***JFK***
They pulled up to the terminal and paid the cab driver.
After checking their luggage and going through security, they all headed to the screens where you find your gate.
"I'm A15".
"A24".
"A34".
"A62".
"Well, I guess we should head on."
They walked with Jennifer to her gate and they all told her goodbye.
"Love you all, have a great Christmas. Drinks when we get back".
She shopped in a bookstore first and then headed to her gate.
Pretty soon, she was boarded and in her first-class seat.
5 hours later, she was in Mexico.
She grabbed her bag and took a shuttle to her resort.
After checking into her room, she decided to get some pool time in.
The next 4 days were going to be incredibly relaxing.
***4 days later***
Jennifer took a cab from JFK back to her apartment. She was tanned, rested and looked amazing.
She carried her bag upstairs to her apartment, and as she walked down the hall, she heard a friendly voice.
"Hi, can I help you with that?"
"Certainly. It's the 5th door on the right".
He carried her bag to her door for her, and she opened the door.
He carried the bag in and set it on the couch.
"Thank you".
"My pleasure. My name is Brad. Brad Whatley. Nice to meet you".
"Jennifer Edwards, nice to meet you. Do you live here in the building?"
"I'm a real estate agent-I was showing an apartment upstairs".
"I see. Well, thank you for carrying my bag for me. I really appreciate it".
"Anytime, anytime."
He pulled out a business card and circled his number.
She went to the counter and grabbed a notepad and wrote her number down and handed it to him.
"Perfect. I'll give you a call. Have a nice day".
"You too".
She closed the door behind him, and a slow smile spread across her face.
***A couple months later***
Jennifer and Brad were now seeing each other exclusively. He wasn't Jonathan, but he was exciting, romantic, charming, and passionate. He was very passionate about Jennifer.
She wasn't quite ready to admit she had fallen in love with him, but she was close.
She was at her desk, working on a couple of articles, when the receptionist brought her some messages.
"You've had a few phone calls this morning".
"Thanks".
First message was from Brad. "Dinner tonight? Call me".
Second message was from Jonathan- "Saw a beautiful redhead in Tokyo. Ran to her and realized it wasn't you. Miss you more than words can say. Call me. Jonathan".
Third one was the one she had been waiting on.
"I've got everything you asked for. Meet me at the entrance to Coney Island at 3 p.m. I'll be wearing a brown hat and a black jacket".
She quickly called Brad and told him yes to dinner.
"I'll pick you up at 6".
"See you then".
She calculated the time difference between New York and Tokyo, and realized she would have to call Jonathan later.
She packed her things up and headed to meet her source.
***A couple hours later***
Jennifer came in to her apartment and got ready for her date with Brad.
She put on a black mini skirt, and a bright blue top with sheer black sleeves. She put a sparkly black belt around her waist, and then put on some perfume. She decided on her black stiletto boots and quickly curled her hair.
Brad was right on time to pick her up.
"Hi sweetheart."
"Hi. You look pretty".
"Well, thank you".
She leaned up and kissed him.
They headed to dinner.
"Sweetheart, I have a business dinner this weekend. Want to be my date? Free steak dinner, free drinks, plus you get to spend the night with me".
"I would love to, but I have to fly to my dad's house in Texas. He's having surgery and I want to be there to help out. It's not fair to my sisters to put it all on them".
"Absolutely. It's ok, I understand".
They came back to her apartment and he stayed the night with her.
They both changed into their pajamas and settled onto the couch. Jennifer started going through all the papers that her source had given her.
Brad turned on the tv and started watching a Knicks game.
Jennifer started making a list of everything she was seeing that was suspect in the paperwork.
About 30 minutes into it, the phone rang. She leaned over and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, how are you?"
"Great! I was going to call you tonight. I got your message today. I also need to ask you some things. I have a source that's been helping me. I'm still investigating the Regent Airlines. And my source gave me all kinds of paperwork today, about lots of different stuff. Parts orders, maintenance orders. FAA memos. Do you know what a turnblade is?"
"Yeah, it's a special blade you put in a fan that only lets it turn one way. It propels the air one way".
"I see. Well, according to this, after a few flights, the turn blades would crack in the engines".
"Not uncommon, flying is very hard on the engine especially".
"So, this says that instead of replacing it, Regent just turned the blades around".
"Interesting."
"Yeah, I'd say so. How's Tokyo?"
"Fine. I hired someone today who's going to really take a load off me".
"That's good. Jonathan, you won't believe this. I just found this report that states that the FAA allowed the CEO of Regent to pay them $500,000 per quarter in order to allow them to fly and not enforce the regulations that would have prohibited them from being allowed to fly".
"Jennifer, that's serious. I hope you print that".
"I intend to".
"Well, keep me updated. I am about to be at the office. It was great to talk to you".
"Great to talk to you. Hope we can talk again soon".
"Bye Jennifer".
"Bye Jonathan".
She hung up, and got up and grabbed a highlighter.
She came back and sat by Brad and started highlighting what she was seeing.
"What was that?"
She looked up at him.
"What was what?"
"That phone conversation. I miss you, I hope we can talk again soon".
"That was my friend Jonathan. I told you about him".
"Yeah you did, but you didn't tell me you were so close to him".
"Yes, I did. I told you that he and I were in a plane crash together and then he and I dated and then he moved to Tokyo and now we are friends".
