A Masterpiece Gone

Chapter Thirty-three

Brendan warmly grabbed Jessie's hand as she stepped down from the limo and onto the curb in front of the familiar, inviting green awning of their local Starbucks.  "You're sure you don't mind, babe?" he questioned as she shoved the car door closed behind her.

She wasn't as hungry as Brendan, but after several hours of jet lag and dealing with tightened security at JFK over somebody assaulting a member of TSA she was glad to be on ground and in her own east coast neighborhood definitely open to caffeine.  "Of course not," she assured him.  "It's a nice change of scenery after nothing but transportation all day."

Winking, Brendan ushered her gently by her back towards the glass door.  While their time in California together was amazing and she really felt their quality time helped him get over the rut of losing an amazing opportunity, he still was a little down in the dumps.  However Jessie had to admit she noticed a massive perk in him once the view of New York came into view from his first class window.

"What do you want to do for dinner?" he asked as he eyed the pre-packed lunches and various desserts in the display cases.  

Jessie's stomach flipped.  "Uh, how about pizza from Mario's?"  she proposed.

"You know what, that's actually a great idea.  There's nothing like New York pizza," he announced dreamily.

After heading back to the limo with a Greek yogurt and honey and two grande caramel macchiatos, Jessie became both excited and nervous.  

"I'm such an idiot!" Brendan suddenly exclaimed causing Jessie's emotions to fade as almost dropped her tumbler onto her jean shorts.

"Why?" Jessie asked in utter confusion getting a stronger grip on her beverage.  

Brendan sighed.  "I just got so caught up I forgot to ask what you did with Neil and Jackson," he explained.  "Should we just tell the driver to pick them up or should we unpack and then go get them later?  Not only do I suck in the film industry, but I suck as an owner."

"Stop that.  And you already know what happened in California had nothing to do with you," Jessie reminded him with a point of her finger.  "But to answer your question, Jake and Jenny took them in and said she would drop them off."

"Yet another reminder that my imminent death from being screamed at is coming to a phone near you," he joked as he took a sip from his cup.

Jessie laughed.  "Jenny's not going to do that.  She was genuinely concerned about you and was relieved that you were okay," she assured him having been reminded to text her they were almost home.  "She's known you forever."

Brendan nodded.  "She called and texted several times herself wondering if I was alright.  I'm still going to apologize for my one-word responses to her texts when she comes by," he said.

As the limo doubled-parked in front of their house five minutes later, Jessie contently exited the vehicle thankful to see that Jenny had put out her garbage cans for her at the curb.  "Thank God for garages," Brendan remarked as he tossed his empty beverage reaching for Jessie's as well.  "Where did these all pop up from?"

Jessie followed his eyes to the unusual never-ending line of cars parked neatly in front of their house.  "Somebody's probably having a party," she answered as the driver carefully placed their luggage in front of her.

Tipping him, Brendan nodded at Jessie.  "If I didn't know better I'd say you've been spending all your time here running your own car dealership under my nose," he teased.

Laughing, Jessie placed her carry-on on top of her luggage before lifting up the handle to better maneuver everything in one swoop into the house.