| Jeff woke up at five thirty Friday morning, and started packing up his things for his trip. He was all set at ten of six, and he left, locking the door behind him. He hadn�t even noticed that Lizzie was not there. She hadn�t come back home. Jeff got into his truck and drove to Lainey�s house. He pulled in the driveway, and noticed her bedroom light was on. He couldn�t wait to see her. Jeff got out and went up to the door, and knocked. A few moments later, Lainey opened the door. �Good morning Jeff.� �Good morning Lainey.� �Do you want to come in and have some coffee?� �Sure.� Jeff went inside and Lainey closed the door. Jeff followed Lainey into the kitchen, and sat at the table. Lainey made both her and Jeff a mug of coffee, and sat down with him at the table. She scribbled a note for her sister as they drank their coffee and talked a little, and then they left to head to the airport in Raleigh. Cassidy had woken up around six thirty, and went downstairs to make coffee. After brewing a pot and fixing a cup for herself, she went into the living room and turned on the television. She walked over to the couch and was about to sit down when she noticed the paint all over it. �Lainey!� Cassidy screamed at the top of her lungs, but got no response. She set her mug on the coffee table, and headed upstairs to her sister�s room. She turned on the light, and Lainey was nowhere to be found. She went back downstairs and grabbed the phone. Cassidy dialed Lainey�s cell phone, but once it started ringing, she heard Lainey�s cell phone ringing in the living room. Cassidy slammed the phone down on the hook, grabbed her mug of coffee, and sat in the kitchen. She wondered where Lainey was at this time in the morning, or if she had even stayed at the house that night. As Cassidy was fuming, she noticed the note on the table. She picked it up and read it. Hey Cass� Jeff is letting me borrow his truck for the weekend, as long as I take him to the airport this morning, and pick him up Tuesday. Sorry I left the house a mess, I promise to pick it up when I get home. I�ll give you a call later. ~ Lainey Cassidy was furious, but could not do anything about it right then. She finished her coffee, and went upstairs to take a shower. After she was ready, she left the house and headed to work. Jeff and Lainey arrived at the airport around seven o�clock, and Jeff parked the truck. �Since you don�t have to be to work until noon, will you wait with me until I board?� Jeff asked her. �Sure�� Lainey replied. �I don�t have anything planned this morning.� �Cool.� Jeff grabbed his bag and they walked into the terminal. After he checked in, Lainey and Jeff sat down and waited. �Does your girlfriend usually drive you to the airport?� �No, I usually come myself. She probably wouldn�t have driven me anyway. She took off after I got home last night, and I haven�t seen her since.� �Jeff, I don�t want to cause problems between you and your girlfriend.� �Lainey, you aren�t. Lizzie and I have been having problems since long before I met you.� �I know, but I don�t want to have her mad at you because of me.� �She won�t be. Nothing is going on; we�re just friends, right?� �Right.� Lainey said. �Then Lizzie has nothing to worry about. Maybe she will get her priorities straight. She cannot tell me who I can and can�t be friends with.� �You�re right Jeff. I just feel like I have been causing the two of you to fight.� �Why would you think that?� �Every time I see you, you tell me how the two of you have been fighting.� �That doesn�t mean it has anything to do with you. I just feel like you can see things from my point of view.� �Well I don�t know Lizzie� I just can�t understand why she�d treat you so bad.� �Neither do I. I have tried to give her all I can, and she still doesn�t seem to be satisfied. At one time I thought I could see myself spending the rest of my life with her. Now I doubt it, which makes me doubt a lot of other decisions I have made in my life that involve her.� �You�ve got to do what is going to make you happy. I�ve learned that. If you don�t, you are always going to be asking yourself, what if?� �Are you telling me I should break up with her?� Jeff asked with somewhat of a grin on his face. He wasn�t sure if Lainey was attracted to him or not. He thought if he knew it would make his decision about Lizzie a lot easier. But he also couldn�t come right out and ask her. �I�m not telling you anything. All I am saying is that you have to follow your heart, and if your heart is telling you to break it off, then do it. But if it�s telling you to stay, then you should.� �What if I do love Lizzie, but I think I may have found something better? Do I break it off with her and try a new relationship, risking it not working out and me being without a girl I know loves me?