Agony Page 8

  I shook my head as she walked back to Arsen’s car and hopped in. He finally tore his gaze away from Jareth and smiled at me. I blew him a kiss and waved at them as they drove away.

  As I walked back to my table with Jareth, I saw him watching the car leave.

  “Sorry about that. My cousin can be a little overzealous sometimes,” I explained sitting down.

  “It’s okay,” he replied with a grin.

  Mandy reappeared and placed our plates in front of us. I grabbed my napkin, undid it, and placed it on my lap. I grabbed the knife and fork and cut a piece of my fish off. The fork was hovering a few inches away from my open mouth when I noticed that Jareth was still leaning back in his chair watching me with a smile.

  I raised an eyebrow and put my fork down, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

  “Ever think of stepping in front of the camera? Instead of just standing behind the scenes?” he asked.

  “What? No, hell no. I wasn’t going to strip down for anyone there,” I replied, my face turning red.

  “I wasn’t talking about Devil’s Den,” he said laughing. “I meant for me. I’m sure I could find a part for you in this movie.”

  “That’s more Addie’s speed,” I replied making a face. “I like being behind the scenes. It’s what I went to school for.”

  Jareth’s smile widened and he finally leaned forward and started to eat his lunch. Between bites he told me about what I would be doing. For once I wasn’t going to be a go for; I was actually going to do something with meaning that wasn’t degrading.

  Jareth said that as his assistant, I had to be sure to always be on time and if there were nights that he needed me to stay late I would have to do so. I agreed to that; I didn’t have much of a life anyway, so working fourteen hour says would make me feel like I was actually doing something. He also said I would be on call a lot too. When I asked why he said because there would be nights, he was sure, that he would stay up going over the footage from the day before and he would want an extra pair of eyes. He also said that once I got used to going over the raw footage and understood what I was to look for, he’d leave that job entirely to me.

  I felt like I was going to overdose on the amount of pride going through my veins. He seemed so confident that I would do just a great job, that he was willing to leave a lot in my hands.

  Afternoon turned to dusk, while I sat there across from Jareth. He was on his fourth glass of wine and I was filling up nicely on my soda. I had my face in my hands on the table top while he told me some funny stories about being a director. I told him some of the horror stories of what I had seen at my last job.

  “Where did the time go?” he asked, suddenly looking up at the sky.

  I pulled my phone out of my purse.

  “Oh wow, we’ve been here for a little while,” I said giggling at the time. It was almost seven p.m. I also noticed that I had about five text messages waiting for me to read, but I swiped to dismiss them. “Addie and Arsen are going to kill me if I don’t get home soon.”

  I dropped my phone back into my purse and smiled at Jareth.

  “You can blame it on me,” he said with the wave of a hand. “Considering I’m your boss now, you can’t exactly have just run away.”

  I grinned and put my purse on the table. Jareth put his face in his hand and looked at me curiously.

  “Tell me about your cousin and your boyfriend,” he said.

  “How’d you know Arsen was my boyfriend?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

  “Neve, even from over here, I could see the look he was giving me,” he replied with a laugh.

  “Oh. Sorry. Um, well I’ll start that since that’ll be the shorter story of the two. Met him three days ago, became ‘official’ less than twenty four hours ago, and I’m probably gonna be single again if I don’t get home soon,” I said meaningfully.

  Jareth threw his head back and laughed.

  “That’s a pretty fast relationship there. You guys gonna move in together tomorrow?” he teased as he got up from his chair to look for Mandy.

  She handed him the bill and he took money out of his wallet, handed her one hundred dollars and told her to keep the change. She looked shocked and very happy.

  I followed Jareth through the ritzy restaurant to the front door and out onto the city streets.

  “What time do you need me on Monday?” I asked him.

  “Shooting won’t start until six a.m., but if you can get there by four, that would be awesome.”

  “Will do. See you then, boss!” I said walking away.

  “I can give you a ride if you want,” Jareth called out.

  I turned around and looked at him for a moment. I would much rather not walk back if I didn’t have too. I smiled and followed him to his car.

  “Very nice,” I remarked when he hit the disarm button on his key chain. I saw the lights on a sleek, charcoal gray Porsche blink.

  He grinned as he opened the driver’s side door and got in. I let myself into the passenger side and pulled on my seatbelt. Once I was comfortable, I pulled my phone out again and checked my texts.

  They were all from Addie.

  12:32: God he’s so hot. Jareth, I mean.

  1:50: Are you coming home soon? I think Arsen might be jealous.

  2:43: Okay he’s definitely jealous. Get your ass home.

  3:11: Neve Grace Dutton! I’m sick of answering questions, come home!

  5:02: This had better be the most amazing “lunch” in the world. Your boyfriend is driving me apeshit.

  I giggled and put my phone away. Jareth glanced at me curiously before he pulled away from his parking spot.

  “Addie. Apparently Arsen has been hounding her with questions,” I explained.

  “Which way do I go?”

  “Left at the second light.”

  “What’s he asking her about?”

  “When I was coming home I guess,” I replied.

  I watched a small smile cross Jareth’s lips, “Yeah. I guess I can see where that would come from.”

