Liz tried to make the car ride to the airport fun, knowing how bummed Allyson was to be leaving.

“So, JC excluded, what was your favorite thing about this week?” Liz asked.

“Disney, absolutely!” Allyson quickly answered. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved everything we’ve done, and it’s all been a lot of fun, but Disney was special.”

“Disney is special,” Liz said.

The conversation continued, and within the next 45 minutes, Liz pulled into the same parking lot where she had picked up Allyson.

“I’m so glad you finally took my offer to come out to LA,” she said, throwing her arms around Allyson’s neck.

“Me too! This was the absolute best way to celebrate my birthday and the end of school finally!”

“You’ll let me know if you end up finding a job out here on the West Coast?”

“I will. I guess I need to update my resume now, don’t I?” she said, making a face. 

“Don’t stress about it yet. Enjoy what’s left of this trip.”

Allyson laughed a little and nodded.

They hugged each other again as Allyson grabbed hold of her bags and made her way across the airport road to the terminal.

Her heart was sinking. This was all a dream, and she did not want it to end. In her mind, she envisioned JC pulling a Parent Trap move and surprising her in DC to tell her he shouldn’t have ever let her leave LA. Then, reality set in.

This is real life, not a cute movie, she thought to herself.

A few minutes later, as Allyson was waiting to check her bag, her phone buzzed alerting her to a new text message.

It was from JC: I already miss you.

He knew she should be at the airport, so he wasn’t expecting an immediate response, which was good because Allyson didn’t know how to respond. Part of her wanted to call and tell him she missed him too and to come pick her up because she’s not going back. But she knew she had to go back. Even if she did end up moving to LA for good, she had to say goodbye to Shannon and settle things with her apartment.

A small pool of tears began to form in her eyes, making her vision go blurry for a moment.

Taking a deep breath in and a long exhale, she got herself together before stepping up to the counter. Somehow her bag was under the 50-pound weight limit by a half pound, which made her chuckle at her last-minute change of shoes that probably made the difference.

The flight was uneventful – long, but uneventful. She took advantage of the movie options and put on Mamma Mia! to pass the time.

Between the movie and a quick snooze, she was thankful the flight didn’t feel as long as it was.

“Back to reality,” she muttered to herself, as she stepped off the jetbridge and into the terminal.

She pulled her phone out and turned it off of airplane mode and realized she had never texted JC back.

I already miss you, stared back at her from the screen. Now she knew what to do.

Instead of pulling out her phone to text, she pulled up JC’s name and pushed dial.

“Hey!” she said. “I’m so sorry! I should’ve texted you before getting on the flight, but I was so focused on getting checked in and distracting myself from reality.”

He laughed on the other end, “It’s all good. I knew you would be dealing with airport stuff. Believe me, I know airport chaos. So you’re back in DC?”

“Yeah, unfortunately. I wish I were in LA with you. I wish I didn’t have to leave.”

“Me too. But, hey, maybe it won’t be too long!”

“I’ll be looking for jobs this weekend.”

“Babe, do me a favor, OK?”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t pass up a good job on the East Coast because of me.”

“OK?” she questioned.

“I would hate myself if I was the reason you didn’t take a great opportunity. If something presents itself on the East Coast, we’ll make it work. I’d love it if you found something here near LA, but do not pass up a better opportunity just to move here. OK?”

“OK,” she said apprehensively.

“Promise me.” His voice was still just as serious. This was not a joke to him.

“I promise,” she said sincerely.

“Thank you. OK, so now, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“Well it’s 1 a.m.,” she said, laughing as she just realized that fact, “so I think I’m going to go to bed.” She laughed. “A 5 o’clock flight didn’t sound so bad when I was leaving LA. I didn’t think about what time it would be when I got here.”

“Well, be safe, and you can call later if you want. I’m just finishing up in the studio.”

“OK. It might be tomorrow if that’s OK. Now that my body has realized the time, I think I might just collapse when I get home.”

He let out a deep laugh. “In that case, I’ll tell you goodnight. You can let me know you’re home.”

“I will. I love you, JC.”

“I love you too, honey. My bed’s going to feel empty tonight.”

“Dream of me, and I’ll dream of you.”

They both laughed, but JC also jotted that line down. He had definitely found his muse.