The One After the Reunion

Chapter Seven

June 14, 2021, 11:50 AM

Ten minutes to go

JEN

The boys took over the front row of the car. LeBlanc is in charge of the wheel while Matty acts as co-pilot suggesting different routes in case we hit a bit of heavy traffic. We left the house 10 minutes ago and by the looks of it, we're running late.

Court's on the phone trying to reach the front desk to ask about David's check-out status. She hasn't had any luck so far. Floosh is holding my hand as she reassures me that everything's going to turn out good.

"I see a bit of traffic up ahead," says Matty. "You wanna take Santa Monica Boulevard instead?"

"I don't know. I get caught in more jams there than here," says LeBlanc. "I say we stick with this."

The tension's getting to me. I feel so helpless in this car. I look at my watch and see 11:53. 7 minutes to go. He could be getting out of his suite by now. If we don't catch him, we have no idea where he's going next. We wouldn't have any other choice but to get on the plane and go to his apartment in New York.

"I think I'm going to call him," I say.

"What are you going to tell him?" Lisa asks as she lets go of my left hand.

"I don't know, honey. But I got to do something. Just sitting here and waiting is driving me insane." I take my phone out of my purse and look for his name in my contacts. I dial it and it rings once, twice, and it just keeps ringing. I'm hoping his phone is just inside his backpack and not that he's purposely ignoring my call. But I guess I deserve that anyway.

"He's not picking up," I say as I try to ring him again.

Court gets off the phone and looks at me. "They told me he's still in the hotel. Matt, ETA?"

"We're like 3 minutes away," he responds. I look again at my watch. It's 11:58. Come on, we're so close! I don't want to miss him by just a couple of minutes.

I try his cell again and still nothing. Suddenly, the vehicle turns right, and Court, Lisa, and I look at one another.

"Uh, Matt. Why did we turn here? The hotel's straight ahead." Court says.

"Just following the GPS."

"Matt, it was just up ahead," argues Matty.

The car then comes to a halt. "No, look! See? We're here." The 5 of us peek outside our windows and find that we're parked in front of Sunset Marquis Hotel.

"Oh, shit!" Matt exclaims. He fiddles with the screen and a hint of realization marks his face. "I clicked the first suggestion that popped out. Jen, I'm so sorry!"

"It's OK, Matt. We're close. Let's just get out of here as fast as we can," my voice wavers a bit. Fuck! It's 12:03.

"I think this is one-way so we can't go back. We'd have to go around the block," instructs Matty.

I pick up my phone again and click the FaceTime app. I'll leave him a message then. It's the best I can do at this moment. I click the button that looks like a microphone and clears my throat.

"David, hi! Um, it's me... calling you, leaving a message, um—" What do I say? Where do I begin? "You weren't picking up my calls and I didn't know how else to get ahold of you, so... Anyway, I, um, I have to talk to you in person. We're on our way to your hotel now— the whole group's with me— so please don't leave. Just wait for me a little longer... All right. Bye."