She rolled her eyes but humored me.I exhaled with her, letting all the negative thoughts that had been simmering beneath the surface since last night rush out of me.
I’d barely slept, tossed and turned just like every night since she’d been in bed with me.It felt wrong.I was all out of sorts and wanted her beside me where she belonged.Then there was the whole doctor thing.She had hit me with quick replies then jumped on Michael as a way to shift the conversation.
Something was going on, and I was pissed she wouldn’t tell me.Maybe this weekend there will be a shift.She’d remember why she loved me.Remember why we were so good together.Realized that marriage was a meaningless vow, and we didn’t need it because we were perfect just as we had been.
We inhaled again and released it slow.Rose’s shoulders eased, and her fingers stopped their anxious drumming.
“Better?”I asked.
“A little.Still feel like I might throw up, but at least now I’ll do it with a more peaceful mindset.”
I laughed as I rose to sit beside her again.“That’s the spirit.”
She rested her head on my shoulder, and it was the tiniest victory in the overall war.“Thanks, Wy.You have this annoying ability to make things feel manageable.”
I wrapped my arm around her and held a little tighter than probably necessary, but damn it, I could feel her warmth, and it did something to my soul.“One of my many talents, Grasso.Right up there with remembering your ginger chews.”I reached into my pocket and pulled out a new bag.
She gasped and snatched them from my hold.“You remembered.”
“And if you’re on the verge of a panic attack, I can jump up and dance like an idiot to distract you.”
She groaned.“That airport lounge in Denver will never be the same.”
“They should have thanked me.I gave them dinner and a show.Some of my best work, really.”
She laughed, a true real laugh, and the ache in my heart eased.“What would I do without you?”
“Keep your feet on the ground.”I nestled into my seat, shutting my eyes and pretending to relax.“How boring for you.”
She knocked shoulders with me, then settled in her seat as well.For me, without her, color would always be a little dimmer, the air a bit suffocating, simple joys not so simple, and the big joys not as exciting.
We stayed in our own silence while the world around us rushed on with life.
A little boy threw his backpack on the ground and refused to walk.The dad scooped him into his arms and ran off with him, the child’s screams of disapproval floating in their wake.An elderly woman sat in a wheelchair, watching with a smile on her face.Rose sighed, her head on my shoulder.
“I love airports,” Rose said.
Surprise slammed into me; and I blinked at her, waiting for the smirk that would tell me she was kidding, but it didn’t come.“You do?”Here I thought I knew everything about her.Every little like and dislike, but this.This was news to me.
“Not the flying part, of course.Hate that with a passion.But the people.The little stories playing out all around us.Things I miss when I’m buried in my phone.The kid’s meltdown… you know that dad’s probably already sweating through his shirt and over the trip before they even leave.The old woman smiling because she’s seen it all before.Everyone’s going somewhere, leaving something, chasing something…”
She paused, and hope flooded through me.Maybe she’d add “returning home.”But she never did.Instead, she shifted, her head leaving my shoulder, a hand brushing down her shirt as if she’d just realized how close we were.
“I should probably use the bathroom before boarding,” she said, already halfway out of her chair.
“You want me to go with you?”
“To the bathroom?”
“I meant walk you to the bathroom, silly.”
Her lips curved, and that spark that always undid me flickered in her eyes.“I think I can manage.”
“Okay then.I’ll be here.Waiting.Just don’t be surprised if you come back and find me in a dance-off with some unsuspecting person.”
She laughed again, that real laugh, and I savored the sound.
“I’ll make sure to pretend I don’t know you,” she joked.
