Laura was glad to be outside in the cold air. Maybe the air will cool me down. My face feels like it’s on fire. She reached up and touched her burning cheeks. She had never felt like this before. Why did it have to be JC that is causing these feelings? He’s going to go back to his own superstar life and I’ll have no place in it. Guard your heart Laura.
Laura called the dogs to come back to the house. Though they had not gone far because of the large snowdrifts everywhere.
She shivered as she came back into the cold house. JC called to her as she entered the kitchen.
“Hurry up and get in here, your breakfast is gonna freeze!” Laura quickly joined him in the living room. He had cereal bowls all ready for them and had the kerosene heater going to take the chill off the room. He really was thoughtful.
“The snow is slowing down, but it is so cold out there.” Laura said as she dived under the blankets on the couch. “Thanks for fixing breakfast.”
“No problem, not everyone gets to enjoy my gourmet cooking skills! You should consider yourself very lucky.” He chuckled as he handed her a bowl of cereal.
“Gourmet, huh, what else fits into this gourmet category?”
“Well, let’s see, cereal, obviously. Popcorn, spaghetti, I heat up a mean pizza and of course I am a professional at calling for take out.”
“Wow, can you teach me some of these gourmet skills?” Laura giggled as she took another bite of cereal.
“I don’t know. These skills have taken years to perfect and some of them are just deep family secrets and if I told you I’d have to, well who cares.” JC started out with a straight face, but was soon laughing along side Laura as he finished his sentence.
“Oh my goodness, a world famous chef staying in my house, I feel so embarrassed, all I served you was homemade tomato soup and who knows what else that I’m sure offended your palette.” They both fell against the back of the couch as they laughed together.
“Actually, I’m a pretty good cook, I don’t fix like Thanksgiving or anything, but I can grill a great steak and make just regular food, nothing fancy.” He said after the laughter died down.
“Oh, I love to make the Thanksgiving meal! I take the day before off work and just make pies and cook all day. I love to fix the turkey. It’s the best meal of the year!”
“And you make it by yourself?”
“You betcha!”
“I know where I’m gonna be next Thanksgiving. I’ve tasted your food; you put my gourmet meals to shame. I’ll never cook again!” He heaved a dramatic sigh as he threw an arm over his face.
“Oh no, you don’t get off that easy! I want to try one of these great steaks you claim to make.”
“I see how it is – you haven’t even had one yet and you’re insulting my cooking.”
“Alright, I’ll make you a deal, you make me one of your supposed great steaks and I will make you the best Thanksgiving meal you’ve ever had!”
“Deal, let’s shake on it.” They shook briefly, with JC holding on to Laura’s hand longer than necessary. Her hand was tingling in reaction to JC. Reluctantly he released her hand so they could both finish their cereal.
Their day was much like the one before – talking, puzzles, and games. Later in the evening though the power came back on and they knew it wouldn’t be much longer that they would be trapped together. Plows were slowly moving the snow aside.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to get your car out until spring,” Laura joked, she knew their time together would be closing.
“Ahh, that’s alright, there’s nothing in there that I need right now anyway. I can get a new phone and I have plenty of other clothes.”
“Oh really? You mean you don’t want to continue to wear the absolutely fabulous clothes that I have loaned you? I am heartbroken!” She said sarcastically.
“Yeah, I can see the publicity now – ‘Worst dressed tonight is JC Chasez, sporting a hideous pair of footie pajamas. He’s walking around like a penguin, what was he thinking?’”
She laughed and said, “Come on now, don’t knock those pajamas, they kept you warm! If you’re going to drive in the snow maybe you should get yourself a pair in case you get stuck again!”
“Hey, I’m a good driver!”
“Yeah, that’s why your car is buried under 3 feet of snow and in the ditch!”
“Well, I met you so I’d say that more than makes up for it.” JC’s tone turned serious. “I’m going to miss you after I leave. I can’t thank you enough for taking me in and caring for me, a perfect stranger, you didn’t care who I was, but you fixed me up and gave me a warm place to stay. I can’t tell you how good it feels that I got to know you and I hope we can continue to see each other after this storm ends.”
“Anyone would have taken someone in during the storm, that’s no big deal. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, you’ll forget about me when you leave.” Laura grabbed a cup from the coffee table and moved into the kitchen so he couldn’t see the pain his leaving would cause.
That didn’t stop JC, he got up and followed her into the kitchen, coming to a stop close behind her, watching her reflection in the window as she stood at the sink.
He dropped his head to rest on her shoulder as he whispered, “I could never, I will never forget you. I have never met anyone like you in my life, you confuse me, but I promise you, we will see each other again.”
Laura shivered as the breath from his words brushed over her ear and blew the loose strands of her hair. She turned to face him as he lifted his head from her shoulder.
Looking deep into his eyes, she simply said, “Then I’d like that.”
“Good,” he replied before placing a light kiss on her cheek and moving back into the living room. “What movie do you want to watch tonight?”
“Does this mean it’s my turn for my scalp massage now?” She joked to hide her true feelings, keeping her face averted as she came back into the living room.
