The plane had touched down at 11:00pm Seoul time. JC had tried to do the math in his head to see if Annie and Emma-Claire would be awake or not and then was confused as to whether or not he was ahead or behind them in the time change.

“Seventeen hours ahead,” Jimmy muttered sleepily, as they waited for their luggage. The girls were slouched together in a corner by baggage claim while Jimmy and JC took care of getting their bags. “So it’s 6:00am in L.A.”

Definitely too early, JC thought to himself and sighed, looking down at his phone. He lazily typed a text message to Annie letting her know they’d arrived and he would call later. All he wanted to do now was get to the hotel and sleep. They had an early interview on a Korean talk show the next morning, then were going to check out a private concert by a popular K-Pop band right after that. The rest of the day had been devoted to touring the city and then going to a rehearsal hall that Jimmy had found through a producer friend and rehearsing for another gig on another talk show. JC thrived on all of this but he was still tired and sleep couldn’t come soon enough for him. It was good to be back in the business. He’d missed it and he liked staying busy.

A limo awaited them outside the airport and the ride to their hotel was nearly a half-hour drive. By the time they’d checked in, it was almost 1:00 in the morning and JC couldn’t even think about what time he’d left L.A. He turned his phone off, stripped down to his underwear, and fell into bed.

When Annie woke up that morning, the first thing she did was check her phone. There was one message from JC and it was short and sweet:

Just landed. 17 hrs ahead of you. Miss you. Kiss Emma-Claire for me. Call you later.

Annie smiled at the message and wanted so much to call him but she knew it was best to wait on him to call her with his schedule there in Korea. She rose out of bed and went down the hall to check on Emma-Claire. It was Saturday and to get their mind off of missing JC, Annie had planned a full day of outings together. A trip to the Grove for a little shopping, lunch at Emma-Claire’s favorite Mexican restaurant, a movie, and dinner at their favorite hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant not far from their neighborhood. Emma-Claire wouldn’t have to take a nap and even though Annie knew there would be repercussions from that, she was willing to risk a whiny child for the sake of both their sanities.

Emma-Claire was awake and playing on the floor of her bedroom with a few Barbie dolls and stuffed animals. Annie watched her from the doorway and smiled at the child. She was grateful it was Saturday and there really wasn’t any rush to get out the door. The only scheduled event was the movie and that didn’t start until 4:00.

“Hi,” Annie greeted her. “Ready for breakfast?”

“Hi, Annie!” Emma-Claire immediately jumped up from her spot on the floor and ran over to Annie, hugging her around her thighs. “Yeah, I’m hungry.” Emma-Claire followed Annie downstairs and climbed into the breakfast nook. Annie began to take down the items for homemade chocolate chip pancakes and immediately made a pot of coffee. Just as she’d put the batter into the skillet, the doorbell rang.

“Who’s at our house?” Emma-Claire asked, looking up at Annie.
“That’s a great question,” Annie muttered, turning the stove down and wandering into the living room, Emma-Claire fast on her heels. When she got to the door, Annie peered through the peephole and laughed when she saw Lance and Michael on the other side.

“Surprise!” Lance grinned, holding up a bag of to-go boxes. “We brought you and Emma breakfast.”

“We thought you’d be sad today,” Michael added, “so we decided to cheer you up. Can we come in?”

“Of course,” Annie opened the door wider for the couple to come inside the house. “Emma, remember Daddy’s friends? Lance and Michael?”

“Yeah. They came when I had to go to sleep!” Emma-Claire reminded her.

“Hi, Emma-Claire,” Lance knelt down to her level. “How ya doing?”

“Good,” Emma-Claire was unsure of what to think and stuck close to Annie. Lance grinned and stood up, following Annie into the kitchen, Michael behind him.

“So, how’s JC holding up in Korea?” Lance asked as he set the food down on the counter. He looked over to see the pancake batter and unfinished pancake in the skillet. “Oh, our bad. Didn’t know you had started on breakfast, Annie.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Annie assured him. “We can save the batter and eat them for breakfast tomorrow.” She began to clear everything away and Michael had already started munching on the unfinished pancake. “And to answer your question, I got a text from him when he landed a few hours ago. Said he’d call later. They’re seventeen hours ahead of us so I’m not expecting anything any time soon but I’m hoping I’ll hear something before I go to bed tonight.”

