Page 93 of Don't Leave Me

Iwasfeeling good – and not too good like before; the racing thoughts were slowing down, my pressured speech wasn’t so pressured anymore, I didn’t feel like I needed to run a marathon every second of the day.

“Good,” he pleasantly smiled back as he stood up behind me, putting his hands to my shoulders. “Would you like me to walk you to the train?”

I couldn’t stop smiling at his beautiful face. “Yes, please.”

It was only a 10 minute walk to the train station, but Michael happily held my hand and made me laugh the entire time. We werebothgiggly; Michael seemed to be in especially high spirits and had matched my energy, if not exceeded it.

“Call me when you’re done,” he smiled as he held me in his arms at the top of the subway entrance.

“Okay,” I nodded, wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

He gave me a sweet kiss before he let me go and I skipped down the stairs into the subway, hugging myself to keep warm.

30 minutes later, I was walking into a cute little café in Hell’s Kitchen, right in the heart of the Theater District. I was about 10 minutes early, so I ordered myself a decaf chai latte and got us a table near the wall. I vaguely knew what Jessica looked like – I saw pictures of her performing in full make-up and costume, so I was sure she would look quite different in her every day attire. Other than her appearance, I didn’t know much about her; I guess that’s why I was doing the interview.

About 15 minutes passed and after I ordered my second decaf chai, a gorgeous blonde with one side fishtail braid walked in, eyeing the place with wide eyes before she stopped at me and smiled a little bit, showing off adorable dimples and big, bright smile. She quickly walked towards me and narrowed her eyes.

“Are you Hana?” she asked with a slight accent –ah, add another accented gorgeous person to the list of people I know.

“Yeah, are you Jessica?” I smiled, standing up to greet her.

“Yes, nice to meet you!” she offered out her hand to me.

“Nice to meet you! Sit, please. Can I get you a coffee or tea?” I offered, playing hostess.

“Oh, don’t you worry. I’m just gonna go get a tea; I’ll be right back,” she smiled and scurried towards the counter.

I smiled and sat down, watching her. I already had a girl crush on her; she was beautiful and seemed like a sweetheart, so I was excited to start the interview and maybe even gain a friend. She was back to the table a minute later with a mug in her hand and a wide smile still on her face.

“I’m getting over a cold so I need all the chamomile tea I can get!” she explained, taking a quick sip.

I wrinkled my forehead. “Oh no!” I said sympathetically, maybe overdoing the nice thing too much.

She smiled. “I’ll be alright – I’ve gone through worse!”

“And you still have to perform, what – 8 times a week?” I asked, naturally starting the interview.

She nodded. “Almost every night. Twice on Wednesdays and Saturdays,” she explained.

I widened my eyes.Who the hell has time for all that?“Wow, well…thank you for taking the time to do this interview with me. I’ll try to be brief,” I opened up my notebook, scrambling through pages.

“Oh, take your time, sweetheart,” she said casually in her cute little accent – wait, was she from England?

I looked up at her curiously. “Where are you from originally?”

She put her elbows on the table, seeming comfortable. “I was born and raised in London. The accent is weird, I know…I’ve lived here for six years and I feel like it’s a mixture between British and American,” she laughed.

I laughed as well, but then something suddenly popped up in my head –she’s British, she’s lived in New York for six years, she’s a Broadway performer…what are the odds that she’s Jack’s sister?

“How did you get your start in acting and on Broadway?” I asked, now thoroughly intrigued.

“I started acting at a young age; I started doing theater productions when I was about 8 or 9…I loved acting from really early on,” she started. “I did plays all throughout school and got a few lead roles in university. And then about…six years ago I got accepted in the acting program at Tisch at NYU and thatreallyopened up a lot of doors for me; it was a brilliant experience,” she smiled –holy shit. She is Jack’s sister.I just smiled and nodded.

My mind raced as I put all the pieces together.Jack just can’t stay out out my life, can he? He’s always finding a way in…somehow.

I smiled at her, completely enamored with her. I asked her a few more questions and just kept thinking that she was so gorgeous and friendly and down to earth.Once she finds out I broke her brother’s heart, she’ll probably hate me.

“So with such a busy schedule, it doesn’t seem like you would have much of a social life outside of work…for friends or family?”

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