It was a warm spring night in Miami. Jess and four of the other VS models were sitting around a campfire, behind a large, glamorous beach house. The roar of the waves hitting the shoreline nearby created a relaxing ambiance. Jess felt most at home with this particular group of girls. Because of the multiple photoshoots they had been in together, they were all good friends. The pre-shoot evening sessions had become a tradition, where they all could unwind from their hectic schedules and long flights from all over the world. With a bottle of wine, Jess enjoyed the girl talk.
They made an amazing team. While the diva element was always present with a couple of them, they were not overly snobbish and supported each other well during the shoots. Cassi was the VS angel veteran. An olive-skinned, dark-haired Brazilian princess, she had been in the business six years before the rest of them. Jayla, the dark-skinned South African Queen was the comedian of the group, making them laugh with stories from back home. Natasha, or Nat as she preferred to be called, was the Russian vixen from St Petersburg who was a fiery redhead with a matching personality that put everyone in their place. However she was always at ease around Jess and Megan. Megan, the blonde bombshell from South Brooklyn, was Jess' closest friend. She was Jess' roommate in their freshman year at the University of Michigan. Megan was the person who introduced Jess to the modeling world.
As Cassi and Jayla got up to head back inside, Jess' cell phone buzzed against the table. As she had hoped, it was an email from her manager. She read it out loud for Nat and Megan.
Jess,
Here are the pics from the mayor's event. Also the Mayor has requested your presence at the Memorial Day Parade in Detroit the weekend of May 26 - 29th. I told him that you would love to.. I figured that you would want to go and see your family after the shoot ends. I hope that is ok. If not let me know, and have fun in Miami! Get some well deserved R&R, before the shoot.
The last thing we need is you having bags under those baby blues! And remember stick to your Diet!
Talk soon.
Melissa
Jess opened the photos. They were pictures taken during the party. Most of them were of her with some politician or businessman. However, she did stop at a picture of her talking to this small boy. A sweet smile grew across her face as she spotted Mike. He looked really focused in the background as he watched her and the boy.
Nat was sitting on Jess' left side. She leaned over to put her wine glass on the table and spotted the pic on Jess' phone. She grabbed the phone out of Jess' hand and exclaimed, "Oh my God! Who's that? Quite the eye candy!"
Jess replied with a smile, "That would be Lt. Morgan of the Detroit PD. He was part of the team that the mayor assigned to lookout for me at the dinner."
"He looks nice. A suitable candidate to replace the *Amazing Jeff*" said Megan, who was sitting to Jess' right.
Jess' smile seem to freeze on her face as she looked away. Megan sighed as she looked at Nat. They had both been trying to coax her back to dating.
"Yeah, Jess. It's been 5 years," Nat added, placing a hand on Jess' arm.
Megan continued "Jess. Sweetheart, we know that you love Jeff. But it's time to move on! When you first introduced me to him freshman year, I saw how much you loved him. But he would be heartbroken if he knew that you were holding back because of him! That was the whole reason he did what he did. The whole reason I introduced you to my Uncle Jimmy was to help you get over this Jeff hurdle. He has been a great first agent for both of us."
"I know you guys mean well. I'll think about it. Ok?" Jess replied in a small voice.
Before either of them could continue their badgering, Jess got out of her chair and picked up her phone and glass. Looking at them tiredly, she said, "I'm gonna call it a night guys. See you in the morning."
She headed into the house, putting her glass into the kitchen sink. She quickly climbed the stairs to find her bedroom. Changing into the shirt Jeff had put on the bear years ago, she climbed into bed. As her head hit the pillow, she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Jess' alarm on her phone started blaring. She rolled over, grabbing her phone. Looking at the screen as she groaned, "FUCK! 4 am already?!". She slowly rolled out of her bed, slid on a pair of lounge pants, and reported downstairs in the den for a meeting with Sean the photographer and his crew to go over who is is going to do which bikini theme and when.
To Jess' amazement, her name was on the schedule for the 5th and final week of the shoot for the "All-American" bikini line. As soon as everyone received their schedules, Sean dismissed the girls. He then took Cassie out the door and down to the beach for her part of the shoot. Jess smiled as Jayla, Natasha, and Megan started up the stairs.
