Clarke rolled over in the bed and blindly reached for her buzzing cellphone in the dark bedroom of the house that she had shared with Janet for over a year now. She tried to focus her eyes on the bright screen long enough to see the name of the incoming call.

"Hey you." She said in a low raspy tone. It was just a little after 3 am. "I didn't think I would get to talk to you today, I'm so glad you called. How is Tokyo? The show should be starting soon right?" She asked as she sat up against the headboard and turned on the side table lamp. Sniffles could be heard on the other end of the phone. "Honey? Is everything okay?" Tiny cries escaped from Janet making Clarke feel helpless. "Please talk to me baby."

"I'm just so exhausted." She said quietly. "I've been going nonstop and I'm horribly jet lagged... I just want to come home." She began to sob. "I miss you and I miss my baby boy so much. I haven't held him in my arms in weeks. I wanna come home Clarke."

Clarke sat up at the side of the bed as she listened on. All she wanted to do was just hold her.

The truth is, they hadn't had much time for each other lately. After the first leg of the SOTW came to an end, more shows were at high demand. Clarke was only filling in for another singer who was under an extended contract. Once she was over her sickness, she reclaimed her place on the stage along with a another new singer and a few new dancers. Clarke was offered the job but made the tough decision to turn it down.

After Noah helped with her portfolio, she was immediately bombarded with job offers. One job included her being in Paris for a few weeks and Germany for a week after that. Other than that, all of Clarke's work had been in LA and she is home most nights by dinner.

She and Janet had seen each other face to face only a hand full of times within the past 6 months and they were definitely beginning to feel the distance. It was taking a toll on them and the time spent apart began to cause small arguments, including the fight they'd had right before Janet left for Japan.

All of that was behind them as Clarke felt tears swelling in her eyes. She listened to Janet continue to cry and finally spoke.

"Baby, I want you to listen to me okay?" She said. "Just two more shows and you will get all the rest that you need. Remember our promise?" She asked.

"I remember." Janet said softly. "The summer is ours."

"Exactly! So when you get back, all of our time can be spent together... as a family. So be strong for me beautiful, I know that you can do this."

There was knock on Janet's dressing room door.

"Dunk? Honey, we have to get going. It's down to the wire babe." Gil said from the other side. Janet glanced towards his voice, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I know," Clarke said. "You have to go."

Janet was quiet for a moment, then spoke.

"This year has been hard for us. I know it's because I'm gone all the time but I promise things will be back to the way they were when I get home. I love you so much Clarke."

"I love you too baby. I don't know if the Japanese wear wigs but they bout to get snatched taaahhhnight!" Clarke joked, sending Janet into a sweet laugh.

"Sleep well beautiful. I'll call as soon I can. Give my baby a kiss for me please." She said and hung up.

Clarke gazed at her phone for a moment. She was worried about Janet but a reassuring text from Gil helped to ease her mind and she got back in bed where she lay awake until the sun came up.

With all of the loneliness and stress she had been feeling, Clarke needed to do something with her time until Janet returned and the gym seemed like an amazing place to start. She grabbed her phone and called Emori.

"Hey hey, do you and Max wanna hit the gym with me this morning?" She asked as she started to run herself a shower.

"I'm down but Max has that shoot this morning!" Emory said with excitement in her voice.

"She got the job? That's fucking great Ems, I'm so happy for you guys!"

"She did! Thank you so much for referring her. They loved her look and said she was perfect.
We appreciate it so much. Why did you turn it down anyway?" Emori asked.

"We'll talk about it later, meet ya in an hour?" Clarke asked as she began to strip out of her clothes.

"See you there!"

"Very nice!" Emori said and handed Clarke her phone.

"Yaaassss, I wanna send it to J. Let her know daddy keeping thangs right for her." She said and they both started to laugh. They worked out for a little over and hour, grabbed their bags and headed for Clarke's car. The next stop was breakfast.

They pulled up to the restaurant and were seated right away. Clarke glanced away from her phone and up at Emori across the table. She was twirling the ring on her finger.

"I still can't believe you got married and didn't tell me." She scoffed.

"You were in Paris and besides, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing." She said and smiled. "I've never been so happy in my life."

"Yeah but still, you could've at least let me know. I thought we were besties." Clarke said and playfully rolled her eyes. Emori laughed.

"Speaking of marriage, have you two set the date yet?" She asked as the food was brought out. Clarke cleared her throat and glanced up at Emori a second time. "Are you serious, it's been a year Clarke."

"I know, but we've barely have anytime for each other let alone, have the time to plan a wedding. She's been working like crazy and so have I." Clarke explained and lowered her eyes feeling embarrassed by her next thought. "We haven't had sex in like two months man."

"Jesus, that's why ya ass was beast mode in the gym today." She joked and dodged as Clarke threw a piece of fruit in her direction. "So she's in Japan now huh?" She asked and Clarke nodded.

"But only for a couple of days. Then we're both taking some time off." Clarke said and smiled hopefully. "She has had it hard lately. In the midst of this touring, she's in a custody battle with Wissam because their son wasn't born here and she lost her father." Clarke said. Emori scoffed.

"Oh please, from what I've heard, that must've been a relief." Emori sat straight up in her seat immediately. She couldn't believe she'd just said that.

Clarke didn't say a word. She shook her head, threw money on to the table and walked away. Emori stood up, grabbed her bag and chased her outside.

"Clarke wait!" She said loudly. Clarke stopped and turned to face her. "I'm sorry. I was outta line."

"Yeah you were!" Clarke snapped. "You see one fucking movie and think you know her life? Well you don't! So don't ever speak on her or her family like that, ever again."

Emori nodded just as Max's car pulled up next to them. Max let the car window down and smiled.

"Hey hey!" Max said as she parked and got out to greet them. Their energy was very easy to read. She looked at Emori. "Whatchu do?" Emori threw a tiny tantrum. Clarke began to laugh and held out her hand and pulled Max into a quick side hug.

"Running her big mouth like she always does." Clarke joked and pulled Emori in to join their hug. "We good?" Clarke asked. Emori nodded.

"Yeah were good. Love you." She said.

"Love you too Ems." Clarke glanced back at Max. "You two have a wonderful day. Hit me up later Max. I wanna hear all about the shoot today."

Clarke waved as the women got into the car and disappeared down the road. She took her time and slowly made her way back to the car. She checked the time. It was the middle of the night in Japan. As much as she wanted to call Janet, she knew it wasn't a good idea. She'd just have to wait and see if she calls.

"One more show." She reminded herself as she got in the car and got on the road.

Walking in to their empty home was always a downer so she tried to do something to cheer herself up. After a quick FaceTime with Eissa, she turned on some music and started to cook herself dinner.

Her thoughts wandered to Janet. She leaned against the counter and glanced around at some of their photos. Clarke found herself getting choked up but tried to shake it off. She turned the music up a little more and tried to lose herself in it.

After downing an entire bottle a champagne, she unsteadily made her way back to the bedroom. She into the bed, fully clothes and fell right to sleep. She'd left her phone on the kitchen counter, where the buzzing sound of Janet's call went straight to voicemail.

"Hey sweetness, I guess I've missed you. I can't sleep and I just wanted to hear your voice before I closed my eyes tonight. I love you Clarke, and I guess will try again tomorrow. Goodnight baby.