I quickly hung up the phone and got to work organizing the Lawson party’s late night pizza bar.
After the twirler exit, I was so tired I felt like ripping my shoes off and collapsing right there on the sidewalk. I was kind of regretting telling Jules I’d pick up Grey at the airport because all I wanted was to strip off my dress and be in the comfort of sweatpants. I needed to be a good friend though, I told myself, and the airport was small and easy to navigate- nothing like the Detroit one.
“Can you take care of the lock-up here tonight?” I asked Nikki as soon as the last guests were loading onto the party buses back to their respective hotels.
“Sure, that tired girl?” she asked.
“Yes,” I laughed, “but not ditching out early because of that. Remember the Scott wedding? I told Jules Scott that I’d pick up her husband from the airport. He must be involved in that annoying hockey stuff going on at the rink.”
“Ahh,” she nodded. “They were the cutest couple we’ve organized for; don’t you think?” She looked dreamily up to the ceiling. “If only Dom would wanna have babies and get married like now,” shesighed.
“I’m sure you guys are close,” I encouraged. They’d been dating about a year, but that was practically a decade compared to her usual timeline for relationships. Dom seemed like a solidguy.
“Doubtful,” she sighed. “Well, you’re stuck as my roomie until he pops the question, so in that way I’m just fine and dandy waitin for it. What would I do without your tidiness? Dom and I are doomed. We’re both disasters,” shelaughed.
“You’re not bad!” I told her, to which she shot me a ‘get-real’ look. I guess I did take initiative on the cleaning around our place.
She stood then and extended a hand to pull me up.
“Time to get goin, girlie. I love that new dress by the way,” she said, looking me up and down. “Hot, hot, hot in that color.”
I let out a chuckle at that. TJ did have good taste, I’d give him that. I felt self-conscious when I first put it on today, but I couldn’t necessarily wear my ruined one. I knew the only thing that held me back from loving it was my pride, but it’s not like he would see me wear it anyway, not with him being all the way in Canada.
“Thanks, Nikki,” I said. “I’ll see ya back at home base.”
______
It was pitch-black out by the time I reached the airport, and I hoped I hadn’t made him wait outside too long.Not everyone is irrationally afraid of the dark,I told myself as I drove up to the pick-up lanes that glowed under thelamplight.
I pulled over and searched around for Grey. I felt my chest tighten a bit at the prospect of not seeing him and having to get out and search. I put a hand to my chest to calm my breathing. I was doing a friend a favor; I would not be a weirdo and freak out. It was Grey after all, he could handle himself out here.
I finally saw a figure with what looked like a hockey bag slumping toward me, but he was also holding something up in the air above his head.
As he walked closer, I realized it was an old school boom box… and holding it was the stupid, big, baby shaker himself: Theodore. Jiffy. Vonnie. With the biggest, brightest smile stretched across his dumb, lover-boy face.
I mean… What was a girl supposed to do with that? He was a gorgeous man, smiling at me like that. Was he out of his mind? I walked out on him mid-date and left him at a restaurant by himself. Why had he come back here?
I called up Jules as he made his way to my car window, wondering what the hell was going on. Because TJ was walking toward my car and Grey was nowhere to be found.
When I finally got her answering machine, her voice filled the line saying, “This is Jules Scott! Leave a message at the beep! But if this is Ellie then, yes! I tricked you and I’m sorry, but TJ needs to talk to you. I’ll call you in the morning!”
He tapped on the window, waiting. I dropped my phone and shook my head at him. He looked so happy, but I would not smile. I repeated to myself- do not smile… because I’d been tricked. And what was with the boombox?
I rolled the window down slightly.
“Hi, Ellie. Thanks for coming to get me,” he said with a flirty smile.
Now, I can’t really point to anything specific for why I did what I did next, other than the fact that his smile just got to me…I wasn’t sure if it was cockiness or just unnerving confidence he possessed, but it just seemed like he thought his smiling at me would for sure mean I would fall over in love with him and do whatever he needed me to in a split-second. He needed someone to knock him down a few pegs, and I would gladly do it. I released from the break a bit to make my car lurch forward and he jumped away from the curb real quick with a shocked look on his face.
“I’m sorry, okay?! I’m sorry for what I said at The Landslide! Arguing is our thing though, okay? I even brought the boombox, see? We’re makingup!”
“Boombox, TJ?” I squinted at him trying to read if he was for real. “Do you think we’re living in a movie? How stupid-” I cut myself off from finishing the sentence after seeing the look on his face… It completely fell into a disappointed pout, like he was a little kid and I’d just broken his favorite toy or something, which made me feel slightly bad for yelling at his optimistic self.
I faced forward and forced myself to calm down and think. He did say he was sorry, and he probably really didn’t know anyone else here. And it was just a ride to wherever he was going. If he was going to do something weird, he would’ve already done it, right? Besides, Jules sent me here. She wouldn’t send me to pick up some kind of serial killer.
When I turned to look at him, he was waiting patiently with a hopeful look on his face, and he extended his hand into my car window for a handshake. He was like a puppy- seemingly happy and looking for affection no matter what I said or did to push it away.
I reluctantly shook his hand and unlocked my car doors.
