“Come on, Vic. I don’t like seeing you like this,” Elliott comments as he steps in front of Victor.
“Like what?” Victor asks without looking up at his tall friend.
“Like you don’t give a crap about life,” Elliott says concerningly.
“I do give a crap,” Victor responds, but the inflection in his tone says something different.
Elliott grabs Victor’s shoulder and pulls him to the side, out of the way of other passengers walking through the terminal.
“Victor, can you please cheer up a bit? For me? I really don’t like seeing you like this.”
Victor lets out a deep sigh as he lowers his head. “I’m sorry, Elliott. I can’t believe that James did this to me. What did I do wrong?”
Elliott pulls Victor in for a firm bear hug. Victor responds by placing his hands on Elliott’s back while he rests his face in Elliott’s chest. “James is an asshole. He’s the one who did something wrong. And that was breaking your heart because he couldn’t handle you being a flight attendant.”
Victor lets out another deep sigh as he pats Elliott’s back to release him from the hug.
“Come on, let’s catch up with our friends.” Elliott tips Victor’s chin up to look into his eyes through the sunglasses. “And don’t worry, this weekend I will do everything in my power to get James out of your thoughts.”
“Getting blacked out drunk won’t solve the problem,” Victor responds.
Elliott smiles back at Victor. “Hey, it’s helped me with a few of my breakups.”
Victor cocks an eyebrow. “And how did that work out for you?”
Elliott shrugs his shoulders. “Who cares? They aren’t on my mind now.” Victor rolls his eyes, and they start walking down the terminal.
Once Victor and his friends arrive at the rental car area, Amber and Lupe head to the counter to collect the keys as Victor, Frank,and Elliott find a bench to sit on. “I’ll be right back; I need to go pee,” Victor says as he hands his bags over to Frank and Elliott.He turns and walks away without a response from the others.
As Victor uses the restroom, he stares blankly into space, ignoring everyone else around. While washing his hands, he takes his sunglasses off and stares into the mirror as thoughts rush through his mind.
“You look like a total dumpster fire. Why the hell did you even agree to come? You should have just taken the hit and not gotten your money back for canceling at the last minute.”
While Victor splashes his face with water, trying to drown out the thoughts on his mind, he doesn’t pay attention to the man standing next to him. The man is slightly taller than Victor, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He’s wearing fitted khaki slacks and a fitted button-up shirt that hugs his toned figure. The man looks at Victor in the mirror but never speaks a word.
The man walks away just before Victor looks up again to dry his face. There is a sudden feeling Victor gets, as though he should have been paying attention. Victor smells the fragrance of leather and sandalwood from the man’s cologne. He looks around to see who’s wearing the stimulating aroma, but he’s no longer there.
Wait a minute. Who was that guy? And why was he looking at me like that?Victor asks himself, just realizing someone was next to him. He walks out of the restroom to look for the man. As he looks around, the man he thought he saw is nowhere to be found. Victor shakes his head and shrugs it off, just thinking to himself that it is just a coincidence.
As Victor returns to his friends, Amber can be heard arguing with the rental car agent. “What’s going on over there?” he asks Elliott and Frank.
“Apparently, they messed up on the rental,” Elliott responds before sipping his frozen daiquiri.
“Where the hell did you get a frozen daiquiri?” Victor asks with a perplexed look.
Elliott points to a small stand about 30 feet away. “Over there.”
“Seems pretty reckless having alcohol next to where you rent cars,” Victor judges.
“I’m not the one driving,” Elliott says as he takes a big gulp of his frozen beverage. “Ahhh fuck, brain freeze.” Elliott keels over, pressing his thumb against his temple.
Frank laughs at Elliott’s pain. “Dumbass.”
Amber and Lupe walk over to the boys, keys in hand. “Finally!” Amber expresses aggravated exhaustion. “Let’s get going before traffic gets bad. I need a drink after this.”
Elliott points towards the stand. “They have frozen daiquiris over there.”
Victor shakes his head while rolling his eyes. He turns his attention to Amber. “So, what happened?”
