Jack found an empty space close to the terminal entrance and carefully guided his black Aston Martin into it. As soon as he killed the engine, Kayleigh felt the anxiety trickle out of her lungs and pollute the air around them. Her fingers were shaking in her lap and her lower lip was almost painful from chewing on it all the way from Jack's apartment. She tried counting to ten, but she couldn't make it past three.

"Baby, you're going to Paris. Why do you look like you just got a life sentence in Holloway?"

"Holloway closed seven years ago," Kay mumbled not lifting her eyes from her restless fingers.

The words came out before she could hold them back and her body only relaxed when she heard Jack's smooth chuckle.

"You spent all weekend working on Abi's dress," he went on logically. "You deserve to go and enjoy yourself as much as anybody else. Besides, I thought going to Paris was your dream."

"It is," Kay admitted wishing she could be as excited about this trip as people expected her to be. "But I always pictured going by myself, just me and my sketchbook and a date for an interview with Dior or something."

"You didn't bring your sketchbook?" Jack questioned, his voice laced with concern.

Kayleigh smiled at his thoughtfulness and finally allowed herself to look at him. "It's in my bag."

Jack's face eased back into his natural smile. "See? That's already one out of three. You can wander off on your own whenever you feel like it. Actually, I recommend it. Just not at night and always keep a tight hold on your purse. And I won't be surprised if you somehow fall straight into that interview."

"How do you do that?" Kay asked after a few seconds of looking back at the man in wonder. "How do you always know exactly what to say?"

He reached over for her hand and pressed her restless fingers to his lips. "I guess you inspire me, Ms Moore."

Just as she was wondering how she was so lucky to still have this man by her side, a familiar, black SUV caught Kay's attention. Jack turned in his seat to see what had caused Kayleigh to retreat back into her shell just as he had managed to coax a smile out of her, and witnessed Marcus and Abigail pulling up beside them. His fingers tightened around Kayleigh's hand instinctively as he turned back to her. He raised his other hand to Kay's chin and directed her gaze back to his before Marcus could catch her watching.

"I don't want to be the petty boyfriend who acts all stupid to assert his dominance," he started in the most serious of tones, "but if you want to climb on my lap and get your revenge on Burrows, I am willing to sacrifice myself."

Kayleigh blinked three times before she burst out laughing uncontrollably.

"What? I'm serious!" Jack said with an impressive straight face. "Come on, Baby. Take me! Take me, right here!"

Kayleigh's laughter filled the car as Jack spread his arms wide open and puffed out his chest like an eagle. She swatted his arm away but he swerved around her and took hold of the side of her face.

"You're going to be fine," he says, pushing her hair out of the way and pulling her closer.

Kay nodded slowly, not fully convinced but admittedly feeling much better. She lifted her face to his at let his slow yet somewhat hungry kiss soothe the flutter in her stomach.

Jack was right. She needed a break. She was going to Paris. How bad could it be?

"Thank you," she told him when they pulled away from each other.

"Ready?"

Kayleigh looked behind him and saw that the car next to them had vacated. She turned towards the entrance and saw the happy couple disappearing through the terminal, Marcus carrying Abigail's bags like the perfect fiancé while Abi was talking on her phone.

"I'm ready," she replied turning back to Jack.

They got out of the car and Jack took Kayleigh's singular, small luggage out of the boot.

"Are you sure you have everything you need? You seem to be travelling a little light."

She shrugged and replied, "I have everything. It's just four days."

They went straight to the Departures Lounge where they immediately spotted their entourage. Victoria Weston was standing straight in one of her signature tight suits while Greta Borg was sporting a white tank top and camouflage trousers. They were hovering a few paces away from the rest, eyeing them not-so-subtly, but Jean Luc was right up with what Kayleigh assumed was the bridal team, taking selfies and looking absolutely dashing in a white t-shirt, dark blue suit and dark blue decks.

Abi jumped in the middle of her little group and they all started cheering and jumping around in a circle while Marcus shook his head and looked at them with a confused expression.

Kayleigh let Jack take her hand as they made their way towards them. Her stomach lurched slightly when she recognised Chloe, Abigail's childhood friend, but not as much as it did when Marcus noticed them approaching and conveniently turned his back to them.

That's right! Turn away you coward, Kay thought disdainfully.

"Kayleigh!" Abigail cheered waving her over. She wrapped her arms around her and kissed her on both cheeks. "Come! Let me introduce you! So, this is Chloe..."

She pointed at the tiny blonde dressed in a pale denim dress and high-heeled brown boots.

"We've met," Kayleigh smiled feeling self-conscious of her bare face, ripped jeans and white sneakers. She extended her arm anyway and Chloe touched her hand briefly.

"Have you?"

"Yes. The night we went to WYLD."

"Oh yes!" Abi and Chloe said simultaneously. 

Kayleigh wasn't surprised they didn't remember. Both girls were drunk out of their wits that night. The memory made her wonder if Abi knew she was pregnant back then. 

No. She couldn't have, Kayleigh thought. It was too early.