  Ugh. He’s conceited. Minus 1,000 hot points.

  “And why is that?” I asked giving him a sidelong glance.

  “Think about it,” he said turning left, when the arrow turned green. “It’s a brand new relationship and you’re already having lunch with another guy. You’re not responding to text messages. Not to mention you’re a beautiful girl, Neve. Who wouldn’t be jealous?”

  Oh.

  My face turned bright red. I looked out the window as the streets went by. We were only three blocks away from home and I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got there.

  “You can pull into the driveway in the back,” I said to him, pointing to my small apartment building.

  No sooner did Jareth pull in and put the car in park, did the front door of my apartment fly open and Adesynne walk out. She put her hands on her hips and started to tap her foot impatiently.

  “Just like a mother,” I said to Jareth rolling my eyes. “I’ll tell you all about her on Monday. Thanks for lunch. And for the ride.”

  “No problem. If you want, I can go inside and introduce myself to your boyfriend. Kind of put him at ease you know,” he offered.

  “That may not be a good idea. I don’t know. Sadly, I don’t know Arsen well enough to know what a good idea is,” I replied with a laugh.

  “Well, if he’s upset, give him my number. I’ll talk him down for you,” he said with a lopsided grin.

  “Thanks Jareth,” I said, getting out of the car.

  I had to get out. Immediately because that was the first time I saw that lopsided grin and it almost knocked me over.

  I walked over to Addie who looked like she was ready to strangle me. I turned and waved at Jareth as he pulled out and drove off.

  “How much trouble am I in?” I asked her quietly.

  “With Arsen? None; he went home two hours ago. With me? There’s hell to pay. Get inside,” she said stepping aside to let me in.

  I si
ghed heavily and walked into my apartment, dropping my purse by the door. I went over to my couch and plopped down, tucking my legs underneath myself and Addie sat down across from me with her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Tell me all about him!” she squealed suddenly with a big smile on her face.

  “What?” I asked in confusion.

  “Is he even hotter when you’re that close to him?” she asked leaning forward.

  “Wait a second, before we wander off into Jareth Land, is Arsen mad?” I asked her.

  “No. He was just worried really. When we pulled up and he saw Jareth he asked me if that was him and when I said yes, he gripped the steering wheel so hard, I thought he was going to snap it. It was like instant jealousy. I told him he has nothing to worry about, but I don’t think he was listening,” she said.

  “Then what were text messages about?”

  “OH! He was just asking me a million and one questions about your previous relationships. Like why the ended and stuff. Then when I finally got to the point where I was going to rip my hair out, he called Max and launched into a game of fifty questions about Jareth.” Addie looked at me uneasily for a moment before she spoke again. “I, uh, I think Max offered him some work at the end of their call. Arsen said something like, ‘No thanks. Some other time. I don’t need any money’ or something like that,” she said.

  I stared at her for a moment. Arsen turned down the opportunity to screw some chick while I was out for five hours with another man. Impressive.

  “Hand me my phone please?”

  Addie reached for my purse and fished out my phone. She tossed it to me and sat back.

  I opened my recent call log and pressed on Arsen’s name.

  “Hey, baby doll,” Arsen said when he answered.

  “Hey! What are you up to?” I asked cheerfully.

  “Just laying here watching TV,” he replied. “How was lunch?”

  “It was okay. I got the low down of what I’m going to be doing. I have to be at the studio at four in the morning on Monday,” I said.

  “Is that when everyone’s gonna be there?”

  “No. Just Jareth will be there, I think. The cast and crew should be there by six though.”

  I looked at Addie who was shaking her head. I raised an eyebrow at her and she just sighed.

  “Oh, alright. Well, I’ll let you go. I’ll call you this week,” he said, hanging up the phone abruptly.

  I looked down at the phone in my hand and stared for a moment. I didn’t understand what I had said that was so wrong that I garnered that reaction out of him.

  “Neve, help me out here,” Addie said, putting her face in her hand. “Why would you tell your boyfriend that you’re going to be alone with another man for two hours? Before anyone else gets there?”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Okay, look at this way. How would you feel if Arsen said he was going to a set two hours before everyone else got there and it would just be him and some girl? Alone. Together. For two hours.”

  I grabbed my phone and sent him a message.

  Hey. I hope I didn’t upset you.

  He answered a few minutes later.

  No. Not upset.

  I bit my lip thinking of what I could say that would put him at ease.

  You can come if you want. I’m sure no one would mind.

  I’ll think about it.

  Okay. Missed you today. xx

  I missed you too. <3

  I smiled and set the phone down, confident in the knowledge that Arsen was now okay with my being alone with Jareth on Monday.

  “When do you leave, Addie?” I asked settling back on the couch.

  “Friday night,” she replied.

  “Well, considering it’s Wednesday, I declare that there will be no more boys until you leave!” I exclaimed pumping my fist in the air.

  “N... none?” she asked looking completely crestfallen.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Addie did love her boy toys.

  “What I meant was no more interruption from my boy,” I explained with a grin.

  “Boy? I’m pretty sure you said ‘boys’ earlier,” she remarked wiggling her eyebrows.

