Chapter Fourteen
He could practically feel his heart breaking in his chest as Kyle clung to him for dear life, sniffling and silently sobbing. The rest of their trip had been nothing short of amazing but it had ended far too soon and now here they were, in their cleaned and packed up room, trying to put off saying goodbye for as long as they possibly could.
"Baby, I can go to the airport with you," Chris insisted softly before pressing his lips into the side of her head. "It's not a big deal."
Kyle sniffed her tears back with a deep breath, her face finally leaving his shoulder as she shook her head. "No. It'll be worse there...and it'll be in public and you know there will be people there waiting for you anyway..."
Chris chuckled as he brushed his hand across the tear soaked cheeks of his beauty. "Ya know you're going to have to deal with the public aspect eventually, right? I mean it sucks, but it kind of comes with the territory."
"I know but maybe we could wait until I'm a little more emotionally stable."
Chris chuckled. "C'mere," he demanded, tugging her back into his arms. "I love you. I don't wanna do this any more than you do."
"I know," Kyle whispered in return.
"Just a few weeks. And then you're coming to LA."
Kyle heaved a heavy sigh and looked up into the crystal blue eyes just slightly above her. "How you just confused me to do a premiere is beyond me."
"Cuz I'm cute..." Chris smirked, "and you love me."
"This is true."
"You don't have to walk the carpet. You can just go off to the side like my mom always does. Whatever you're comfortable with,"
"I know, Chris."
"You could always come see me earlier than that you know," he continued, a dazzling smile strewn over his face.
"Oh yeah? I'll just become a regular jet setter, maybe I can make the Japan premiere."
"I wouldn't mind..."
"I think my business I've already been ignoring for ten days might have someone to say about it."
"I'm sure Mar has shit under control."
"I'm sure she does...in her own way, but we tend to do things a bit differently..."
"Yeah, she has a life OUTSIDE of the restaurant." Kyle issued Chris a disapproving glare to which he simply chuckled. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."
"Spend our last few minutes slinging digs. Good idea," Kyle said sarcastically. As she headed to the bed to zip up her purse.
"I said I was kidding! Hey! Get over here!" Chris exclaimed, jogging the short few steps toward her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I'm joking. I love you and I love that you're so passionate about your work. I do, you know that."
Kyle let out a defeated sigh and turned back to face him. "I know."
"I'm just...in selfish mode," Chris stated with the most adorable of pouts. "I just wanna put you in my suitcase and take you with me everywhere."
"That's either adorable or homicidal. I can't decide."
Chris cocked an eyebrow. "Let's go with adorable...for now."
"You're an idiot," Kyle laughed.
"Mm, I might just be," Chris smirked, his face slowly beginning to lean toward hers.
"There's no might be about it."
"Shut up," Chris grinned brightly. However just as he was about to lay his iOS upon hers, the phone next to the bed began ringing abruptly. The smiles on both of their faces quickly faded as they knew exactly what the call was. "No," Chris now whined, pressing his forehead into his girlfriend's shoulder. "I'm not ready for this."
Kyle laughed sweetly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "What happened to 'It's only four weeks'?"
"It was all a show," Chris stated, his voice muffled. "I'm a fucking mess."
Kyle pressed her chin against the side of his head. "I need to get the phone, baby..."
Chris stood up straight while shaking his head. "No, let them think. We're not here and then you won't have to go..." His voice trailed off just we the phone stopped. "See! It's all good! We're golden! Now let's run away."
Kyle giggled as Chris's arms wrapped tightly around her neck and they swayed back and forth. "I don't think it works that way, babe."
"No, it does, trust me."
As Kyle opened her mouth to speak the phone began singing out once again. "I told you..."
"Nooo...don't get it..." Chris whined, stomping his feet as Kyle headed to the phone,. It was obvious from the shortness of the call that it was exactly the one they'd been waiting for, or dreading was a more accurate description. He watched as his girl turned back toward him. "I don't wanna do this," he said as she walked instantly back into his arms.
"Me either," Kyle said into his chest.
Chris's puffed up his cheeks and exhaled slowly, his beard meshing with the hair on the side of Kyle's head, tears in his own eyes he was fighting to keep at bay. "Can I at least walk you downstairs? Please?"
Kyle pulled back and laughed, tears glimmering. "If you must."
Chris nodded quickly and gulped. "Yeah...yeah I must."
The flight back to Boston was long and dreary, and it was no surprise that it was pouring the second she arrived at Logan International. She'd only said goodbye to him a mere six hours previously but it already felt like an eternity. Since he had returned to Boston after his brief stint in LA, the longest they'd gone without seeing each other was two days, at the most. She hailed a cab, shoved her luggage in the trunk and slunk into the backseat only speaking to give the driver instructions on where to drop her, though going home was about the last thing Kyle really wanted to do.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Kyle's sous chef, Elaine asked as the leader of the pack strolled in the back door of a bustling Nosh. "Didn't you just get back?"
"Don't worry. Kitchen's all yours," Kyle stated, putting her hands in the air. "I just couldn't sit at home anymore." Without another word she headed into the office where she found an unusually somber appearing Margo sitting behind the desk. "What's going on?"
Margo jumped about a foot off her seat at the unexpected sound of her best friend's voice. "Jesus Christ, what are you doing here? You scared the shit outta me."
