Delayed (28 page)

Traffic eventually ceased, and he was able to take the exit out to the airport. His heart pumped, faster and faster.
 

“Please be there,” he asked Olivia, as if she could hear him. He parked the car in the least expensive part of the garage and ran out to main airport. Someone honked at him, after almost running him over. Nick continued to run. His breathing was becoming labored.
 

The airport was crowded. He squinted his eyes trying to see if by some miracle she was part of the crowd, but no one stood out to him. She was flying to London, which was the only clue he had to go on. The room spun.
 

Nick rain forward toward the screens that held the schedule of flights. He scanned all outbound flights, barely able to focus long enough to read the words. He scanned the flights again, squinting, trying to calm his breathing. A word caught his eye, and it gave him hope.
 

32

July 8, 2014

Olivia had to take the later flight, after her mom’s departure.
 

She’d almost left the house, suitcases ready, before realizing she’d left the keychain behind. It felt silly going through all that trouble of rearranging her flights, and scheduling a separate pickup from her mom in London.
 

She wanted to have it with her, and would do whatever it took to find it. But she couldn’t. Even after searching ever corner of the house, Olivia failed to locate the keychain. Her heart sank even more when she found out she would have no choice but to leave on the next flight, or risk her ticket getting cancelled without a refund.
 

She stood in the security line, wondering what to do next. Maybe when her mom came back in two weeks she could search the house for it and mail it to London. Olivia would even pay for the international shipping, if that was what it took.

“Next in line, please.” The security officer motioned her and two others forward. She placed her bag on the conveyor belt, and removed her shoes. The two girls in front of her went through without a problem. Olivia stepped through the metal detector.
 

A little beep went off in the background. The officer told her to step back and remove any jewelry. She did, her watch being the only thing she wore. She stepped through again. The alarm beeped.
 

“Please step this way ma’am,” another security woman said. Olivia obeyed and stepped onto a small rubber mat with drawn out yellow footprints, telling her were to stand. She spread her legs out as the officer scanned her with a small metal detecting wand. Nothing beeped until the wand passed the fold of her pocket.
 

“Do you have any loose change?” the woman asked, not unkindly.
 

Olivia shook her head, but reached into the pocket. She felt the familiar outline of the keychain in her hand. She held it out, not ready to hand it to the woman. But the officer didn’t ask for it.
 

She merely said, “Okay, you’re clear. You can go through now.”
 

Olivia walked toward the belt to retrieve her things. She zoned out as she slipped on her shoes and grabbed her bag. It had been in her pocket the entire time. She realized now she was wearing the dress she had worn to the memorial service. She’d washed it at least half a dozen times since then. How could she not have noticed?
 

She left the security area, ready to see wait for her flight. Her mom would probably still have another four hours left of flying. Olivia sighed and took in the image of the airport arrival area. Glensford remained in the background.
 

“One last goodbye,” she whispered to herself. Then she turned.
 

“Olivia.” The voice sounded distant. For a moment she thought there was someone else who shared her name. “Olivia!”
 

She turned, letting her self hope it was who she thought. Nick ran toward the security area. He took a spot behind a few travelers, but when they didn’t move fast enough, he walked out of line and toward the velvet rope that stood between them.
 

Olivia watched him as he ran to her. His black hair was disheveled, matching the rest of his appearance. It looked like he had left his house in pants meant for lounging. He panted as he ran forward. His dark eyes focused on her. She took a step back, afraid he might crash into her.
 

“Don’t leave,” he said, when she moved. He breathed again. “I…” Another breath. He leaned down and wiped sweat from his brow, as he caught his breath. “I have something to say first.”
 

She raised her eyebrows, not knowing how to respond. “What?”
 

“For what happened, back at the beach house,” he panted for a few more seconds, his breathing began to normalize. “For what happened that day, I’m so sorry.”
 

“Why are you saying this now?” Olivia asked. “Why are you here?”
 

He ignored her questions. “For what I said back, three years ago, the night I kissed you. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, any of it. I was trying to hurt you because you had hurt me. I was a jerk.”
 

Olivia thought back to that night. What had he even said? The bit about her parents messing her view of relationships up, and that her mom might have seen it coming. She felt a surge of anger return, but fade just as quickly.
 