  “Oh shut up,” I grumbled.

  Nine

  Thursday came and went and before I knew it, it was Friday morning. Addie didn’t have to be at the airport until ten that night, so we just spent the day walking around, shopping, and going to the local ice cream shop.

  It had been quiet on the “man” front which I actually found to be nice. Nothing from Arsen and no word from Jareth, either.

  When the sun fell and we went back to my apartment, I found myself fighting tears. I’d give anything to have Addie stay here with me until I moved back to New York, but that would I knew it would be selfish to take her away from our family too.

  At eight o’clock, I drove Addie to LAX. At eight fifteen we hugged each other good-bye. I held in my sobs until she disappeared from view and sat down in a chair, crying like my heart had just broken.

  At nine oh four, I finally collected myself and walked out of the airport.

  I was still wiping my eyes when I ran right into Arsen.

  “Hey, baby doll,” he said quietly.

  “Arsen, what are you doing here?” I asked.

  “Adesynne sent me a message and told me she had just left. She said she thought you might need me,” he replied, using his thumb to gently wipe away a tear.

  I looked up into his beautiful, hopeful eyes and fresh tears started to spill over. I threw myself into his arms and he held me tightly against him.

  Now I was crying for two different reasons; my broken heart over Adesynne leaving and my healing heart at Arsen being in the right place when I needed him the most.

  “Shh. It’s okay, Neve,” he whispered softly running his hand over my hair. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

  “Shh. It’s okay, Neve,” he whispered softly running his hand over my hair.

  “I know. I don’t understand why I’m so sad. It’s not like she died, she just went back home. I wonder if this is how she felt when I left,” I said softly.

  “I’m sure she did. Come on, I’m going to take you home,” he said, guiding me out of the airport.

  Arsen drove me straight home. He sat with me when we got there to make sure I was okay, but I really just wanted to be alone.

  It had been at least a half an hour and he didn’t show any signs of leaving. I stretched out on my couch and pulled the blanket up to my chin.

  “Thanks for coming tonight,” I said closing my eyes.

  “You’re welcome,” he replied.

  I started to become a bit frustrated when I didn’t hear any signs of him getting up to leave. I opened an eye and looked at him. I sighed internally when I saw that he was laying on the other couch, eyes closed, and his arms crossed over his chest.

  He has no plans of leaving, I thought to myself.

  I closed my eyes and rolled over on the couch so that my back was facing him. I guess this would be the part where most girls would feel “taken care of”. A guy that genuinely wanted to be with them, showed up like a super hero when you needed him, made sure you were okay, and planned on staying the night to make sure would wake up as okay as you were when you went to sleep.

  Not me.

  The frustration was slowly turning into anger and I was doing my best to contain it.

  I was almost completely asleep when I heard my phone vibrate. I opened my eyes, unsure how it had been taken off of silent, but I rolled over and reached for it in case it was Adesynne.

  It was a multimedia message from a phone number I didn’t recognize.

  Curiously, I rolled flat onto my back and pushed the icon.

  A second later, there was a picture of Jareth making a super sad face; pouty lip and all.

  I pressed down on the picture to make it fill the screen and used my thumb and forefinger to make it bigger. Since it was pretty dark wherever he was, it made it har
d to see his arm, but I was pretty sure he had some decent muscles going on.

  Must be a California thing.

  Wherefore art thou, Juliet? was the caption of the picture.

  When I was able to get my giggles under control, I turned the camera on myself and snapped a picture. I looked at it and saw my hair was standing up so I deleted it, smoothed my hair, and did it again.

  I sent the picture of myself sticking my tongue out and captioned it: Certainly not Verona!

  I almost dropped my phone a few moments later when Jareth’s phone number started to blink across the scene. I pushed my blanket off and ran over to the door, slipping into my house flip flops and stepping quietly outside.

  “Hello?”

  “I guess I should’ve told you that I’m an insomniac,” he said with a laugh.

  Well that answered that question.

  “What’s up?” I asked softly.

  Jareth was quiet for a moment.

  “Why are you whispering?” he asked in a loud whisper of his own. “Ohhh. Never mind. I know why.”

  “Why?” I asked curiously.

  “Pseudo boyfriend is there, isn’t he?” he asked. By the one of his voice, I knew that damn lopsided grin was plastered across his face.

  “Yeah. So what?” I replied.

  “Did you do him yet? You can tell me, it’ll stay between us girls,” he said changing the pitch to his voice.

  “No, I didn’t do him,” I replied laughing.

  I jumped when I heard the door open behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at Arsen who was giving me a groggy smile.

  Addie? he mouthed.

  I lied and nodded.

  Arsen stretched his arms over his head, his shirt rising slightly to reveal his lower abs, and he yawned loudly.

  Jareth immediately started to laugh. I used my thumb to push a button on the phone while it was still next to my ear to get him to stop.

  “Sorry, but that’s the universal sound of ‘there’s a man here in case that’s really a man on the phone’. I’ve used that sound before.”

  “I’ll see you later,” I grumbled into the phone as I hung it up, said good-bye to Arsen and went back inside.