Convincing her

Jen had drunk a bit, so she was already feeling drowsy by the time she went back to her room. She got undressed and went to take a shower before bed. As she lay on the enormous bed by herself, feelings of loneliness suddenly swept her. She picked up her phone and stared at it for a while, as if hoping that she would receive a call. She looked at it until she fell asleep.

A little over an hour later, she felt something vibrate in her hand. As she squinted sleepily, she saw that her phone screen had lit up. She drowsily checked who was calling and saw that it was Lucas. Whatever sleep she had left flew away as she picked up the phone.

"Hello," she said once she answered the call.

"Did I wake you up?" Lucas asked her, and Jen only cleared her throat in response, because she knew that her voice must have given her away.

"I've arrived," Lucas said without being flustered.

"Oh, how is it? Did you get to the hotel already?" she asked him as she sat up in her bed.

"No, I'm on my way there, just got out of the airport," Lucas answered. Jen noticed that listening to him talk like this gave her a lot of comfort.

"You must be tired," Jen said as she propped up a pillow to lean on.

"Mmmh, I want to see you," he said, and Jen felt her heart rate speed up. She pulled her phone away from her ear and took a selfie and sent it to him.

"I sent you a photo," Jen said and heard Lucas chuckle in response. She could already imagine his expression and the dimples that would appear on his cheeks whenever he did this.

"I'll fall asleep looking at it later," Lucas said, and Jen felt like someone fed her a spoonful of sugar. Was he always so sweet with her? 

"You are embarrassing me," Jen mumbled with reddened cheeks and she heard Lucas laugh again. He could also clearly picture her embarrassed expression.

"Did you have fun with everyone?" Lucas asked her, and Jen started talking animatedly about what happened since they returned. Lucas silently listened to her and laughed whenever she said something funny. 

"Why didn't you say anything to me?" Jen asked him once she finished narrating everything that happened that night. Lucas was quiet for a few seconds before answering her.

"Because I didn't want you to be sad," he answered honestly. He knew she was asking about why he had planned for them to stay at the estate for another day. He knew his woman well. She had cried in his arms several times about the things that happened more than a year ago.

She held onto her grief until she couldn't handle it anymore. He didn't want her to have time to simmer in her own feelings by herself.

It was as if he wanted her to know that she was not alone just because he was not around anymore. That was why he wanted her to have fun with everyone without him being around.

Jen became silent for a while after hearing his response, and the two silently listened to each other's breathing. The silence was not awkward and even made them feel closer than when they were talking.

"I also want to see you," Jen said, and a smile appeared on Lucas' face. It was unfortunate that she was not around to appreciate it.

"I'll send you a photo after I shower," Lucas answered, and Jen heard a door close in the background.

"Did you just arrive?" she asked.

"Mmmh, there wasn't much traffic," Lucas said with a hint of fatigue in his voice.

"Make sure to rest well today, you are going to be busy as from tomorrow," Jen said warmly.

"Mmmh, I'll listen to you," Lucas said, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Goodnight Lucas," Jen said as she didn't want to keep him awake for too long.

"Goodnight Jen," he answered.

"Don't forget to send me that photo," Jen said, making Lucas laugh.

"I won't," he promised.

"I love you," Jen said, her voice sounding shy.

"Love you too," Lucas said before the call ended. He unlocked his phone and opened the photo that Jen had sent over. Her eyes were slightly watery from sleepiness and her hair was also a bit messy, but she still smiled beautifully even though she looked like she would fall asleep if she blinked for too long.

His lips curved up as he looked at his girlfriend's picture before he took notice of how quiet the place was. He sighed before standing up from the sofa and dragging his luggage to his new bedroom.

He had had them replace everything in the suite since he was going to stay there for a year, and he was reluctant to use things that have been used by several other people for so long. 

He took his suitcase to the closet and took off his clothes except for his underwear before going to take a shower. He felt much better after a shower, but he was still tired, so he climbed on to the bed with his robe and unlocked his phone.

After some thought, he took a picture of himself and sent it to Jen. He thought that she would have already fallen asleep, but she replied almost immediately after.

[Can you send one while smiling? I want to see your dimples.] Lucas read the message a few times before his ears slightly reddened. This woman adored the dimples that destroyed his chic image. Even he stopped disliking them that much because of how charmed she would look whenever she saw them. He believed that they had probably played a big part in getting her.

{A/N: It was the bod ;P} 

Lucas indulged her and sent her another photo, and after receiving a series of hearts from her, they said goodnight to each other and fell asleep, each in their own room, in two different countries by themselves.

Jen woke up early the following morning because the air conditioning was too cold and her furnace was missing. She groaned in exasperation and rolled around the bed a few times before getting off of it. 

After increasing the temperature, she drowsily walked to the bathroom to freshen up. She finally left her room an hour later after getting dressed and braiding her hair. The house living room and kitchen were empty except for Ethan who was slicing up a lemon. His hair was still dishevelled from sleep and he wasn't wearing a shirt. It looked like he hadn't expected to meet anyone while doing his task.

"Good morning," Jen said to him and curiously looked at what he was doing.

"Morning, did you sleep well?" he asked her and she nodded.

"Lea is having morning sickness, I have to take this up for her," Ethan explained, and Jen nodded in understanding. 

"Just take your time," she said and gave him some space so that she was not hovering over him. Ethan quickly did what he needed to do and left the kitchen after cleaning up.

He still looked half-asleep, but he did not seem annoyed that he had to handle these things personally even though it was so early. She found the two very cute, especially when Leanna was trying to be considerate as he pushed to do these things by himself.

Jen smiled as she went to the kitchen and took out a few things to make herself breakfast. She made something quickly and cleaned up before walking with her plate and cup of tea to the dining table. After sitting down, she took a picture of her food and sent it over to Lucas before she started poking absent-mindedly at her food. She had no appetite!

She took a sip from her tea as she stared at the gardens through the large window. She sipped her tea like this, and once she finished it, she went to refill it and sat back down at the same spot.

When Rachel came down, she found her like this. She did not know how long she had been sitting there like that with a blank expression, but she felt her heartache a little for her friend.

"What are you eating?" Rachel asked cheerfully. It was as if she had not noticed her friend's previous mood. Jen turned to look at her and a shallow smile appeared on her face.

"You came alone?" she asked her and Rachel nodded as she came to sit next to her.

"He sleeps like a log when he doesn't have work. I think he compensates for his lost sleep when he is being busy with an assignment," Rachel said and picked up a sausage from Jen's plate. When she took a bite of it, she frowned and looked at her friend.

"Why is it so cold? How long have you been sitting here?" Rachel asked as she chewed on it.

"I'm not sure myself," Jen said with a shallow smile.

"I'm making breakfast, you better eat it," Rachel said and got up from her chair and headed to the kitchen while putting her hair up in a messy bun. 

"I'll help," Jen said as she too stood up. Rachel wanted to stop her but thought that if she did, Jen would go back to her weird mood so she let her do what she wanted.