A/n: the photo on the left is a red carpet photo for an Oscar event I think. I saw this photo and it related to Jackie in some way. Also, I imagined Jackie to be this glamourise when she's out doing press events.
Catherine looked out the window and saw he sun beaming down on Indiana. Life was so much slower and simpler here. As much as she already missed Jackie, she couldn't wait to get home to Ethan and her quiet life.
Once the plan landed, she got out her phone and noticed her battery was almost dead. She called the dog sitter, letting her know she was on her way home from the airport. After she hung up, she went to call Jackie but her phone died. It was about an hour drive from the airport in Indianapolis to Bloomington, so she had plenty of time to think about the past week; about Jackie, about Stanford, about everything.
When she finally got home, she thanked the dog sitter and apologised for staying longer than planned, giving her an extra tip. She then went upstairs to charge her phone and shower off her long day of travel. After unpacking and starting a load of laundry, Catherine retrieved her phone and saw 3 missed calls. Two from Jackie and one from an unknown number. She checked her voice mail and its was the Dean of Psychology Department at Stanford, thanking her for speaking.
Catherine's hopes were let down a little, she thought maybe they were calling to offer her a job. Feeling down, she dialled Jackie knowing she could make her feel better.
"Catherine! Are you okay?!" Jackie sounded frazzled.
"Yes, I'm sorry. My phone died. How was your audition?"
"I thought I bombed it but they seemed to like me, so we will see. How was your flight?"
"I'm sure you did great. My flight was fine."
Catherine didn't seem like her usual self.
"Is everything alright?" Jackie asked.
"I'm just a little down. I had a voice mail from Stanford so got my hopes up about a job, but they were just calling to thank me."
"Aw, I'm sorry Catherine. It's only been a few says though, I'm sure you will hear something soon."
"Yeah, I'm hoping so."
Hoping to cheer her up a little, Jackie decided to share the details about her meeting.
"Well, I have two things that might cheer you up."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yup. I talked to Wade and Matt today."
"About what?"
"You."
"Oh really?" Catherine sounded intrigued.
"Yeah. They know all about you now, and what happened in Bloomington."
"And what was their reaction?"
Jackie told her everything that was discussed in her meeting with Wade and Matt. When she was done, she didn't hear anything on the other end of the phone.
"Catherine, are you there?"
"Yeah, sorry it's just a lot to take in."
"I know, I'm sorry."
"I just never really thought about how much this could affect me. I didn't even think about my termination getting exposed like that. It's kind of scary since I'm in the process of trying to find a job."
Jackie felt her stomach drop. Catherine's reaction wasn't exactly what she had hoped for. She was wondering if Catherine was having second thoughts now that she had a glimpse of what she was getting into.
"I know. I told them I never want your name to be released and we want to keep you as private as possible."
"Thanks for that."
"Catherine, are you okay about all of this? I did it because I thought it's what you wanted, but we can move as slow as you want. I'll do whatever you want." Jackie was nervous to hear her answer.
Catherine hesitated before speaking again. She could tell her reaction hurt Jackie but she had her career to think about.
"Maybe we should just keep it low key until I get a job, at least."
"Okay, I completely understand. So..." Jackie paused for a moment, "I was planning on coming to Bloomington on my way home from Canada. Should I not?"
"What? You were? No, of course I want you to come!"
Catherine felt bad that Jackie was under the impression that she didn't want to see her.
"Jackie, I'm sorry about my mood. It's been a long day. I really want to see you, that's enough to cheer me up."
"You're fine. I've just been a mess all day after everything that happened this morning. Then my audition and meeting. I was a little nervous that you got scared away."
Catherine decided it was probably best to get off the phone before causing any more stress to Jackie. She did love her, but her mind was spinning.
"I'm still here, Porcupine. We both obviously just had rough days. Why don't we go and get some sleep and start fresh tomorrow? I love you."
"You're right. I love you too Catherine."
Back in California, Jackie looked down at the half empty bottle of wine after and decided to finish it. She needed a good night rest and wasn't sure she could without it.
