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ThedrivefromManhattanto JFK was a bitch, but that’s what best friends were for.
My fare was a venti vanilla latte and two slices of pumpkin loaf from Starbucks, which I paid happily. Ben and I kept up an easy conversation as we crawled through traffic. He was easy to talk to and I really did love the guy. A few years ago I had pounced on him after a few too many drinks at a team-building party and asked if he was gay. I had been right, but it wasn’t my finest moment.
Rather than write me off he had tucked me into bed and listened while I rambled about falling for Daphne. Since then I had been shamelessly taking advantage of his driving prowess, and I had no intention of stopping.
We were finally close to the airport, but traffic was dragging. It was just past noon and our flight to LAX was scheduled to leave at 3:30, but I was willing to bet Daphne was already there. She wasn’t one to cut it close.
“If you marry Oliver and I marry Daphne, whose house do you think we’ll do Christmas at?”
Our conversation had turned, as it often did, to the Calloway siblings. Ben and Oliver had been dating for somewhere close to half a year, though they had known each other since they were kids. He was Oliver’s driver, so technically we all worked together. It had made things tricky for them at first, but it had ended up working out.
The two of them had finally fessed up to their feelings and started dating for real, and since then things had been going smoothly. For them, at least.
“We’d probably do it at their mansion.” He was humoring me, but I appreciated it. Honestly, Ben and Oliver getting married felt very real and very likely. Me and Daphne…not so much.
I sighed. “If Daphne ends up with Donovan you have to be sure he gets the worst presents.”
“Obviously.”
This time I managed a laugh. He sounded so serious. Ben understood the gravity of his best friend duties.
After a health a pretty bad health scare, William - Oliver and Daphne’s dad - had gotten it into his head that his kids needed to settle down. William had found his soul mate in their mom, Violet, and hadn’t stopped loving her even after she died. He wanted them to have that same kind of love. Ben and Oliver had found that, but Daphne was still up in the air.
I stretched out my arms as we finally pulled up to the terminal. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Anytime. Let me know when you guys arrive.”
I gave him a mock salute. “Yes, sir.” I leaned over and gave him a quick hug. I hopped out and grabbed my bag from the backseat. “Love you,” I said before I closed the door.
“Love you, too,” he called.
After a final wave, I turned to go inside and Ben pulled out to head back home. I had already checked in on the app and had TSA pre-check courtesy of the company. I was ready to get this conference started.
“I’m going to throw myself in front of the next plane.”
My head was pounding, I had to pee, and my stomach was raging from the untold number of free pretzel packets I had eaten. We were on hour six of weather delays. Not only was there a massive storm system crossing through the middle of the country, but there had been some sort of technical error with flight control at LAX.
We had found three seats together originally, but after being called to different gates a million times we’d only been able to snag two. By that point every gate was absolutely packed, so I had just elected to sit on the floor and lean against Daphne’s legs, though I wasn’t exactly complaining.
I shifted, pressing my cheek into her knees. No skirt today, just some light linen pants: comfortable and practical. Boo.
Donovan had been dozing off and on but had finally settled on watching a movie on his phone. He had been surprisingly useful during this whole ordeal. We had sent him off to investigate before everything was officially announced, and he had done a sweep of the executive lounge. It ended up being filled to the brim and not worth the walk over, but I still appreciated the recon.
My legs were starting to cramp from sitting cross-legged for so long. I wobbled to my feet. “I’m going to go to the bathroom. If I’m not back in an hour I’m probably dead.”
“I’ll come too.” Daphne rose from her chair, stretching long and hard.
I set my bag down in her seat and motioned to Donovan that we were leaving. Getting through the terminal was like navigating a maze - if the maze was filled with crying babies and uncontrollable toddlers.
We finally made it to the closest bathroom and joined the outrageously long line. “How are you feeling?” I asked.
Daphne tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. “I’m fine,” she lied.
I chewed at my lip. As much as I wanted to fix this for her, this time there was nothing I could do. “We’ll get there, okay? Your presentation isn’t even until Saturday, so we still have all of tomorrow for a buffer.”
She managed a weak chuckle. “You know good and well that I have a dozen meetings tomorrow.”
Yeah. She did. “Everyone will understand if it comes to that, but we still have time.”
