San Diego - love comes in many forms

by Aj Harmon

  Esther shook her head as a baby starting screaming, instantly knowing what number two was going to be.

  *****

  Annie and Evan Wilder were sitting in Row 27, seats B and C. Her flicking through the Sky Mall magazine for the tenth time was driving Evan crazy, to the point he put in the ear-buds of his cell phone and scrolled through the playlists ‘til he picked one and pushed the play icon.

  Memories filled his mind as he leaned his head back on the seat and closed his eyes as the melody of a favorite Snow Patrol song soothed his nerves. When he’d met Annie nearly fourteen years ago, they’d been at college, getting ready to graduate and start their careers. Evan had already secured a job as an engineer with a county in Wisconsin and Annie was still sending out applications to local hospitals. She’d changed her major to physical therapy after her grandfather had fallen down the stairs and through the help of dedicated and kind therapists had regained his strength and ability to walk without the use of a walker. It had made such a huge impact on the whole family that Annie had walked away from her dream of being a teacher. They’d met at the bookstore when they were both trying to sell back some textbooks in order to pay for some of the graduation costs. Both having worked their way through school, every little bit helped. Annie had dropped a book at his feet and the rest, as they say, was history. Looking into her big brown eyes was all it took and he was a goner.

  They had coffee, then two days later went to a movie. The following week included two dinners together and several cups of coffee in the bookstore between classes. He’d known quickly that she was the one for him. He loved everything about her; her eyes, her laugh, the way her tongue peeked through her full pink lips when she was concentrating, the feel of her skin, and the love she obviously had for her family when she spoke of them, which was often. As he kissed her the spark between them was powerful, overwhelming and undeniable. A week before graduation he took her to the river, a favorite spot for him to do homework when the weather was good, and a place that provided solitude away from his apartment and three obnoxious roommates. They sat on a blanket holding hands and talking about the future. He was waiting for the perfect moment to ask her to come to Wisconsin with him when Annie turned to him and said, “I’m sure they need physical therapists in Wisconsin, don’t you think?” They were married the following summer in a perfect garden wedding with all their friends and family in attendance.

  She had found a job…one she loved. They were living the dream, able to buy their first home and vacation in Mexico twice a year. It appeared they had it all, but few knew the heartache they were experiencing not being able to conceive a baby. Eventually, they ended up forgoing their annual trips and selling Evan’s car. Fertility treatments weren’t cheap but they were prepared to sacrifice wherever and whatever in order to achieve their dream of becoming parents.

  Their sixth anniversary involved the selling of their home and moving back to the family ranch in Oklahoma. Annie’s grandfather welcomed them with open arms, thrilled to have them moving in with him. He’d been alone since his wife had passed away several years earlier and was happy to have the company. After his fall several years earlier, he’d converted the den off the kitchen on the main floor into his bedroom, no longer comfortable climbing up and down the stairs several times a day, which left the whole second floor available for Annie and Evan to occupy, giving them ample space and several bedrooms for their furniture and plenty of privacy. Evan found a job with an architectural firm, a forty-five minute drive from home and Annie began seeing the top fertility doctor at The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

  Leading a quiet life, Evan worked hard during the work week and helped Annie’s father and brothers on the ranch on the weekends, when needed. A lot of the time, Annie was a hormonal wreck, either shooting herself up with syringes full of hormones or the emotional downward spiral of discovering the latest IVF didn’t work. Hell. That’s how Evan thought of those three years. Hell. It took all of their financial resources and most of their emotional ones, too. The day they decided they were done with it all was one of the worst and best days of their lives.

  Evan’s eyes fluttered open to see Annie, arms folded in her lap, eyes closed and finally still. How he loved her. No, that didn’t really seem to express the depth of his feelings for her. She was his world and it all but broke him knowing he couldn’t help her fulfill her dream of having a baby. It could have torn them apart, as it had several of the other couples they’d met in the support group they’d joined, at the advice of their doctor. Somehow though, their love and commitment had deepened, allowing them to express their hurt and disappointment openly bonding them further.

