The Day That Never Happened

"Soledad!" is the first thing I hear when I step out of the terminal and into the que of people walking alongside me and waiting to be picked up.

I look around at the sound of my name when unfamiliar arms pull me into a tight hug that surprises me as I give out a startled squawk. When I realize who it is that might be hugging me, I awkwardly hug back while at the same time feeling confused, scared, and just greatly overwhelmed.

What was I doing here?

Pulling away, I can finally see the woman who was still hugging me. She looks slightly familiar from the pictures I had seen of her online through our previous conversations, but that did not mean I recognized her happy demeanor. One that you would normally show a person you knew and loved for a long time rather than a complete stranger.

Taking in the sight of the woman, I notice that she is shorter than me, a bit stout, with graying hair that brushed her shoulders, and a round face that beamed like the sun. She looks so happy while she smiles at me, but I can't say that I feel the same way. Not when I feel sick and wanted nothing more than to turn and run, but I keep my ground. Especially because she still has a tight grip on my arm, but it's more of a comforting grasp that tries to silently ease my discomfort. Smiling at me as if telling me that everything would be alright, but I can't help but continue to doubt her silent signals.

I don't know this woman after all... at least not in the way one knew a friend.

"It's been too long!" the woman chirps as she takes my face in between her hands that smell like peppermint to get a better look at me, "You look so much like your mother," she says which makes my stomach churn.

It's a lie, because I look more like my father than my mother. It's my mother's attitude that I have... not her looks.

"It... It has been too long," I finally manage to say once I have my bearings. I then try to force a happy smile on my face and I needed it to look natural so that no one around us would get suspicious. It would bring unnecessary attention to us and the fewer people that looked our way and questioned our meeting the better. We couldn't let anyone grow suspicious of us. Not when I was here on a secret mission...

"You must be tired," the woman states while finally releasing me from her warm hold. I felt like I could breathe a bit easier with her finally giving me my space. If she had held onto me a second longer, I probably would have lost the breakfast I had worked so hard to force down.

I nod while turning when I hear my name being called out again only to see my friend, Emmanuel, emerge from the crowd of people. He immediately hugs me, and I hug him back, relieved to see a familiar face amongst a crowd of strangers.

"How was the trip?" he asks when he finally pulls away while holding onto my hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze.

"Tiring," I murmur before he leads me and the woman away from the terminal and towards baggage claim, "How was your trip?" I ask, genuinely curious about his stay here in the northernmost part of Massachusetts where he has been staying for the past week.

"Better now that you're here," he jokes while grabbing my luggage when I point it out and doesn't miss the grimace that I give him. He mouths a soft "sorry" before turning to follow the beaming lady who leads us towards the exit.

"Everyone is so excited to have you here this weekend," the lady chirps while we make our way through the airport towards the exit, "Emmanuel here hasn't stopped talking about you and his own excitement."

I notice the tenseness in Emmanuel's jaw from the corner of my eye when the lady, named Millie, says this. I know he's frustrated and probably as scared as I am, but we both know we didn't... I didn't have a choice. At least not one that had a favorable outcome no matter what I decided to do during this trip.