� �I don�t have all the answers Jeff? You�ve got to do what feels right to you.� The two of them sat in silence for the next moment or two. The announcement for the final boarding call for Jeff�s flight came over the PA system. �That�s me.� Jeff said. The two of them stood up and walked over to the gate. Jeff handed his ticket to the attendant, and turned to Lainey. �My flight is supposed to be arriving at nine thirty Tuesday morning.� �Well, I will be here to pick you up then. Thanks again for letting me borrow your truck.� �It�s no problem Lainey.� Jeff took his slip back from the attendant. He gave Lainey a hug. Chills ran up her spine as Jeff had his arms around her. They parted from each other and Jeff smiled at her. �I�ll see you on Tuesday then.� Jeff handed her the keys to his truck. �Okay.� Lainey said. Jeff turned and headed onto the plane. Lainey watched him until he was out of site. She was sad that he was going, and it scared her. Here she hardly knew this guy, yet she was sad he was leaving? She headed out of the airport and back to the truck. She got in, and headed back to Cameron. She had to get home and get ready for work. Lainey was almost home, and she noticed a car that appeared to be following her. She had seen it behind her not too long after she left the airport, and almost an hour later, it was still there. She chalked it up to somebody who just happened to be going in the same direction. It was still behind her when she was driving through Cameron, so she stopped at Phillip�s 66 to grab a soda and some water. The car didn�t stop; it kept going, so Lainey didn�t think much more about it. She bought her things, and headed to her house. When she pulled into the driveway, she saw Cassidy was gone, and she was happy that she didn�t have to deal with her sister until later that night. She was in a good mood, and she knew that her sister was probably pissed at her. After Lainey took a shower, she got dressed and headed to work. She was a few minutes late, but arrived in one piece. She didn�t drive like she normally did. She was a little timid being behind the wheel again. She wasn�t sure if she was scared to drive because of her accident, or if it was just that she wasn�t driving her own car. Lainey just wasn�t in the mood to shoot portraits, but knew she couldn�t afford to miss any time. So again, she knew she would have another crappy day at work. She hadn�t been at work for more than a half an hour when her cell phone rang. �Hello?� �Lainey? It�s Jeff.� �Hi. How are you?� �I am alright. I just got to my hotel, and I was bored, so I figured I�d give you a call.� �Where are you?� �I am in New York City. Where are you?� �I am at work.� �Okay, I don�t want to bother you, I just wanted to say hello.� �Okay. I�ve got to get going, I have a portrait to shoot.� �Then I�ll talk to you later.� �Alright, later.� Lainey hung up the phone, turned it off, and went about her day. She couldn�t seem to get Jeff out of her mind. She kept running through everything he said at the airport, and trying to analyze it. Lainey always over analyzed everything. Cassidy would tell her to forget about it, or don�t worry about it. She couldn�t help it. Was he talking about her when he said he may have met someone else, or did he have another girl on his mind? Lainey went through her day with all of this on her mind. Jeff also went through his day wondering about Lainey. He was seriously contemplating breaking up with Lizzie. Lainey had told him at the airport to follow his heart, and his heart was telling him to follow Lainey. She was unlike any woman he had met before. She was interested in what he was doing and the things he liked. Lizzie never was; she was only concerned about her own interests and what was important to her. Jeff called his house, and nobody answered. He hung up and called Lizzie�s cell phone, and after trying twice, she finally answered. �Hello?� �Lizzie, where are you?� �I am at work. What do you want?� �I wanted to talk to you.� �About what, your new girlfriend?� �You�re my girlfriend Lizzie.� �Really? You could have fooled me. What do you want?� �Do you love me?� �What kind of question is that Jeff?� �It�s a question that I need you to answer for me. Do you?� �I can�t believe you are asking me that.� �I can�t believe you�re avoiding the question.� �What do you think?� �Why is it that we are always fighting?� �I don�t have time to talk to you about this right now. I have to get back to work. I�ll call you later.� The phone went dead before Jeff could say another word. Lizzie couldn�t even tell him that she loved him. He thought more about what Lainey had said, and decided that he was going to break things off with Lizzie when he returned home. |
| * Chapter Seven * |
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