermind. Very interesting character, Niander," he answered.
"Oh, cannot wait to see," I smiled.
"Me neither. Maybe if you can come here you can meet him in person. I think he'll like you," his voice deepened, and I chuckled.
"I very much hope I can come see you both."
"Are you driving?" he asked surprised. "You're not holding your phone, do you?"
"No, It's on speaker, don't worry,"
"Good. How's the car serving you?"
"Oh, it is amazing Jared, but you know I wont keep it..."
"Sure sure. We can say that you are borrowing it if that puts your mind at rest," I heard a laugh at the end of the sentence.
"Thank you," I smiled as I parked in front of my building. "I really have to ask for a parking card..." I sighed.
"You haven't done it yet? Av, get it, before they fine you!" he scolded.
"I will, I will!"
"Today! Do it after the call, okay?"
"Yes daddy," I rolled my eyes.
"What..." he laughed surprised. "What did you just say?"
My eyes widened as I just realized what I said, and I blushed so hard.
"You know... how I mean," I stated, hating on him picking on it.
"Frankly, I was never into the daddy play, but if that's what floats your boat babe."
"Jared stop," I laughed shaking my head.
"I'll let you off the hook, but be a good girl for daddy, will you?" his voice deep again and I just rolled my eyes.
"Jared, please stop," I asked as it hit too close to home, reminding me of my dad.
"Alright, I'm sorry... by the way tomorrow I'm going live on Facebook. I need to get back in touch with the echelon and Olivia suggested I start doing Facebook lives; it reaches more fans apparently, so check in if you have time."
"I'll definitely will," I smiled leaning my head onto the stirring wheel.
"I'll go try to sleep some; talking with you was helping a lot."
"I'm happy then, " I smiled sadly. "Sleep well, baby."
"Thank you. Love you, bye!"
"Lo..." he hung up again.
I sighed disconnecting my phone.
I knew Jared wasn't someone who liked to talk through the phone or message a lot, and I knew he does make an effort in calling me, as usually he totally forgets about his private life when working, and I appreciated that a lot.
The few times we talked on the phone before, I swore he called with everything planned in his head and after saying what he had to say he just disconnected like all is done.
And yes, he definitely is not any different in a romantic phone call. He is not the "No, you hang up... no, YOU hang up" type of guy, but I would love him to wait until I say my goodbye.
I shook my head with a smile as I got out of the car and as Jared asked, I did request a parking card and then I joined Lynn for some Sex and the City marathon.