HEADLINE ✓

TRACK 28 - PART 1

The next morning I woke up to my alarm and with only one thought running through my head; utter confusion.

I glanced down at my outfit, surprised to see I was still wearing the same clothes from last night, minus the jacket. I hadn't even made the effort of getting under the covers. TJ, on the other hand, was fast asleep under the duvet.

My mission for this morning was to leave the room without waking her up. And, surprisingly, my plan was going well. I had managed to successfully do my entire morning routine, have breakfast, get my hair done and outfit on - all without waking her. In fact, my plan had gone so well, I felt comfortable enough to leave her a note and place it by the bed.

Of course, that small action caused it all to come crashing down.

"Are you leaving?"

I nodded, leaning down to brush the hair from her face. "I'll be back late afternoon. And then tonight, it's just you and me. Jeff already put it in the schedule."

Well, more like I continued pestering him until he finally broke and physically wrote it into the schedule while I looked over his shoulder to ensure it was actually being done.

TJ's hand tugged my shirt as I stood up. "Kiss," she mumbled with her eyes barely open.

Grinning at her adorable reminder, I leaned forward once again. "Kiss," I repeated against her lips before gently kissing her goodbye.

"Mmm," I heard her say from behind me. "Toothpaste."

I noticed the magazine Nadine had given TJ on the dresser. The top corners of various pages were evidently folded down. With a quick look over my shoulder to confirm that TJ had fallen back asleep, I grabbed the magazine and tucked it under my arm before heading out of the bedroom.

Catching sight of Nadine in the hallway, I hurried after her, making it onto the elevator before the doors closed, almost tripping over and falling on my face in the process.

"Well that was smooth," she said sarcastically.

Choosing to ignore her comment, I handed her the magazine. "I think she marked down some pages."

Nadine quickly flipped through. "Your girl definitely likes it short and tight. Well, if I had her body I'd wear as little as possible at all times." She noticed my stiff reaction and giggled. "Anyway," she flipped through more pages. "Got some leather... some jeans... sneakers... Oh," Nadine pointed to an image, "Now that's a dress. Does she have anything fancy coming up?"

I shrugged. "Not that I know of."

"Well, everyone needs that perfect little black dress, and this one could definitely be hers," she said. "Let me see if I can pull this one. When do you want me to get everything by?"

"She leaves tomorrow morning."

"Oh, that might be tight."

"We could do it back in LA. It's not a big deal."

Nadine nodded, putting the magazine into her bag. "Let me see what strings I can pull. Do you want me to get her anything for tonight?"

"Maybe see what she has? It's casual," I said as the elevator doors opened. "I'm worried that if I try and give her stuff twice, she won't accept both."

"Got it. I know Elijah mentioned wanting to style her hair - I think he's almost as in love with the colour as I am."

"I think that would be nice," I said, as we walked into the lobby, meeting up with the rest of the team. "She's going to be alone until I get back - I'm sure she'd like some company."