“Just be glad it’s only a week,” Lance began to scrape French toast onto a plate from the to-go boxes. “We traveled Asia for months on end back when we were in Nsync.”

“If it were for months on end, Emma-Claire and I would both be there,” Annie responded. “A week is long enough. Months on end? No thank you.”

“So things are going really good?” Michael asked, sitting across from Emma-Claire, who was still studying him. He looked at her and winked and she giggled, splaying her hands across the table.

“Things are great,” Annie said. “We haven’t really seen much of each other in the last few days but he’s been getting the girls ready for their trip.”

Lance brought the plate of French toast and bacon and eggs over to the table. “We stopped by a little diner down the road and picked this up. I hope you like it.”

Annie thanked them again and began to help Emma-Claire cut up the French toast on her plate. The toast melted in her mouth and Annie smiled at Lance as she swallowed the bite.

“Delicious,” she told him.

“So, what are you guys doing the rest of today?” Michael asked. “And Annie, is that coffee up for grabs?” he gestured towards the piping hot pot of coffee that was now wafting its scent throughout the kitchen.

“Help yourself,” Annie nodded. “The mugs are above the stove. And we’ve got a full day ahead of us. We’re going to the Grove and having Mexican for lunch.”

“And we’re going to see a movie and I don’t have to take a nap today!” Emma-Claire exclaimed with a mouthful of French toast.

“Emma, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Annie shook her head at Emma-Claire.

“Sorry,” Emma-Claire wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and swallowed the pieces of French toast in her mouth.

“Wow. No nap? That sounds like a really fun day, then,” Michael stood to retrieve a coffee mug from the cabinet above the stove. Lance sat across from Annie and saw her sneaking a look down at her phone.

“Annie, don’t watch your phone all day,” Lance told her knowingly. “I know it’s hard but if you do that you’re gonna be disappointed when he doesn’t text.”

Annie bit her lower lip and made a face. “Yeah, I know. It’s just that we really haven’t gone this long without talking to each other.”

“I get it. But I also know JC. He’ll call as soon as he gets a chance,” Lance looked at his watch. “And it’s like, the middle of the night over there. I’d give it til later this afternoon.”

Annie only nodded and went back to her food. It was going to be a long day.

“Whatever. You don’t have to be a bitch about it!”

“I’m not being a bitch but you totally took over that interview! There are eleven of us in this group and you were acting as though it was all about you! It’s not Alex Radical it’s Girl Radical!”

“Whatever, you-“

“Stop!” JC had had enough. “Nobody says anything until we get to the next interview.” He turned around and shot a warning look at the eleven girls in the van. Jimmy was sitting up front in the passenger seat and gave JC the thumbs up sign, letting him know he was doing a great job taking care of the bickering. The girls had been quarreling and fighting with one another for the last eight hours. The excitement of being in another country had quickly worn off and all they’d been doing was going back and forth on one another. He’d done the interview with them that morning and it was true – Alex had taken over the whole interview and Rosie had been right to call her out on it. Just not in the way that she had. JC had had his fill of their catfights with each other and it was exhausting him. Not to mention he hadn’t talked to Annie all day and it had put him in an even worse mood. They’d never gone this long without speaking to each other and with the time difference, it felt like it had been a week since he’d heard her voice.

“Is it five in the evening L.A. time?” he asked Jimmy wearily, taking out his phone.

Jimmy checked his watch, did the math quickly in his head and nodded. “Yep. Ten in the morning here, five their time. Give your woman a call.”

JC shook his head. “I’ll text her. No way I’m calling her while World War 3 is going on in the back seat.”

“Sorry Dad,” one of the girls mumbled from behind. “We’ll be quiet if you want to call Annie.”

“No, I’ll wait till we get to the studio,” JC answered, looking down at his phone and texting Annie a message:

Hey. Are you home? Calling you in about 30 min. Josh.