"Okay. Well, you obviously know Vicky, Greta and Jean Luc, but you haven't met Chelsea and Maxine, right?" Abi went on excitedly.

Kayleigh turned to the two girls standing behind the bride-to-be. One was a fair-skinned, freckled redhead with a genuine smile and an extremely delicate figure. The other young lady was... Oh my gosh!

"Maxine Azera?" Kayleigh gasped raising a hand to her mouth. "I know you! I mean, I don't know you! I know about you! You are the youngest model to ever walk for Prada!"

"Okay... relax Kayleigh or I'm going to get jealous!" Abi tittered. "I thought I was your role model!"

Kayleigh felt her cheeks heat up in front of the dark-skinned beauty. "Abigail, you know I admire you more than words can describe. I just... I remember reading about Ms Azera in magazines and thinking I would love to design clothes for her someday. I have a friend back home, Rosemary, she'd be so psyched to meet you!"

Maxine smiled humbly, making Kayleigh sigh in relief that she wasn't another overconfident dimwit like Chloe. 

"It's lovely to meet you, Kayleigh. And from the way Abigail talks about you and your talent, I'm sure it would be my honour to wear something of yours."

Considering the twenty-three-year-old model was clad from head to toe in tasteful, designer garments and accessories - Kayleigh could literally name what collection each item belonged to and the date it was released - Kay considered this a huge compliment, and she was certain she was about to wake up from a very sweet dream.

Then, the deep voice of Marcus Burrows brought her back to reality.

"Wow. I don't think I've ever seen Kay Kay fangirl before. No offense, honey."

Honey? Why did he have to ruin such a great moment?

"None taken, darling," Abi said lightly touching his arm. Then she added with a broad smile and cheeky wink, "She's already designing the best dress for me and that's what matters."

"Yes, yes, yes, we are all in awe of our Kay Cakes. Now can we check our bags? I want to drop by the VIP Lounge and steal petites bottles of liquor before we get on the plane."

As always, Kayleigh appreciated her French friend's dry but timely humour. She gave him a subtle smile to thank him for taking the spotlight off her and turned to grab her bag. Her hand connected with Jack's as they reached for the handle at the same time.

"Leave it to me, Kay Cakes," he told her with a wink.

Abi handed her passport and boarding pass to Marcus. "You guys go ahead. I just need to pop to the bathroom real quick. I'll join you soon," and she tottered off, her ponytail swinging neatly from left to right.

Kayleigh was about to follow the gang towards the check-in desk when Marcus held her back.

"Can we talk?" he said, eyes still on the group as they moved away from them.

"No."

"Kay Kay-"

"I have nothing to say to you!" Kayleigh snapped wrenching her elbow from his grasp. "You have a fiancée. A pregnant one! And I have a boyfriend. We made a series of terrible mistakes which I would love to put behind me. Why can't you let me do that?"

Marcus's frown grew deeper and his eyebrows were so close together they were almost touching. "Boyfriend? Since when is Monroe your boyfriend?"

"Since last Friday when you chose your fate and I chose mine!"

"What fate? This isn't a life sentence, Kay Kay, this is us! We've known each other since forever."

"Is there a problem, Baby?"

Kayleigh and Marcus turned to find Jack right beside them. His tone was soft and his hand on Kayleigh's waist was as gentle and assuring as humanly possible, but his eyes... his eyes were focused on Marcus and matched his fearsomeness easily.

Kayleigh was as thankful for his interruption as she was afraid. The last thing she wanted was to have the two men asserting their authority over her. But then again, Marcus seriously needed to back off, and Jack was only human. He had already forgiven so much. Surely she couldn't expect him to just stand by and watch as Marcus passive-aggressively attacked him at every chance he got.

"No, everything is fine," she assured him. 

Nobody moved. Marcus's scowl grew and Jack's grip on her waist increased, pulling her closer towards him.

"Jack," she said with more certainty and a light hand to his chest. He tore his light-brown eyes away from the large man in front of him and focused his attention on her. "Everything is fine," she repeated.

He looked at her for a long while, as though assessing how sure she was of her answer, and then he nodded to show her that he believed her. "Great. Let's get you checked in."

Kayleigh kept her eyes focused in front of her as she let Jack lead her away from Marcus. She could still feel the burn of his gaze when Jack asked in a slightly concerned tone, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Jack, I swear. I know you have no reason to trust me-"

"Kayleigh, I have every reason to trust you," he said waving off her pleas and turning her so that she was facing him directly. "You came to me and told me the truth. You were honest. It's him I don't trust. And knowing he's taking advantage of the fact that you still have feelings for him really ticks me off."

Kayleigh raised a hand to his cheek and he kissed her palm instinctively. "I chose you because I want to be with you. You know that, right?"

Jack nodded.

"I'm sorry I was such a caveman back there."

Kayleigh couldn't stop the mischievous smile that teased her lips. "That's okay. He deserved it."

👜👗👒

Oh my goodness, that was tense... Was it just me, or was that stare-down just 🔥🔥🔥?