Here you go! Hope you like it. :)
Also MASSIVE thank you to Newgirl78 :)
Jess could not believe this traffic, it was the perfect end to what had been an awful trip. First there was that terrible goodbye at the airport with Nick. Then her Mom, sensing that she was down about something, decided the best way to deal with it was to keep her as busy as possible. Jess has spent the last couple of days going to several neighbors houses for dinner, volunteering at Christmas fairs at the local school and Christmas carolling. Most nights Jess went to bed utterly exhausted. The one night she managed to stay awake long enough to talk to Nick, she almost wished she hadn't. The call had been filled with awkward conversation; Jess would like to think it was because she was tired, or it was the fact that Nick didn't like talking on the phone. Though, being completely honest with herself, Jess knew it was because of the way they had left at the airport.
Jess just couldn't understand it; things had been going so well up to that point. Thanksgiving had been a disaster, but it had ended well with Nick taking such great care of her. She thought that maybe they had made progress in their relationship. If Jess really thought about it, he had gone a little quiet leading up to the holidays, but he never seemed to like going home. She had just assumed that's what it was about.
Now she was already running late and had gotten stuck in the mother of all traffic jams and was very close to missing her flight. All she wanted to do was see Nick and talk to him; she just had to know what was going on. A part of her was scared of what he would say, had he had enough? Jess hoped not, she was definitely feeling more and more for him. As usual Jess fell first, she was a little annoyed with herself. It's not like Nick was unknown, she knew exactly what he was like. Time after time Jess watched while he ran and/or screwed up relationships. Why should this one be any different for him?
The cab finally pulled up in front of the airport. In a hurry Jess threw money at the driver, not knowing how much she actually gave him, feeling a little bad about being rude but not really having the time to do anything about it. Dashing through the departure lounge trying to find the right desk, of course it ended up being on the opposite end of the airport. Her old gym teacher would have been proud at the speed she was going running.
"Hi I'm here all ready to check in" Jess called out at the person behind the counter. Finally reaching the counter she put her ticket on the desk, completely out of breath "Hi, so glad that you are still here. Thought I was too late. Checking in for the LA flight." Jess smiled her friendliest smile, so relieved that she was finally on her way home.
"You are." The bored tone of the checking in clerk replied.
Jess who was sorting out her bag didn't quite hear. Standing there with a smile on her face, she looked expectantly back, "All sorted?"
"No, you are."
"I'm what?" The smile slowing fading away from Jess' face.
"You are too late, check-in closed 15 minutes ago. Sorry." The blond behind the counter replied, showing no remorse at all.
"No, no, no please you have to let me on that flight." Jess knew there was no chance, but felt that she had to at least give it a try.
Not even saying a word the clerk walked off. Jess just stood there, willing herself not to cry. There was still hope, all she had to do was get another flight. It would get her back a little later than planned, but at least it would get her back.
"What do you mean there is nothing!" Jess exclaimed, having just spent an hour in the ticket desk queue "I have to get home."
"I am sorry Miss Day, but all the flights to LA are full. The next one we have is in 3 days." At least this clerk sounded sorry. "Maybe we can at least get you close to LA. Got someone special waiting for you at home?"
"I do. My boyfriend. We haven't seen each other since before Christmas." A soft smile appeared on Jess' face when she thought of Nick.
"Well let's keep our fingers crossed that we find something and get you home to ring in the New Year."
"I would appreciate that, thanks." Jess replied, hoping that luck would finally be on her side.
"You are in luck, if you're fast enough, there is a flight leaving very soon for San Francisco. It will get you half way there."
"Yes, yes please. However much it cost."
"Glad you said that dear, because this is not going to be cheap." Gulping a little at the price, but reminding herself why she was doing this, Jess handed over her card.
"Okay, so you're all booked. If you can hurry to the gate, you should make it. Best of luck."
"Thank you so much." Jess shouted back as she turned down the corridor.
Jess made it to the terminal just as they began boarding. Since there were a few people in front of her, she reached inside her bag to find her find. She was hoping to send a quick text to the others letting them know what was going on.
"Excuse me Miss, may I have your boarding pass? We need to get everyone on the plane."
"Oh sure here you go." Jess placed her phone in her coat pocket, completely missing the low battery sign flashing.
Finally making her way to her seat, Jess breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, she would be able to relax a little before continuing her journey from San Francisco. "Oh, must send that text."
As she pulled the phone from her pocket, it gave a very noticeable bleep. "Crap! No no no. This cannot be happening. Of course this can be happening, apparently this is the way things are going for me now."
The person sitting beside Jess gave her an odd look. Putting the headphones into their ears, they tried their best to avoid any kind of contact that may draw the crazy woman into conversation.
Jess continued to mutter to herself, trying to talk herself out of a full blown melt down. "It's okay Jess, just another minor change to the plan. You will just call them once you land, and everything is sorted out. I mean, it would be nice if this flight was heading to LA, but that is the way things go sometimes. You just have to be positive. All will be okay."
The flight was only an hour and half long, but it seemed more like six. Finally the plane touched down, and everyone left the plane at what seemed to be a snail pace. Jess ran towards the first telephone she could find. The first one was out of service, but she turned to see another just a few feet down the hallway. When she got to the second box she let out a gleeful yelp at the sound of the dial tone. Reaching into her bag, Jess hoped that she at least had some change. When her hand did not touch her purse where it would normally be, Jess began to panic. She frantically rummaged through her things, but turned up empty handed. She crouched on to the floor tipping everything out, hoping with all hope that she had just missed it underneath all her things. Her stomach dropped and she felt physically when it was obvious that her purse was no where to be found.
