“She better not even try to get with Erik, or even get all buddy friendly with him, or I’ll end up snatching a knot up in her she wouldn’t believe.”
We both ended up giggling, as I went back to answering my calls. “Hello, this is Sarah.”
“Hello, sweetheart, how are you today?”
“Doing fine, just met your replacement.”
“You must mean Ginger, huh? Are your ears still ringing?”
“So you know about her voice, huh?”
“Oh, yeah, all the mucky mucks know about Ms. Gale’s voice. She is better known as ‘The Yowler’,” Max said, sarcasm in his voice.
“The Yowler? Why is that?”
He started to chuckle. “Well, the story goes that one time when she had been working up at the New York office for about two months, a guy name Frank, who was also an executive, was having a thing with her.”
“They were basically having an affair?” I corrected him.
“Yeah, well, they had been pretty hot and bothered together during a meeting. Seems they had been playing underneath the table with each other, feeling each other up like we did the other day. Well, good old Frank couldn’t wait until they got home, so they decided to try to find a spot away from the office to hook up. Well, when they did, it seemed that every time he hit the right spot with her, she would yelp and yowl like a wolf. It was so bad, really bad, and one of the cleaning ladies heard the commotion. She thought it was a poor, wounded animal, and when she saw Ginger riding him like a bronco bull, sounding like some howling wolf baying at the moon, the poor woman freaked out.”
I swear, I had never laughed so hard in my entire life until that day. I literally fell out of my chair, screaming with laughter. Darla, and soon, some of the others, came over to see if I was alright, but I started snorting, as well as laughing, at the same time.
“Sarah, are you alright?” Erik asked, reaching to help me up.
I sat back in my chair, leaning over my desk, laughing it up even more than before with the phone still in my hand. Waving wildly, I told my co-workers, “I’m fine, guys, thanks, I’m fine.”
Taking a huge, deep breath, I tried to collect myself, which took me a moment. Darla kept looking at me like I was crazy, but everyone else had gone back to their desks.
“I am so going to kill you when I see you later,” I told Max. “Do you know you had me falling out on the floor?”
“No wonder I heard a thud. I’m sorry but you did ask why. So, of course, I had to give you an answer.”
“Yeah, I sure did ask for that one. But I still plan on getting you back. So, do you have everything ready?”
“Yup, my bag is already in the trunk of the car. We can grab something to eat before we go to the airport, if you want.”
“I don’t know, because I probably won’t be able to handle anything to eat, so I don’t think I would want to eat anything.” My stomach had already been doing a number on me, knowing he was leaving, and the only thing that seemed to stay down was coffee. I really was shocked that even that was able to stay down.
“Well, baby, I’ll be there to pick you up at five.”
I could hear him sigh, and I knew he was frustrated, like me, over what was going to happen in a couple of hours.
“Why not go and take a nap? You didn’t get much sleep last night, you know.”
“I wonder why.” He chuckled. “But I think I will.Going to set my alarm clock here and lay on down. I’ll see you at five.”
“Alright then, I love you.”
“I love you too, goodbye.”
“Bye.” I hung up, staring at the phone, feeling something tug at my heart a bit. Soon, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and when I looked over, I saw Darla giving me a somber look.
“Is everything alright?
I nodded, giving her a halfhearted smile.I glanced at the clock on my desk, realizing that it was only eleven forty-three.
“So, what was so funny?”
Shaking my head to keep from having another laugh attack again, I motioned for her to move in, and of course, she did. Looking around, I made sure no one was watching or listening in, before I sprung my bit of juiciness on her. “Max was telling me a bit about Ms. Gale, whom they affectionately call the Yowler.”
The look on her face was priceless, it was a mix of “What the hell?” and “You can’t be fucking serious?”
“It seems that her and this guy she was working with got hot and bothered, and the entire time he was hitting it, she was sounding like some crazy, wild animal. She was loud…really loud.”
The snickers were coming through, and eventually, Darla quickly got up and toward the bathroom, almost knocking down one poor young intern holding an armload of paperwork. Poorgirl, I thought to myself, I hope shedoesn’t crap her pants laughing inthere. The phone rang again, and I went to answer it.
