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How could everything have changed so quickly? Without Hannah there, my house felt empty. So did my chest.
“To be honest,” Simon said thoughtfully. “I kind of expected you to just get a ticket and go home with her.”
“I tried,” I admitted with a humorless laugh. “The flight was full.”
“God, you’re in idiot.” Simon rolled his eyes. “Are you the richest man in Germany or aren’t you?”
He was right. I was an idiot.
“Have the jet ready in twenty minutes,” I said. “Find me a flight path and a terminal at DTW, and for fuck’s sake make sure we land before she does.”
I had no idea if this was the most romantic thing ever, or if it was some Sting level stalker shit, but either way, I couldn’t wait to see the look on Hannah’s face when she landed and found me waiting for her.
****
Unfortunately, Hannah’s flight was delayed and even by time we cleared customs, it was going to be another hour before she landed, then probably an additional hour for her to get through customs as well.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” I told Simon as we got into the car he’d ordered for us. “You’re going to get into her email and find her address. Then you’re going to drop me off where I’ll be waiting when she gets home, and you’ll go to the hotel.”
“You’re going to sit outside her house in the cold for two hours?” Simon asked, though he was already pulling out his laptop. “Damn, you really do love this girl.”
“What was your first clue?” I snapped. “Okay, fine. We’ll go to the hotel together, then I’ll head to her place in time to be there when she shows up.”
“What if she goes to her family’s place instead?” he challenged, his fingers flying over his keyboard. “It’s Christmas now.”
“What the hell time is it here?” I asked.
“They’re six hours behind,” Simon mumbled, his gaze locked on his screen.
“Right,” I agreed, looking out the window. “It’s like the middle of the night. She’ll go home first.” I leaned over and read the information on Simon’s laptop. “Oh, and she lives in an apartment. So yeah…” I slid forward in my seat to talk to the driver. “We need to add a stop if that’s alright.”
“I’m hired for the week, sir,” the driver answered with a shrug. “I’ll take you anywhere you’d like.”
I gave him the address and sat back, rolling my neck to look at my brother.
“When are you going to find a girl?” I asked him.
“Don’t fucking start with me,” Simon growled. “At the moment, I’m still trying to help you get your girl.”
That was fair. I’d waited a long time for the right woman to come along, so if my brother wanted to do the same, I’d support that.
We pulled up in front of a modest brick apartment building and I opened the door before the car had even come to a complete stop. I jumped out then leaned down to talk to Simon once more.
“Keep your phone on,” I told him. “If this goes badly, you’ll need to come back and pick me up.”
“It’s going to be great,” he assured me. “You flew four thousand miles to see her on Christmas. It really doesn’t get more romantic than that.”
“He’s right, sir,” the driver chimed in. “That’s some Hallmark stuff right there.”
“Give this man a huge tip,” I told Simon before shutting the door and strolling up the sidewalk.
When I reached the door I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get into the building, since it had a buzzer system in place. But when I tried the door, it opened, and I let out a sigh of relief as I stepped in out of the cold.
Now I just had to wait for Hannah to come home and hope she was happy to see me.
Two and a half hours later, I heard the door open downstairs and stared down the hall, praying that it was her coming home. When she turned the corner into the hallway, her head was down and she was fussing with her keys, not paying attention to what was in front of her.
When she finally looked up, she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes going wide and filling with tears.