Annie and Emma-Claire had found a five -dollar movie theater near downtown West Hollywood that was showing a series of Disney movies all day. They’d just started to watch The Fox and the Hound when Annie felt her phone vibrating in her purse, which was by her foot. She looked quickly at Emma-Claire who was already engrossed in the movie and pulled her phone out. She’d been waiting all day long to hear from JC and even though Lance had told her not to get her hopes up, Annie couldn’t help it. Every time her phone had buzzed or rang, she eagerly reached for it. This time, Annie took a breath and looked at the screen. She smiled widely when she saw the message was from JC, then frowned upon realizing she and Emma-Claire would still be in the movie in the next half hour. She sighed and typed back:

Hi! In a movie with Emma. Can we call you when we get out? It would be in another hour. xo.

JC frowned upon seeing her reply. In another hour the girls would be doing another interview and meeting the K-Pop band and he’d have to be there with Jimmy to run all of that.

No. We have another interview and a meeting. Can I call you around 11 tonight?

Annie sighed and rubbed her forehead. This time difference sucked.

I’ll stay up for you, babe J Emma will be asleep, though. You’ll have to call her back later if you want to talk to her.

“I can talk to Annie later tonight but Emma’ll be asleep,” JC griped to Jimmy as the van pulled into the studio lot. “This time difference is shitty.”

“Sorry, man,” Jimmy was busy typing into his phone and didn’t turn around.

JC groaned inwardly and typed back:

Call you at eleven. Miss you baby.

Annie felt her heart sink a little when she read his last text. She didn’t think she’d ever missed someone as much as she missed JC right then and felt a little silly for how desperate he was making her for him.

Can’t wait. Talk to you soon. And I miss you a lot babe.

JC turned his phone off as they entered the studio. It was only a little after ten that morning and he’d have to wait another six hours before he talked to her.

It was going to be a long day.

Annie lay in bed later that night. She’d survived the day with Emma-Claire and even though the child hadn’t taken a nap, she had still been pleasant for the most part. There was a small tantrum at dinner when Annie had told her ‘no’ to a soda. It was nearing seven and she knew if Emma-Claire had one she’d be up the rest of the night. Without a nap, it would be a miserable time for both of them. Nonetheless, they’d survived and by the time they got home, Emma-Claire was more than ready for bed. After Annie had settled the little girl, she went to the room she now shared with JC and changed into her pajamas. The large king-sized bed had seemed even more gargantuan without him in it. For the last three hours, Annie had entertained herself with different television shows that she had barely paid any attention to and had checked her phone almost at every commercial break, hoping for eleven to come soon. She hoped he’d be in a somewhat secluded place when he made the phone call. Her worst thought was that he would be in a public area with the girls and it would be hard to converse together. But she put that out of her mind. No. He’d find a way to make sure their conversation together was without disruption.

At eleven-fifteen, Annie had started to get a little perplexed. She knew there would be complications and maybe whatever he had been doing had run late and that’s why he hadn’t called. She was also starting to feel her eyelids droop and was doing her best not to give into sleep.

JC was getting impatient. Everything that day had run at least a half-hour late and now he was sitting at a conference table with Jimmy and a few record execs from Seoul discussing the Girl Radical project. The girls had gone off with the K-Pop band they’d met earlier that day and when they got back, they’d all head to the hotel to get ready for dinner. He looked at his phone and knew Annie was waiting on him to call.

“Excuse me,” JC rose from his seat. “I’ll be right back.”

Jimmy and the execs nodded as JC made his way to the door of the conference room. He stood outside and quickly hit the number he’d assigned to Annie’s speed dial.

Annie jumped when her phone rang. She didn’t even hesitate and immediately picked up.

“Josh?”

“Hey, baby.”

“Hey! How are you?”

JC sighed into the phone and looked down the hallway as he leaned against the wall. “I’m good. I’m pretty beat. I don’t have a lot of time because I’m in a meeting right now and I know you’re going to bed soon.”

