“Maybe you can give Jack some pointers, then,” I told him.
“Ross will be in perfectly good hands,” Vivian said. “Don’t you worry about it.”
She was being mean, and she wasn’t even making an effort to hide it, but I refused to argue with her, especially just then.
“I’m sure he will,” I replied cattily.
We scowled at each other for a few seconds while the poor actor asked himself what was going on. I felt a finger under my chin turning my head—Jack was beside me, asking me if everything was all right before looking menacingly at Vivian.
She huffed, uttered something incomprehensible, and walked off. Her companion soon followed.
I hugged Jack around the waist and felt his shoulders slump. “She wasn’t bothering you, was she?” he asked.
“No, not in the least. And the guy with her seems like a sweetheart.”
“He’s all right. He’s a professional. That’s more than you can say for a lot of people.”
Joey interrupted us: “Sorry, lovebirds, but we can’t miss this flight…”
“Just wait a second,” Jack said, then whispered to me, “I don’t know if I can go three whole days without you.”
“Take baby steps,” I told him. “Just focus on how you’re going to get through the next few hours in an airplane with all these people.”
He kissed me, and I sank into him as he held me, one hand on the nape of my neck and the other on the small of my back. I wasn’t ashamed to show how much I cared about him. I wasn’t worried about who saw. I opened my mouth, let his tongue slide in, forgot everything, just felt… When he stopped, it was as if he was already disappearing from my grasp. I tried not to let him go, but he said with a smile, “Jen, I’d stay here doing this all day, but Joey standing there staring at us is kind of ruining the moment.”
“Stay anyway.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
“I’m kidding,” I told him. “I know your fans need you. Now give them what they’re asking for and go enjoy doing whatever it is famous people do.”
“Jack Ross!” Joey yelled just as we started to kiss again.
“It’s not my fault, Joey,” Jack called back, “she’s using her witchcraft to try and keep me off the plane.” Then he turned back to me. “Are you going to think about me when I’m gone?”
“No,” I kidded him.
“You’re lucky I know for a fact that you adore me.”
After one last kiss, he walked over to his manager, who guided him through security. Over his shoulder he called out, “Behave while I’m gone, Mushu.”
I responded, “Try not to miss me too much.”
And then he vanished in the midst of the crowd. I stayed there a minute longer, unsure what to do, then decided to walk over to arrivals, since my brother would arrive an hour later. There was a café close by where I could wait for him. Since I knew I’d have time on my hands, I’d brought my laptop to study. It was past time to put my nose to the grindstone. I didn’t want to find myself in the same boat as Curtis.
Some students from our major had a group chat, and I was checking that out when Spencer texted me to tell me he’d arrived. I put awaymy computer and went to wait for him amid the mass of people leaned against the railing. When I saw him, I shouted and waved my hands, but he couldn’t see me, so I walked around to the side. We hugged, I had to jump off the ground to wrap my arms around his neck, and he laughed as I started kicking my legs like an excited little girl.
“Did you really miss me that bad?” he asked.
As he set me down, I replied, “So what if I did? Is that a problem?”
Rubbing the top of my head, he said, “You look good, sis. Better than when I saw you in February. Happier, that’s for sure.”
“I guess the time away from you has done me some good.”
He pretended to wipe away a tear as we walked to the exit. He was too tough to tell me he’d missed me, too, but I could tell.
Despite my driving lessons, I still didn’t have a license, so we took the train home. Along the way, we brought each other up to date on the family, our lives, our friends, and other goings-on. He was happy to hear I’d started running again, but disappointed when I told him I was only doing three miles a day. That made me feel bad, so I took the stairs up to the apartment when we got home.
