When it came time to finally leave Fiji, Jemma was a mess. Logically she knew what they had couldn’t last beyond the initial week, but somewhere deep down she hoped that somehow, they could find a way to make it work.
On the plane ride home, she did her best to keep their conversation light and casual.
“What are you going to do when we get home?” Jemma asked hesitantly.
“Catch up on email. My inbox has probably gone nuclear by now. What about you?”
“Probably the same. Catch up on email, call my agent. He’s probably freaking out right about now. Roger hates it when I’m out of touch for too long.”
“Didn’t you tell him you were going on vacation for a few weeks?”
“Yeah, but that’s irrelevant to him. When he wants to get ahold of you, he wants it now. He doesn’t care where you are or what you are doing.”
“Are you heading back to Los Angeles right away then?” Braden asked, but he already knew the answer. As much as he wanted Jemma to say with him in Texas, he knew Jemma’s home was in Hollywood.
“Yeah, I need to get back. I’m sure my agent would kill me if I didn’t return soon. Roger probably has a ton of auditions lined up for me, which I guess is a good thing.”
“It’s going to be strange not seeing you every day,” Braden admitted as he put a hand up to Jemma’s face and gently ran it along her cheek.
“Yeah, I’ve kind of gotten used to seeing that smile of yours every morning.”
The flight home was uneventful. Nick and Candice decided they were going to stay on another few days and head out on the yacht with the Prince and Mikayla.
Braden spent most of the flight on his computer or his phone, catching up with work while Jemma sat alone, wondering if this were the last time she would ever lay eyes on Braden or if there was some way possible for them to be together.
The plane landed at a small private airport just outside of Houston. Jemma originally had planned to go back to Candy’s place and check in on Jessica, but now she just wanted to get out of there. She could call Jessica and check on her when she got back to Los Angeles.
So, when Jemma got in the back of the limousine that Braden had waiting to take her home, she told the driver to take her to the Houston International Airport. She was going home all right, all the way home to Los Angeles. There was no reason for her to stay in Houston. Her time with Braden was over.
On the way to the airport, Jemma pulled out her phone and turned it back on for the first time in a week. She used it to book her flight home and was happy to find that she wouldn’t have to wait long at the airport.
With her phone finally turned on, she glanced down at all her missed text messages, voicemails, and emails. Like she suspected her agent tried to reach her repeatedly, even though she told him she would be out of the country and unable to be reached for a week.
Jemma spent the entire 3-and-a-half-hour flight responding to all her messages. Including her confirmation of her availability for an audition. It wasn’t the lead, but it was a big budget movie that had both Chris and Liam Hemsworth already attached to it. The movie was a romantic comedy, and she would be auditioning for the role of the main character’s best friend, who must help her friend decide between which brother she should date.
Jemma glanced at the list of actresses that were rumored to be up for the part of the main characters. If she could figure out what it was they were looking for in a lead actress; it might help know how to play her best friend better. Names like Emma Watson, Britt Robertson, and Ashley Greene were being thrown around.
Jemma was determined to get this part. It was the perfect project for her, and it would be a great distraction from her obsession with Braden. She gave it all her attention and did her best not to let thoughts of Braden creep in.
It took several days for her agent to call her back with the news, but they loved her and wanted her to come back for a screen-test with the lead. They wanted to make sure the two had good chemistry since they were supposed to be best friends.
Jemma was so excited that she forgot to even ask her agent who got the lead. It wasn’t until she showed up the next morning in the casting director’s office that she found out she would be working with Ashley Greene of Twilight fame, which was surprising considering she wasn’t exactly known for her comedic acting.
Jemma didn’t care though, she was just excited to have a chance at working on this project. Big budget movies had a way of consuming every moment of your life. There were always long hours on the set and who knew how long it would take to film. It could take months, and that meant months of being so busy with work she didn’t have time to think about Braden.
As Jemma had hoped, filming the movie consumed all of Jemma’s time for months. She would have to be on set by seven am each morning and often wouldn’t get home until after midnight. When she wasn’t on set, she was busy catching up on her sleep or working out. It wasn’t easy to stay in shape when you were on set all day, so Jemma worked out any chance she got.
Still, no matter how tired she was when she got home, she would always think of Braden before drifting off to sleep. She wondered what it was he was doing and who he was doing it with. She also wondered if he ever thought of her, like she did him.
***
Back in Texas, Braden wasn’t doing much better.
On the plane home from Fiji, all he could think about was how he had to get Jemma out of his head. He tried focusing on his email, but even that didn’t work. So, he did the only thing he could think of, he messaged his assistant and made sure she sent separate cars to the airport to pick them up.
The only thing that was going to get Jemma out of his head was distance. He had to get away from her as fast as he could.
Braden hated himself for pulling away from Jemma, but he knew he had to do it. There was no way they could make it work. Her life was in Hollywood, and he barely had time to eat dinner each night, where would he find the time for a relationship, let alone a long distance one?
It took him all of 24 hours to realize he made the biggest mistake of his life. He decided that instead of sending Jessica the rest of the money he agreed to pay, he would bring it to her in person. That way he would have an excuse to see Jemma again and possibly figure out a way to make things work between them.
Only when he got to Jessica’s place to deliver the money, Jemma wasn’t there. Jessica told him that she had taken the first flight back to California and Braden’s heart sank. He thought it was a sign, maybe the universe’s way of telling him they weren’t meant to be. So, he went back to work and got on with his life.