“It wasn’t okay,” she said. “But if that’s why you’re here, then don’t worry. I’m not holding a grudge over that. I forgave you a long time ago.”
 

Nick stepped toward the velvet rope. She took another step back. The people in line, along with the airport staff were staring at their display.
 

“I know you did. But that’s not all. I have more to say.”
 

“Nick I have to go,” she said. She hadn’t even checked the flight list upon arriving. What if her flight was already boarding? It didn’t matter though, not in that moment.
 

“Just wait. One second. Please.” He paused and took the final step toward her, leaving only the two inches of rope between them. Without saying anything he took her hands into his, the keychain rested in between their palms. “I love you Olivia.”
 

“You can’t say that right now. You have a girlfriend, you told me…”
 

“I lied. I don’t know why, but I did. These past three years have been like I’ve been half alive. Joy was the only person I knew in Shepton.”
 

“She was your girlfriend. She told me the two of you were going to get engaged soon.”
 

Olivia remembered the small bit of conversation she had exchanged with Joy. The thought of Nick marrying her or anyone else had shaken her.
 

“She said that?” Nick shook his head. “I was never going to propose to her. If I proposed to anyone at some point in my future it would be you. The only person I have ever seen in my future has been you. Whether you want to be my friend or my…” he paused, and held her hands closer to his chest. “Or my girlfriend. I’m done delaying this confession.”
 

She turned and looked at the crowd that had gathered around them. Olivia felt her cheeks flush at the new onslaught of attention. Nick held on to her, his eyes unwavering, dark and beautiful.
 

“You’re leaving the choice up to me?”
 

He nodded. “Whatever you want, I’ll follow.”
 

She tilted her head. “I loved our friendship. I want that back.”
 

His expression fell slightly, and his hands loosened around hers, but he didn’t let go. “If that’s what you want…”
 

“Let me finish,” she said. “I want it back even if we move on to be in a relationship. I don’t want to turn into those people that forget about their friendship just because they’re in love.”
 

Nick nodded, and then paused. “Did you just admit to loving me?”
 

She shrugged. “Maybe.”
 

He smiled and brought his hands up to her cheeks, leaning down to meet her. Their lips met and the two of them gave into what neither one of them had given into for the last ten years. She held him close, pulling back only when she needed to breath again.
 

The group that had gathered around them was staring. A lady snapped a picture with her phone.
 

Olivia bit her lip. “Maybe we should go somewhere a little more private,” she said.
 

Nick held her close to him. “Yeah. Let me get past security first.”
 

“How? You don’t have a ticket.”
 

He stepped back and showed her a boarding pass. For a moment she thought he might have bought a flight to London.
 

“I got the cheapest, just in case you were already at your gate.”
 

Olivia kissed him again; with a freedom she had never let herself feel before. He tried to pull back but she kissed him a third time.
 

“It’ll be one second,” he said, in between a forth peck. “Just let me breathe and pass through the line.”
 

She nodded, feigning resistance as he released her. Then she watched as he proceeded through the line in a second. He had no luggage or metal objects to stop him.
 

They made their way to Olivia’s gate together. It was the first time she had held his hand in public without having to console him.
 

“So you’re my boyfriend now?” she asked.
 

Nick nodded. “Are you really going to live in London?”

She nodded. “I hope so. That would make us long distance, wouldn’t it?”
 

He stopped walking. “We have to think of a visiting schedule. I want to watch your first performance.”
 

“We’re going to have to talk about it later,” Olivia said, looking at her watch. “I think my flight’s boarding soon.”
 

They made it to her gate, still holding hands. “We have time,” Nick said, all too casually.
 

She looked around the gate; there were only a few empty seats. For once, she had made it on time. They took two empty ones near the runway.
 

“We don’t have too much time. But for now let’s not talk about what has now become a long distance relationship.”
 

Nick smiled. “We have time to talk about everything.”
 

“How do you know?” she asked.
 

He pointed to the screen above the gate number. One word sat next to the flight information.
 

Delayed.
 

To all my lovely readers, I wish I could meet each and every one of you. Thank you for reading stories, it gives authors like me a reason to keep writing them.
 

Thank you.

Thank you.
 

And for the sake of doing things in threes:
 

Thank you.
 

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Coming July 2015

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