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The plane emptied and she scanned person after person, looking for his smiling face… only to have her smile fade. Did he miss his flight? He hadn’t said anything or texted yet.
She felt a lance of fear and pain so sharp that she put her hand on her chest, realizing that perhaps he’d changed his mind and didn’t come after all. What if this was all just too much?
He hadn’t seemed that thrilled about dancing with her at first at the wedding, but seemed to warm up within minutes; perhaps this was the same thing. Maybe he really didn’t like her, and they were just friends… and she was the nincompoop taking it way too far and her imagination was creating something that just wasn’t there.
What if…
She adjusted her luggage, feeling it fall against her leg again for the fiftieth time, because one of the wheels was bent… realizing that if he was avoiding her, had changed his mind, or rejecting her – she wouldn’t remember any of this convention, because she would be in her hotel room the entire time, sobbing and rip-roaring drunk like some pathetic loser… only to see him appear in the doorway.
“Emily?” John began, looking shocked and a little dismayed. “I thought we were meeting at baggage claim?”
“I thought I’d wait for you here,” she smiled, trying to hold back the tears of sheer relief and happiness. “I couldn’t wait to see you, so I thought I would surprise you by being here, waiting to greet my favorite airman. I didn’t know you had camouflage uniforms, too?”
“Yeah,” he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “This is a little awkward, and gonna be tough to swallow when I stop to think…”
“What is?” she asked, feeling her heart ice over once again with dread. “What’s awkward about this? It’s just two friends meeting up and…”
John flew into motion, pulling her to him as her suitcase fell against an empty chair thankfully, and kissing her like a man obsessed. It took Emily about two seconds to realize what was happening, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into him, and kissing him back.
They stood there together, ignoring the catcalls, whoops, and hollers around them… melting together in a kiss that was long overdue.
He broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers, both of them breathing heavily as they held each other, just getting their bearings… before he spoke.
“All clear…” he murmured softly.
“What’s all clear?”
“No cavities…”
Emily laughed aloud in delight, turning her head, and laying it on his chest just under his chin, hugging him wildly as they both laughed easily.
“I’ve missed this…” she whispered. “As much as it scares me sometimes, and feels like a wild, beautiful dream – a fairytale. I’ve sincerely missed being around you, John. I missed us laughing together.”
“Me too…” he said openly. There was so much unbridled honesty in his tone that she looked up to see that he looked worried. Those bright green eyes looked awfully concerned and nervous about something.
“Is everything alright?”
“Yeah,” he began and released her, reaching for her suitcase. “Just a bunch of stupid thoughts going through my head, worries, and just a whopping case of nervousness.”
“You’re nervous? About what?”
“I don’t want to make a mess of things while I’m here,” he said openly, and she nodded.
This was certainly something she could relate to.
He’d arranged all the dinner plans, the boat rental, and whatever else he wanted to do while in town. She’d left it all to him without a second thought, because if she had been alone, it would have been room service the entire trip or eating down at the sports bar in the casino.
Smiling, she held out her hand towards him.
“It will be fine,” she replied. “You’ll see.”
* * *
Moments later,it wasnotfine.
“What do you mean?” Emily asked, stunned. “I’ve had this suite reserved for months now… and you gave it away?”
“I see that,” the clerk began, waving over his manager. “I don’t know what happened, but I see that someone overrode the system. Mr. Salino! Mr. Salino, you are needed please…”
