Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

GEMMA

M ariam and I enjoyed the rest of our trip to New York. We went to a Broadway show of Wicked, singing along to every song and making our theater-geek hearts happy with merch once the performance was over.

We FaceTimed with Laurel a few times, ate delicious food, and stayed up late talking. It was glorious.

“Why Sun Valley?” I asked her as we lay on my bed at some absurd hour in the morning, once again just talking after we’d gotten back from dinner. “You never told me why you chose that specifically as a place to start.”

Her eyes glazed over with thought. “Do you remember the trip my parents took there when we were about eight? I stayed with you for a week.”

“Sure. That was a great week. We got to pretend like we were really sisters.”

She smiled. “It was a great week. I freaking loved staying with you guys, but when my folks got back, they couldn’t stop talking about it. My mom showed me all these pictures they had taken and I decided as soon as I saw how beautiful it was that I was going to go there someday.”

“That’s where this all started?” I squinted at her. “Really?”

“Really.” She let out a soft, wistful sigh. “I remember thinking that the pictures made the place look like a scene from a chocolate box. As soon as I saw them, I so wished that they’d taken us with them, and I’ve been wanting to go ever since. It was the first place I really added to my bucket list, so it made sense to start there.”

“Wasn’t that trip their tenth wedding anniversary getaway?” I asked.

Mariam’s delicate nose wrinkled. “I never said that I didn’t understand now why they didn’t take us with them back then. Obviously, I do, but I was eight. My parents were just parents, not actual people who might also have wanted to spend some time alone on their big anniversary.”

I giggled. “Fair enough. That’s a good answer, actually. Any idea where you’ll go after that?”

She shrugged. “I’m weighing up a few different options, but I’m really trying not to over plan everything. Part of this great adventure is supposed to be spontaneity, so for now, I’m only focusing on Sun Valley.”

“I admire you for having the courage to do this, you know,” I said quietly, smiling as I looked deep into those cornflower blue eyes that I was going to miss seeing every damn day. “You are so frickin’ brave, Mimi. Here Laurel and I are, messing around with a list we made when we were fourteen, and you’re packing up your entire life and following your heart on a grand adventure that could take you anywhere in the world.”

She smiled softly. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t turn into a grand mistake rather than a grand adventure. Some days, I’m so excited that I can hardly wait, and others, I’m so scared that I can hardly breathe.”

“That seems perfectly natural to me.” I reached out and squeezed her forearm. “Austin will always be home. If ever you feel like you need to, you’ll come back. Easy as that.”

“Easy, huh?” She chuckled. “I’m not so sure about that, but I suppose you’re not wrong. Austin isn’t going anywhere. Laurel keeps telling me the same thing.”

“And she should know,” I said. “She’s been in Tennessee, what, six years now?”

“Something like that.” Mariam drew in a deep breath, sitting up as she flashed me a playful smile. “Now what about you, Ms. Noah-Parks-Likes-Me? Do you really think you’ll see him at Thanksgiving?”

“Maybe. I’m trying not to get my hopes up. Who knows if he’ll even remember about me by the end of the month?”

“He’ll remember,” she said confidently. “You’re not as easy to forget as you seem to think, Gemma Longstrum. You’re one of a kind. Never question that.”

“Thanks, but you’ve known me since you were six. You’d have to suffer a brain injury to forget about me. Noah must meet a thousand people a week. I’m not sure I’m ever going to hear from him again.”

“Just don’t forget we’re going to Deb’s on the actual day,” she said, referring to our huge family get-together at Laurel’s mom’s house. She was a world-renowned author with a massive home, and as such, she usually hosted all our families for events. “The rest of the weekend, I suppose you can skip out on, but dinner?—”

“I’ll be there,” I assured her. “I’m also not going to be skipping out on any of the plans we already have. Are you crazy? I’d never flake on my traditions with my girls just because of some guy.”

“Some guy.” She scoffed. “He’s Noah Parks, girl. Laurel and I would both understand if you skipped the sleepover or the Black Friday shopping trip to spend time with him.”

