CHAPTER 45: For the Love of Mila

There was torrential rain knocking on Casey's hotel window as she laid there in the bathtub. Some of the locals said there was a storm coming in tonight and they were advised to stay in. It was pitch black and wet outside and she wasn't really sure what to do now that their plans were botched by the February weather. Well, so much for my little black dress. She took her phone from the side of the tub and texted Ken, who she supposed would be jumping up and down upon hearing news from her.

Casey: Guess what, it's frickin raining here in Ibiza so I won't be able to wear the black dress. I have no idea what we're doing tonight.

She heard a soft knock on her door and she bolted upright, sending splashes of warm water on the floor. She carefully put her phone down on a dry spot, pulled the plug on the tub, washed off and wrapped herself in a bathrobe. She didn't even have to peek to see who's on the other side as she rushed to the door. "Hey!" She greeted breathlessly, her hair still wet and her face glowing from the hot bath. Jack was still for a moment as he took in the sight before him. "Hey! Uhh..." He said standing in the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest. He scratched the back of his head and tried to look away. "Do you still want to check the bars in town? I could still take you if..." Casey opened the door of her hotel room wider and stepped a little more outside."...if you want to..." Jack continued. His words felt like they were strangling him and leaving him breathless. Conscious of the few seconds of silence, he cleared his throat and put both his hands in his jeans pockets.

It was a very tempting offer, that Casey knew. But she can hear the pitter patter and the thunder from outside and she suddenly remembered that she was standing in the hallway in nothing but her bathrobe. "Oh, I'd love to, Jack, but I don't think it's a good idea. It's raining so hard outside and... Well, to be honest I'd rather curl up in bed and watch HBO..." Jeez, why do I feel so bad after saying that? Jack's eyebrows shot up, a bulb lighting up inside his head. "Oh, you know what?! Why don't we just get room service, get some beer and watch HBO together?" He said.

Casey smiled at Jack, her eyes bright with unacknowledged excitement. "Oh yeah, that's a great idea!" She answered as she held the terry cloth bathrobe closer to her body. "Yeah, high five!" Jack said and he raised a hand in the air. Giddily, Casey slapped it and laughed. They stood there, not really knowing where to look though they were both grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, I just... Give me 5 minutes to dress up and..." Casey's cheeks were burning red. "Oh! Yeah," Jack said suddenly aware that the girl he was talking to only had a bathrobe to cover herself up. "Just come to my room when you're ready. I'll call room service right now." He said as he stepped away while Casey nodded. She turned and walked back to the room, shutting the door gently behind her. Jack just stood there and stared at the door. How did we come to this? A few months ago we would burst into each other's rooms without even knocking and here we were talking awkwardly outside each other's hotel room... He left to go to his own room, shaking his head.


"I love that sunsets make you cry and I don't care that you failed your real estate exam and I'm glad that you have a five-date rule. I love you..."

"Not as much as I love you."

"Who says that in real life?!" Casey said, pointing to the TV inside their hotel TV with a bottle in her hand. She took a swig of her beer and wiped her lips with the sleeve of her gray hoodie. "I thought you've seen this movie?" Jack asked, his eyes still fixed on the screen. "I have but I didn't hear the lines that well!" She answered, sniggering. "Oh wait, did you see that?" Jack said suddenly nudging Casey and pointing at the screen. "What?" She asked, leaning in closer to the TV. "No, I just noticed... Look, they propped the DVD they're watching in front of the telly." The screen showed an over the shoulder frame of Justine Timberlake and Mila Kunis talking on the sofa and Jack pointed right at it. It was a DVD case propped up on the side of the TV with Jason Segel and Rashida Jones on the cover. "Oh yeah! They did a cover for the fake film!"

