Wearrive at work only to be told by Niall that Aiden has to fly out for a week to help with the Tokyo acquisition. His flight leaves tonight, so I don’t even have time to spend with him before he leaves. Needless to say, I hate the thought of Aiden not being with me for the next seven days.
We arrive back to the apartment after work, and I reluctantly help him pack his things for his business trip. “What am I going to do without you for a whole week?” I groan.
He chuckles. “I’m sure you’ll find comfort in the arms of Mr. Snuggles.” He winks.
I nod and laugh at his joke. “But our bed doesn’t feel the same without you in it. I just got you back, and now I have to sleep without you again?” That sounded needier than I intended.
He looks at me and stops packing, then walks over, taking my hands in his, and his bright blue eyes stare into mine. “Jeni, if I could have my way, you’d be coming with me, but you know what Father is like. As for just getting me back, you never lost me. I was always with you. I was always thinking about you. And trust me when I say, I won’t be spending a second longer than I have to, away from you.” He smiles, then kisses my forehead. “We can FaceTime and text, and I’ll be talking to you every chance I get while I’m away,” he tries to reassure me.
“I suppose I can survive seven days.” I pout out my bottom lip, and he laughs.
“There you go… we got this.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, we do.”
After a quick dinner, we head out with Mike to the airport. I hold on tightly to Aiden’s hand the entire drive there and then inside the airport. My heart leaps into my throat as he starts toward the security checkpoint.
He’s only going for a week.
Why am I so worked up about this?
Mike puts out his hand, and they shake. “Have a safe flight, sir.” Mike walks off to give us some privacy.
“I’ll be back before you know it.” He leans in and gently kisses my lips, and I exhale. “I’ll see you soon,” he assures me, then leans in for a passionate goodbye kiss.
“Be safe,” I tell him.
Aiden’s fingers slowly pull away from mine, and he walks through the security checkpoint bound for Tokyo. My chest squeezes watching him leave. It wasn’t long ago I had to watch him walk away from me for an entirely different reason, but this time, I know he’s coming back.
Mike strides over and wraps his arm around my shoulders. Aiden turns back to look at me one last time and blows me a kiss, mouthing, ‘I love you,’ before he disappears out of sight.
My thoughts are running rampant, so I reason with them.
He’s not leaving me.
He’ll be back.
You trust him, Jeni.
My mind battles with these thoughts all the way back to our empty apartment.
Mike swipes his card for the elevator, and I walk as the memories of being alone flood back. Our bright and full-of-love apartment suddenly feels dark and somber again.
I won’t go back to broken Jeni, I just can’t.
I wake to my phone ringing and sit up straight while I fumble around my bedside table for my cell. It’s a FaceTime call.
“Hello.”
“Morning, beautiful,” Aiden chimes in his deep, sexy voice, and instantly I’m awake.
I look at his face on the screen of my cell and smile. “Hey, what time is it?”
“It’s just past midnight here, so that means it’s about eight in the morning there. You sound like you’re still half asleep.”
“Wait? What?” I look at the bedside clock, and sure enough, it’s eight o’clock, and I have slept through my alarm. “For fuck’s sake!” I grunt, leaping out of bed.
I hear him laughing while I run around the bedroom grabbing clothes.