"Too fucking late."

Not able to go on without her? I've lost too many people in my life, and she was nothing more than a colleague, an employee, a manager of The Elite.

I turned on my heels, walked through the automatic doors, and tried to soak in the fresh air. My head swam with thoughts of Jennifer and how angry she must be. I know how it looked, and thinking back to that moment infuriated me.

Once inside V, I pulled out my phone and cancelled the appointment with the man who wanted to purchase the Honda. Told him I would give a killer deal, and would need to reschedule. After hanging up, I dialed Jennifer's number. No answer. Fuck!

I drove to her house. She wasn't home. She wasn't answering her phone. Damn it. Vegas was a big city, one large enough for a beautiful woman to get lost in, and I needed to find Jennifer before she did something stupid. I had to apologize to her and let her know what had really happened, not what she assumed.

Jesse did something that was unforgivable, and just the thought of it pissed me off all over again. Who the fuck did she think she was, and what the fuck did she think she was doing? I never gave her a reason to think feelings existed between us. I probably should have squashed the crush thing years ago, but it was harmless. Snowballs usually are until they become avalanches.

Before I started to panic, I got out of V and leaned against the trunk outside of her house. After forty-five solid minutes of waiting, I knew that she wasn't coming home. The best thing would be to leave her alone and give her the space she needed until she was willing to talk. I couldn't live without her, not since I've had her. Jennifer was my fucking drug, and I constantly needed my fix. Just the thought of her brought a smile to my face, but the thought of her hurting, destroyed me.

I called Paisley and let her know that her counterpart was terminated and that she would need to find a replacement as soon as possible. In a few days, we had one of the biggest conferences of the year, and I would need help facilitating it.

"Mr. Felton, may I ask why she was terminated?"

"Sexual harassment."

"With another employee?"

"With me."

She agreed to post the position when she returned to the office.

"Also, can you please have Lori give me a call?"

"Yes, sir."

We hung up, and I headed home. The day had been long, exciting, then somehow took a turn for the worse. What had happened?

When I walked inside, Lori rang, and I answered.

"Lori, I have a small favor to ask of you, please."

"Yes, Mr. Felton. Anything you need."

"Please contact Jennifer Downs and have her call me immediately."

She agreed, and didn't ask any questions. If any of my Girls could get ahold of Jennifer, Lori would be the one. Jennifer and her had a relationship that was more than just being an Elite. They were friends at first sight. Kindred spirits, I supposed.

I kicked off my shoes, loosened my tie, and sat at the table. I needed to hear Jennifer's voice and explain myself. Yes, it's easy to demonize me, make me out to be the giant asshole that I admittedly am. But not this time. Like I said before, I don't like my nose being rubbed in shit, especially over a misunderstanding.

Lori called back and said she left Jennifer a voicemail. If she heard anything, she would let me know.

The waiting game began. I would wait for her forever.

Three o'clock in the morning came early. When I had seen this time last, it wasn't because I was waking, but rather going to sleep. I turned on my phone and had several missed calls. Lori and Finnley just couldn't leave me the fuck alone. I turned my phone back off. I didn't want to talk to anyone, no one, not even Lori.

The crisp air filled my lungs as I packed two weeks’ worth of clothes into the Honda. Although Little V didn't do anything wrong, and I loved her, I couldn't stand the thought of driving that car. I didn't want to think about Finn. I'd rather think about nothing, put up that wall, and continue forward.

Yawn after yawn came, and I stopped by the little coffee shop on the way out and grabbed a mocha for me and a black coffee for Luke, just the way he liked it.

When I rolled up to his house, he opened the garage, and I parked inside. Like a gentleman, Luke helped me load my bags into the trunk of his Volvo.

"Morning," he said, his voice still raspy from waking.

"Morning. I got you a coffee." I handed him the cup, and he wrapped both hands around it.

"And it's still warm. That's what I call service. Thanks." He opened the door for me. The heated seats warmed my body.

"All set?"

I nodded and yawned.

The garage door closed and we were on our way to the airport.

Moonlight barely peeked over the mountainside, and the thought of going away excited me.

"What are you thinking about?" Luke asked.

"Just admiring the scenery. It's not something I am used to seeing yet."

"Yeah, your part of Texas is mostly flat, except for the bridges."

"That's the only downfall I think. But hey, we've got plenty of swampy waters and mosquitos."

We continued with small talk, as if nothing had happened between us. Once at the airport, we unloaded our bags, and made our way through security. I grabbed my passport from the front of my suitcase and then placed it, along with my plane ticket, in my pocket. We had an hour to kill so I leaned back in the plastic chair and closed my eyes. Unable to get comfortable, I rested my head on Luke's shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around me.

"Did you ever see Titanic?" I asked.

"James Cameron? Yeah. Who hasn't seen that movie?"

"The end made me cry. I never got enough of the young Leonardo DiCaprio. Like I had such a mega huge crush on him, posters in my bedroom, and I even signed DiCaprio behind my name as practice. I had the whole movie almost memorized verbatim."

Luke laughed. "Really?"

"He was an artist. You know, Jack."

"Yeah. He was."

I looked into Luke's eyes, and he swallowed.

"Would you paint me like that one day? The same setting as Jack and Rose."

His breath tingled on my skin, and my heart pounded in my chest.

"You'll always be my Rose, Jennifer. And if it would make you happy, then yes."

I laid my head back down on his shoulder. Only the armrest separated our bodies.

It was easy and comfortable being with Luke, and at that moment I was the happiest I had been in a while.

Luke patted me awake after I had fallen asleep on him. I would have four hours to rest until the flight connected in New York. We walked through the tunnel, and boarded the plane. The window seat had my name written all over it. Before we took off, all the rules and regulations blared over the loudspeaker. Buckle your seatbelts, blah blah blah, then the plane lifted and soared above the ground. Being above everyday life as it continued down below was an odd feeling. Almost as if I were detached from the real world, viewing it from a bird’s eye, in a sense.

Luke leaned over my body and glanced out. Rusty mountains and desert surrounded us. I moved my body back in the seat and closed my eyes.

"I will never get tired of looking out the window of a plane."

"Me either," I said and looked at Luke.

He leaned back in his seat, pulled out a sketchpad, charcoal, and drew. Positioning his pencil at an angle, he drew dots and small lines that were followed by shading. Then an eye, eyelashes, and eyebrows were formed. With his thumb, he smudged lines, then continued drawing lips and hair. Although my eyelids were heavy, I watched him work. The way he would close his eyes and reopen them, then close them again and reopen them, made me admire him even more for being able to draw from memory. Luke was completely involved in his work, despite the crying baby in the background or the chatter a few seats over, focused entirely on the drawing. He bit his lip and finished the picture with an eraser. Once complete, he looked down at it, then over at me with a grin.