"Can you imagine shooting a film for a film and making a teeny tiny movie poster that the audience won't even notice unless they rewatch it?" Jack asked, his head turned to her. She smiled and nodded. "I'm sure the audience noticed the blatant comparison between this film and the fake cliche film but I don't think they'd notice Jason Segel's tiny face there," Casey said, smiling as she pointed to the defocused little face on the TV. "It's quite fascinating how much effort they put into these movies." He said as he watched Casey drinking her beer. "Yeah, but then again, who in their right mind would even bother to prop up a DVD case in front of their TV like that? It looks so weird now that I think about it!" Casey said laughing at the TV and Jack couldn't help but laugh along.

"You know what," Jack said out of the blue as their laughter subsided. "We should make a cliche romance film just like that!" He said before taking a long drink from his second beer bottle. "Haven't you done that before?" Casey asked, turning to Jack. "When?" He asked and she snickered as she looked right at him. "You did a cliche breakup film with Sid!" She exclaimed and Jack laughed as he remembered how he bid goodbye to his bearded dragon Sidney when it was re-homed before he went to uni. "You're right, that one's a cliche film. I don't even know why I did that..." He shook his head and took a swig of beer. "But I have to say," Casey said after finishing her own drink. "You were brilliant on that video. The acting was spot on!" Jack smiled warmly. "Oh, thank you!" He said, the corners of his mouth upturned making his laugh lines show.

They sat there just staring at each other's eyes, smiling like fools until they heard soft moans on the background. "Okay, time to quit HBO." Casey scrambled to grab the remote from the bed behind them, her chest brushing against Jack's elbow. "Wha-Why'd you do that?" He asked as she quickly flipped the channel to Disney. "That part makes me uncomfortable!" Jack tried reaching for the remote and noticed how her cheeks burned red. "Oh come on, I thought you said you've seen that movie before?" He said and Casey snickered, her remote-free hand pushing Jack away with difficulty. Jeez, am I really this small or has he gotten bigger? From behind her she felt his arms tightly encircling her, trapping her into a big, bear hug. He held her arms down and she was forced to give the remote to him. As he struggled to keep her in his grip, his other hand was busy pushing some buttons on the remote to get back to HBO. "Oh, there's Mila!" He said jeering at Casey. She folded her arms and sneered at him which made him laugh. He took a swig of beer and smiled as his hands reached for his hair.

From her peripheral vision Casey saw him running his hand through the soft brown tufts on his head. She felt tumbleweeds in her stomach and electricity on the tips of her hand. They heard soft moans from Mila again and Casey watched distractedly as she straddled Justin. Jack was laughing in delight. He took a sideways glance and watched Casey chugging down her beer uncomfortably, her cheeks red like strawberries and he couldn't help but snicker silently. Jeez she probably felt very awkward watching this with me. I wonder what it feels like... Shit, that must feel really good... Jesus Christ, I have got to stop picturing that." He shifted uncomfortably and sat cross legged on the floor.

There was something in the air that tickled Casey and made her breathless. She let go of her beer bottle and placed her hands inside the front pockets of her hoodie. God, I wish I had a smoke right now. She felt Jack's bare knees against hers and she instinctively moved her legs closer together. As they watched, Jack couldn't help but steal glances at Casey who seems fixated at Mila Kunis and her repeated declaration of being damaged beyond repair. He can feel her flinching at the sight of the troubled, big, brown eyes on the TV. He can see her toffee colored eyes glistening, unblinking. She was so silent that Jack felt so afraid to touch her. It was like Mila enveloped Casey in an invisible bubble while she fought with Justin in the movie.

"You alright?" Jack asked, placing an arm around her. "What?" Casey said as she started blinking furiously. She was looking upwards, blinking towards the ceiling as if to prevent the tears from falling. "Are you crying? Don't cry. It's okay..." He said rubbing her back. "No, Jack, I'm not crying!" She answered, frustrated as she faced Jack. "Oh your eyes are bloody red!" Jack said leaning closer to her. "It's my damn contacts... My eyes are getting dry." He stared at her brown eyes, his worries fading away. "Well, then close your eyes for a minute." He watched as Casey's lids closed, shutting her beautiful pupils away. She looked so pretty, even without makeup, even with her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, even in an old, crappy hoodie and drab shorts. Jack felt a force so strong he couldn't deny it even if he wanted. It pulled him closer towards her, his hand reaching for her cheek. "Jack..." But there was no going back.

