It's been one hell of a week for both of us.
I've accepted the job in LA, given notice at my job in Boston, given notice on my apartment too, ordered packing material, looked into how to ship my things to the other side of the country, bought a new suit for this weekend, picked up Chloe's gift, and booked the hotel. Elle's had a super busy week at work with her company heavily promoting a new game that is going to drop just before the Holidays. It's huge for her, the test groups have been giving it rave reviews and pre-orders are already through the roof, but that all means insanely long hours and a very tired Elle.
Every evening though, we make time for each other. Our skype calls have very quickly started to take on a much more relaxed vibe, carrying our devices around our respective apartments as we just hang out together whilst getting on with our daily lives.
As the week has continued, I have done more of the heavy lifting conversation-wise, as Elle has gotten quieter and quieter each night, our calls often ending with me convincing her to get it to bed before she falls asleep on the couch and then talking to her until she closes her eyes. On one hand, it has been brutal with the time difference and late nights, but on the other, I'm glad to be able to support her and I'm so very very proud. Sometimes I'll be her cheerleader, and sometimes she'll be mine and I wouldn't change that for the world.
Elle's work also means that she couldn't get to New York on Friday, instead having to opt for a flight that lands at JFK around 3pm today. Looking on the positive side, I managed to semi-convince Elle that one night instead of two meant I could splash out on a more expensive room, opting for a suite with city views instead of a standard room. She says it's still too extravagant, but her smile tells me she doesn't really mind.
Checking my phone I can see that her Uber is near, she's 5 maybe 10 minutes away and I can't sit here in this room anymore. Grabbing my key card, I head down to the elevators, pushing the call button repeatedly, full of nervous energy.
It doesn't take long before she enters the lobby, suitcase in one hand and dress bag over her arm. It takes less than a second for her gaze to find mine, and as our eyes lock, my body on autopilot, I have to hold myself back from straight-up running across the room. Once she is in my arms, as I pick her up around the waist, she kisses me with such intensity that my mind goes blank and I can't think straight.
Slowly backing away from my lips but with my face still in her hands, she giggles, still in my arms as she says "That kiss, with you holding me up like this, in such a grand hotel - I bet this looks like the final scene out of a big romance movie"
"Oh yeah?" I tease, "So this is the happily ever after moment then?"
"I'm not sure" she counters laughing, "I think I got the leg thing wrong, I think it should be more like this" she adds as she shows me one of her legs still pointing towards the floor whilst the other one points out behind her from a bend in the knee"
"I think we should do it again then just to be safe" I tell her, putting on my most serious face, "we wouldn't want to jinx it"
And with that, we are kissing again in the middle of a very packed, very expensive New York hotel lobby like none of these people are even there.
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I take a quick nap whilst Noah jumps in the shower. This week has been tough going, and I want to make sure I have enough energy so that I can enjoy the party. Noah has said that he will meet Chloe downstairs before the party starts, meaning I'll get plenty of time to get ready with the whole suite to myself.
The room is beautiful, and the bed is huge. We'd spoken about it the evening before he had made the reservation, and we had convinced ourselves that sharing a bed would be fine, even if we weren't there quite yet. If I'm really honest with myself though, I don't think that's an issue. Last week I had wanted to, but I also knew we needed to take our time. If I believe what Noah said, and I do, we have time to let ourselves enjoy the early days of this reunion, because he is sticking around. I mean the guy wants to move to LA to be nearer to me, there's no rush.
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The beginning of everything else
FanficSix years after going their separate ways to Harvard and USC, Noah boards a plane bound for LAX hoping that it is not too late to start forever.