“Skip the Black Friday shopping trip? You are crazy. I look forward to that all year, every year. The only way I’d ever miss it is if I was unconscious or dead.”

She chuckled. “So receiving orgasms from your Superman won’t make you miss a shopping trip?”

“It’s not just any shopping trip. It’s the shopping trip.”

Although if my Superman happened to contact me again and if receiving orgasms from him was on the menu for that day, then I might be convinced to arrive late or leave the mall early.

“Either way,” she went on. “Whether or not you go on that shopping trip, you and I should go shopping for Thanksgiving outfits tomorrow while we’re still in New York.”

“Excellent idea. I’m so down, but why exactly do we need to shop for Thanksgiving outfits?”

“It’s an important year,” she said. “You might be seeing a really cute boy that weekend. A new outfit is a must.”

“You see, this is why I love you.” I rolled over on my bed, hooking my arms around my head and trying my best not to wonder if Noah was still in a room somewhere far above me.

I hadn’t seen him around since we’d run into him at the coffee shop, but I had seen on Instagram that word was out about them being in town. It looked like they’d run into some fans after the recording session the other afternoon, and social media was suddenly plastered with pictures of him and his bandmates on the street and in some sushi restaurant.

Mariam nudged me in the ribs with her elbow. “He’s going to call, babe. Better yet, why don’t you call him? You have his number.”

“I might.” I shrugged. “I don’t want to come off as some deranged fan, though. We’ll see what happens.”

“Call the boy,” she urged enthusiastically. “Or text him. Or follow him on Insta. Or just reach out to him in whatever way works best for you.”

“I’ll think about it, but I probably will.” I’d already followed him on every social media platform out there, though. I hadn’t meant to, but then I’d realized it was highly unlikely that he’d notice, considering that he had almost a million followers everywhere.

“There’s the Gemma I know and love,” she said playfully. “You’ve always gone after what you want, babe. Don’t stop now.”

“I won’t,” I promised, already getting excited at the thought of seeing him again. I was so excited that I started singing softly and Mariam chuckled.

“Gosh, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard you do that,” she said quietly. “I was wondering if you’d dropped the habit. You used to sing so much. All the time, really.”

“Too much.” I giggled, winking at her before I sighed. “Nah, I still love it. We’ve just been busy, you know? There are always too many things going on in my head.”

“True.” She lifted her arm and checked her watch, groaning when she saw the time. “We should turn in. We’ve only got a few hours until the sun rises.”

She climbed off my bed and waved as she left my room, and I crashed as soon as my teeth were brushed and the lights were off.

On our shopping trip the next morning, we had a blast picking some new outfits for Thanksgiving, and we spent the rest of the week working and having a few meetings while we were in the city. Before we even knew it, it was time to head back to Austin.

After I said my goodbyes to my friend, who really had become a sister to me, I drove home by myself, properly reeling over the events of the last week. I’d met, kissed, and slept with a national treasure. Mariam and I had made some good contacts in New York freaking City, and I had been able to afford a mini shopping trip on Fifth Avenue.

Yet, as I drove the familiar streets from the airport to my place, I became even more aware than ever of the fact that I’d never moved away from home. Where I lived now was less than ten miles from my childhood home, my offices not far away from my elementary school.

Deep down in the inner recesses of my heart, I’d always wanted to move someplace else in the world and to live a whole new life full of new adventures. I absolutely loved the company Mariam and I had built from the ground up, but it could go anywhere I went.

Technically, there was nothing keeping me here, and yet, I’d simply never left. Never even considered it. With Laurel gone and Mariam leaving, however, perhaps it was time to give it some thought.

After I got done thinking about Noah, who was still occupying far too much space in my mind. I sighed, wondering how long this infatuation with him would last. My Superman wasn’t truly mine, after all.

Noah Parks belonged to the people, and Noah, the hot dude from the plane? Well, I didn’t think that guy could belong to anybody, let alone a homebody events planner like me.