  Finally letting go of the idea that Annie would eventually become pregnant freed them. It was devastating but it allowed them to step back and appreciate what they already had. They had each other and their family and eventually, it led to the new-found hope of adoption, one Annie had rigorously avoided as she held out with the idea of having a biological child. As Evan gazed at his precious wife he acknowledged that it was his dream to have a little girl that looked just like her mother, but that had been replaced with the idea of just having a child to raise together…any child. A child for them to love. He didn’t care whether it was a boy or girl or what color its skin was. He just wanted a family and this trip would bring that dream to fruition.

  *****

  All sixteen first class passengers were content. They’d eaten, drank, received pillows and blankets if they had been requested, and Jill had tidied up the small galley. The Captain and co-pilot had eaten too, so Jill took the peaceful moment to check her email.

  A smile spread across her face as she opened up the message from Greg. They’d been dating for almost a year now and he managed to make sure that every time her flight landed, there was a text waiting for her. Now that she had Wi-Fi on the plane, the messages didn’t have to wait to be read until she was on the ground.

  Miss you already. Love you, Greg

  Sliding her phone back into her pocket, Jill sighed with contentment. After her divorce a few years before, she wondered if she would be able to find a man who would put up with her crazy schedule. She’d ended up marrying a pilot, thinking they would understand the demands on the other’s time. As much as they had loved each other, it’d been a disaster. They never saw each other and grew apart rather quickly. Neither of them was willing to give up their career and the only option left was separation, and later divorce.

  Feeling like a total failure, Jill had declined all offers from friends to set her up, to ‘get back in the saddle’ as they put it. If a man in her own profession couldn’t accept her schedule, how the hell would anyone else? But despite the irony of it all, she’d met Greg on a flight from Chicago to San Diego and they’d ended up staying in the same hotel. She figured the odds of that happening were pretty darn slim, so when he asked her to have dinner with him in the hotel restaurant, she accepted.

  Greg was an internet marketer and worked from home. He’d made his first million selling a fitness e-book and had successfully gone on to turn a couple of former NFL players into online health and fitness gurus, sitting back and enjoying the profits from their videos and weight loss programs. Jill’s schedule didn’t bother him in the slightest. He was home fifty weeks out of the year and always worked when Jill left home for her work. She couldn’t believe she’d found him and certainly didn’t believe it would last. How long would he put up with it? Only time would tell.

  But, in the meantime she enjoyed the emails, the texts, and the occasional bouquet of flowers waiting for her at her hotel. Greg was thoughtful and generous and Jill convinced herself she should just enjoy it and not make anything more out of it than what it was – two people who enjoyed spending time with each other.

  Seat 2A’s light flicked on. Personal time was over.

  *****

  William pushed the overhead button, summoning the flight attendant. He needed another drink. The closer they g
ot to San Diego, the more nervous he was becoming. In his professional life as a doctor, he was cool, calm and collected. Nerves were never part of the equation. This trip, however, was definitely not professional and his nerves were becoming a problem. Another drink would only help temporarily. Once in the airport he would have to face what was coming, and if his brother was there to pick him up, sooner rather than later. In one mouthful he downed his drink, the ice cubes clinking in the bottom of the glass as he placed it on his tray. Another? No. Better to face it sober.

  He hadn’t seen his brother since the wedding. The wedding. More like the betrayal. That was unfair. The moment William thought it, he silently chastised himself. It wasn’t a betrayal. Lewis had no idea that he was in love with his brother’s bride…neither did she.

  William had fallen for Erica in high school. He’d admired and loved her from a distance, never more than a few mumbles spoken to her when it was unavoidable. He was quiet and slightly socially awkward, felt unattractive and was a tad overweight. He’d attended all the advanced placement classes, quite brilliant for someone so young. He barely passed P.E., not being the athletic type, and had taken college classes his senior year. He had a handful of signatures in his yearbook, but had scholarships offered to him by every university to which he’d applied.

