Convergence

Five

I was totally disorientated for a moment. I woke up on my back, Jared was all over me, his arm thrown across my stomach, his leg over mine and his head buried in my neck. I tried to move but I didn't want to disturb him he looked so peaceful and it felt nice to wake up next to someone. It seemed he unconsciously craved the physical company as well, given how he had attached himself to me in his sleep. I could see light peeking in through the sides of the curtains but since I was stuck, I couldn't even get up to find my phone and check the time. I sighed deciding to just stay there until he woke up or changed positions and I could escape. Instead I dozed off, waking up to his fingers trailing patterns on my stomach. "Hey" he whispered into my ear, "hi" I murmured sleepily as he planted a soft kiss on my shoulder. My alarm startled the both of us, I reluctantly got up to look around for my phone. It had fallen onto the carpet beside the bed. "Shit, it's 9.30, I thought I would have been awake by now. I'm going to be late" I muttered. "Can't you skip it?" he said with a sleepy yawn. I looked up at him, his hair was gloriously disheveled, sticking up in all directions. The sheet just covering his hips, lying there one arm up around his head, the other on his chest. He looked sexy as hell. There was nothing I'd like better I thought! "Unfortunately I can't" I said shaking my head and searching for my clothes. They were strewn all over the place. Suddenly he was in front of me. All at once I felt self conscious, I must have looked a mess. I tried to push my hair to one side to make it look half decent, subtly trying to rub my eyes which probably now resembled a panda! He took my hands and pulled them to his chest, "you look messy as fuck but beautiful" he said softly. I lifted my head and my eyes met his, those beautiful blue sapphires looking right at me, a huge grin on his face. In that one look I knew he wasn't lying and I couldn't help but give him a small smile. His arms wrapped around me holding me against him as he kissed my forehead. I sighed, knowing what would happen now. He'd give me some half assed promise to call and that would be the end of it. I tried to push back off his chest, but to my surprise, his arms tightened. "So, you free tonight?" he asked casually. "Umm, I'm not sure, I think I'm .." I stammered, that had taken me completely off guard. "Great, I'll come to you, we can order something in yeah?" he said nodding, without waiting for me to really reply. I frowned briefly and more to myself, this was not at all how I thought the morning was going to go. "I should get dressed" I said, he let me go and followed me out into the lounge. I hastily put on my clothes, then freshened up in the bathroom before reappearing a little more presentable. He was standing there butt naked picking at the fruit, I snorted in laughter. "I better go" I said. He grinned, oblivious to his state of undress, "I'll see you tonight" he said, I nodded. He walked me to the door and slipped his arms around my waist pulling me in close. My arms came up to rest on his as he brought his lips down to meet mine. It was soft and sweet, his tongue briefly delving into my mouth. Just as it was about to deepen, I pulled away. "I've gotta go" I said and I smiled as I let him go. He nodded, "bye Charlie" he smiled, running a hand through his hair, I gave him a small wave as I walked out. Anticipation building in my stomach at the thought of seeing him again.

Jared's POV -
What a delight waking up to her next to me. I had been all over her, my legs and arms entwined with hers. She must have felt smothered, I was surprised at myself. I never really felt like I missed having someone around, maybe I did, a little. She woke up confused, looking adorably messy and sleepy and gorgeous all at once. Maybe it would take a bit longer to get her out of my system.

