the eras of us ⎹ Lana Parrilla & Jennifer Morrison

Chapter 21

As Lana opened her eyes, she was immediately blinded by the bright sun streaming through her uncovered windows. Groaning, she realized she had forgotten to close the blinds the night before, and now she was wide awake far too early.

"Great," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes and reaching for her phone on the nightstand. It was only a little bit after 6 am, and she had no new messages. Since her catastrophic date with that guy from Tinder the other day, she hadn't opened the app since.

With a sigh, the brunette tossed her phone back onto the nightstand and pushed herself up into a sitting position. As she glanced around her room, her gaze fell upon her two dogs sleeping peacefully on their blankets on the floor. A small smile tugged at her lips before she pushed herself out of bed and made her way into the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, Lana began her morning routine, the sound of running water and the scent of soap filling the nice bathroom.

...

As Jen stepped through the front door of her house, the tantalizing aroma of freshly brewed coffee greeted her, signaling that Marcus was already up and about after her daily morning jog. She smiled and couldn't wait to finally have her first coffee of the day.

"Good morning," Marcus greeted her as she entered the kitchen.

"Hey," the blonde replied, returning his smile and leaning in to place a quick kiss on his lips. "I got you something for breakfast on my way home. You can choose between a croissant, a bagel, or-"

"I think I'm just gonna make myself some eggs," Marcus interjected gently, his voice soft as he smiled at her. "Want me to make you some, too?"

Jen nodded in response before placing the little bag from the bakery on the kitchen island, her gaze drifting to the clock. It was already 6:30 am, and she hadn't realized that her usual 45-minute jog had taken closer to an hour today. "I'm gonna take a shower and eat later, is that okay?"

"Sure," her fiancé replied. "Cosimo is picking me up at 7:15, and then we're heading to the conference in San Diego."

"Oh, already?" Jen couldn't hide the slight pang of disappointment in her voice.

"Yeah, I want to get some work done there before all the meetings, and he's taking his wife with him, so he wants to spend the day with her."

"He is? Why am I not coming with you?" she couldn't help but ask, her voice tinged with hurt.

Marcus furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Because you'd get bored. Trust me, it's nothing fancy or interesting."

"Well, Cosimo and his wife seem to-"

"We're not Cosimo and Cara, baby," Marcus interjected, his tone firm but gentle.

"I know," the blonde replied, her voice betraying her disappointment. "But... But why not? We could be..."

Her fiancé let out a sigh, his frustration evident as he retrieved a pan from the cupboard and placed it on the stovetop. "Cosimo has more time than I have. Just because he is able to squeeze some quality time into the busy schedule doesn't mean that I am able to do it too, do you understand?"

"Oh my god, stop talking to me like I'm your daughter and too dumb to understand," Jen snapped, her frustration bubbling to the surface.

"I'm not," Marcus insisted, his tone softening as he wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her close. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, his touch soothing as he spoke. "Since when are you so clingy? The first two weeks of us dating, I was away for work almost every two days, and you were fine with it."

"I'm still fine with it," Jen replied, her voice softening as she melted into his embrace.

"Good," he nodded. "Then I don't know where the problem is. I'm sure you can keep yourself busy; just call up Rose or your other friends, or this Lana woman. I'll leave you my credit card."