An hour later Blake is gone, it's just Jon and I, dressed up like we're going to a costume party. Blake has told us that the pictures will take a few days to get ready but we'll have them in plenty of time for the DVD shoot. Jon looks at me and laughs. "You got cake up your nose still" he points out, wiping it away. Ah, cake. He shoved it in my face for one of the pictures. He's gonna pay for that. "I'm gonna go get out of this dress" I say, standing up. He stands with me. "Need a hand?" he asks, winking. I shake my head. "I'm good" I whisper. "Thanks anyway." He nods, shocked, before sitting back down. I don't look back at him as I walk into the bedroom, closing the door behind me.
When I'm dressed normally again, I go back to the lounge. I'm not surprised to find him gone. His suit is thrown casually over the back of one of the sofas, which means he's either running around the apartment naked, or he's got dressed in old clothes and left me. Again. Closer inspection reveals that his beloved bike is missing. The desert wins again. I sigh and set about cleaning up the cake crumbs, and generally tidying the apartment. It's all I can do. If I leave, and go about five paces away from the apartment, I'm officially lost. He knows I can't go anywhere, and its really starting to bug me and get me worked up, when he strolls in and smiles at me as if nothing has happened. "Next time" I say, walking up to him and slapping him. "You take me with you, or you're gonna find me gone when you get back." He watches me in surprise as I walk to the bedroom and slam the door behind me.
I'm lying on the bed, staring out of the window, when he finally plucks up the courage to come into the room. I roll over and glare at him as he opens the door and walks in, arms in the air like a hostage. "I'm sorry" he says quietly. "Don't slap me again, that kinda fucking hurts!" "So does being left alone in a strange country" I retort. He winces as the words hit their mark. "I'm really sorry Lor" he says, making his way closer to the bed. I nod and roll over again, turning my back on him. He groans and gets on the bed. "Please don't ignore me" he begs. I don't answer him, just keep staring out at the people outside. "Lora" he growls. "I said don't ignore me!" "I heard you" I say, still not looking at him. "So you don't like being ignored huh? Maybe I should get my gym stuff on and disappear into the desert for an hour or six without telling you where I'm going. See how you like it then." He groans. "I said I'm sorry" he says quietly. "I'm not used to having someone here. I'm not a relationship kinda guy." "You don't say" I say, getting up off the bed and heading for the closet. "What are you doing?" he asks as I start throwing clothes into a bag. "Packing" I say. "Kinda obvious isn't it?" "What?" he asks. "Why?" "I can't be here Jon" I say, grabbing a few extra bits and heading into the bathroom for my wash stuff. "I'll come back the week they start shooting the DVD." "Where are you going?" he asks. I shrug, walking to the bag and dumping my stuff in there before zipping it up. "No idea" I say. "There are plenty of hotels here though, right?" He nods weakly, about to say something when his phone beeps in the lounge. He stands up and goes to get it, giving me room to sit on the bed and try to stop shaking. I don't want to leave him, but being here is impossible. I feel him staring at me from the doorway. "Don't try to change my mind Jon" I warn. He walks to the bed slowly. "You're beautiful" he says quietly. I look up at him quickly. "We make a good looking couple" he says. I shake my head. "We still will, for the DVD" I say, grabbing my bag. He grabs my arm and stops me. "Please" he says. "Just look at this." He hands me his phone and I sigh, expecting a text from Renee. It's actually from Blake, previews of the pictures he took today. I look up at Jon and he smiles. "Good looking couple" he says, putting his arms around me. "Don't leave me Lora. Please. We'll talk, get everything out in the open. No keeping anything to ourselves now. Please Lora, don't." I look at him. Damn him. "Fine" I say, pushing him away. "Lounge. Now."
He sits awkwardly on the sofa opposite me. "I don't talk about my feelings Lora" he says straight away. "That's Jon's rule number one. But I know that talking about feelings is the only way I'm gonna get you to stay. So I will. Just for you. I can't be without you. It's as simple as that really. Call me crazy, call me stupid, that's just how it is. I lied about you being my wife in that hotel because, well, because you got my attention as soon as you came into my line of vision. I wanted, no, needed, to spend more time with you. And now I have, I don't wanna let you go." I nod. I don't know what else to do. This man ties me up in knots. "We've got four weeks" I say. "Four weeks Jon, that's it. We'd be stupid to fall too deep in those four weeks, we're just gonna get hurt." "I don't think you understand what I'm saying" he says, his baby blue eyes locking onto mine. "It's too late for warnings Lora. I'm already in too deep."