As their flight was being called to board, Dean handed Julie a small box from his pants pocket with the instructions not to open it until she was in the air. The shared one last kiss, and then Julie boarded her flight back to Bangor, Maine. An hour into the flight, Julie finished the magazine she was reading. As she put it back into her carry-on, she pulled out the gift from Portman. She opened the gift tag and read;
Julie,
I know it will only be a week, but I wanted to give you something to remember me by.
I love you,
Dean
With a huge smile, Julie unwrapped the small box. Finally opening the box, a velvet ring box fell into her hands. Opening that box, Julie pulled out a simple silver thumb band. She slipped it onto her left hand and was amazed when it fit perfectly.
By the time the plane landed and Julie got home, it was too late to call Portman. After changing into her pajamas, she crawled into her bed and soon drifted off to sleep. The next couple of days Julie spent packing up all of her things for school. With all of her things now on their way to Eden Hall, Julie was bored out of her mind. She picked up her phone and dialed a now familiar number, that of Dean Portman's private line.
"Hello," a female voice said.
"Hi, is Dean there?" Julie asked, very confused as to who was answering Dean's private line.
"He's busy right now, may I take a message?"
"Yeah, can you tell him that Julie called."
"Oh! Hi Julie, it's Kate. Dean's in the shower right now."
"Hey Kate, you freaked me out there. I was trying to figure out who would be answering the phone."
"Sorry about that. I'm in here refolding and repacking all of his clothes."
"Well, I'll let you get back to that. Could you let him know I called?"
"Will do," Kate answered.
"Thanks, bye."
"Bye," Kate replied as they hung up.
Ten minutes later, Dean opened the door that adjoined his bedroom and bathroom. Kate looked up from the box she was repacking, "Julie called."
"Really?" Dean asked, already heading for the phone.
"Really," she replied as she got up and walked out, leaving her brother alone to talk to Julie.
"Hello," Julie said as she answered the phone in her bedroom.
"Hey babe," Dean replied, "Kate said you called."
"Yeah, I've been bored. All of my things are on their way to Eden Hall and I'm still here for four more days."
"I can't wait four days to see you," Dean whined, half-joking.
"Me either. I have to give you a proper thank-you for the ring you gave me."
"Do you like it? Does it fit alright?"
"It fits perfectly and I love it," Julie answered.
"Well I love you," Dean replied.
"I love you too!"
"Four days," Dean complained, "I can't wait four days."
"Not only do I have to wait four days to see you, but I have to wait four days, bored out of my freaking mind."
"I'm sorry sweetheart."
"I guess I'll just have to survive."
After talking on the phone for another twenty minutes, they finally hung up. The next three days, Julie spend bored out of her mind and Portman spent packing up his things.