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Zack
It was the best day that I had had in years. In fact, it ended up being the best week of my entire life.
Rainey and I spent every moment we could together. Several of our meals were room service, many more on one of the decks. We danced, drank, played games, watched shows, hit the three ports side by side, and held hands every step of the way.
I honestly hadn’t laughed this much or felt this free in a very long time. Sadly though, all that would end in a few hours. My bags had been packed and put out in the hallway early this morning when Rainey had left to pack her suitcases. I didn’t want to say goodbye to her then because I knew that our real goodbye would come soon.
I brought my carry-on bag with me with the last of my things and waited for her up on the cabana deck so we could have breakfast together. Bobby and John joined Rainey, Marsha, and me, but Mark was off someplace else with a woman he had met on the trip. We would catch up with him at the airport.
Rainey was quiet, but I had expected that. Over the last day, we had both gotten quieter, although we held hands longer, and our kisses seemed sweeter. Neither of us had talked about what happened after we left here.
I didn’t want it to be over, but our lives were very different. I still hadn’t explained what my life entailed back home, and she had never asked again after that first day. I figured that she wasn’t interested in knowing or taking what we had built this week any further.
To be quite honest, I didn’t have the time to continue to build a relationship. Not right now. Maybe in a year or two when things finally calmed down.
After breakfast, we all made our way to the main lounge. My disembarkation was before hers, and we sat off to the side holding hands and staying quiet.
“You have my email and my cellphone if you ever want to reach out,” I said to her. “Make sure you send me those pictures you took.”
“I’ll put them into an album and share it with you.”
I nodded. What else should I say? I’m crazy about you? Can you wait until my life calms down a little more? I stared at my cellphone. For the entire trip, I had wondered how many messages there would be for me when I finally checked. Now that we were back on land and had a signal, I was afraid to turn it on.
When I get off and I’m away from Rainey, I’ll turn it on. I’ll find out then. Even though Rainey and I were going to the same state, we took two different airlines and landed at other airports. When they called me to get off the ship, it would be goodbye.
That announcement came too soon, and I stood staring down into her face. “Thank you for the most amazing vacation, Rainey. I loved every minute of it.” I almost added that I loved her, but that wouldn’t have been fair to either of us.
“Me, too, Zack. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
I took her face in my palms and kissed her one last time. “Bye, Rainey.”
“Bye, Zack.” She gave me a sad smile, and I walked away. I hated doing it, but I had to. I didn’t want to think about this as just a vacation fling, but honestly, that was what it was. I wasn’t capable of giving more to her.
I was quiet on the way to the airport, but by the time I got there, the melancholy was wearing off, and the anxiety was building. I turned on my phone and waited for the emails and messages to download. Twenty-six. That’s the number of phone messages that I had. One hundred and fifty-two is the number of text messages that waited for me.
Most of those messages were from my sister, asking me why I wasn’t answering her. She kept saying she needed my help but didn’t say what it was she needed. Then they stopped two days ago. Maybe she had finally remembered that I was on vacation.
I started listening to the messages. There were several work-related, two about my car needing service, a reminder from the vet that Bruno, my dog, had an appointment tomorrow, a few wrong numbers and telemarketers. Then there were several from my sister, short and sweet, demanding I call her back. The last few were from my father’s nurse.
Those were the ones I was most concerned with. I would have called then, but our bus was pulling up to the airport, so once we checked in, I stepped off to the side to call.
All the memories of my trip were tucked neatly away as I called my house to speak with the nurse staying with my father. “Beverly, it’s Zack. I just got your messages.”
“Hi, Zack, I hope you had a good time. I hated to leave you those last messages.”
“It’s okay. How is he?”
“Well, I had the doctor come out yesterday and check in, and well, he has another infection. We are treating that, but it’s a rough one.”
“Another UTI?”
“Yeah, those damn bladder infections are horrible. If he wasn’t confined to a bed, then he might not get so many.”
“Yeah, I know. How is everything else going?”
“As well as can be expected. He has his good days and his bad, but he’s alright. He keeps asking for you, and I keep reminding him that he told you to go on vacation.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, he did pretty much kick me out the door.”
