Now or Never

Chapter 16

AN: let's head to NYC! If you like this story please check out my new fic "Midnight confessions" as well ;-)

Jen was on her first class seat to JFK with about an hour left before her plane landed.

She couldn't remember the last time that she felt this weird mixture of nervousness and excitement.

Excited, because she finally would be able to REALLY spend time with David again. His brief visit a few weeks ago really had been fantastic, but since they only had limited time as she was still working on set during the days, it was merely enough.

They figured that David could not just come to the set with her and stay in her trailer or watch from the background, like spouses normally could, as this surely would have caused some serious gossip. So they were limited to spending evenings together as David had arranged some work for himself during the days as well given she was not home anyway. And they would be quite limited in what they could do anyway if they did not want to be seen together. Even if they still would keep this relationship out of the spotlight it would be so much easier if it was out.

So Jen was excited to finally come to New York. For some reason, it was much easier to fly under the radar there, as East Coasters had a stronger mentality of "mind your own business" than people in LA. And even with COVID, the city was so packed with tourists that were so caught up in their surroundings that they could move a little bit more freely here. Also, she knew that, if things went well, this little game they were playing would soon be over.

That also lead to the reason why she was being nervous: how would things go with Zoe and, more importantly, Cleo?

David told her that he had another talk with Zoe and that, after he reassured her again that this had NOTHING to do with how things had played out between them, she still was not totally over it, but chill with it by now, as she herself had already moved on.

He also told Cleo that his old friend Jen, who played Rachel on the show, would be in town for a few days and as he told her that Cleo was a fan of the show and always found Rachel the funniest of the 3 girls, she wanted to meet Cleo and spend some time with her.

The little girl had said that she would love that and that sure would be fun.

If things went well, David was planning to talk to Cleo as soon as she left, so that the little girl realized that even with a new woman by his side, he would not go anywhere.

She knew that she signed up for a package deal here. If they could not work things out with Cleo, this thing was going to get REALLY complicated...

When the plane landed, she proceeded through passport control to the baggage claim.

There he was, ready to pick her up.

They figured that with wearing masks and all, they would be fine and could very well fly under the radar, although she had to admit that this came with a certain rush.

He gave her a hug, whispering in her ear "thought about painting you a "welcome to NYC" banner with little red hearts, but I did not want to raise unnessesary attention. I am SO HAPPY you are finally here."

She laughed at him, got her suitcase and then they headed out and got a cab that would take them to Davids place on the Brooklyn side of Brooklyn bridge. He loved this slightly less busy side of town as Manhattan was usually crowded with people. Here he had everything still in reach but was still close enough to his ex-wife and Cleo, who lived not too far away.

Since the taxi driver seemed honestly oblivious to who his passengers were and the music was loud enough anyway, they decided that they could talk freely on the ride.

"So, I Zoe and I rescheduled our dinner together to Monday, if that is okay by you? We still have the first weekend to ourself, and get a few more days to test the ground with Cleo so that she will hopefully be comfortable around you after a few days?"

"Yeah, totally fine by me".

They could see in their eyes that they both were smiling under their masks and squeezed each others hands. These things were a pain in the ass, but they made going unnoticed much easier.

They arrived at Davids penthouse a little while later. After extensive kissing, David showed her around and she admired the view that you had of the city and the skyline. Living on the other side of the East River sure came with its perks.

Then he lead her to the bedroom and brought her suitcase in, showing her the bathroom because he was sure that she wanted to wash the flight off. Then they proceeded to the walk-in closet.

David looked at her, putting the suitcase down, and nodded to a part of the closet.

"This is by far not as huge as that thing of yours, but I also cleared some space for you, so that you can feel at home here, too."

She looked at the racks and drawers and quickly estimated that he had cleared about half of his space out for her. That gesture really moved her.

"Thank you! I love you so much" she circeled his neck with her arms and pulled him in for another passionate kiss, which she broke after a short while.

She felt she was in terrible shape and really wanted to take a shower.

"Sorry, I really need to wash that taxi ride off" she said.

"Alright, care if I join you?" David asked with a wink.

"Absolutely not", with that, they both started to undress and headed to the shower which, of course, directly lead them to the bed.

Now, Jen was in her underwear unpacking her stuff into the closet, which David watched from the bed with a huge grin on his face.

She put down the sweater she had in her hand "What?" She laughed.

"I am just so happy that you are finally here. Welcome home, Jen."

She walked over and placed a kiss on his lips.

"Thank you"