A Short Story

Mar 05, 2008

I picture us lying in bed together the night before you leave and you are asking me in a cute, quiet voice if I'm going to miss you. I joke with you at first and tell you that I can't wait for two weeks of being a bachelor again, and you playfully slap me and pretend to be upset. Of course deep down you know that I will miss you but you had to ask because you wanted to hear me say it, and I do.

The next morning you're up early and a taxi picks you up outside my house. Before you go you wake me just to give me a kiss good bye. I tell you I love you and to call me when you get there so I know you arrived safely. And like that you're gone.

The first few days I actually do enjoy that you're gone. Not because I don't miss you, but because it's a change and since we don't see each other everyday anyway, I don't notice much of a difference other than knowing that you're not 10 minutes away if I wanted to see your smile.

Hanging with my friends on the first weekend you're out of town, we go out drinking and have a good time, but in the back of my head I'm wondering what you're up to? Secretly I'm hoping your having fun to, but yet not too much fun that you don't want to come back.

I get into a routine for the remaining several days and they start passing more quickly, but I still think about you often. An understatement really...you're always on my mind.

And finally the day comes that your plane arrives back at the airport. I drive over in the evening to pick you up and I'm wondering how I should greet you? Would it be ridiculous to be cliche like the movies and sweep you off your feet and swing you around. Probably, but that's what I want to do. But then I worry that you're not as excited to see me as I am to see you. What if I go overboard and at that moment you realize we aren't meant to be? Next thing I know I'm at the terminal and I'm wondering how I got from my car to your gate and I don't even remember the trip. My mind was clearly somewhere else.

I watch the people unboard from the plane. My palms are sweaty, and I can feel my heart pumping in my chest eagerly anticipating the sight of you.

And then like that, you're here. I see you first as you look around the terminal trying to spot me. I start walking towards you when you finally notice me and a beautiful smile appears on your face. In that moment I know that my fears were unjustified, but I never really tell you what I experienced. But I don't have to because you already know. You felt the same way while you were gone.

We embrace and I kiss you. A soft kiss where your lips lock around my lower lip for a moment and we stand there holding each other for awhile. It's hard to say how long, but we couldn't care less. As we stand there holding each other with our noses gently rubbing we're so close, you ask me if I missed you. I joke with you again that I didn't even realize you were gone, and you gently slap my chest. It doesn't matter because you already know I did. You just wanted to hear me say it, and I do.