The One That Got Away.

Jared's Plan For Kelly

Jared was still trying to get to the bottom of how Kelly truly felt about photography. While she was absolutely ace at her job, she did not seem to enjoy it. Jared thought she was far too talented to be deprived of joy from her craft. 

"Is there something else you'd rather be doing instead of photography?" he asks.

"You already asked me this."

"I asked if you'd rather be shooting different subjects. But I mean, would you rather do something entirely different in life? Like a nurse or something."

"No, I love photography, I just wish it paid better. Once my inheritance runs out, I'm not sure I can even keep the studio open."

"Is the studio something you really need?"

"Clients certainly trust you much more when you have a brick and mortar studio. They don't want to incur the price increase, though."

"What about a specialty client?"

"I already specialize in weddings and family portraits."

"No, I mean working exclusively for one client."

"Not sure how that would work. People usually hope they only get married once," she laughs sarcastically. 

 Just then, Kelly's phone rings. It's Josh.

Anxiety bolts through Kelly. There was no way she could talk to Josh while at Jared's hotel, even if she took the call in the privacy of the bathroom. She was shaking and he'd hear it in her voice.

"Oh shit, oh shit," she says.

Jared doesn't see any reason to encourage her to answer, he figures it's best to let the call go to voicemail.

The phone stops ringing, and then another worry hits Kelly, "What if that was an emergency! I can't even call him back!" she exclaims.

"It's not an emergency. It's gonna be ok," he says calmly. "He's just called to say hey, it's cool, he's fine."

Kelly receives a voicemail notification sound. 

"See," Jared says, "He's left a message. Listen to it, everything is fine."

She listens to the message. Everything was fine, he confirms the plan for her to pick him up from the airport at 7 AM on Monday, and unfortunately, she could not call him back but he would try calling again before then. The last part was standard, as he could rarely keep that promise. 

"Ugh, I can't believe I just-"

Jared grabs Kelly and pulls her on top of him. "You're not going into that spiral again. You're here with me right now and I want all of your attention," he says firmly while rubbing his hands up and down her body. 

"Are you leaving after Monday?" she asks him. He notices her tone is much different than the previous times she'd asked him that. This time she didn't sound as if she was eager for him to go.

"I'll be leaving soon after," he says. He hadn't decided yet if he should meet Josh for the first time now or when they came out to LA in a week or so.

"Are you going to Miami?"

"No, that's over and done. I'll be going back to LA." 

Jared notices she hasn't covered the hickeys on her neck. "Does it hurt too much to cover these?" he asks with concern. He still feels bad he left such serious-looking bruises.

"No, I was just too lazy." The truth is, she wants Jared to do it again and figures no one wants a mouth full of makeup. She very much noticed he hadn't tried to kiss her since the beach and she badly wanted him to kiss her again. She knew he was still attracted to her, with her body on top of his she could feel he had an erection.