So Much More

Holding On

"Do you want to eat out or eat in?" Jason asked from his perch on her kitchen island.

He had flown out to LA and surprised her on her doorstep around noon. When Dakota had finished with the audition, she had asked Angus, her mother's chauffeur to drive her straight home and that she will get an Uber to get her car that night. The adrenaline and the caffeine had faded and she was now bone-tired and all she wanted was her bed and her Copacabana-scented linen spray. She had barely dozed off when her doorbell rang. A tired-looking Jason stood there with a smile and a dozen red roses. He had said he wanted to be there that day so she could tell him all about the audition.

Too bad she didn't remember most of the audition and too bad she still detested red roses. She hid her disappointment although she had told Jason several times of her flower preference, she supposed it was the thought that count. She led him in, gave him a chaste kiss on her lips before retreating back to bed.

Hours later, she had stumbled out of bed and dragged herself out to the kitchen area. "What did you have in mind?"

Jason's attention was still on the laptop in front of him, the same way she had left him when she had gone to bed earlier. "I'm feeling Greek food tonight. But I'll settle with whatever you want."

"Greek it is, then." She made her way to the fridge to get some beer and brought it to Jason. He smiles gratefully at her before going back to his laptop. "Do you want to take a shower first?"

He reached for her hand as she made way from the other side of the island and planted a kiss on her palm. "I need to read this report before we leave. Why don't you take one first?"

She smiled at him. "Is that your way of telling me I stink?"

Jason winked. "Your words not mine, babe."

"Here I was thinking of asking you to take one with me." Dakota threw him a playful look before making the way to her bathroom. "Your loss, buddy."

She took a quick shower before dressing herself in something appropriate. She styled her hair with the help of a curling wand and added a plum-colored lipstick. It was the most dressed up she had been in a while, especially by her own accord and not by the magical hands of her favored stylist.

"Are you close to being done?" she asked Jason as she hugged him from behind.

He turned his head to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Yeah, just going to shut this down and then I'll take a quick shower."

"Is that the report from last batch of supplies you sent to Borneo?"

He ran a hand through his hair and she could see the fatigue on his face as he turned around, facing her. "Yeah and it's not looking so good. There's a lot of government interventions and from the way it is now, it's making things worse not better."

"Do you need to call your people?" she wondered if dinner would be postponed, but knew that it was more important than eating out; lives were at stake and she loved him for his big heart.

Jason beckoned her closer and she sat on his lap. "Nah, I already spoke to some of my people and they are handling it as we speak. I might need to work some more after dinner, though."

She rested her cheek on his neck. "I wish I understand more so I could help you."

"You being here already helps." He let her go and helped her up before getting up himself. He took his suitcase to her room and went for a shower. "Five minutes and we'll get going."

It ended up being half an hour as she helped him get dressed and they ended up making out. She had to redo her hair and reapplied her lipstick but they made it before eight thirty and the place was packed. Jason seemed to know one of the owner and they were quickly directed to a table.