Annie’s heart sunk a little. He didn’t have a lot of time. This wouldn’t be the conversation she had hoped for.

“Yeah,” Annie cleared her throat. “Well, that’s okay. You can call tomorrow if that’s better.”

“I don’t know if that will be better or not,” JC admitted. “It’s pretty packed everyday over here.”

Annie didn’t say anything, only let out a short breath.

“Annie?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I didn’t know if we’d been cut off. You didn’t say anything.”
“What do you want me to say? You’re basically telling me we’re not really going to get a chance to communicate while you’re there.”

“Annie, I didn’t say that at all. I just said it was gonna be busy is all. I’m gonna try to call and text you as much as I can. I promise. But remember we’re seventeen hours apart and I’m doing the best I can.” JC sighed again. “How’s Emma?”

Annie relented. He was trying and she should’ve been grateful for that. “She’s good. We were out all day together today. Oh and Lance and Michael brought us breakfast,” she was trying to lighten the mood. She felt tension and she didn’t like it.

“That was sweet of them,” JC said.

“Yeah, Lance said he figured we’d be lonely and wanted to cheer us up.”

“I’ll have to repay him when I get back,” JC looked into the conference room and saw Jimmy signaling for him. “Hey, Ann, I have to go. I’m needed in a meeting.”

Annie did her best not to snap or respond defeated. “Okay,” she said. “I miss you, Josh.”

“I miss you, too, baby.”

Annie bit her lip. She wanted to say more but what? It felt…distant all of the sudden and she didn’t know why. He’d really only been gone for almost two days but it had felt much longer.

“Tell Emma I’ll call tomorrow and talk to her. Tell her I love her and-“ JC had caught himself just in time. He’d almost told Annie he loved her and even though he knew he was close, he also knew it wasn’t time. Especially not when he was miles away from her on another continent. “-and that I’ll be home soon.”

Annie smiled into the phone. “I will, Josh.”

“Bye, Annie.”

“Bye.”

JC hung up and looked at his phone. The conversation had not been at all what he’d wanted it to be. He’d imagined himself holed up in his hotel room talking to her without interruption. He’d even secretly wanted to see how she’d do with a little phone sex if the mood struck them. But none of that had even remotely happened. He’d just spent five minutes on the phone in the middle of a random office building in Seoul, Korea talking to his girlfriend. And she’d seemed irritated at one point, which had thrown everything off. Just before he went back into the meeting, a text came in from Annie:

That was weird. I’m sorry I was bitchy. I just miss you. And I wanted to talk to you longer.

JC immediately responded back.

I know. It’s ok. We just have to wait a few more days. I’ll be home soon. Keep my bed warm 

Annie snuggled beneath the covers and turned on her side as she replied to him.

Done.

She toyed with the idea of what she wanted to say next, then threw caution to the wind.

I miss you inside of me.

JC had just returned to the meeting and looked down at his phone. He felt his face flush and rubbed his eyes with his free hand to make sure it looked as though he were just tired and not turned on.

I miss being inside of you, too.

He hit send. Then continued.

What are you doing right now?

Annie sunk underneath the sheets more and placed her hand in between her legs. If he wanted to do it this way, she’d be more than happy to play along.

What do you want me to do?

JC looked around at the men sitting at the table across from him. They were focusing on Jimmy, who was going on about girl bands in America and how they wanted to bring K-Pop to the States. JC nodded in agreement, all the while typing back to Annie.

Touch yourself. Play with your clit.

Annie walked her fingers inside of her panties and soon was rubbing the swollen bud of her clit with her two fingers. It was difficult to text and do that at the same time, but she would try her best to keep up with his demands.

I wish you were here watching me.

JC about came out of his chair when he read that. He shifted in his seat, feeling himself growing harder. He rested his cheek on the palm of his hand and continued.

Yeah that would be hot. I don’t know if I could just watch. I’d want to put it in you too much. Are you still touching yourself?

Annie went harder and closed her eyes, wishing he was there doing this to her. This would have to do but even so, it wasn’t what she wanted.

Yeah. Thinking about you gets me so wet.

