Something About You

Chapter 17

I wake up to the smells of coffee and bacon and immediately smile. I roll over to check the time on my phone and go through a few apps to catch up on my friend's social lives. It's around 9:30, which isn't as early as I expected us to be up, but I skip calling my dad or texting my friends until I know they'd be up. I get up, put some sweatpants on, brush my teeth and walk out to Claire pulling bacon from the oven.

She's an absolute vision. Wearing a t-shirt and the same laced panties from last night; I bite my lip when she sees me walking in.

"I've never seen anyone cook bacon in an oven before." I smile and sit on a high-top chair in the kitchen.

"Coffee?" She smiles and pulls out a mug from a cupboard.

"Yes please." I sit and just observe.

She pours me a cup and begins to peel an avocado. I notice some scrambled eggs in a pan and realize I'm starved.

"You're so domestic." I flirt when she begins plating our food.

"Well someone has to be." She winks and licks her finger.

"Are you saying I'm not domestic?" She walks over with our food. "Hand me a mop and I'll leave this place spotless." We laugh, and she leans in to kiss me.

"Last night was fun." She says as she sits down and we start eating.

The rest of our morning is filled with kissing and snuggling in bed and learning more about each other. We talk about places we've been, places we want to go, and our families. I learned that Claire's parents split up when she was young, that her mom raised her and her younger brother by herself

We talked about Megan and her coming out, and how I told only Megan about this trip to see her and how she's dying to know what we're up to. I learned that Claire is close with her mom and takes her on as many work trips as she can.
"You two would really hit it off," Claire says about her mom and I.

"Do you think you're similar?" I ask.

"Oh yeah," she says confidently. "I'm her mini-me."

I laugh and ask, "How so?"

"We wear our heart on our sleeves but she also instilled a very tough work ethic. On those days where I'm just exhausted she pushes me to power through. I learned to love it."

"She sounds like a total badass." I say with a smile.

I pack up my suitcase, roll it out through the hallway and leave it by the front door. I walk over to Claire as she's looking out one of the large windows in her living room. She hears my footsteps inch closer and turns her head to me. I grab her waist.

"I wish we could have more time here." She says as she leans her head back on my shoulder, staring at the city.

"I wish I didn't have to leave. When can I see you again?"

"I'm off to LA tomorrow for two weeks. Then back here for two, I think. Then I have a movie coming up and I'll be traveling for a few months."

I take a deep breath, " A few months? Woah."

"Mostly in Toronto, some of it in Germany. You ever been?" She says casually.

"Never." I'm shutting down at the thought of her traveling around the world, me staying in the desert.

She turns around and grabs my hands. I'm gutted, trying to hold back any emotion. I knew this is how things worked with her. She's an actress for crying out loud, of course she would be traveling. Of course this couldn't be easy, I think to myself.

"I would love to keep seeing you," she says, snapping me back from my downward spiral of thoughts. "LA is a super quick flight from Vegas."

"That's true," she makes me smile for a moment, I wrap my arms around her and pull her in for a long hug.

Claire is sitting in the middle seat next to me on the way to the airport. My hand is on her leg and she places her hand on top of mine and rests her head on my shoulders. Edan and I make eye contact in the rearview window. He grins, something sweet and empathetic about it, then turns his eyes back onto the road ahead.

Edan unloads my suitcase from the back as Claire and I both unbuckle our seatbelts then look at each other. She grabs my leg with both her hands.

"Thank you for an amazing weekend, Parker. We'll figure out something to see each other again soon." She leans in closer to lock our eyes.

"Thank you for bringing me out here. This was something special. You're something special." I lean in to kiss her softly.

Neither of us want me to step out of the car. We hold onto each other tight, embracing whatever this is between us for a few more moments.

"I'll text you when I land." I loosen my grasp of her but she pulls me back in.

She places her hand on the side of my face and neck and kisses me. Our tongues touch and I do the same. I gently massage her neck with one hand and squeeze her thigh with the other. She pulls back and kisses me one last time.

"Have a good flight."

I open up the door and thank Edan for handing me my suitcase.

"It's been a pleasure, Miss Parker." He smirks and shuts the door behind me.

I can't sleep the entire journey home. I find myself scrolling through my music finding songs that perfectly articulate what I'm feeling, and play them over and over. As soon as I land, a few texts come through from Claire.

"Thank you again for making the journey to see me, and for a weekend I'll never forget. Had some time on the drive home to put this together - a little bit of how I'm feeling."

She sent a link to a playlist of songs...the ultimate key to unlocking how someone feels about you. I immediately play it.