Chapter 12

Sara pushed Jon to one side, so he fell on his back beside her, lifting his head curiously when she laughed.

“What?”

“You’re sparkling!” She told him, and Jon looked down, seeing the shine of glitter on his belly where it had rubbed off her skin.

“Oh, great.” He tried to wipe it away, but nothing doing. “How do you get this stuff back off?”

“It rubs off eventually - or you have to shower it off. I need another shower anyway - I’m all sweaty.” Sara rolled off the bed. “Maybe I’ll even manage to get dressed this time.”

“I’m not making any promises.” Jon murmured as he watched her walk out of the bedroom.

After Sara had showered - again - she dressed while Jon took another quick shower, mainly to scrub off the glitter, then they finally managed to leave the house by 11am. As they left, the sun was bright, and Jon had to shade his eyes, since his sunglasses were in his car. Sara’s car had a tiny white stuffed dog attached to one door handle, and Jon picked it off to look at it as she drove away.

“Hey - leave him alone!” She protested.

“Him? It has a name?”

“Mm-hm. That’s Baby Hamish - I’ve had him for years, since I had a puppy called Hamish, and baby always lives in my car.”

“She names her stuffed toys.” Jon said, shaking his head in disbelief, ducking away as Sara swung at him without taking her eyes off the road. Laughing, he put the toy back where he’d found it, stretching out in the seat and closing his eyes against the glare.

“D’you mind if I put some music on?”

“Honey - it’s your car - I’m just the passenger.” He told her, but his eyes flew open when she pushed the cassette in and the wild strains of Purple Haze filled the car.

“Hendrix? You’re full of surprises, aren’t you? I just may have to keep you around.” He grinned, reaching forward to turn up the volume a few notches, then closing his eyes again.

Traffic was pretty light this late in the morning, and they reached the studio without another word being spoken, but it was a comfortable silence that neither Jon nor Sara felt any need to fill with words. On reaching the studio, Sara was pleased - for Jon’s sake - to see that there was nobody around. As she braked to a stop, Jon opened his eyes again and peered out at his car.

“Oh, look, it’s still got four wheels.” He joked.

“Yeah, but there’s probably no engine.”

Jon turned in the seat to face Sara. “So, when can I see you again? What are you doing tomorrow?”

“Why don’t you call me tomorrow, and you can let me know how it went with the kids?” She suggested. “They might need you tomorrow.”

“And what if I need you?” He asked, touching her cheek.

“You know where I am - just give me a call.” She smiled. “Now, go! I’ve got work to do!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Jon found his car keys in a pocket and leaned in to give Sara a quick, hard kiss, but she pulled back after a second.

“Jon. Not here. Not now. You need to go.” And he surrendered with a grin.

They both got out of the car, Sara heading for the building, and Jon walked her to the door.

“I’ll call you.” He told her, smiling, then went to his car. Sara stood just inside the door as he drove away and gave him a wave, seeing the flash of his white teeth through the window as he waved back, his eyes now hidden behind dark sunglasses.

She closed the door and ran up the stairs to the studio, collecting a handful of mail from the box by the door. Inside, she got the coffee going, then switched on her PC to check for email. The light was blinking on the answerphone, too, so she listened to the messages while flipping through the mail. One message from her assistant, to tell her he was back from vacation and would see her Monday morning, and one hang-up from the previous evening.

No real excitement in the mail either, so she opened up her inbox to see if there was much email. Only one of any interest, asking her to photograph the wedding of an actor in an undisclosed location, which she would only be told if she accepted the assignment. The date was set for the middle of the following week.

“Oh, great. Why not give me some notice?” She muttered, grabbing her diary to check if she could do it. It looked possible, so long as the location wasn’t on the other side of the world, so she quickly e-mailed back to say she was interested, asking the agent to call her to discuss it.

“Next, next, next……..what’s next?” Sara asked herself. “Ugh - invoicing - can’t wait!”

For this, she decided, she needed coffee, so she went into the kitchen and poured a mug, then started to search for food. Nothing. Now she remembered - she and Jon had finished the last of the pastries, but she was sure there was still chocolate on the table. She brought the whole bowl over to the PC - to get through the paperwork side of her job, she needed chocolate!

She was still deep in paperwork a few hours later, when the phone rang, and she decided to let the machine get it - if it was that actor’s agent, she could pick up. A few more rings, then the machine clicked on.

