So Close (a James Hetfield story)

Chapter 22

Even though my time in London was short, I was on cloud nine when I left and it managed to sustain me over the next two months as the boys continued their tour. Not that I really had time to mope since I had a ton on my plate too with finals and gigs with HyperDrive. I was a year out from graduating now and my thoughts were already turning to the future for myself and for my relationship with James.

Walking into our apartment after my final class for the year, I felt a wave of loneliness hit me hard. He'd be home in a matter of weeks, but now with school done and my band on hiatus for the summer, I had nothing to distract me from the fact he wasn't there. Reaching for the phone to call Kel about going out for drinks, the front doorbell rang. Not expecting anyone, I looked through the keyhole and was surprised to see a young guy in a delivery uniform. Cautiously opening the door I looked at him expectantly, but he was too busy staring at my breasts to notice. 

Finally, I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Yer a delivery guy right?" He nodded, his gaze back on my breasts. "Do you have a delivery then?"

"Oh shit, yeah." Reluctantly dragging his eyes upwards, he grinned wide as he produced a manila envelope and gave me a document on a clipboard to sign. "If ya feel like adding yer phone number, I guarantee I'll call." He looked me over again.

Sighing, I shoved the clipboard into his chest while grabbing my envelope and stepping back in the house.

"So you don't want me to call ya then?" came a confused voice from the other side of the door.

Ignoring him, I walked into the living room, plopped down on the sofa and ripped open the envelope. The first thing my fingers found inside was a handwritten note, and my heart beat faster when I recognized Jamie's handwriting.

Leila,

First let me get this out of the way...I fucking miss you. Thinking about the last time we were together in London, it makes me feel better just like you said it would, but I don't want to keep pretending you're with me anymore, I want you to be with me for real. I've sent you a plane ticket. You can't take it back so don't even try. I can't wait two more weeks or even two more days. Please come.

I love you,

James

I'm pretty sure I squealed loud enough for him to hear me on the other side of the planet. Looking in the envelope I found an airline ticket printed out to me, scheduled to depart the next day out of San Francisco International. I spent a couple minutes doing a ridiculous happy dance before realizing I needed to pack; I hated packing. This required reinforcements, so I made my intended call to Kel. She was thrilled at my good news and was practically out the door to my place before we finished on the phone.

We had a fun evening catching up, playing fashion show, and getting me packed. I missed living with her, but we'd managed to stay the best of friends despite our separate living situations. School was kicking her butt too and she'd put her nose to the grindstone over the last year, determined to finish college in four years. Her partying days had come to a screeching halt, and another unfortunate victim of her changed priorities was her relationship with Ron. They were still friends and she'd pass along occasional updates on how he was doing, but at some point, they realized the distance was too much and they were too distracted to really commit. Kel was bummed for a while and I imagined Ron was too, but I guess it was a sign of maturity that they'd made the tough decision to split, knowing in the long run it was the right choice.

She stayed overnight and the next day dropped me off at the airport. The flight was long, but I slept off and on and watched the inflight movies, even though they were all in French. I felt every mile fall away as I got closer to Jamie, and by the time I landed in Amsterdam, I was grinning like an idiot. People gave me strange looks, so I knew I was grinning like an idiot. Didn't care.