They were both remembering what had happened the last time they had watched a movie on the couch.
He cleared his throat before answering in a rough voice, “Absolutely.”
“Then I’m gonna choose the longest movie I have,” Laura laughed.
After choosing a light drama, Laura placed in the dvd player and turned around. JC was already sitting at one end of the couch with a pillow on his lap and a blanket ready to cover up with. He patted the cushion next to him. She moved to the couch and sat down, his hand reaching up to pull the hair tie from her ponytail. Her long hair fell in a cascade around her face before JC moved his attention from her eyes to the soft long hair. His fingers running gently through the long strands. Tenderly he pulled her down to rest against his chest as he continued running his hand through her hair.
All she could concentrate on was the feel his hands running through her hair and rubbing her arm. This man had already worked his way into her heart. She knew when he left, it would be hard to continue a relationship; he could make his promises, but she knew deep down his career would get in the way and it would become too difficult.
She closed her eyes as she truly relaxed in his arms.
Halfway through the movie, JC realized that Laura was asleep. He twisted a little to reach the remote and turn the volume down. He nestled deeper into the couch, resting his head on the back and closing his eyes.
*****************************************************
Laura awoke to a wet nose in her face. She blinked slowly as she realized that she was asleep on the couch. Lifting her head up, she realized she had fallen asleep and again used JC as a pillow. He’ll be glad to leave just to be able to sleep without me using him as a pillow, Laura thought wryly.
She carefully lifted up, trying not to wake him, moving his arm that was wrapped around her. Glancing up at him, she noticed him staring at her with an amused smile on his face.
“Were you gonna tell me you were awake or just lay there?”
“I was just enjoying the show, you trying to get out of this.”
“Ha ha ha, you’re a funny guy, funny, funny guy. Especially this early in the morning. I thought you were the one who slept all the time and was hard to wake up.” She said as she finally extricated herself.
“You can’t believe everything you read, I like to sleep, but I wake up easily. But I have to tell you, that’s the second night in a row that I have slept great and woke rested. I haven’t slept like that in a long, long time.”
“I know, I don’t usually sleep through the night, but for some reason the past couple of nights I’ve slept really great too. What do you suppose that means?” She said as she went to let the dogs out, not expecting an answer.
“It means that I am definitely not going to forget you, I don’t know what this is going to turn into, but we will be seeing each other again.” He said to himself as he stretched before getting up to prepare breakfast.
*************************************
Not long after breakfast, they heard a tractor pull into the driveway. Her cousin was there, plowing the snow so Laura could get her car out. The snowplows had worked through the night and had the roads clear enough to travel.
Now that the driveway was being cleared, there was no reason to delay the inevitable.
“What do you want me to do about your car? It will be awhile, before anyone can get to it, especially since the plows just piled up another couple of feet of snow around it. Do you want to catch a flight out or what?”
“Do you mind looking after the car? When it’s clear I’ll come back and get it, but there is nothing in there that I need right away. If I can get to the airport, I’ll catch a flight back to LA, where it’s probably 80 degrees with the sun shining.” He was trying to lighten the mood. Neither wanted the real world to come back in.
“Sure, no problem. I’ll get your car out of the ditch you put it in and into the nice warm garage. Do you want to head to the airport now or see what flights are available?”
“If you don’t mind just heading to the airport, I’m sure I can get a flight.”
“Yeah, we can do that. This is your last chance to get anything out of your car though.”
“Nah, I’m alright, I’m just gonna change back into my clothes real quick.”
A short while later, they were in the car heading toward the airport. On their way, they stopped for their last meal together for a while. This whole trip was bittersweet. Neither wanted their time together to end, but both needed some distance to figure out what was happening between them.
Laura pulled into the parking garage at the airport and shut the car off.
“You don’t have to come in.”
“I want to make sure you get on a flight.” They both exited the car and met at the front. JC grabbing her hand and interlacing their fingers together tightly.
The couple quietly made their way to a ticket counter, where JC found a flight that was leaving in an hour. After buying his ticket, they made their way to a private corner in the airport. They faced a window, looking out at the planes coming and going.
Ultimately JC leaned against the pole and pulled Laura into his arms, hugging her closely against him. Her head was tucked into his neck, breathing in his scent.
“I’m gonna miss you,” he said. “Now you have all my numbers right and I have yours. I’m gonna call you as soon as I land and get another phone.”
“Yeah, let me know that you made it back alright. It’s been great getting to know you these past few days. Thank you for being there through the storm with me.”
“Thank you for taking me in and opening your home to me. I love spending time with you and I’ll be back before you know it.”
He bent his head to her mouth and let their lips say their own goodbyes. The world disappeared around them. For JC, this was a beginning, to what he didn’t know, but he didn’t want to let her out of his life. For Laura, this was an ending, she was convinced that other that communicating about his car, she would never see him again.
With one last kiss, JC tore himself away and with a final look, strode to security. Laura turned around and leaned against the pole and watched him walk through security and with a final wave, walk out of her life.