****
The next morning as Catherine was eating breakfast and working on her resume, she heard the door bell ring. When she opened it, there was a delivery man holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Catherine Stark?" He asked.
"That's me."
"Sign here please."
Catherine smelled the flowers as she headed back to the kitchen. She set the vase down on the counter and removed the card. She laughed when she saw the name Ethan x'ed out and Catherine written over it. She opened it up and read,
Someone once told me, "Don't forget to breathe."
Love, J xx
Catherine smiled. She missed Jackie so much. She always had a way of calming her down, especially with her humour. It was still early in California so she just sent her a text.
C:Â I don't want to wake you up, but just wanted to say I love you so much. Thanks for the flowers. Now hurry up and get here! Xoxo
Catherine spent the rest of the day working hard on her resume and looking up job postings at universities.
When Jackie woke up and saw Catherine's text, she gave her a call.
"Hey Porcupine."
"So you liked them?"
"Yes, especially the card you goof. Thanks so much, I really needed that."
"I know you did and I wish I could do more. What are you up to today?"
"Working hard on my resume, you?"
"I need to pack for Canada and run a few errands before my flight tonight."
"Oh, you leave tonight?"
"Yeah, we're going to get there a couple of days early to do some press and sight see. First, we're going to Vancouver and then Montreal."
"Oh wow, don't wear yourself out too much before you get here." Catherine teased.
"That won't happen. But hey, I'm going to let you get back to work. I'll talk to you later before my flight okay?"
Jackie felt relieved after their phone call. Catherine seemed back to her usual self. All she needed to do was get though these next few days in Canada until she could see her again.
Catherine spent all day and night perfecting her resume and gathering referral letters. Professor Hecht had written her a nice one before she had left the university, perhaps feeling guilty. She decided to quit for the night and poured herself a glass of wine before retreating to the couch to watch TV with Ethan. She must have fallen asleep because she woke up to her phone ringing. It was Jackie.
"Hey Jackie." She ruined her eyes and looked at the clock. It was past midnight.
"I'm sorry, did I wake you? I keep forgetting about the time difference."
"It's okay, are you at the airport?"
"We're on our way. How was your day?"
"Good, I got a lot accomplished. Did you schedule a flight for Bloomington yet?"
"Not yet, I'm going to when I get to the airport since I need to change my return flight. I should be there on Monday hopefully. I'll let you know."
"I can't way, neither can Ethan." Catherine said as she looked down at him on her lap.
"Me either, it's been too long. Hey, we're about to pull up so I'll talk to you tomorrow. Sleep tight. I love you!"
"Be safe! I love you too."
When Jackie got to the gate, Tommy was already there. She hadn't spoken to him since the night he came over when she was drunk. So she was feeling sort of embarrassed.
"Hey Jacks, how's the head?" He joked.
"Yeah, about that...I'm really sorry. Can we just forget about all of that?"
"You think I would let you off that easy?"
Jackie cocked her head at him.
"I'm kidding. Yes, I'll try not to make too much fun. So are you in a better mood?"
"Much better."
"Because you know," Tommy leaned into her. "I can help you get over whoever made you that way."
"Sorry Tommy, that train has left the station. No more of that."
"Like I haven't heard that before." He smiled.
Jackie just rolled her eyes at him. She hadn't discussed how to handle Tommy with Catherine since they had gotten back together, but wasn't sure how to bring it up. First Catherine wanted her to make things public, and now she wanted to keep things private. So Jackie wasn't sure what to do. Her fake romance with Tommy was really making the press go wild at the Neptune premiers, and she figured Catherine would understand that it was all just for work. Thankfully, their seats weren't together on the plane. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Tommy for two hours.
****
When they landed in Vancouver, their team of assistants and body guards met them at the gate. There were paparazzi and fans everywhere. Jackie was in total shock. Tommy came up next to her.
"Isn't this awesome?!"
