Almost Famous |h.s|

Forgiveness

June 27, 2020

"Steve Lasbury...your flight to Denver is ready to depart. The gate will close at B28 in five minutes....again Steve Lasbury...the gate will close to Denver at gate B28 in five minutes...thank you."

I peered around the small Delta airlines private lounge room and set my book down that I'd been reading for the past hour in my lap. I squeezed my eyes shut and dragged a hand down my face in exhaustion. It was 7am, I'd been up since 5am and had gone to bed at midnight after the concert was finished. I didn't know how I was running on fumes but I was somehow managing it. I looked across the room and saw Harry with his hood pulled low over his face, sunglasses on, and his legs stretched out in front of him as he tried to sleep. His breathing was slow and even and I had to pull my eyes away from him when I saw Mitch getting up from beside him.

I darted my eyes down to my book and picked it back up. I hadn't really been invested in the story, I had just bought a book in the airport bookstore to tide me over while we waited for our plane hoping to have a distraction from the anxiety I knew I would feel about flying the closer we got to take off time.

"Rue? I'm going to get coffee, do you want anything?" Mitch's voice rang down to me and I glanced up surprised to see him standing there. He looked at me kindly and I nodded.

"Yeah that sounds good. I can come with you." I made to get up but he shook his head.

"No, it's just around the corner. No one else wants any so it's not like I need extra hands or anything." I blinked at him and just nodded again.

"Well at least let me give you some money..." I began to pull at my purse but he placed a hand on my shoulder and I looked up.

"What do you want?" He asked and I wanted to say a getaway car out of my life... but I mumbled out a small soy latte and he gave me a small smile before walking out of the lounge. I collapsed back into my chair and my mind ran through all the events from the past few days.

I had been so appalled at my behavior and the words I'd said to Harry on Wednesday during our meeting that I had raced to his room later that day and knocked on his door only to be met with silence. I had called Gemma and asked her if she knew where Harry was but she had said she hadn't heard nor seen from him since earlier that morning for breakfast with their mom. I had tried to find him on Thursday as well but he had been nowhere to be found and he was so busy with kicking off the concert in Philly that I hadn't even had a chance to interview him yesterday. It was like he was avoiding me...and I can't say that I blamed him. I looked over at him again, peering over the top of my book, and saw him shift in his seat. The man could literally sleep anywhere...that was clear.

A few minutes later, Mitch walked back in holding two cups of coffee and unexpectedly he sat down next to me as he handed me mine. I side glanced him after saying thank you and blew on the small hole to try and cool my latte down. Mitch slumped back in the chair as I sat forward a bit and I wondered why he was choosing to sit next to me all of a sudden.

"I want to apologize for how I treated you back then." I looked to my left at Mitch and saw he was focused on the cup in his hands. His brown eyes were drilling into the Starbucks logo and his thumb traced over it absentmindedly.

"You don't have to, I read your letter. All is forgiven." I said back quietly and looked back to my own cup shyly. I don't know what I had expected from Mitch but this wasn't it.

"I know I don't have to but I feel awful for how I behaved and I'm hoping that we can start over since we'll be spending the next 11 weeks together." He admitted and I threw a smile at him over my shoulder.