The One Where The Lines Get Kinda Blurry

The One With Tea And Tears

David reached over and grasped hold of her hand, instantly stopping her from playing with her fingers. "This is not a discussion I want to have in the back of the car" he said quietly and gently, "but I promise you, you don't need to worry." He pulled his seatbelt away from his chest. "Now unfasten yourself and come over here... please."

Jen did as she was asked, her heart and mind both still racing at the sudden turn of pace in their conversation. As she ducked under David's arm and into the safety of his embrace she heard him whisper into her ear "you have not and will not mess this up. You need to have a little more faith in me and in us than that, okay?"

Jen nodded, not sure why she felt a sudden tidal wave of emotional wash over her, leaving her feeling like she could cry for an hour without any effort at all. David seemed to sense her mood and pulled her tighter into him so that her head was nestled deep into the crook of his neck, his hand gently rubbing up and down her upper arm in a gesture whose sole purpose was to provide comfort. The rest of the journey back to his place was done in almost total silence, just the odd murmur of "it's gonna be ok?" from David into her hair, and a simple nod in return from her. She never once raised her head from its resting place and therefore she never once made eye contact with him, hoping he wouldn't feel the silent tears that wouldn't stop leaking down her cheeks.

David, however, could feel her tears, hot against his collar as they dripped down under his shirt. He could also feel her shoulders tense and her jaws clench each time a fresh wave hit and she tried desperately hard to fight it, a battle he felt her lose time and time again in the just over thirty minutes of silent travel.

"Thanks Paul" David said as he pulled up in the middle of the road outside his town house. "You're free once you've parked her. I'll be in touch tomorrow." David undid the seatbelt as he was talking, putting on his face mask and wrestling his cap down tight as Jen pulled up her damp mask, threw on her sunglasses after discreetly wiping her eyes, and hid her hair under her hood. He took her by the hand and led her from the car door to inside his front door in less than five seconds, a move he had obviously perfected over the years. Once safely inside he took off his mask, stuffing it into the pocket of his jacket which he then carefully hung up. He bent down and removed his shoes, placing them back in the closet from where he had retrieved them from a couple of hours earlier. Whilst this was taking place, Jen had removed her hood, her mask and her glasses and turned her face away while she tried desperately to disguise the fact that she had been crying and was still battling hard against fresh tears. As she was fiercely scrubbing at her eyes, she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her from behind, his lips kissing her hair and sinking his nose deep into it. "Come here" he said, turning her around to face him, "you don't have to hide anything from me okay. It's fine to get upset and show me that you're emotional. I don't want you feeling you have to lock anything away inside."

"But I don't really know why I'm so damned emotional" Jen replied, the tears streaming down her cheeks freely now as she finally locked eyes with the man cradling her.

"Because you care?" he suggested gently, "because you care so much about everything and everybody and maybe sometimes it gets a little overwhelming for you?"

"I care about you" she replied quietly, "and I'm so afraid of messing this up again."

"Come on, let's take this discussion upstairs where we can grab a drink and I'll order us some food since we've barely eaten today, and then we can talk about everything." He released her from his arms but took her hand as he led her up the stairs. "Right, what do you want to drink? Soda, wine, beer, coffee, water?"

"Do you have any tea?"

"I have tea. What kind? I have green, chai, chamomile or uhm.... lemon?"

"Lemon would be great" she replied, sinking herself down onto his dark leather sofa and curling her legs up beneath her. "This reminds me of the one you had in your dressing room" she said, running her hands over the cool surface.