With pink lemonade in her kitchen and her bags stacked by the door, she wasn't very surprised when the phone rang in the early hours – usually her mother liked to get in one last chat before she was due to hit the tarmac, or her sister wanted to pass on one last piece of advice.
But even without having to think she knew it was neither of these women, but in fact a man.
"Hello?"
"I have to perform in New Orleans, want to come with me?"
"For how long?" She enquired, checking her wristwatch; still an hour until she had to leave for the airport.
"As long as we want,"
Tori glanced at the framed picture across from her; a sunset over the ocean, with her and Andre standing next to each other, colors bleeding into one another. The picture was new – just two months earlier there was another picture of chocolate brown eyes and a rare smile caught at just the right moment before it turned from sweet to sarcastic.
"Until you get restless again," she shot back, sounding harsher than she intended.
It was always the same with him, start fresh, somewhere new – a few good weeks in Vegas, two months of bliss in New York, a month of beautiful sunny days in Miami before the storm hit hard and fast – and then just like that it was over
He was gone again and she was back to staring at a photo.
But she'd beat him this time, put the pictures away before his call, erased him from her home early.
"It's not going to be like last time."
"That's what you said when you called about Orlando, Houston, Philadelphia…"
"I know, but this is different T, I swear, it's-"
"I'm going back to Hollywood." She told him; usually when he made these calls, the only place she was going was across the country, but not this time.
"Back to LA? Sure, that'll work too. Better, even, I've missed home."
"You don't mind?" she shook her head; squeezing the bridge of her nose and partly wishing she'd just let the call go to voicemail."
There was silence on the other end; save for a little background noise, Tori guessed Andre was already at the airport, clutching his ticket to New Orleans.
"I'll go back to Hollywood if you want," he finally replied. "We'll find a way to make 'us' work again, and if we don't, I'll call Beck myself and hand him a loaded."
Tori almost laughed at that, she felt the faintest of smiles twisting at her lips.
"How do you know we will work this out?"
"I just do"
"Are you sure?"
"Tori, I want this, I always have, ever since we were sixteen. I'll do anything to make it right this time. I love you too; I just want you with me."
After he's done, she thinks of the scant number of times he's said those words to her in the past. Each time it was with conviction and all except for the first time she believed him, despite the fact that his actions mirror the way he acted that first time anyway.
She's almost completely certain that he's wrong, that it won't work this time, just like it didn't work any of the other times that they tried. But still she hears herself explaining she'll meet him at the baggage claim in Los Angeles.
She should know better than this, but she can't help it, he's just too tempting.
