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Nav
Henavigatedhisway to damn-near the back of the plane. He couldn’t believe she didn’t say anything to anyone about her ticket. Any one of their friends could have helped her out if it was a money thing, but he wasn’t going to allow her to sit in the back all alone while everyone else enjoyed first class. He had tried to get her the seat next to him, but it had already been purchased. If it wasn’t for Avanna reaching out, he wouldn’t have known money was so tight for her. He should have known though, she lost an entire income when Oliver died and he was sure her teaching salary was barely enough money to survive on. Lexie didn’t come from money like most of their friends did, but she did come from one of the only households with two living parents. One could say they traded money for love and he always found that endearing.
He plopped down into his window seat and turned the music on his phone louder as the plane began to fill with people. As soon as his mind started to calm, Nav’s phone pinged with the notification of a new message.
Adam: Smooth move with Lexie’s ticket.
He shut the screen off without responding and placed the phone on his lap. He let his mind wander, hoping to find some relaxation in the ride before they landed in St. Thomas. He thought back to the moment he first started to really see Lexie for who she was instead of just seeing her as the girl who was always down to go fishing and play in the mud puddles by the quarry. He always knew he liked to look at Lexie. She had beautiful red hair that flowed down her back in waves and the freckles scattered across her nose always added to hernatural beauty. When his first Middle School dance arrived, Nav knew he didn’t want to go with anyone other than Lexie, even if it was just as friends. The night of the dance hedressed in the fanciest jeans he owned and a crisp red shirt he borrowed from his father’s closet before hopping on his bike and riding straight to Lexie’s. He arrived just in time to watch Lexie walk down the stairs–he felt as if he was in the middle of a 1980s rom-com.
A dark blue dress dangled mid-thigh, tight around her curvy chest and flaring out at her wide hips. Her hair was curled around her face and the shimmer from her make-up highlighted the green sparkle in her eyes. She was more beautiful than he had ever seen her and a sudden rush of heat spread across his cheeks down to his toes. He thanked her parents for letting her attend the dance and they left together, unsure where the night would take them.
They spent the evening tearing up the dance floor. Catching their breath between synchronized steps and Chicken Dance arm-flapping, Nav had taken a moment to really appreciate Lexie. She had a way of making even the most mundane activities turn into memories he would store in his mind and reflect upon often. While their friends were engulfed in the latest drama over which boy was dating which girl, they allowed themselves to get lost in the music, dancing until sweat dripped down their backs. Walking home that night, Nav reached for Lexie’s hand and held it in his own, his pounding heartbeat drowning out the conversation flowing between them. Nav knew then that Lexie meant more to him than he would ever be able to express.
A gentle nudge on his shoulder brought him back to reality as he gazed up at the elderly man standing in the aisle beside the set of seats.
“Sir, your phone,” the old man said as he pointed down to Nav’s lap. “It’s been ringing.”
Nav stared at the man, whose wrinkles told stories he found himself wanting to know more about before dipping his head to his lap registering that Victoria’s name was splashed across the screen. He moved to mute the device before tilting his head toward the old man thanking him for the nudge.
As he opened the screen on his phone he saw three missed calls from Victoria within the last five minutes. He wanted nothing more than to block her out of his life for good, but couldn’t ever find the courage to do so. The memories of Lexie washed over him and clarified his feelings. Every woman he had met over the years was instantly compared to Lexie. It was never intentional, but no one could match the fire that Lexie possessed and when he thought about spending the rest of his life with someone, he knew he needed to find a mate that had the same amount of zest for life that Lexie always did.
