Vanished

Airport

I was deliberately late for every meeting and skipped the final wrap-up one altogether. It wasn't easy to hide for two days in a hotel, but somehow I managed. I was used to keeping to myself, so that part wasn't a problem.

With all the moves we had done over the years, I never bothered to get close to anyone. Not since high school. I had my brother, and now Bear. That was enough. I had learned the hard way that the more people I let it, the harder it was when I had to leave.

And we always left.

Even though I kept to myself, I wasn't a loner exactly, and definitely not a monk. I had acquaintances, people who knew me on a surface level. Or knew what I told them... But that was enough to grab a beer after work, or meet up for a round of golf.

And when the itch came along and I needed to get laid, I found someone to take care of that. I had never had trouble picking up women. I just never felt an urgency to be anything more than an occasional fuck buddy with anyone. Not since Ellie...

It had been a bit more tricky to avoid personal conversations with the other BioloGen employees at the conference. Everyone was always so freaking friendly at those things. Asking all sorts of nosy questions about where people are from, if they are married, have kids... That's the part of the conference that is supposed to be light and friendly. Where we're supposed to use small talk to network. To me, those are personal questions that nobody, and especially not my coworkers, has any right to.

I work in finance for a reason. There is no need to talk, and numbers never lie.

However, in order to survive these conferences, you have to participate to a point. What I've learned over the years is to respond noncommittally to the first question asked, "like, no, not married," and then turn it around and ask them if they are. The more questions I ask, the fewer answers I have to give.

It had worked this time too, with one exception. Ellie had been asking questions. A young guy from Indianapolis had taken it as his duty to let me know and offered to be the go-between.

How old were we again?

If I wanted to talk to her, I would've. No, that wasn't true. I really did want to talk to her. It was just that she was better off without me.

I ended up telling the young guy to mind his own business, although in a bit nicer way.

"Sir," the cab driver said in a way that made me realize I had most likely missed it when he said it the first time, or two.

We were already at the airport, stopped in front of the departure terminal.

What was wrong with me? Since when did I fail to pay attention to things around me?

"Sorry about that," I responded, and handed him cash for the ride. I just waved him off when he asked if I needed change.

It was early afternoon, and I was too early for the flight I had booked, but I wanted to get out of St. Louis as quickly as possible and hoped they could bump me into an earlier flight.

"I'm sorry, Sir," the young airline attendant advised. "The flight is all booked. I can put you on standby, but there are already two people ahead of you."

"Fine," I grumbled. So much for trying to get out early. All it got me was more time at the airport.

I texted my brother to let him know we were back to the original plan, and that I wasn't able to catch the earlier flight.

"Sucks for you," was his only response.

I chuckled, because it surely did.

Since I had time to kill, I found a spot at one of the airport bars and ordered a beer. I was on my second one when I caught sight of the woman I'd been avoiding for the last three days walking next to another woman I recognized from the conference. Ellie was dressed in black pants with a short-sleeved light blue blouse. It was a modest work-appropriate outfit, but still hinted at the body that was underneath.

I suppressed a groan. I'd known that body intimately. I knew what she felt like, what she tasted like, and how she sounded when I brought her to orgasm.

"Damn," I mumbled to myself. An airport bar was not the place to get a boner. Despite the stirring in my lower region, I couldn't look away.

Ellie looked like she had gained some weight, maybe fifteen pounds, or so. But that wasn't a bad thing. It only made her appear curvier and sexier.

She had her light brown hair twisted back into some kind of clip, and a serious expression on her face. I missed her smile, but even without that, she was beautiful.

I lowered my head and let the cap of my baseball hat shield most of my face while I continued to study her. They were walking towards the gates, passing right by the bar where I sat at the end of the bar near the wall.

Now Ellie wasn't the only one who had asked around. I'd done some research on my own, and from what I'd been able to find out, she had a manager's position. That most likely meant she was good at her job. And that wasn't really surprising. She'd been an excellent student in high school.

I swallowed down another drink of the beer but the taste was no longer refreshing, but bitter. Ellie passed by, and I watched as her hips swayed as she moved. I remembered grabbing onto those hips. Holding on to her as I loved her...

And loved her I had.

I shifted my sitting position.

Ellie was the only woman I'd ever loved, and the one I can't have.