Joy opened her eyes, the chirping of the birds outside waking her up. Rubbing the sleep off her eyes, she smiled at James' peaceful expression, his soft snores echoing in the hotel room. Weirdly enough, she felt like lying there, her body intertwined with his, was exactly what she should be doing. Nothing about their late night encounter felt awkward or uncomfortable the morning after. In fact, she'd gladly stay like that a couple more hours, even if it was just to admire the way her TV husband's lips were shaped, or how his stubble made him look so grown-up and mature. James looked incredible even when he was asleep. In fact, she could swear he grew more handsome by the minute.
Tapping her fingertips on his naked chest, she carefully leaned over him, reaching for his phone and checking the time. It was almost half past one. The singer almost shrieked, coming to the realization her flight was set to leave in an hour and she had yet to get up, take a shower and pack.
Making sure she didn't wake him up, Joy untangled herself from James' embrace, detached her legs from his side and climbed off the bed, checking her pajama pants for her key. Planting a chaste goodbye kiss on his forehead, she quickly ran to the door, leaving the room and rushing to hers.
Picking a pair of denim overalls and a sweater, Joy hurriedly took a shower, choosing to throw her hair into a ponytail and putting on a pair of converse before packing and checking the suite to see if she wasn't leaving anything behind.
Fortunately, she managed to hail a cab and make it to the airport just in time to check-in, get through security and enter the plane before the last call.
Plopping down on her seat, Joy retrieved her phone from her purse, typing a small message to James.
Thank you for letting me crash with you. Was running a little late to catch my flight and I didn't want to wake you up - you look quite cuddly and cute when you're asleep. Hope to hear from you soon! Love, Joy.
PS: you snore pretty loudly.
James was awoken by the loud ringtone he had set for his text notifications.
Feeling the lack of Joy's body heat on top of him, he reached for her, only to realise she wasn't next to him. He opened his eyes, sighing, and took his phone from the nightstand, a small smile appearing on his face when he saw her name on the screen.
He didn't dream about her showing up at his doorstep asking to stay over. It was real. It happened.
The vulnerability she had shown him was so different from what he was used to get from her. She was always the independent one, and he couldn't imagine how helpless she must've felt to ask for his aid. Above all, James loved the fact that she'd come to him. Joy had trusted him to provide her a feeling of safety and comfort and that made his heart soar.
He was flying directly to England from Charlotte, but he still had plenty of time to kill before that.
Getting up, he noticed how eager he was to see Joy again. She had just left, yet there he was, like a lost puppy, waiting for her return.
Without really putting much thought into it, he got ready and left his luggage by the door, going downstairs to at least grab lunch.
Rob and Stephen were sat alone at one of the tables, sunglasses covering their eyes and holding their heads up with their hands. James chuckled to himself, leaning down and placing his arms around his hungover friends' shoulders.
"Good morning, ladies!" he chanted, enthusiastically, channeling his inner Robin Williams.
"I swear I'll punch you in the nuts, you douche." Stephen winced, momentarily taking off his sunglasses.
"Aw, what's the matter, sweetcheeks?" James asked in a mocking tone.
"Shh, J-man. I'm in pain." Robert hushed him.
"I can believe you dweebs got drunk on two beers. By the way, nice singing, Victoria. Really smooth move."
"I don't tiptoe around things, my friend. I go in for the kill with the song choices." Rob pointed out, sipping on his glass of water. "My throat feels as dry as the freaking desert, I'm going to stick to rootbeer from now on."
"Keep telling yourself that, buddy." Stephen condescended, patting his shoulder. "So, young stallion, did you and BJL have a sleepover again?" He inquired, looking up at James. "You did, didn't you? You totally did! Ow, my head..."
"Nothing happened. Jesus, when did you two become so nosy?"
"Since you've become a free man. That means we're all single at the same time. Oh, this is glorious!" Rob crowed.
"Calm down, Earl, it's not like James is going to be single for long." Stephen smirked.
"I'm not?" James raised his brow.
"I give you a week."
"Keep dreaming."
Joy leaned back on her seat, checking for the tenth time if her phone was on airplane mode and looking at the pictures she had taken throughout the weekend, stopping when she saw one of the photos Ashley had taken of her and James. It was one of the very last pictures, after her friend had said people would go crazy over them and the pair stopped posing. Or at least they were supposed to. James' eyes continued focused solely on Joy as she moved forward to retrieve her phone. He had the sweetest smile on his face and she couldn't help but grin like a fool at the sight of it.
"Aw look at you two, so in love!"
Joy came back to reality, the voice coming from the seat next to hers, where an elderly lady was sat, with a chord holding her large spectacles around her neck, a magazine on her lap and both eyes glued to the singer's phone.
"Oh, we're not... It's not... We're friends." Joy stuttered.
The older woman leaned in a bit closer, putting her glasses on.
"Well, darling, you sure seem like a couple to me."
"We did play a couple for about nine years..."
"You kids are actors? How fabulous!"
"Yeah, we used to be on a show called One Tree Hill." she grinned.
"I'll make sure to look it up when I get home." the lady returned her smile. "I love the show business. I guess it's related to the fact I was named after one of the greats."
"Wow, really?"
"Yes, my dear. I'm Doris. My mother was a big fan of Doris Day back in the day." she held out her hand.
