He was in Cleveland, in a run down motel, when his room phone rang. Confused, he reached over from the bed and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" he asked.
"James?" a female voice asked.
"Freckles!" he exclaimed, holding the receiver closer to his face. "How did you get this number? How did you know where I was?" James asked.
"I called Hurley, James. I miss you. I know it hasn't been six months quite yet but I miss you and I want to see you again," Kate said, her voice cracking.
James frowned and stared at the ceiling. "Freckles, it's almost been six months. You can survive two more weeks. Then I promise you I will never leave your side," he said, lying down on the bed.
"James, I don't think I can last two more weeks. It's been five months. I think things are okay. I think they have given up. C'mon, James, two weeks won't make a difference, " Kate begged, her voice desperate.
James was silent as he thought about it. She was partially right. The news had died down. They could meet back up and settle down. He sighed. "Okay, Mrs. Ford I will see you at Hurley's in a week. Is that fair?" James replied.
"That is fair," she agreed. "I will see you in a week then, Mr. Ford. I love you."
"I love you."
And then she was gone. James placed the phone on the receiver and then lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her voice. He had missed her voice. And he missed her. He couldn't wait to see her, hold her kiss her. Out of the almost year that they had been married they had spent five months apart. It was too much for James and he knew that it was too much for her.
A week later, James pulled into Hurley's driveway. He didn't see another car so he assumed that Kate wasn't there yet. James went up on the porch and knocked on Hurley's door. Hurley's wife Libby greeted James.
"Oh, James! How are you?" Libby said, hugging him.
He had to admit that Libby was pretty. She wasn't anything like Kate, but she was tall and skinny and blonde and he didn't know how Hurley ended up with her. Pulling away from Libby and walking into the house, James smiled. "I'm fantastic. How are you?" he asked, following Libby into the kitchen.
Hurley was already sitting there, a cup of coffee in hand. "Dude!" he said, standing up. He walked over to James and pulled him into a hug and lifted James up off the ground. "Dude, thank God you are back!"
James laughed and hugged Hurley back and then Hurley put him down. Libby got James a cup of coffee and James sat across from his best friend. "How are you, Hugo?" he asked, taking a drink of the coffee.
Hurley smiled. "Fantastic. Ava just turned a year old a couple of months ago. And Libby just found out that she is pregnant again," he said.
James smiled. "That's fantastic!" he gushed, envious of them. It was silly to be envious. He had Kate and even though they had been separated for almost six month, they talked about having a family. James knew that it was going to happen soon.
They talked for about twenty more minutes and then they all heard a car pulling into the driveway. Without hesitating, James rushed out of the house and waited for Kate on the porch. And when she stepped out of the car and headed towards the porch, his jaw dropped.
Her hair was dyed blonde, and she had sunglasses covering her green eyes. Still, she was beautiful. And when Kate saw him, standing there, she ran over to him. James waited, with open arms.
Kate jumped into his arms and he didn't let go. James lifted her in the arm, his hand stroking her hair. She started crying, her tears leaving wet marks on his shirt. "Shh, don't cry, Kate. Shh. It's okay," he soothed, still stroking her hair. "Shh." Then James kissed her head as he set her back down on the ground.
Kate looked up at him, the tears racing down her cheeks. She was smiling though and oh God, how he missed that smile. James smiled down at her and then brushed the tears away. He kissed her lips gently, passionately, and then he took her hand. "Freckles, what the hell did you do to your hair?" he asked, laughing.
"Do you like it?" she asked, playing with a stray strand. "I was afraid I was gonna get recognized so I dyed it."
"You look so different," James said, opening the door and letting her into the house first. "I love it, but you look so different."
Kate smiled. "But different is good. I dunno. Now that things have cooled down I might dye it back to brown," she replied, squeezing his hand.
"Stay a blonde for a bit. You're sexy as a blonde."
A few hours later they were in the guest bedroom at Hurley's. Kate was already lying in bed, reading the newspaper. James was changing, having just come up from downstairs. He stripped down to his boxers and then crawled into bed next to Kate. He moved close to her, nuzzling his face in her blonde hair. "God, you smell so good," he murmured, kissing her neck.
Kate giggled and then closed the newspaper, turning to face James. She kissed his lips, her hands on his face. Pulling away slightly, she whispered, "God, I missed you," before going back to kiss him.
"I missed you more," he said, going to pull her shirt off.
Their bodies were raging with passion and after being separated for six months they never wanted to leave each other's side.