"Well, what I heard was more than friends".
She set down the highlighter and took her glasses off.
"What are you talking about?"
"I mean you talk to him like you are still in love with him. You are more loving on the phone with him than you are with me".
"So, that's what this is about? You're jealous?"
"No, I'm not jealous. I just feel like you and I are stuck. We aren't progressing like I thought we would, and I think it's because you are still hung up on him".
"That's not true. I'm sorry you feel that way".
She got up and put her papers over on the table and made herself a glass of water.
She headed to the bedroom and started getting ready for bed.
He turned the tv off and came and joined her.
"Look, maybe I didn't word it right. You are the most important thing to me, out of all the balls I'm juggling, you are the one I'm protecting the most. I love you, you know that. And we are good together. But I feel like you are holding back and I don't know why".
"Where do you see us in 5 years?"
"Hopefully married, with a house in Westchester, couple of kids, maybe. Maybe one on the way. A dog, a minivan, the whole scene. What about you?"
"Well, I'm not sure I want kids. And I know I don't want a minivan. Other than that, I would say I'm still at the Times, hopefully being the Editor. I don't know that I see myself living in Westchester but I'm not opposed to it".
"Just like I thought, we want different things".
"Things could change between now and then, Brad. We have no idea what's going to happen or not happen".
She climbed into bed.
He climbed in next to her.
"And what if they don't? If I'm wasting my time, just tell me".
"I can't decide that for you. Only you can determine that".
She reached up and turned out the light.
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.
"I think you need to decide if you want a marriage and a family. No point in us going down this road much farther if you don't".
A few minutes later, he was asleep. Jennifer was wide awake, trying to figure out where her heart was.
***The next morning***
Brad and Jennifer were quiet while they got ready for work. She made them coffee and they shared the bathroom. He turned the news on, but she was a million miles away.
She was in the kitchen when he came in and kissed her.
"Did you think anymore about our conversation last night?"
"Yes, I did. If I ever decide I want to be married, that's one thing. But I'm only 26. If I want kids, it won't happen for a long, long time."
"Longer than 5 years away?"
She nodded.
"I'm sorry, I can't wait that long. If you change your mind, you know how to contact me".
He kissed her and then headed out the door.
She was too stunned to really feel sad.
She decided to walk to work. The whole way there, she thought about it over and over, trying to figure out why this kept happening to her.
She hunkered down and worked on her article all day.
By 4, it was finished.
She submitted it to the editor and printed off a copy and mailed it to Jonathan.
By 6, she was headed to her apartment, with Chinese food.
Ava knocked on the door at 8.
"Hey, I barely saw you all day. What's up?"
"Nothing. I was just busy".
"Did you pick out your gown for this weekend?"
"Yeah, I think I'm wearing the silver one".
"Jennifer, are you ok?"
She sighed.
"No, I guess I'm not. Brad and I broke up this morning. And I can't figure out what I keep doing wrong. I find a great guy, I get attached and then he leaves."
"Oh, sweetie. It's not your fault."
She came over and hugged her.
"I miss him so much, and he says he misses me, but does he come home? No, he doesn't. And then I meet Brad and everything's going great but he gets upset because in 5 years, I want to be the editor, I don't necessarily want to be a mommy".
"Jennifer, this isn't your fault. You have to know that".
Jennifer wiped her tears away.
"I don't know what I know or don't know anymore".
She tried to comfort her, but it was no use.
"I think I'm just going to give up".
"That might be a little hasty".
"If Jonathan hadn't moved to Tokyo, I wouldn't have gotten dumped twice. This is his fault".
They sat there a little longer and then Jennifer decided to head to bed.
"I don't want to leave you when you're upset. Are you going to be ok?"
"I guess".
"Lunch tomorrow?"
She nodded.
They shared a quick hug and then Ava headed home.
Jennifer locked up and headed to bed.
She had just settled into bed when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey. I just got the copy of the article that you wrote. It's excellent".
"Thank you".
"Are you ok?"
"No, I'm not. I'm done, Jonathan."
"Done with what?"
"Romance. Love, relationships, all of it".
"What happened?"
"You happened. And then the guy I was dating until this morning happened. And I can't keep putting myself through this, so I'm done".
"What do you mean I happened? We decided we weren't going to see each other anymore, it's not like I dumped you with no regard to your feelings".
"You moved to Tokyo without any regard to my feelings. Because of you, I've now been dumped twice. If you had any idea what this feels like, you would be more understanding".
"Jennifer, I thought you understood I didn't really have a choice. And I did want you to come with me. The offer still stands, I'll fly you over myself".
"No thank you. I said I was done and I meant it".
"I'm sorry you are feeling this way. I really am. Why don't you take a vacation and go relax somewhere, get your mind off things?"
"No thank you. That's how I met Brad".
"Well, for what it's worth, I think you are intelligent, incredibly sexy, genuine, and the most honest person I've ever known, and if someone can't appreciate that in you, they don't deserve to be in your life".
"I agree. And that's why I'm done".
"I see. Well, I am going to let you get some rest. I miss you. I'll call you again in a few days".
"No, Jonathan. When I said I was done, I meant I was done with you too. I cannot be sure that you won't hurt me again. This is for the best".
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way. Take care, Jennifer".
He hung up the phone, feeling more alone than ever.