  Lewis, a year older, wasn’t nearly as smart as William, although he may have been but never applied himself to find out what he was capable of. But Lewis had the looks and the charm and was one of the popular kids in school. Their paths rarely crossed in the halls but when they did, they both ignored the other. At home it was pretty much the same. Their bedrooms were next to each other but their lives were headed in different directions and they had nothing in common.

  Their mother had died of pancreatic cancer when William was seven, leaving their father to raise them on his own. He did the best he could, and William credited him with trying, but basically, with the exception of supplying mostly takeout for dinner and doing a couple of loads of laundry on the weekends, the boys raised themselves. The dream of a future with Erica kept William focused on school and his desire to make something of himself so that she would want him…would desire him…would finally notice him. With his acceptance to Harvard, William packed up and headed for the east coast, determined to come back nine months later more confidant and ready to make his big move.

  Lewis was working in a garage, learning how to be a mechanic, and still living only a couple of blocks from Erica. She’d enrolled in a local beauty college and by the time William returned home the following June, she was dating Lewis and would occasionally stay the night, sleeping in the room next to his. On occasion he could hear them…the moans and the bedhead hitting the wall. It drove him close to mad. The following summer he stayed at school and found a job.

  Lewis and Erica were married the summer between William’s junior and senior year. He returned home only because he couldn’t think of an excuse good enough to get out of the wedding. He sat in the pew and watched the woman he loved marry his brother. He vowed never to return to San Diego.

  That had worked until his father had a heart attack a few years later. William had finished his residency and had been offered a fellowship in Oncology. There wasn’t a lot of time for him to be visiting family, even if his father was ill. He arrived back in San Diego long enough to discuss his father’s condition with the doctors, assure his father he would be fine if he followed the recovery plan and then he caught the first plane heading east. Lewis was furious that he hadn’t stayed for more than a few hours. Apparently, they were supposed to pretend to be close and brotherly. William hadn’t received the memo. He had no desire to see his brother, especially since he’d divorced Erica after cheating on her multiple times. William had picked up the telephone hundreds of times, desperately wanting to call Erica, and each time he’d chickened out, deep down, still that same awkward fifteen year old boy.

  Eventually he’d lost track of Erica and barely kept in contact with Lewis – an occasional email or Christmas card was about it. The call a few days ago to tell him his father was dead was short and without emotion. Lewis had informed William of the death and forwarded all funeral arrangements by email. After booking a flight, William replied by email. It was just easier that way.

  The Captain’s voice came over the speaker announcing their decent into San Diego. Here we go.

  3.

  THE ETIQUETTE OF DISEMBARKING an airplane is really quite simple. Row 1 goes first, then Row 2, and Row 3, and so on until the plane is empty. But there’s always those couple of people who are sure that they are more important than everyone else and try to push their way out first. These were the people that drove Jill crazy. Most were kind and considerate, friendly and accommodating. However, there always seemed to be at least one with their self-importance factor in overdrive.

  “Sir,” she said, trying not to snarl. “If you could just hold on a moment, we can get everyone off the plane and on their way in an orderly fashion.”

  He looked up at her, six or so rows away, with no expression, but then realized his pushing was going to get him nowhere.

  “Goodbye. Thanks for choosing Sky Airlines,” the Captain smiled as he stood next to Jill and nodded at the passengers as they exited.

  “Bye-bye. Goodbye. Thank you. Bye,” Jill added with a smile until the impatient egomaniac stepped in front of her, then she quickly turned and pretended to be putting something away in the galley as he stepped passed her and onto the gangway.

  As the final passenger exited, leaving the crew to themselves, Esther and Rose joined her at the front of the cabin, luggage in hand.

  “Ready for dinner?” Rose asked. “It’s still early. We can drop our bags off and get changed and actually have a night out.”

