Gaining Luck

Epilogue - Fading

      45 minutes until takeoff

      "She's not inside. Jerry, take me to the Mullin's." I climbed into the car trying to keep my mind busy with something else, but everything I could think of was her. Jerry was driving like a maniac and that was exactly what I wanted him to do because I knew that in less than ten minutes, I would be knocking at Kate's door.

      Mrs Mullin had red, swollen eyes so it was obvious she'd been crying.

      "Mr. Carter! Please, come in!" She gave me a pained smile and I started feeling a pain in my chest. Deep down... I knew something was wrong.

      "Thank you, Mrs Mullin, but I can't stay. I'm only here to talk to your daughter." Her hand went to the pocket of her jeans and she took out a small piece of paper.

      "Kate's on her way to Harvard. She left this for you." I took the piece of paper and unfolded it.

      "This must be a joke." I tried to laugh, but it sounded fake. "Which airport?" I asked through gritted teeth.

      "JFK International, but her plane leaves in less than half an hour."

      "Thank you Mrs Mullin."

      I left before she could say anything else. Less than half an hour... I was about to lose Kate... I couldn't let that happen. She would only leave the country with that idiot over my dead body.

      25 minutes until takeoff

      "Hurry up, Jerry! Your job's at stake." I barked at the poor man. He was doing his best and I could see that, but I needed him to do better than his best right now. My mind kept taking me back to Kate's words. "Love them both the way you would've loved me..."? Yeah, right... Like that was even an option.

      "I'm really sorry, sir, but we're stuck." Jerry turned his head and gave me an apologetic look. "We're in a jam."

      No! Please, no! Not now.

       "Make a detour then. Do whatever it takes to get me there in less than 20 minutes, Jerry!"

      "Yes, sir."

       I would get there on time. I had to!

       10 minutes until takeoff

      "Princess?" The old woman at my left gave me a curious look. "We need to get to our seats."

      "Just a minute." I heard Nick's sigh and took another look at the pink stick in my hand. Still one bar. Oner more minute... My heart started racing. I took a look at myself in the mirror in front of me, feeling nauseated.

      "Princess, we really need to get to our seats. We're gonna miss the flight." I could feel the tension in his voice.

      I knew the time has come. I looked at the stick in my hand, not knowing if I should feel relieved or sad.

       "Oh, God!" Was all I could say, feeling somehow happy and disappointed at the same time. 

        Time's up

        I ran to the woman at the tickets help desk.

       "I want a ticket for London."

       "Sure, sir. We have a flight leaving in two hours and another one leaving tomorrow morning. Which one shall it be?"

       "I want the one leaving now."

        The woman gave me a weird look. "Sir, there is no flight leaving for London now."

       "There must be one."

       "No, sir. The only flights to London scheduled for today were the one leaving in two hours and the one that left five minutes ago." I felt my feet shaking and my heart skipping beats. She was gone... I had lost Kate. Realization hit home and my heart started racing. She didn't want to be found, but that was none of my business. I would look for her anyway.

       I stepped away and bumped into some of the people on the line. I mumbled some apologies nobody seemed to take notice of. I felt lost and weak and incomplete. I felt like the ghost of a man. A ghost that was rapidly fading away, because my heart was broken.