When Darla did come out of the bathroom, which was about thirty minutes later, she didn’t say a word to me. But she did glance at me with a look on her face, as if she had been sucking lemons, her lips were so tightly drawn together.
“Are you alright?”
Holding her hand up to silence me, she rolled her eyes at me before departing to parts unknown, probably off to lunch.
I really wasn’t hungry for food, and with the way my stomach had been giving me a problem, I had decided to just stay at my desk and work. For the rest day, up until it was eventually time for us to leave for the evening, I concentrated on my work, which I was of course behind by a day on. My fingers started to cramp up, because of the amount of time I had used them for typing. It was a slow ache, but of course, it was nothing that a soak in some Epson salts couldn’t cure.
Getting up from my chair, I stretched my arms out and up over my head, letting out a groan mixed with a squeal, which only left me completely exhausted.
“Don’t you wish time was like a stopwatch, where you could just press the button to make time stand still?” I pondered to Darla, since we were in the middle of not doing anything. We had those moments when things in the office were going slow, and this was one of them.
“Why don’t you go outside and get you some fresh air? You’ve been inside all day; you didn’t even go out for lunch. Just go and take you a break, Sarah. Listen,” she said as she stood up, “you act like it’s the end of the world, like the man is leaving you for good. He’s not, so stop thinking and feeling this way. Sure, he’s going to be leaving out today, but you will be with him soon enough, living the life you’ve always wanted with the man you love. Just think about that day, when you’ll see him a couple of weeks from now. I want you to get up and get some fresh air to clear your mind a bit.”
I looked over at Darla, knowing she was right about what she was saying. I really needed to be strong, for it wasn’t the end of the world, really. It would be a new beginning for us once I got there. “Thanks for the pep talk, and I will be going to get some air.”
I decided to go up to the patio, which at one time used to be the place where people would go to smoke, but since smoking was prohibited, it was mainly used for those that wanted to eat lunch or, just like yours truly, who wanted to get some fresh air. I grabbed one of the chairs, while taking in a deep breath, for the wind up here was crisp and cool. It moved some of my hair into my face, and I tried pulling it back behind my ear. I didn’t say anything, just sat there in complete silence, as the world around me seemed to go on about its merry way.
I was glad Darla told me to get some air…lord knows I needed to clear my head.
* * * *
When I got out front to meet up with Max, I was surprised to see him standing next to his car with a bouquet of flowers in his hand and a smile along those beautiful lips of his. I gave him a kiss, while he held me in his arms, and I really and honestly didn’t care who was watching us. Let them watch, I thought to myself.Yeah, he’smy man.So what?
“You didn’t have to get me flowers, but thank you.”
“Oh, I know.Come on, let’s he
ad on out to the airport.” He opened the door for me, and I got inside.
When we started onto the highway, of course we were going into traffic. In a way, I wished we would have gotten on the train, instead, because at least we would have avoided all of that. But I guess Max had his reason for driving.
“I want you to know I’ve already put you on my insurance for the car, since I know you’ll need this one to get around in. When it’s time for you to leave, let me know, because I’ll have a guy come and get it from you, so they can have it brought to New York. I’ll just be using the taxi for a while until it comes. When I land, I’ll call you, andthen I’ll call again when I get to our apartment.”
Our apartment he said. I really loved the sound of that.
“That sounds fine with me.If all things go according to plan, I should be there in New York in about a month and a half. If not, then I’ll let you know, but I really think a month and a half will do.”
He nodded as he honked the horn at the idiot in front of us, who was still sitting there even though there was no one in front of him.
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was ranked number one as far as the busiest airport in the world. It had taken us about thirty minutes to get there but took us ten minutes to find a parking spot, since I had planned on walking with him inside. Once we parked, Max grabbed his bag and then my hand aswe made our way up to the Delta bag check-in counter. Thankfully, he only had one bag with him, so check in was a breeze, and we walked inside past the baggage claim. We still had sometime before he would get onto the plane.