  “And it’s warm here!” grinned Esther. “I’m so sick of being stuck in all these cold places. This is a welcomed change. I think I’ll have enough time in the morning to hit the beach before I head to Atlanta.”

  The Captain and co-pilot pulled their luggage from the cockpit, said their farewells and left, leaving the three women to follow behind. Jill pulled her bag from the bin and took one more look around before she stepped off the plane to enjoy two whole days of anticipated relaxation.

  *****

  With his hand placed gently in the small of her back, Evan guided Annie off the plane and into the San Diego airport. It was crowded, masses of people everywhere. It was the busy time of day with planes arriving from all over, delivering the masses seeking seventy-five degree weather.

  San Diego was the destination for fun in the sun year round. Perhaps leaving from the terminal on a cruise, or heading into Mexico for some great shopping bargains or sight-seeing, or even a business trip was made better with a view of the bay from a hotel room. This was no such trip for the Wilders. Angst and anxiety was all they felt as they followed the crowd to the baggage carousel and waited patiently for their bags to roll past them.

  Out at the curb Evan assisted the taxi driver in stowing their luggage in the trunk and then gave him the name of the hotel that held their reservation…the Grand Hyatt, a gift. As they’d sat at the dining table searching for the cheapest hotels in the city, Philip, Annie’s grandfather had watched and listened from the living room, knowing that the adoption had cost them everything they had in savings. He wanted their experience in San Diego to be perfect and the fewer stresses the better, so he’d given them his credit card to book the room after protest from both Annie and Evan. But he’d have none of it. They deserved a beautiful and peaceful trip to meet their new daughter and this was one way he could contribute.

  It was a city view room, rather than the pricier bay views but they didn’t mind. As Annie walked to the window and looked out over the downtown just as the evening lights were beginning to appear, she took a deep breath. Evan stacked the bags in the corner and then stood behind his wife, encircling her in his arms and pulling her back to rest against his chest. He kissed her cheek and hu
gged her tightly. “It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered.

  Annie nodded and took another deep breath. She hoped so.

  *****

  William sat at the bar in the airport restaurant and ordered a drink…scotch. He’d walked off the plane and through the airport to the sliding glass doors and stood just outside looking for a familiar face. He didn’t see it. Instead of grabbing a taxi, he swung around and headed back inside to where he now sat, a view of the road and the cars coming and going, picking up and dropping off loved ones and friends.

  Would Lewis show? Was there any relationship left? With their father now dead was there anything to hold them together? William downed his drink in one gulp, pulled a twenty dollar bill from his wallet and threw it onto the bar, grabbed the handle of his luggage and walked out of the airport. He stood in the taxi line and within just a few minutes was on his way to the Grand Hyatt hotel. It was just a ten minute drive, traffic a little heavier with the hour. He glanced at his phone, confirming he hadn’t missed a call or a text. Nothing. He was on his own. Not unexpected but slightly disappointing, a surprising reaction he wasn’t prepared for.

  William lived in Manhattan and had been there for many, many years. After medical school and his residency he’d relocated to the East Side after accepting a position at Beth Israel. He loved his apartment which was a short ten minute walk to work and he loved the people he worked with. He loved making a difference in someone’s life, literally the difference between life and death, and he loved the self-satisfaction he had when a patient was announced cancer free. He was respected by his colleagues and peers and loved by his patients. His professional life was more than he’d hoped for. He was paid handsomely for doing what he was passionate about. It couldn’t get any better.

  His personal life, however, was non-existent. Social outings were limited to hospital gatherings and the occasional fundraiser he couldn’t get out of. He interacted with other human beings at work…at home he was all alone. He had a housekeeping service come in once a week, though he never saw them as they came while he was at work. He had groceries delivered, again, while he was at work. William chose to eat most of his meals in the hospital cafeteria, eliminating the opportunity to eat in restaurants, thereby pretty much avoiding all human contact outside his work hours.