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“You two be kind to each other.” I point between Katherine and Al teasingly, as if I’m an angry dad or something. “Don’t kill each other while we’re away. I don’t want to return and see you all torn into pieces.”
Al shrugs and smirks. “We don’t even need to see one another for the next six months, do we? There’s no reason for us to hang out at all. We’ll be just fine until we end up back here to pick you both up.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I can’t hide how I feel about that. “Six months for all of us, then.”
I suppose that’s true but it makes me sad to think about. Our lives will completely separate while we’re away. But I guess it doesn’t matter, there’s no reason for them to stay friends. “Okay well I guess we’ll see you then.”
I take Tamara’s hand and lead her towards the check in desk, waving to our friends as we go. Katherine and Al pull away from one another. They separate just like they’re going to do the whole time we’re away. The group that I got together to help Tamara is done. For now, anyway. We’ll be back, I’m sure.
“See you soon!” I smile and wave. “See you when we get back!”
“Bye, both of you. Make sure you have the best time. We want to hear all about it.”
“I don’t,” Al joins in. “Just the highlights, but have fun anyway.”
Katherine and Al both turn away from us and leave the airport, and only me and Tamara remain. We drag our cases along, check them in then head towards the security checks area. Even that part is exciting to me since it’s something I haven’t ever been through before, even taking off my shoes and belt is fun. Maybe walking through the metal detector will get old when I’ve done it a few times, but for now I like it.
“Right.” Tamara looks up at the departure boards. “I guess we have some time to kill. So, what do we do?”
We spend the next couple of hours wandering through the shops, grabbing food and drink wherever it’s on offer, remarking on where we think other travelers might be going on holiday, and it’s fun. With Tamara laughing and joking alongside me, it’s the best time ever. Every second of it feels magical. I’m so glad that she’s back, I love having the girl from the train by my side. She makes it all feel better. Thank God she came back to me. Both times. Twice I’ve almost lost her, once after we first met and second after she lost herself. I’m lucky that she’s still here. I want to make sure she’s always in my life, I couldn’t go on without her now.
And then are plane is called and I grab onto Tamara’s hand again. It’s time to board. To get started on our journey. It’s time to finally see what the world has to offer me. It’s been such a long time coming, pouring over books, imagining, researching, and now it’s about to happen. It doesn’t get better than this.
“Come on then.” I tug her along with me. “It’s time. Let’s get ready to fly.”
My heart explodes with joy as I set foot on brand new land. Japanese land at that. Tokyo was always going to be a must for me, it’s my interest in Japan which got me started on this plan anyway, so I figured it best we come here first. I can already feel the new culture soaking up in my lungs. As I turn to see Tamara I can see the same wide eyed excitement in her too. The flashing neon lights of the city reflect in her gaze.
“Is that actually a giant Godzilla coming out the top of the cinema?” She clutches onto her chest. “Thank goodness I fell down the stairs and got enough compensation money to come here. I wouldn’t miss this for the world! Oh, my goodness, and look at all the stores. I can’t wait to do some shopping… oh but I suppose not too much since we still have loads of other places to go. Don’t let me forget this isn’t just a holiday.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be a long one.” I pull her closer to me. “With some arguments along the way no doubt.” She gives me a narrow eyed look. “What? We can argue now, can’t we? It’ll never be our first one…”
“Will you stop reminding me?” She shoves me playfully. “I thought we were past that now. Looking forwards. Look where we are, we aren’t even in America anymore. We can’t talk about the past.”
“No, I suppose not.” But I can’t resist one last dig. “But I won’t buy any coffee around you.”
Tamara juts out her chin while she chooses to take the high road and ignore me. “We better get to the hotel, I promised that I’d send Katherine an email as soon as we landed and you know that she’ll be freaking out already.”
“Yeah okay, then I want to get out and try some of the famous Japanese food that you hear so much about. It’s supposed to be the best in the world. Sushi, Ramen, Katsu, I want to try it all.”
“Lucky we’re here for a while then!” She bounces on her toes as if she can’t contain herself, which admittedly is exactly how I feel. “I also want to go to that restaurant where you can watch robots shoot lasers at each other the entire time. We have to do that while we’re here, where else in the world will we get that?”
“I don’t know, but I suppose we’ll find out when we get there.” She gives me a side eyed look. “Okay, so probably nowhere. But I have to hold out hope. After all, robots and lasers, what more could I want?”
Tamara tosses her head back and laughs. “I know, right? But I’m sure we’ll find out.”
“I love you so much.” The love flows from me like lava. I love her more than I ever have. There’s something about this experience already that makes me appreciate her even more. “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
She turns to give me a kiss. As she leans in to me, the Tokyo skyline behind her makes her look wonderful. “I love you too, you know. And this is going to be the trip of a life time, just you wait and see.”
28
Tamara
Six months later…
“It’s going to feel really weird getting back, isn’t it?” I smile at Logan, loving him even more than the day we left for our trip six months ago. “It feels like we’ve been gone forever, doesn’t it?”
“I know, it’s odd.” His skin is still tanned from the African sun. I wonder how long it’ll take for that to fade. I hope it doesn’t, I think we both look a lot better with it. “It’s going to take some getting used to.”
