Miguel didn’t think she’d been in a huff. But he wasn’t really sure.
Darren waved over three more guys. Anyone looking would have pegged the five of them as a group. Same commitment to style, same mannerisms. “Miguel here is trying to make his ex-girlfriend his ex-ex-girlfriend. And he is failing miserably.”
“Thanks,” Miguel muttered.
Darren waved it off. “He hasn’t seen her since she broke up with him, and then, boom, here she is waiting for the same flight.”
One of the newcomers turned wide eyes on Miguel. “This is meant to be. You have to do something.”
Miguel held his hands up in a gesture of helplessness.
“Chocolates?” Wide Eyes suggested.
“She’s more of a salty junk food kind of person. But I tried that already and didn’t get very far.”
“Flowers,” Tim said. “Oh, but where would you get them here?”
“Maybe he knows origami,” one of the others suggested.
Miguel just shook his head.
Two of the new arrivals sat at his booth and furrowed their brows in thought. “What are some of her favorite things?” one asked. “Besides all the junk food you already bought.”
“Food and New York City, especially Broadway.”
“Plays or musicals?” Darren pressed.
“Musicals.” Miguel knew that for a fact. “But as you’ve already explained, LaGuardia is about as different from Broadway as you can get.”
“How did you ask her forgiveness when you were still together?” Tim asked.
“Homemade tamales. A foot rub. Begging forgiveness in my best Ricky Ricardo accent.”
His five newest best friends pondered his list. Authentic, homemade tamales, they acknowledged, couldn’t be had in an airport terminal. Not one of them recommended a public foot rub. But they seemed in favor of his Ricky Ricardo impression. Darren, especially.
“It’s like an inside joke for the two of you,” Darren said. “Go with that. It’ll remind her of happy times.”
He had a point. “She might laugh, anyway. But what if she won’t talk to me? I just want a chance, even if it doesn’t work out.”
Darren and Tim exchanged glances then caught the eyes of their three other friends.
“We may have a plan,” Tim said. “Will you be around here for a while?”
Where did they think he was going? “I’m here until the plane takes off.”
Darren was on his feet in a flash. “Give us like thirty minutes.”
The five guys hurriedly stepped over into a far corner of the gate area. Miguel didn’t know what they were up to, but he wasdefinitely intrigued. And if their plan helped convince Jane to talk to him, then he approved completely.
Jane was stepping out of the women’s restroom and walking back toward the gate. Should he go talk to her as soon as she came near enough, or would he do better to wait a while? If he did the first, he would probably come across as desperate. Hewasdesperate, but he wasn’t big on advertising that. If he waited, he might not get another opportunity.
I can always tell her I’m not trying to be a stalker. Which is pretty much the surest way to make sure I seem like one.
She sat a few booths over and pulled out her phone— the universal signal sayingDo not disturb.
What now?There had to be a way to let her know he was around and wanted to talk without making it seem like he didn’t respect her decision to avoid him.Maybe I’m overthinking this.
She was on her phone. Had she changed her number since they broke up? If she hadn’t, he had an idea.
