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❝I'll do it all for you . . .❞
"Three more days?" I find myself repeating his words suddenly interrupting him mid-sentence, he pauses on the other end of the phone and draws in a deep breath. "There's no way you can come sooner?" I ask with hope but I know the answer, it's always the same.
He releases a deep sigh and my heart falls, "I'm sorry . . ."
The silence feels infinite and I know what he's waiting for me to say. Even though the words aren't true I force them out like a good girlfriend, "It's okay, works important." I wait for his response praying he says something like "Not more important than you, screw this I'm coming home!" But he won't. And that's okay, it's something I'll learn to come to terms with.
"Exactly. I miss you though." A small smile pulls at the side of my lips, eyes closing imagining him right in front of me.
"I miss you too," I sigh, "It's just three more days," I mutter to myself more than anything else but I hear him agree on the other end.
"I've gotta go, Amy, I love you. Bye."
The phone clicks off before I can respond and my eyes open, bringing me back to the lonely apartment we both live in—though I suppose he more vacations here on occasion rather than lives here. When he is here it's the happiest place on earth and when he's not . . . it's just a reminder of the fact that I will never be his first priority a fact I've been struggling to accept.
I look down and stare at the whole reason I called him. Two pink lines. They blur with my vision, unsure of what to feel. Excitement is what I know I should feel but there's something else laced in there something that feels a lot like dread. I try to tell myself the only reason I didn't tell him is that I want to say it in person. Deep down I'm not sure how true that is.
+ + +
I hate this place. It's been the setting to many romantic movies, cutting to the front of the line purchasing an expensive last-minute ticket, rushing right past the non-existent security, crashing into people sprinting to Gate 23A, only to find that the flight has already left and just when you think all hope is lost they turn around and what do you know, the love of their life is standing there with some perfect speech prepared. How did they even know they were coming? They didn't call!
Airports are not romantic. I don't care how many movies try to tell me otherwise.
They are full of moody, inconsiderate, arrogant (often intoxicated) people that will plow right through you so they won't miss their flight. Airports are annoying, yes, but more often than not they are sad.
It's parents sending their firstborn to an out of state college, kids saying goodbye to their military father—possibly for the last time, wives pretending their husbands business trip isn't an excuse to cheat, oldmen holding flowers waiting for the young girl they met online that will never show.
