After Effect (ON HOLD)

Chocolate Brown Eyes

Chocolate Brown Eyes ~ Mike Comfort

I was impatiently waiting at baggage claim for my suitcases. My left foot tapped the ground while I nervously glanced at my phone checking the time. Yep it was still five thirty, nothing has changed in the last five seconds. The unfamiliar surroundings were enough to put me on edge, and my only comfort was the charm bracelet my dad had given me for my sixteenth birthday. Why do airports have so many windows? The shiny tile floors reflected a distorted image of myself, and let me just say I looked horrible.I glanced up from idly playing with the bracelet and looked around. Scanning the area my eyes landed on the last of my suitcases. I grabbed it off of the conveyer belt quickly before it would disappear around the loop again.

I pondered how I was going to get all the bags at once to a taxi. I pulled my purse higher up onto my shoulder so I could hold all three of my bags. Turning around I picked up my carry on bag ready to loop it onto my other arm, but what I saw stopped me.

It was him.

My breath caught in my throat and I dropped my carryon I was holding. His familiar warm chocolate brown eyes locked with mine, just as they did the first day we met, like nothing had changed, like he didn't break me. Neither of us broke eye contact and in the moment of silence it was like the world stopped. He had the same dark brown messy hair that went with his tan skin, bags were set under his eyes indicating lack of sleep, he was still tall, and from what I could tell he didn't loose any muscles. What caught my eye was the pale jagged scar on his upper cheek, it was long and crept up into his hair, which disguised how large it actually was. It wasn't there the last time I saw him. Yet even with it he was still ruggedly handsome.

Suddenly he dropped his old black duffel bag, he's had that thing since college it appeared to be so filled it was bursting at the seams. He took long strides towards me closing the twenty feet that were between us. He engulfed me in a hug wordlessly because nothing needed to be said. My first instinct was to push him away tell him how much he hurt me, but in the moment my arms wrapped around him, my head was against his chest, his hands held me against him, one in my hair and the other around my waist, and I just breathed him in, worried that if I let go he would disappear again. Just like two years ago.

I stayed in his arms for two minutes before I pulled away. I stepped back, and looked into those eyes, the same eyes I fell in love with.

"I can't believe its you, its really you." he whispered keeping the agonizing eye contact. His hand was cupped around my cheek, I could feel the roughness of his palm then he slowly lowered it to his side.

"Yeah its me." I managed to squeak before stepping back a little more to allow some space between us. But he grabbed my hands and held them which made my whole body go stiff.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too James." I couldn't stop myself from saying these words, because it was true. Despite all the pain he put me through I still missed him. And I didn't want to ruin this moment, a moment I had dreamt of for so long.

He took his hand and gingerly wiped a stray tear from my cheek. "You don't know how much I've thought about you over these few years."

And just like that the mood was ruined, bringing myself back to reality, I pulled away, wiped my eyes and flashed him a fake smile, a smile that I perfected over the years to get people to leave me alone. "It was nice to see you again." I said grabbing my four bags in a hurry attempting to waddle away, my arms filled to the max.

"Wait Sofia! Can we talk about things? I will explain myself but I know that if I let you walk away I will never have this opportunity again, the chance to apologize and start over. By the time I realized my stupid mistake it was too late to change things, but now I can, cause you're here." he begged.