Love & Lies

Chapter Two

You can do this. You've dealt with fans without security before, Jessie coaxed herself, squeezing her eyes shut before she turned around. Like most of them, he is probably very nice.

In the split-second of Jessie turning around, she figured she would stay close to the pillar not to draw attention to herself and try to get whoever this guy was to speak in a hushed tone before trying to figure out how to get a cab rápido.

"Hello!" she exclaimed, but was taken back when she faced a young man maybe a few years younger than she was . He had to be pretty tall considering he seemed to tower over her easily. Jessie was mesmerized by how attractive he was with his well-groomed dark wavy hair and his pale blue eyes that nearly looked green. His voice was not familiar, but it took her a few seconds to recognize who he was.

"Brendan," they both said at the same time before a shed of nervous laughter.

Brendan quickly held up his handwritten cardboard sign for her before folding it into fours to toss into the garbage right by the pillar.

Jessie ran her fingers through her long, smooth black hair in confusion. "Were you here all along and I just didn't see you?" she asked after his immediate return.

Brendan shook his head seriously. "I was waiting all the way by that gate. You had to make a left after baggage claim to see me," he explained.

Jessie slapped her forehead remembering Jenny did mention this. "I am so sorry!" she apologized. "I should have told Jenny to give you my number in case of an emergency rather than waiting until today."

Brendan waved a hand in the air. "Jen already took care of that. I actually did not have to use it because I had a feeling you would actually be here. I thought I saw you get your bags, but I was too far away and assumed it wasn't you when you turned the other way," he told me. "I became worried when you did not show, but had an inkling that my first guess about seeing you was correct."

Her lips spread into a small, but warm smile. Her friend really came through for her when she asked if she could find her a little security. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed. "I clearly am horrible with paying attention to directions so please lead the way!"

Brendan flashed an amused smile. "Forget about it. It's really no big deal," he assured her as he grabbed her luggage from her hold. "Besides, you have been on a plane for, what, ten hours? Blame the jet lag."

"Hey, I can roll one of those," Jessie insisted after becoming aware of what Brendan was doing. "You're my body guard, not my personal assistant."

"No worries. Let's get you home," he said, motioning her to follow him with a nod to the left.

The word "home" stung Jessie's eyes a bit before she could react. Although she planned this move for a while, she could not help but feel attached to her real home despite some painful reminders that the UK brought. She was close to her family and although her friends in the industry dropped her like a hot potato, she at least still had a a couple of really good friends back home that she had from before her career.

When a warm breeze hit her face, Jessie suddenly realized she was outside on autopilot as a bunch of cabs and random cars taking care of travelers or awaiting somebody came into view. She quickly yanked her sunglasses from her bag prepared to be in the backseat of one of those idling cabs in an effort to conceal her face if need be.

After walking for some time and passing what seemed like an endless assembly of cabs, Jessie could not help but wonder where they were headed. "Do we have a specific cab in a designated area?" she questioned as she scanned the continuous line of vehicles.