Author's Note: A little detour to LA for John and Jess so they can handle some business. But, of course, you can't go to LA and not have a surprise in store. Please enjoy.
* * *
Where we went was Los Angeles. But only Jess and I were on the plane. Kat and Rita, at the end of the third quarter, had widened their lead in the ratings. Jen and Kim were in second place, but they were worlds behind. The station wanted to do a new promotional campaign, and the timeline didn't afford us the luxury of delaying Jess's work trip to expand Infinity's reach.
"Baby, I'm glad this is just us," Jess said.
Her hand was warm in mine. We had just taken off from Houston, and Christy, our longtime flight attendant, had already poured us Dom Perignon and laid out a charcuterie and cheese board.
"I love you, Jess," I said. "I feel like I don't tell you that enough."
"You do," she said. "But we don't get a lot of time like this."
I nodded as I put sopressata on a cracker with a slice of aged provolone.
"We don't," I agreed. "Let's not make the whole trip about business then, okay?"
"When have I ever been about business?" Jess said flirtatiously.
"Quarter to never," I said. "Unless it's about Infinity."
Her face turned serious, and she said, "I love the agency. We can really make it something."
"You already have, Jess," I said seriously. "But what's your plan? You've been so insistent about this trip."
"We can't let LA fall behind," Jess said. "Kelly is mostly in Vegas now. It's thriving. But LA is an established market. And the Infinity brand is new there. I can't let the service level flag for a second. There are too many competitors that would snuff us out in a heartbeat."
"Well, we have resources," I said. "Whatever you need, I want you to win."
Jess flashed her perfectly white smile.
"I've already won, John," she said. "I have you."
* * *
We touched down in LA on Monday at noon. We stayed at Kelly's house, though she was still in Vegas. She and Jess had undergone a bit of a role-reversal. While Jess had transitioned away from seeing clients regularly and focused on management, Kelly had embraced the ground level, taking a half-dozen or more appointments a week in, mostly in Vegas.
"I've got a meeting over in Hollywood," Jess said as the limo crawled through LA traffic to Kelly's house. Even from Van Nuys, it was a snarl to get anywhere. "Do you want to come with me or hang out at the house?"
"You know, maybe I'll chill at the house," I said. "Grab a swim. Do you want me to cook dinner tonight?"
"That would be kind of amazing," Jess said. "When was the last time we had a home date night, just the two of us?"
"I honestly can't remember," I said. "And that decides it. My meeting with JP is tomorrow. So I can take it easy today."
"I wish I could take it easy," Jess said. "I'm a little nervous. I'm meeting this entertainment lawyer. He's one of the biggest clients we have in LA, and I think he's skeptical about Kelly not running the show full-time."
"Do you want my take on it?" I asked.
"Of course," Jess said.
"It's probably a power play," I said. "He's going to treat Kelly changing roles as a chance to get a better deal. So you might have to be pretty firm."
"That's good advice," Jess said.
"And you'll have to be resolute in assuring him that how things are being run in LA aren't going to change," I added. "I mean, how long has it been since Kelly shifted her focus to Vegas?"
"Six weeks," Jess said.
"And I bet he hasn't noticed a difference," I said. "So you can use that. And you can also dangle how many more options he and his clients have as the result of the reorganization or however you want to frame it."
"Thank you," Jess said. "That helps."
I took her hand and kissed it.
"You're going to be great," I said. "Remember -- it's just business."
* * *
The limo dropped me off at the house and immediately whisked Jess away to her meeting. Kelly had taken care to leave things in welcoming shape for us. There was a kind note from her telling us to make ourselves at home in the guest house, Champagne and snacks in the fridge, and a generous amount of cocaine. I took our suitcase into the bedroom and unpacked. I took a swim right away, not bothering with a suit since no one was around, and savored how invigorating the water and exercise were.
By the time I had swum to my heart's content, stretched, and taken up position on a lounge chair with a bottle of Champagne in an ice bucket, allowing my body to dry in the warm California sun, Jess returned from Hollywood.
"Hey, sexy," she said upon finding me lying on the chair naked next to the pool.
"Hey! Welcome back!" I said, standing up to hug and kiss her. "How did it go?"