“Hey, it’s me.” Jon’s familiar voice, and Sara grinned, then reached for the phone, cutting into the call as Jon continued to speak “Thought you…….”

“Hi. I’m here!”

“I thought you were ignoring me! What? Are you screening your calls?”

“No - I’m up to my ass in paperwork, so I was going to let the machine get it.” Sara explained, and heard Jon’s sexy chuckle.

“Lucky paperwork. I just wanted to say hi - are you really busy?”

“Mm-hm - I haven’t stopped since I got in. God, I hate paperwork!”

“You haven’t stopped? I bet you haven’t eaten either, have you?”

“Uh…..well……..I’ve had some chocolate.” She looked at the bowl. “Actually, I’ve had quite a lot of chocolate! What about you?”

“Oh, I had some breakfast when I got back here.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, Dot’s downstairs, and we’re fine. It’s almost scary, how mature we’re both being about this thing. I’m glad, though - I think it’ll make it easier on the kids, seeing that we’re both okay with it.”

“Does she still think you stayed at a hotel last night?”

“Well, I haven’t told her otherwise. If she doesn’t believe me, she’s keeping it to herself. I really don’t think it matters to her though. Not now.”

“Does it bother you?”

Jon sighed. “You know, it truly doesn’t bother me, the split. We’re still friends, and I don’t think that will change. Right now, I just want to tell the kids, and get that over with, so we can all move forward. We’ll tell the kids tonight, then I’ll call my mom and tell her. Guess I should tell the guys, before they read it in the paper, but Richie’s here next weekend, so I can talk to him when I see him. I just need to look for somewhere to live now.”

Sara noticed a light flashing on the phone. “Jon, can you give me a sec? Sorry. There’s another call coming in, and I’ve been waiting for somebody to call about a job.”

“It’s okay, babe. I just wanted to say hi. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, give me a call if you can, let me know how it went with the kids. Doesn’t matter if it’s late.”

Sara hung up, then pressed the button to accept the other call.

“Hello? Yes, this is Sara, how can I help you?”

She took quick notes as the actor’s agent explained the assignment. Pretty straightforward, really, and Sara couldn’t see the reason for the secrecy that had surrounded the initial e-mail, but she knew that people - and especially actors - were weird, so why worry. The agent got a bit carried away, telling her how it would be the wedding of the year, everybody who was anybody would be there, blah, blah, blah. When she asked how they’d chosen her, he explained that his client had seen some photos she’d taken for a magazine, and liked her work.

“Well, that’s very nice to hear.” Sara said, then - since the agent was still treating it like a state secret - had to ask. “Can I ask who your client is?”

Apologising profusely for not saying sooner, the agent named one of the hottest young actors of the moment, who was only just twenty one, but was marrying ‘his soulmate’ - a supermodel he’d met six months before. Sara just bit her tongue. Didn’t matter what she thought, or even whether the marriage would last, she was only there to take photos, so she agreed to the assignment and named her price. The agent accepted, and told Sara that they’d take care of booking her flights and hotel, and he’d e-mail her the details.

When the e-mail arrived, Sara found that the wedding was to take place on a ranch outside Walker’s home city of Calgary, and the guests - and Sara - were staying in the plush hotel which was part of the spread. Not exactly roughing it, she thought, as she looked at the photos the agent had attached, showing the hotel and surrounding area, but the scenery did look good for the photos.

She shut down the PC and gathered up the pile of invoices she had ready to mail. Maybe she’d even have the time to stop and buy some food today on her way home.

On the other side of the city, Jon and Dot were sitting in the living room, looking at their three kids who sat nervously on the couch. The littlest one was too young to understand what was going on, and he was happily playing on the floor in front of them.

This has to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, Jon thought, as he and Dot tried to explain to their children that, while they both still loved them, they just didn’t love each other any more. The kids seemed to take it quite well, and Jon wondered if his prolonged absences over the years had made it easier on them. There were a few tears when he told them he’d be moving out, but when he said that they could still see him whenever they wanted, they seemed happy enough. All in all, it was almost an anti-climax, after the worry over how they’d react, making Jon wonder if Dot had been priming them for this day. It didn’t really matter. They knew now, and all he had to do now was tell his mom and the guys.