"Well I'm guessing you all are heading back to bed?" Jess asked, chuckling.
Megan turned and smiled, "HELL YEAH!"
"Alrighty then. I can handle that plan." Jess smiled and followed the girls up the stairs. She closed the door and jumped back onto the bed, almost as if she was flying to safety. As she landed against the pillows, she smiled and murmured, "Mmm, yea, I could get used to this!" She giggled to herself as she fell back asleep.
****
It was the afternoon of her 18th birthday party. Wearing her old favorite white halter crochet pattern sundress. Jess was sitting in her parents' kitchen in front of a hot pink and zebra print cake that read, "Happy 18th Birthday, Jess." The 1 and 8 candles were lit on top of the cake. As she looked around at all of her friends and family singing "Happy Birthday" to her, there was one very important face missing. Jeff was missing one of the biggest events of her young life. She softly closed her eyes and made her wish, "I wish my Jeff was here" and softly blew out the 2 candles.
As the cake was being cut and dished out, she felt her eyes fighting back tears. She quickly excused herself to get some air. Stepping out to the front enclosed porch, she sat down on the top step of the staircase. Laying her face against her hands, she felt a tear start to ease down her cheek. She heard a set of familiar tires on her gravel driveway and looked up in time to see a truck door close.
She stood up in disbelief as a familiar tall and well-built man started walking toward the house. As she slowly eased herself down the staircase, tears started to pour down her cheeks as she realized that her wish had come true.
"JEFF!!" She let out a happy screech as she started running toward her Jeff. He reached out his arms just in time to catch her and wrapped her in his strong arms. He softly lifted her chin up to press his lips against her cheek.
She looked up softly into his beautiful blue eyes, sliding her hands against his Blue dress uniform. Smiling as she spoke "mmm damn baby! Army blue looks good on you!"
He quickly blushed and smiled. "That's actually why I'm late. We are not allowed to travel in our uniforms, so when I stopped at mom's to pick up my truck, I changed. I know how much you love seeing your man in uniform!"
" You're here. That's all that matters" Jess replied as looked up and him.
"But how are you here? I thought that you couldn't get time off to come up here?!' she asked softly
"My CO said I could come up for 1 day, and 1 day only. So I tried figuring out which day would mean the most to you - your birthday, graduation, or the prom. Then I realized that if I missed your birthday, you might hunt me down and kick my ass."
Jess could only smile and get on her tippy-toes to kiss his lips softly, "You have no idea how much you being here means to me, babe!"
He grinned at her, while returning the kiss, and then softly pulled back with a groan and said, "Let's head in!"
As the door opened and the guests saw who was with her, cheers erupted.
Sherry laughed, "Alright Jess, it's present time. Do you think that you can leave Private Walker's arms long enough to opens the gifts?"
Jess kissed Jeff's lips softly, before heading over to the couch to start unwrapping her gifts. As she grabbed the last small gift bag, Jeff walked over and took the bag from her hands.
"Actually babe, now that I'm here, I want to give you this one in person." Jeff slid a small box out of the bag and knelt on the couch next to her. He slowly opened it to reveal a set of sterling silver dog tags on a chain. The first tag was smaller, but identical to the set Jeff wore around his neck. The second one sported a small pink sapphire heart with the phrase, "J&J Forever" etched beneath it. Jeff smiled as he pulled it from the box as he asked " Will you accept these, Jess?"
Jess replied, "Of course baby" and beamed. She took the the chain into her hands, and clasped it around her neck. Jeff then stood up and grabbed a smaller black velvet jewelry box from his pocket. Before Jess could react, Jeff was on one knee in front of her, opening the box to reveal a 24k white gold engagement ring with a heart-shaped, pink diamond stone on the top of the small band. All the guests gasped, the moment the ring came into view.
His voice quavered with emotion as he started to speak, "Jess, I knew the first day that I saw your beautiful smile, those baby blue eyes, and that amazing brunette hair, that I was going to make you my wife one day. Now, as we approach our adult years, I'm going to ask you this one last time."
"Jess, will you make me the luckiest man in the entire world by accepting this engagement ring? Promise to be mine for the rest of our lives? Jessica Marie Young, will you be my wife?"
Jeff gazed deeply into her eyes as he waited for her answer.