This was the final straw; Jess slumped back against the wall, too exhausted to even cry. What was she going to do? She was still a six hour drive away from home, with no money and no way of contacting the people at home to let them know what was happening. Having sat there longer than she should have, Jess got to her feet and started to walk. Even though ever step felt like a ton of bricks, at least she had an idea where she left her purse. She could almost see it on the desk where she had checked in for her flight. After a length discussion and an even longer phone call, it was determined that she had, in fact, left it sitting on the desk.
Once she arranged to have the purse returned, the next move was to try to get in touch with someone and finally find a way home. First, she called LAX to have Schmidt and Cece paged, but they had either left or didn't hear the announcement. Then, after much begging and pleading, the assistant finally let her call the loft. When no one answered, she strained to remember any of her friends' cell phone numbers, but came up blank. Feeling foolish for not remembering anyone's cell number, even her own mother's, she let out a frustrated scream.
"Miss, I am sorry, but I am going to have to ask for the phone back."
"Please just let me try one more time, I need to get a hold of someone."
"You have tried seven times already, clearly no one is home." By this point, the customer service guy sounded annoyed and just wanted to get rid of Jess so he could go on his break. It had been a very long day.
"I suppose, but what I am going to do?" not really expecting an answer.
"I'm sorry I don't know."
Jess found the nearest bench and collapsed onto the seat. Not being able to hold back the tears any longer she started to cry. People walked passed ignoring her, getting on with their daily lives. After several minutes passed, an older gentleman sat beside her, "What's wrong dear?"
Jess sniffled, and then all of a sudden everything that she had been going through came out. She couldn't hold back. She started rambling about her and Nick, even before they started dating. She mentioned the way they had left things a few days ago, concluding with how she ended up in an airport all alone. Despite not understanding half of Jess' emotional outburst, the older man sat and listened to her entire story.
"And now I just need to get back to LA. I have to see Nick." She wasn't expecting the old man to be any help, but it was nice of him to listen.
"Well, I am not too sure what you can do about the Nick problem, but I happen to be meeting a brother of mine. Then we are going on a little southern road trip. If you fancy joining us we will be happy to take you."
"Really, I haven't got any access to any money; I won't be able to help with gas or anything." The way it had been going Jess really, really did not want to get her hopes up.
"Nonsense, we are heading that way anyway. You are more than welcome to join two grumpy old men."
"Then I'd love to. Thank you! Thank you so much." Jess was so happy she hugged the man who had just saved her from moving in on the airport floor. "You don't happen to have a phone on you do you?"
"Err no dear don't trust the things, unable to help you there. I am Charlie, by the way." Charlie held out his hand this time, rather than receiving another hug.
"Jess, it's very nice to meet you."
As soon as Charlie's brother, Tommy, arrived they were on their way. It was already quite late when the three of them started for LA. Jess would have preferred to carry on driving though the night, but the two brothers were tired and didn't want to be stuck in the car overnight. Being two against one, the road trip resulted in stopping at a motel for the night. Jess felt a little awkward, but having no choice, slept on the couch in the same room as the brothers.
As she laid there, her thoughts turned to Nick. He would be so angry at her for getting in the car with two strangers, never mind actually staying in the same room. Jess spent the first part of the night tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Not only were her own thoughts keeping her awake, but the two snoring brothers were making it impossible to fall asleep. She was so tired, all she wanted was to sleep, preferably in Nick's arms.
After struggling for another hour, Jess decide to take a walk. She was hoping she could talk the night clerk into letting her use the phone. Creeping out as quietly as she could, she was hit with a blast of cold air when she opened the door. Jess jogged her way to the front desk, ringing the bell to get someone's attention.
"Alright stop ringing that blasted thing. What, Princess, need another mattress?" The guy who leered around the corner gave Jess the creeps. Starting to regret her decision, she took a couple of steps back from the desk.
"Oh sorry, it's nothing. Sorry for disturbing you." Jess mumbled walking further towards the exit.
"So you woke me up for nothing? Well that is nice." The guy sat down on the reception chair, propping his feet on the desk.
"Well I was just wondering if it was possible to use your phone?" At this point Jess hoped the guy would say no, so she could get the heck out of there.
"Sure you can Princess, go ahead." The guy made no effort to move, gesturing to the phone.
"Thanks." Jess dialed the number "Please be there. Please be there."
"'I'm sorry the number you called in busy.' Damn it!" She slammed the phone back down. That was it, she was sick of trying to call.
"Your fella not there? You know what they say... when the cats away."
"Yeah, thanks for your help." Jess was too tired to even be annoyed by his comment.
Jess wasn't ready to head back to the room, trying to be quite while the others slept seemed almost painful right now, but it was too cold to stay outside. At a loss for what to do, she looked around until she spotted a 24-hr diner up the street.
She made her way to the diner, hoping the waitress would at least let her sit without ordering anything, maybe offering to help would do the trick. Thankfully the waitress was very nice, and was glad for Jess' company on the slow night.
They sat there talking and gossiping until the sun started to rise. "I'd better go before Charlie and Tommy forget me. Thank you for the free coffee, it was much needed."