"What?!!!! Are you kidding me? No I won't do it" I said angrily to Elaine. "Yes you will, or I'll never hire you again" she snapped. "I don't care, I don't need you to hire me, I can find plenty of work elsewhere" I said standing up preparing to leave. "Charlie, you know if I wanted to I could make it very difficult for you to get any work  .... " she said shrugging. "Are you threatening me?" I said with dismay, "don't be ridiculous, you know I'd never really do that" she said apologetically "sit down, this is a great opportunity for you and for us, please, the photos you took were so good, it's obvious you work well together there's great chemistry there". "This was a big deal to me, a whole summer of festivals, it was a chance to get my work really seen" I said frustratedly pacing her office. "It still will be, I'm still giving you the spread, it'll just be with one band. Finish their shows then you're free to work wherever you like for the rest of the summer" she said smiling. Her phone rang, she held up a hand while she answered it. I'd arrived at her office where she told me my spread was now going to consist of just one band. My phone signaled a message, speak of the devil I thought furiously as I opened it.
~ can't wait to see you again tonight
~ I'm busy, I won't be keeping our appt
~ doing what? And it's a date not an appt
~ I'm in a meeting can't talk
~ I'll see you later as planned
I could almost hear the command in his voice. I frowned at my phone and put it back in my pocket. We were meeting again tonight, at my apartment. "So, what's it going to be?" she snapped interrupting my thoughts. "Fine, but I'm not happy about it" I said shaking my head in annoyance. "I don't care if you're happy or not, I just need you to do a great job" she said dismissively. I got up, "I always do, I pride myself on it" I snapped, "Charlotte, that goes without saying" she said kindly. "Let them know I'll be traveling business and I want to be put up in a nice hotel" I said over my shoulder as I walked out, not bothering to wait for an answer. I fumed all the way home. Once there I started packing, I was going back to New York to prepare for the long stint in Europe. A little while later I heard the buzzer, I glanced at the clock, I hadn't realized how fast the time had flown. A couple of minutes later I heard a knock at the door and prepared myself for a confrontation. I opened the door and he greeted me with a huge smile, "hey Charlie" he said leaning in to kiss me, he leaned back when I didn't return the kiss and frowned. "What's up?" he said raising an eyebrow. "Don't play dumb, you know exactly what's up" I snapped. "Ahh, so you've been to see your editor" he said flopping down on the couch. "You've ruined all my plans, why would you do that?" I said angrily. "I haven't ruined anything, you'll still have your spread, it'll just be Mars" he said reasonably. "You should probably go, I don't make a habit of sleeping with my boss" I said in a snarky voice. "Don't put on that posh accent, I'm not going anywhere, we're having dinner" he said with a smug smile. My mouth dropped, "you mean fucking!! We didn't even eat last night" I exclaimed. "I know, I was famished this morning, let's order now" he said grabbing his phone. I threw my hands up in frustration. "What do you feel like?" he asked ignoring me. "I don't care, you're the vegan" I said exhaling in frustration. "Okay I'll order" he said smiling, his dismissive attitude towards my anger was getting on my nerves. "I don't put on an accent you ass" I snapped. "Yes you do, when you get the least bit annoyed you start talking like the queen" he said grinning. I growled and walked to the kitchen to pour us a drink. He started tapping away, ordering food. He put his phone down and walked over taking a sip of his sparkling water. "I'm having some of the tour crew to the house. I'd like you to come, it's probably a good idea for you to meet everybody" he said. "I'll just meet them there" I said dismissively. He raised an eyebrow, "I wasn't asking you" he said. "It's a bit too soon to be giving me orders Jared. In any case, I haven't got time, I'm going back to New York then I'll meet you guys in Germany" I said firmly. He took another sip of his water before saying, "you know the way to my house, be there on Thursday at 1" he said, ending the subject. I furrowed my eyebrows at him, I was about ready to tell him to go fuck himself. Something caught his eye and he stood up and walked over to a side table. "I didn't see these yesterday" he said looking at the photo frames. "Well how could you? You were in here for five minutes and got distracted" I said sarcastically. He turned to me and smiled, that fucking thousand watt smile that rendered me speechless. He'd arrived there the night before and in the space of ten minutes, he'd had me bent over the back of the sofa. "You're in some of these photos. I figured you were renting this place " he said. "It's not mine, It belongs to my best friend, he's letting me stay here while he's away" I replied. "Oh, where is he?" he said. "He's working, in New York" I said. He raised an eyebrow, "what does he do? He looks like the guy in the latest Hermès campaign" he said curiously. "That's because it is. Raf is a model" I said. "When is he coming back?" he asked. "He'll be back in about a month or so, then he usually spends most of the summer in Europe. He, follows the work" I said. "How long have you known him?" he asked, "we met when we were 18, at university" I replied. "Wait, he went to university?" he asked in surprise. "Yeah, we both studied history, but obviously ended up on different paths" I laughed. He looked so shocked, "so, did you date?" he asked, picking up the frame. "You look very close" he said raising an eyebrow. The photo was taken at the beach on vacation in Hawaii. "Ah no, we never really dated as such" I said. "But ..." he prompted, I shrugged, "but what?" I replied innocently. "You're close ...?" he left the question hanging there. "We are yes, we supported each other through some hard times" I said, he nodded thoughtfully. "So, do you want to watch a movie?" he asked, changing the subject and taking a seat on one of the stools. I raised an eyebrow at him in surprise. "What? I'm not here just to fuck you Charlotte, I actually like being around you, fucking you is a bonus" he said giving me a sexy smirk. I couldn't stop the shiver that ran through me at his voice and the look he had just given me. "We can watch a movie I guess, just nothing you're in" I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes, "even I don't like watching movies I'm in, don't worry I'll pick something" he assured me. A couple of hours later we were in bed, we'd never even bothered with the movie.