One Wish Left

CHAPTER 15: CONFIDENT

This had to be the slowest week in the history of weeks. It was only Wednesday afternoon, but Laura was more than a little discouraged that she hadn't yet heard from Jesse after her sudden departure from the Bridges' home last Friday. In the absence of communication, Laura's mind filled with worst case scenarios.

Maybe he was over the whole mentor thing.

Maybe they weren't as good of friends as she'd thought.

Maybe she'd imagined his attraction to her.

Maybe he did hate her.

She brought her head down on her work desk with a groan and started whacking her forehead on it repeatedly.

"Um... am I interrupting something?" A deep, teasing voice interrupted her thoughts.

Her head shot up.

"Chad!" she squealed. "Oh my god, what are you doing here?" she asked, laughing her way around her desk to give him a welcome hug.

"Hi, babe," he breathed into her hair. "I've missed you."

She squeezed him hard. "I've missed you. This week sucks. Your timing could not be better." She lifted her face up to his, took in his smiling, steel gray eyes and kissed him soundly. "I don't know why you're here, but I'm so pleased you came."

Chad chuckled lightly. "I need to surprise you more often. This is doing amazing things for my self-esteem."

She laughed with him, feeling steadied by his presence. "How long are you here?"

"Just 'til Saturday morning, but it was the best I could do on short notice. I booked my flight as soon as our call ended last week. I had to see you," he said, hugging her possessively.

Laura had an inkling of what was behind this spur-of-the-moment visit, but she didn't mention it. She thought it was cute that he was a little jealous, but only if it stayed little. She'd learned that any more than a drop of jealousy could be toxic to a relationship, so it was important to her that they demonstrated trust in one another. But if Chad was here to calm his nerves about Jesse, she was happy to reassure him. She was even happier now that she would have plans on Friday night to distract her from Jesse's birthday celebration, where she was clearly unwanted.

"So you, uh, think you could skip out early today? I've got some ideas of what we could do before Kieran gets home," he said with a gleam in his eye.

Laura nodded and bit her lip with a smile.

+++           

Chad rested his head on Laura's chest, and she absently brought her hand to his close-cropped locks as she caught her breath. As long as she'd known him, Chad had always kept his hair buzzed for his fights, and she found the texture mesmerizing. They were still lying entwined in Laura's bed when they heard the front door of her apartment swing open.

"Mom?" Kieran's voice echoed through the walls.

"Shit!" Laura panicked. How had she lost track of the time? She usually spent her time with Chad out-and-about or at his hotel when he visited, not at her apartment, for this very reason. She bolted up, quickly threw on Chad's button-up shirt, and motioned for him to hide in the bathroom.

"What?!" he whispered in horror. "I'm not going in there. What's the big deal, Laura? Don't you think it's time we met? He's met what's-his-face, hasn't he?"

He had a point, and there wasn't a lot of time to argue.

"Fine. Would you at least put some clothes on then?" she pleaded.