Now or Never

Chapter 9

AN: Quick Update before work

In his rental car on the way back to the hotel, first thing David did was call his ex- wife, telling her that something came up and he was considering to stay in LA for a week longer, in case there was nothing he had to take care of when it came to Cleo, and she stated that she did not see a problem.

Still being on very friendly terms, Zoe immediately sensed that something in his general mood had changed drastically.

"Don't try to fool me, my friend. This is definitely not business stuff that is keeping you in town, is it? You are way to cheerful for that..."

"Zoe, I would rather not talk to you about that on the phone..."

"So, this is about a woman am I right?"

"Zo..."

"Dave, it is fine! It has been more than 3 years. I have been in a new relationship for almost a year now. Cleo is cool with him, we are considering moving in together. You know that and accepted that. Which I am thankful for. Enjoy yourself, and we will see about the rest in case this turns into something serious."

"Thing is, I can already tell you it is. And that is the reason why I am not having this talk with you on the phone."

"You have been over there for what? 3 days? How serious can that be?"

David sighed. She was not going to let it go.

"It's Jen."

Silence.

"Wow. I am not saying that this did not cross my mind after seeing the special. But hearing it now..."

"Now you can probably guess WHY I was planning to talk to you in person. I dont NEED to find out if this is a serious thing because I have known her for half of my life."

He sighed again "Zoe, all  I can tell you now is that this has NOTHING to do with us. I had feelings for her for a long time, but I completely let go of that when I moved to New York. And I did not even have closer contact until recently, and the possibility of this ever happening not even once crossed my mind when you and I were together..."

"It's allright, I will try to believe you! But what are your further plans, I mean people are freaking about the things you said, and we need to protect Cleo..."

"Well, of course she will be coming to New York. We still have to figure out when, and of course I would like for her to meet you and Cleo. We will see how that goes and then I will explain it to Cleo. We will NOT make this public anytime soon, and of course not before Cleo is fine with it."

"Okay, I have to go now. Please tell her I am looking forward to meeting her. She is the only one of the gang I did not meet in person, but knowing the others and knowing you all love her, I am sure she is alright. See you"

"Take care Zoe. Tell Cleo I said hi when she gets home. I will call her as soon as l get the chance. Bye."

After hanging up, first thing he did was call American Airlines and reschedule his flight back home.

As he was still caught in traffic, which he had planned for this time of the day, he decided that he needed to have a lighter talk and dailed Lisas number next.

"HEY YOU" her cheerful voice came over the cars sound system.

"On your way to that meeting?"

"Going to the hotel first, getting changed, packing my stuff and checking out. Already postponed my flight back for a week."

"Wow. So happy for both of you. You really deserve this."

"Yeah. Still can't believe we are finally doing this." He smiled to himself. "Thank you again for being there, you know"

"I honestly thought that you would be in lighter mood after the night you quite obviously had and with a week filled with more of that ahead of you" Lisa inquired.

He sighed. She read him like an open book.

"Just talked to Zoe to tell her I am staying here for one more week. And the last thing I wanted to do was tell her over the phone WHY I am staying. But you know her, of course she somehow milked it out of me.

Even if she is saying she is cool with it I KNOW that deep down she is pissed off because she thinks that I was secretly holding a torch for Jen and that that is the reason for us not working out. I have to admit that I was distancing from Jen during my marriage for the reason of not opening a can of worms, but this had NOTHING to do with us. And in addition, she had me worried that we might be outed before Cleo had the chance to meet Jen and me telling her myself that there is someone new in my life. That REALLY had me scared."

"Oh David! I am sorry about that. But I am sure Zoe will realize that this is NOT true. And about Cleo... it is a good thing that everyone is wearing masks right now, so people will hardly recognize you when you are out. Adding that to the fact  that you as well as Jen were always good at avoiding paparazzi, you will be fine. And this week, I am pretty sure you will be so caught up with yourself, and rightfully so, that you will barely leave the house. Everything will be allright, believe me."

"Thank you so much, I honestly don't know how I can make it up to you. Unfortunately, I have to go now as I am about to turn into the garage below my hotel."

"No need to, my friend. Can't wait to see you on Thursday. Jen has already set everything up. Take care."

"You, too! Thanks again and bye!"

Already feeling much better, he navigated the car to a free spot and stepped out to get to work. Even though he was excited about that role and to see if the chemistry with the EPs and the director was going to be right, he was more eager to get back to his girlfriend now. Which still seemed surreal to him to refer to HER as that.