He kissed her slowly and passionately and she hesitantly responded. But as their lips brushed Casey felt the force all around them, making her breathless. Jack moved closer, his hand still on her cheek. He can feel her face heating up, her lips felt like a hot cup of tea on his. He felt her hand touching his forearm up to the hand that stayed on her cheek and she kept it there. To Casey it all felt surreal, even as they stopped kissing, that it took her seconds to realize Lana Del Rey was playing on the background. She quickly opened her eyes, a faint pain searing on the insides as she did. She fished for the ringing phone in her pocket and stared the screen for a few seconds as her eyes adjusted.

"Who is that?" Jack asked.

"It's your brother. Answer this, I'm taking my contacts off."

Jack sighed heavily as he watched Casey walk towards the bathroom and answered the phone just before Lana reminded him of the harsh realities of life. "Jesus, Finn, what do you want?!" He said his voice reeking with irritation. "Jack? Why do you have Casey's phone?" Finn asked, curious and teasing. "I'm in her room, now what the hell do you want?! This better be good or I am gonna punch you in the face when we come back." He heard a slight laughter at the other end of the line. "I was just checking in on you! I've read there's a storm coming to Ibiza." Jack sighed and walked towards the slightly ajar bathroom door. "Well, it's here. We're stuck in the hotel but we're alright." He peeked through the open door, careful not to startle Casey while she was poking her eye carefully to take her contacts off. "Good, I'm editing the video now, in case you wanted to know."

"Uh, you know what, I didn't! But now I do know and that's a useless piece of information now leave us alone and don't call again tonight."

"Woah Jack, take it easy. I won't call but you better take care of her... Whatever you have in mind..."

"I..." Jack was speechless as he watched Casey taking off her hoodie from inside the bathroom. She had a black muscle tank top underneath the thick jacket that showed her pink bralette and the curves of her waist. "I've got to go..." He ended the call and when he looked up, she was standing by the doorway, just inches from him. "What did Finn say?" She asked looking from her lashes as Jack stared at her. "Uhh... Nothing... Just checking in on us..." He said, breathless as she ran her hands through her tousled hair. They stared at each other, unable to say a word. And in a snap, Jack found himself stooping down to her lips, kissing her hard and pushing her gently to the door frame. He placed her iPhone on the nearest surface he can reach and placed both his hands on her waist. As they kissed he can feel her hands on his nape, her fingers grazing the hairs on the back of his neck.

It was for this reason that Casey had to get out of her hoodie. The tension from a few moments ago made her jacket feel stuffy and hot. Jack's favorite blue shirt felt like a dry hot compress against her skin. Her lips smiling, she popped one, two, three buttons on his shirt. "Oopsie..." She said in the same teasing voice Mila used in the movie and they both laugh. "Oh, so this is how it is?" Jack said and he took off his shirt to reveal his mildly tanned torso. Casey inhaled sharply. "Okay" she said, exhaling as placed a finger to her lip and then pointed at his abs. "I'm not gonna lie that looks a lot more impressive upclose." She said giggling as she felt Jack's hands on her waist. "Uhh... Thanks!" He said laughing as he looked down on his stomach and back at Casey. "I believe it's your turn now..." He said, a cheeky smile spreading on his face. He placed hishands on his hips and watched as Casey took off her muscle shirt and was left with her brallete that did little to hide the little gumdrops on her front.

The sight of her shyly looking up at him tickled his insides so bad that he had to bite his lip. "Jeez those brought back so many memories..." He said remember how about a year ago, he saw her in the same disposition but with different facial reactions. She laughed and slapped him on the arm which made him laugh as well. And as they kissed he pulled her away from the bathroom, into the room and they both stumble to the bed.

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