Chapter 100
Liz walked into the terminal, cradling the vase in her arms and searching for Carly, who was supposed to pick her up.
“Liz!”
She turned around and smiled, hurrying over to her. “Carly, thanks for doing this. I really didn’t want to have to take a cab home.”
“Hey, it’s no problem. What’s with the flowers?” She grinned, looking them over approvingly. “Are they from Lucky?”
Liz shook her head. “No, they’re from Brad and Jen.”
Carly frowned. “Who?”
“Sorry, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston,” she corrected, unable to hide a smug smile that she was able to talk about them like they were old friends and not international movie stars.
Her jaw dropped. “No way!”
“Yep. Read the card if you don’t believe me.” She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to Carly, still grinning.
“This is amazing....wait, are you sick?” She looked up at Liz, searching her face.
“No, I’m fine now. I think all the excitement last night just got to me. Don’t worry.” She sighed and reached for her bag. “Come on, I’m dying to get home. I have to do the night shift already tonight, so I’d like to get some rest first.”
“Rest?” Carly asked, smirking. “Didn’t you sleep last night? Or were you too busy, um, you know...”
Liz blushed and quickly turned to duck into the car. “No, I slept, but I’m still tired. You wouldn’t believe how hectic his tour schedule is. I don’t know how he does it. I was only there for a week and I’m exhausted!”
“Well, now you have three weeks to recover before he comes back. I’m sure they’ll just fly by.”
“I hope so,” Liz mumbled automatically, surprised to hear herself say it. Since when did she want Lucky to come back? This was supposed to be her break from him, to stop pretending and just go back to her normal life. She chalked it up to that exhaustion she was talking about and watched the passing scenery as they drove to her house, making a mental note to call Alexis first thing in the morning.
“Oh, you looked great last night, by the way. We caught you a few times during the show,” Carly said suddenly, trying to start a conversation again.
Liz smiled. “Thanks. The whole thing was so surreal. I feel almost like it happened to someone else, and I was just watching.”
“What was up with my cousin and those leather pants?” she asked, laughing. “I still can’t get over that he actually wore them!”
“I know, I was surprised too. He said it was his stylist’s idea or something.”
“Well, they must know what they’re doing then, because he looked good in them. I mean, I wasn’t really looking, he is my cousin, that would be kind of sick....”
Liz chuckled. “No, you’re right, he did look good in them.” She sighed and turned to the window again, trying to push the picture of him in those pants out of her head. She was confused enough already, and that wasn’t helping at all. Once they got to her house, she said a quick thank-you to Carly and hurried inside.
After putting the flowers on the table and checking her messages, she climbed the stairs and collapsed on her bed, determined to take a nap before she had to work. She set the alarm and crawled under the covers, happy to be back in her own bed, then rolled over, her head resting on the pillow Lucky had slept on their last night there. She was suddenly struck by a strange longing as she inhaled the lingering aroma of him that still clung to the pillowcase.
“What’s wrong with me?” she sighed, forcing herself to roll back to her side of the bed. She lay awake for half an hour, then finally gave in and rolled back onto Lucky’s pillow, falling asleep within minutes.
~*~
“Spence?” Charisma called out, waving her hand in front of Lucky’s face. “Hello?”
“Hm?” he asked, snapping out of the trance he had fallen into. His eyes focused on her face. “What?”
“You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”
He smiled sheepishly and shook his head. “Sorry, I guess I’m distracted.” He stood up and sighed. “I’m going to take a quick nap.”
“Didn’t get any sleep last night?” she teased, winking at him.
Lucky blushed. “No! I mean, yes, I mean...I slept. I’m just tired still, that’s all.”
“But you have an interview in less than an hour!” she argued, turning to watch him as he walked down the hall to his room, trying not to laugh at his sudden discomfort.
“Then come wake me up when we get there. I just need a few minutes of sleep, I’ll be fine.”
She smiled, raising her voice as he opened the door. “You miss her already, don’t you?”
“What?” he asked suddenly, whirling around in surprise before remembering that it was a normal question for her to ask. “Oh, um, of course I do. She’s my wife, remember?”
Charisma smirked. “How could I forget? Go ahead, take a nap, I’ll wake you in a few.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled, quickly escaping into the small bedroom. He flopped down on the bed and sighed, rubbing his eyes as he tried to figure out what was going on with him. Ever since they had left the airport, his head had been a jumbled mess of emotions, none of which he understood. He hoped a nap would help clear his head, so he turned onto his side and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the scent of Liz’s perfume that was coming off of the pillow next to him.
~*~
“Speak to me!” Luke said cheerfully, leaning back in his chair.
“Luke, it’s Charisma. Have you seen Liz yet?”
“Not yet, but Caroline just called. How’s my son?”
“Terrible, although he won’t admit it. Ever since Liz got on that plane, he’s been moping and distracted. And it’s not an act, either.”
He could practically hear her smiling over the phone, and it only made him grin even wider. “Well, Carly kept babbling about some flowers from Brad Pitt, but it sounded like Liz was sort of distant, too. She said something about her wanting to take a nap right away.”
Charisma laughed. “Spence did the same thing!”
“I wonder what went on between them last night...” he mused, smiling to himself at the innuendo.
“Who knows?” she sighed.
Luke chuckled. “They do.”
“Very funny. Too bad we’ll never get them to tell us.”
“That’s okay. I have a feeling by the time Lucky gets back, they’ll be missing each other so much, they won’t care about their phony marriage.” He sighed, glancing down at the calendar on his desk. “This is going to be a long three weeks.”
“It’ll be longer for them, I bet,” she joked. “Let’s just hope this works, because if it doesn’t, I don’t know what else we can do.”
“Don’t worry darlin. They’re stubborn, that’s for sure, but they’re still human, and they’ll crack soon. They’ve only been apart for a few hours and they’re already showing signs of missing each other. Just think how much worse it will be in three weeks!”
“You’re right, they don’t have a chance. It looks like our hard work is finally paying off.”
Luke smiled, reaching for a cigar. “Yes, that it does. I couldn’t have done it without you, partner. You can definitely scheme with the best of them!”
“Why thank you,” she said, touched by the compliment. “I’m happy to have been able to help. I’ll admit, at first I just wanted Spence to fall in love so he’d write some ballads for once, and make us all richer, but now that I’ve seen them together, I just want to see them finally admit their feelings.”
Luke chuckled, puffing on the cigar. “But if he writes a love song in the process, you won’t mind.”
“Of course not,” she laughed. “But that’s just a bonus now. I better get going. He has an interview soon and I should go wake him up. I’ll let you know if anything else happens.”
“I’ll do the same. Thanks for the update!” He hung up and smiled. If what Carly and Charisma told him were true, Lucky and Liz were going to have a hard time making it through these next three weeks, and he couldn’t wait to see their reunion at his hometown show. That was one concert he had to have front-row seats for!