"Joy. It's so nice to meet you." the singer replied, shaking her hand.
"That's a beautiful name, sweetheart. And you have a pretty face to go with it, what a doll!"
"Thank you, that's so nice of you to say."
"You know what? Now that I'm really looking at you, you're reminding me so much of my daughter... George? George, honey!" she stuck her neck out, looking for her husband. "Come here!"
A man around her age came rushing down the aisle, holding a bag of peanuts and a set of headphones under his arm. His grey hair was neatly combed and he had a rather thick mustache adorning his upper lip.
"What is it, love?" George inquired, in a distinct Irish accent.
"This young lady sitting next to me is Joy. She's an actress! Doesn't she look a bit like our Billie?"
George directed his attention to Joy, who waved hello. He looked her up and down, furrowing his brows.
"You miss her too much, Dee. Ms. Joy here doesn't look anything like our daughter." he chuckled, showing his dimples.
"Oh, but she does! Don't fight me on this, George Brennan."
"Alright sweetie, alright, whatever you say." the older man smiled, squeezing her shoulder. "I'm going back to my seat, I got myself some peanuts and a nice film to watch. It was lovely to meet you, Ms. Joy. Have a nice flight!"
"Thanks, you too!" Joy jested.
Joy watched as George kissed Doris' head and walked back to his seat, a few rows ahead.
"Why aren't you seating next to your husband, Mrs. Brennan?"
"Please, call me Doris! Well, we only booked the flight yesterday and these two seats were the ones that were left."
"Do you want me to switch seats with him? It's fine by me!" Joy offered, standing up.
"Oh no, stay! George and I are practically attached to the hip, there's no problem in being separated for a few hours." Doris winked. "Plus, he talks a lot during movies."
Joy chuckled lightly, nodding.
"Your husband..."
"George." she corrected her.
"Sorry. George said you are missing your daughter. How long have you been apart?"
"We've got five kids, four living in different states across the country. Billie lives in Norway, so we only see her two or three times a year."
"Oh... I don't think I could handle living so far away from my daughter."
"Life tricks us sometimes. She went over there to study for a year, fell in love and never came back for good. As long as Billie's happy the ache in my chest is less of a burden, though. How old is yours?"
"Maria's six now. Here." Joy handed her phone to the older lady. "You can swipe left, there's more."
"She's a stunner, Joy. Well done!" Doris gushed, flipping through her camera roll. "Oh and back to the lovebirds." she winked.
"We're..."
"I know, I know." she waved her off. "But he does look very keen."
"No, Doris, he's really not..."
"Wait, are you married?"
"Divorced... But James and I are friends and I think we'll never cross the line to anything other than that." Joy mumbled, looking at the picture.
"You never know... Love is a strange thing, my dear. It knocks us out, pulls us back up and then does the same thing all over again repeatedly. It may blossom from a friendship at any time. Don't ever close yourself off to it just because you might be afraid of the outcome. If I hadn't allowed a friendship to become more than that I wouldn't be married for forty-seven years with five kids and thirteen grandchildren. Making the decision is the difficult part. Trust me, I know a thing or two." Doris patted Joy's hand.
"You do seem like a lovely couple."
"Oh, we've fought long and hard for our love. George came to the United States with a scholarship and the hope of having a better life. His parents didn't have a lot of money but they encouraged their son to pursue his dreams. I met him in an English Literature class in college. We started off as friends: he made me laugh and always walked with me to class, but quickly we realised that there was something more between us. I put up a good fight against my feelings because I didn't want to lose what we had for something that could go terribly wrong, but George never gave up on me. Eventually I decided that I only had one life to live so we started dating. We dated throughout the Summer of nineteen-seventy and, boy, did we have a great time. He met my parents in September and I'm not going to sugarcoat this: they hated George. They wouldn't accept our relationship and tried to convince me to leave him, ultimately giving me an ultimatum: either I got rid of, in their actual words, «that awful low-life immigrant» or they'd cut me out. So I did the only thing I could possibly do in my situation: I married him and left town. We were eighteen at the time..."
"That's one heck of a love story, Doris! Did your parents really cut you out?"
"Unfortunately, I can't exactly pinpoint the last time I even saw them before they passed away." Doris sighed, adjusting her spectacles. "But I have a wonderful family now. They are my everything. If I could go back, I wouldn't have done anything differently. So, my dear Joy, I advise you to ponder giving that boy James a chance. Who knows, you might find just what you are looking for."
"How did you..."
"A mother always knows, right?"
Heathrow was as busy as usual. James navigated his way through the crowd of oblivious travelers, going down the escalators with his large suitcase in tow.
Coming back to London was bittersweet: he loved the capital and his job, but he knew he had to work with the person he had willed himself to let go of just a few days before. His heart wasn't hurting, but he dreaded the awkward post-break-up moments that surely would take place as soon as he stepped foot on set.
Man up, Lafferty.
James stepped off the escalator, spotting the person he was looking for. He squinted, trying to read what his long-time friend had scribbled down on a piece of cardboard.
½ of my greatest creation, it read.
"I was hoping that, after fifteen years and my constant nagging, you had finally decided to get a decent hair cut."
"You know damn well I'm never giving up the «indie mop» look. It's my trademark.", his former co-worker proclaimed.
He laughed loudly, pulling him into a hug.
"It's great to be back, Mark."