JC was doing his best not to groan in pleasure while he pictured her laying up there in his bed getting herself off to his texts.

What are you thinking about? What am I doing to you?

Annie brought her knees up to her chest and was now laying flat on her back. She slid two fingers inside of her depths and took turns going in and out and back to her clit. Typing was getting to be even harder but she was enjoying it too much to stop.

You’re licking my clit and fingering me and it feels so good, baby.

“…well guys I think that’s it,” Jimmy concluded. “Unless, um, C, you got anything you wanna add?”

JC looked up from his phone and hoped his face hadn’t given it away that he was hot and bothered. “Um. No. No, I think you covered it all,” he cleared his throat and smiled casually.

“Good,” Jimmy nodded. “Ok. I guess we’ll just go into the lobby and wait for the girls.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” JC replied and Jimmy shrugged, heading out the door with the other execs behind him. JC looked around the now empty conference room. He quickly dialed Annie’s number again.

Annie had been waiting for his next text and was on the verge of her orgasm when the phone began to buzz. She grabbed it and when she saw it was JC, stopped touching herself for a moment.

“Hey,” she breathed heavily into the phone.

“I wanna hear you come,” JC whispered. “And I don’t have long but since I can’t see you, I wanna hear you.”

“Okay,” Annie said softly and let her fingers continue their assault. “Mm, Josh. It feels so good. I wish it was your dick and not my fingers.”

JC leaned back into the chair and placed his hand on top of his erection. He knew he couldn’t very well get off in this random conference room but it sure was tempting now that Annie was so close to coming. He could hear her gasping for breath and pictured her closing her eyes, biting on her lower lip to keep from screaming and waking Emma-Claire.

“Trust me, mama, I wish it was me inside of you, too. But we gotta pretend right now. You sound so hot when you’re coming, Annie. Rub your clit, baby. I wanna hear how much you like that.”

Annie did as he asked and rubbed harder and faster.

“Say my name, Annie,” JC’s voice was low and husky and Annie was nearly there.

“Jossshhh,” she hissed into the phone and JC knew she had reached her climax. He waited until she’d caught her breath before he said anything else.

“I guess that’s how we’re gonna have to get through this week,” he chuckled softly.

Annie let out a small breath and rested against the pillows. “Yeah. I guess it is. Hey, where are you?”

JC laughed a little louder. “I’m in some random business office’s conference room in downtown Seoul. We’re waiting on the girls and-“

“Oh my god we just had phone sex in a public conference room?!”

“Calm down, there wasn’t anyone in here with me.”

“I know, but still…”

“Whatever. You just gave me something to think about tonight when I go to sleep.”

“Oh really?”

“Really.”

“Well I guess you should call me if you decide you need a little help with that,” Annie whispered.

“It’ll probably be about six in the morning in L.A. You gonna be up that early? And more importantly, are you gonna be that coherent?”

“Probably not.”

“We’ll figure something out. I’m glad I could help you out there.”

“Mmhm. I’ll definitely sleep better that’s for sure.”

“Then my job is done. I have to go anyway or Jimmy’s gonna wonder what I was doing back here. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight,” Annie hung up and placed the phone on the nightstand. Her mind was filled with images now of JC with her like she’d been imagining him when she’d been pleasing herself. Maybe they were off before, but they certainly hadn’t been off just now. Smiling contentedly, Annie turned off the lamp on the nightstand and closed her eyes.

“Everything okay?” Jimmy asked as JC walked into the lobby.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Just had to finish a phone call with Annie,” JC replied, nonchalantly. His mind was still racing with thoughts of her and what she’d been doing while they were talking but he quickly erased them and was back to business.

“Ready for dinner?”  he asked the eleven girls seated around the couches and chairs in the lobby.
“Starving!” Chase exclaimed and stood to her feet.

Dinner at an authentic Korean restaurant was just what JC needed. In fact, anything was needed to get his mind off of sex with Annie.

Five days. He could wait five more days.

Especially if he got to talk to Annie like he just had more often.

He followed the girls out of the office building, shut his phone off, and got ready to go to dinner.