People were shouting their names and were asking so many questions that Jackie couldn't thing straight. She just kept smiling and waving. As soon as they got in the limo, she collapsed onto the seat.
"Holy crap." Tommy was still on a high, looking out all of the windows, jumping from seat to seat.
"Wasn't what you were expecting, was it?" Jackie's assistant, Rachel, asked.
"Not at all. It can get crazy in LA, but nothing like this."
"Well, it's just going to get bigger once people see the movie."
They pulled up to the hotel and Jackie settled into her room. Her mind was in a whirlwind. She couldn't believe how crazy it was here considering how late it was. She had not idea it would come to this and thought about what Rachel said. How this was just the beginning.
Jackie was woken up at 4:30am to get ready for hair and makeup. Rachel went over the day's schedule as she chugged her coffee while the team worked on her hair and face. She texted Catherine,
J:Â Are you awake?
Catherine was laying in bed when she heard her phone ding. She smiled when she saw it was from Jackie. She looked at the time and couldn't believe she was awake, considering the time difference.
C:Â Sure I am, I can't believe you are here. Isn't it like 5 am there?
Jackie was happy to see Catherine awake. She snapped a picture of her and sent it.
Catherine laughed when she saw the picture. Jackie's hair was clipped all over the place and she had a sad face, holding her coffee.
C:Â Poor baby. Send me an after pic ;)
J:Â Only if you send me a pic
C:Â I look terrible, later
J:Â No, right now, in bed. Nothing I haven't seen ;)
This was foreign to Catherine. She didn't have a smartphone and wasn't technologically savvy when it came to things like this.
C:Â You're forgetting about what phone I have and I'm too old for this ;)
J:Â Give me a break, you're 33. You're going to have to learn. I'll teach you next week :)
C:Â Okay, deal. Only if I get that after pic though ;)
Rachel noticed the giant smile on Jackie's face as she was texting.
"Who has you all chipper this morning?" Rachel asked.
"No one." Jackie smiled guilty.
"Sure." Rachel replied. "I'll get it out of you eventually."
Catherine didn't hear from Jackie for a little while, so she went ahead took a shower. When she came back out, Jackie had sent an after picture of herself all done up. Catherine sat on the bed and just stared at it for a while. Jackie was usually a more casual person. So anytime she saw her made up like this, it would blow her away. Catherine texted,
C:Â You're gorgeous, and now I miss you even more.
Jackie was in the elevator when she saw Catherine's text. As soon as she hit the lobby, there was a mob of fans outside. She quickly put her phone away and Rachel took her hand.
"You got this, Jackie."
"Can we talk to them?" Tommy asked.
Rachel looked down at her watch, "Ten minutes guys. We have to head out."
Tommy and Jackie talked to many of their rains as possible, posing for pictures and signing autographs until their body guards guided them into their car. Jackie tooled out her phone and video recorded them all going crazy against the car and sent it to Catherine.
"This is crazy!" Tommy exclaimed.
Catherine watched the video and was shocked. She couldn't believe this was Jackie's life now.
J: I won't be able to talk much today :( Hopefully I will get done in time to call you  tonight
C:Â Call whenever you're done. I don't care how late it is.
J:Â You sure? Will do. I gotta go now but have a good day xoxo
C:Â You too, xoxo
Catherine missed Jackie so much. She couldn't wait for her to get here. After seeing Jackie's career booming, it motivated her to want o work harder to get her name out there. At least this would keep her busy while Jackie was preoccupied in Canada. By the end of the day, she had sent her resume to six different universities. She tried staying up for Jackie's phone call, but felt her tired eyes failing her. She turned the ringer on her phone all the way up to hear the call and went to sleep.
Jackie was so exhausted that she had to drink 6 coffees thought the day, just to stay awake. They didn't get back to the hotel until after 1am. So all she had energy for was a shower before collapsing on her bed and passing out. Forgetting to call Catherine.
A/n Thanks for reading my story. Please vote and drop a comment. Comments will help me a lot more than you might think. â¤ï¸