Kyle sighed and placed her butt on a rare bare corner of the desk. "Couldn't sit at him alone. It's already making me crazy. What're you doing back here?"
"It's slow and...I didn't really feel like being on the floor anymore," Margo answered. "I got a big call today."
"What's that?"
"Food and Wine wants to do a feature on us. Apparently...we've been catching some eyes in the biz..."
"Thats amazing," Kyle stated, somewhat shocked. "Why don't you look at all happy about it?"
Margo gulped. "Because that wasn't the only phone call I got today."
Kyle was horrified. She didn't know what that meant and she wasn't sure she wanted to. "Margo, what?"
Margo's eyes hit the desk and she tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ears. "Um...Drake broke up with me."
"What?!" Kyle exclaimed. "Why didn't you call me?!"
"You were dealing with your own shit today. I didn't want to bother you."
"Don't be a fucking idiot. You should've called me." Kyle took a deep breath and shook her head. "I don't understand...I thought things were going really well."
"So did I," Margo said with a scoff. "Apparently he didn't. He just basically said with him being on the road all the time that it just wasn't gonna work..." The second those words left her lips, Margo's eyes flew up to look at her best friend. "Don't get any ideas. That doesn't mean it won't for you and Chris..."
Kyle chuckled and shook her head. "I honestly didn't even go there," she assured. She took a deep breath. "You wanna get outta here? I need a drink and not in my place of business."
Margo sighed. "I could definitely go for that."
"Come on. Slumber party at my place."
"We have to get your dog."
Kyle's head tipped back as both girls rose to their feet. "Oh God, yes please. I need his squishy face."
It was midnight when her favorite ringtone woke her from slumber. The best friends had polished off the better part of three bottles of wine in the comfort of Kyle's bed, all the while talking about their emotionally draining days and watching every 80s movie they could find. Kyle attempted to grab the phone and crawl out of bed without disturbing a passed out Margo, but it quickly began evident that not much would bring the red head back to the rest of the world.
"Hey," Kyle greeted with a whisper as she escaped into the living room, pulling the door shut quietly behind her.
"Hey beautiful," Chris's voice greeted. "Why are you whispering?"
"Um, Margo had a rough day. We got a bit wasted and passed out."
"I didn't mean to wake you. I was about to head out with some of the guys, I can let you get to bed."
"No, it's fine. I wanna hear your voice," Kyle responded. She yawned as she sank into the couch. "Who's the guys?"
"Renner, Hemsworth, Mackie... Seb might be meeting up with us. I don't really know," Chris stated. "What's going on with Margo? She ok?"
Kyle sighed. "Not really. Your buddy broke her heart."
"What? Drake? You serious?"
"Yeah. Apparently he called her today and told her it wasn't going to work with him being gone all the time."
Chris scoffed. "That's some bullshit. He hasn't even tried. The season just started."
"That's what I said," Kyle said, playing with a loose string on the afghan she'd just pulled onto her lap. "I mean I get the concern, I guess..."
"It's not concern. He wants to be single on the road. It's that simple," Chris stated. "Drake's never really been a relationship guy. I probably should've said something before it got to this point."
"You didn't have time. They were together the second they met."
"True," Chris agreed. There was a long silence, or at least it felt long from his end of the phone. "You okay? You're kinda quiet."
"No...I mean, I'm fine. I'm just drunk. And I kind of have a headache. I shouldn't drink wine, this always happens," Kyle stated.
"You sure that's it? Tone of your voice doesn't necessarily seem like all that's on your mind is a headache."
Kyle gulped, tugging at the string and making the hole in her blanket even bigger. She took a deep breath. "Are you sure you...don't...want to be single on the road? I mean I get it..."
"Kylie, there's nothing to get," Chris stated firmly. "I'm with you, whether I'm in Boston or LA or fucking Antarctica. That doesn't change."
"I just don't want to hold you back."
"Stop it. You're not holding me back from anything, okay? I've done everything I wanted to do as a single man, okay? Now I wanna do them with you. It's that simple," Chris insisted. "Stop freaking out on me. We haven't even made it twenty four hours yet."
"I'm not freaking out."
"You're kinda freaking out," Chris chuckled, "and that's okay. This is scary, I know. Especially for you because you haven't done it before, I know that and...I will spend the next six months telling you the same thing: I'm not going anywhere. I don't want anyone else. I don't wanna date anyone else. I don't wanna sleep with anyone else. I don't even wanna go to dinner with anyone else, okay? You're my future, Ky. I'm not gonna do anything to mess that up."
Kyle could feel her cheeks flush as an enormous smile took over her face. "I love you."
"I love you too baby. And I miss you. Already."
"I miss you too." She heard a door buy buzz in the background.
"That's Renner. I better go. Get some sleep, baby. I'll call you in the morning."
"Okay."
"I love you. Stop making yourself crazy. Wait a couple months for that, okay?"
Kyle laughed. "Shut up. I love you too."
"Good. Night, babe."
"Night." Kyle ended the call and laid back into the cushy sofa, draping her arm over her forehead. She sighed. The first night without him and she was about to fall asleep on the couch. It was probably better that way. At this point the bed just made her want him there anyway.
Sent from my iPad