“Would you like something to drink? I can get you something from that gift shop there, or we can walk over to Starbucks and grab a coffee?”
“You know I don’t like coffee, but I wouldn’t mind getting one of their teas.”
We walked to Starbucks, then waited in line to grab a cup of coffee for him and ice tea for me.
“Here you go.” I handed him a couple of napkins while I got myself a straw.
“Thanks.”
He didn’t look at me for the longest time. I knew he was trying to think about what he was going to say or do next.I have to say, that Boyz to Men hit the nail on the head when they said in that song, ‘It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday’, because this was going to be the roughest test of our lives, so far. We decided to find a spot where it was somewhat private. We sat down at a row of seats that were close to the hallway leading to security.
“Are you excited about leaving?” I asked him.
“Yes and No.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, yes, because I’ll be starting in a new place, but no, because I’ll be leaving you.”
I gave him a halfhearted smile, as I leaned up against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around me.
“I’ll miss you too, you know, but we’ll be together sooner than you think.”
He kissed my temple as I closed my eyes to relish the feeling of his lips on my skin, along with the smell of his cologne. God, I loved how he smelled and I was going to miss that when he left. He ran his fingers lightly along my neck, sending sensations through me that made me giggle.
“Stop that, now!”
He traced a finger along my cheek, making me sigh, and when he stopped, I looked at him. God, those eyes of his, so beautiful…I could stare at those golden orbs for hours.
“You know, hearing your voice isn’t going to be enough. Nothing will be the same until we are together again.” He kissed my forehead, the tip of my nose, and then my lips.
This was it, I thought to myself, our last kiss until we saw each other again. I grabbed his hands, holding him them against my face as his kiss deepened. I know it must have been a sight to see, us kissing like that, but really, I didn’t care.
“I love you, Sarah.” He nipped at my lower lip for a moment before kissing it again.
“I love you too, Max.”
“I think I better head on to my terminal.”
We both stood up and walked over to the TSA Security. Once I saw that sign, I couldn’t go any farther.
“You have a safe flight there.”
“I will,” Max told me, holding my hand. “I’ll call you once I get to Kennedy.”
I nodded, trying my best not to cry, but I could feel a tear about to produce itself in my eyes.Somehow, I held it in. I wasn’t going to let him see me cry. I didn’t want that to be the last thing he saw before he left. He kissed me once more, and we held each other in an embrace, as I took in his scent, deep and long. Something to remember him by, I thought, as he left my arms and slowly started walking down the walkway.
He looked back at me before he rounded the corner, giving me a small smile and waving back at me. I swear, my heart felt like it had sunk when I didn’t see him anymore. It felt as if I had lost a piece of me when he left. I don’t think I actually left that spot for at least another ten minutes or so, before I headed back to the car.
This is where I finally had my cry, and I sobbed long and hard and heart wrenching, as the tears wouldn’t stop coming. It felt as if my chest was caving in, it had started to hurt just that much. I could tell my head was going to give me problems later on, so I had to collect myself so I could get out of the parking deck and head on home. After paying and going through the maze known as Hartsfield, I soon found myself back on the highway and heading back toward home again.
Epilogue
One year later
The air was cold when I was heading to my car from my class.
“Have a great day, Sarah,” said Gwen, one of my classmates from school.
“Take care, Gwen, I’ll check you tomorrow.” I waved before getting into my car. Once inside and after turning on the heat to warm myself, I headed on back to Manhattan and home.
I had been in New York for a year, the best year of my entire life, so far. School was everything I had dreamed it would be, fun as well as fascinating, and very educational too. I had learned so much more than when I was with Charlotte and Andre, who I was in constant contact with daily, to tell them what I had learned so far in school. Of course, I also got word on my godsons, who were now trying to say words.
Well, not actual words, you know… More like baby talk, and they would talk to me on the phone, as if they were telling me everything that was going on with their lives. Either that or they were telling on their parents…there was no telling with babies, really.
I often talked with Darla, as well, who was now engaged to Erik, who moved into the cubicle with her after I had left. I remembered the day she called me to tell me about her getting engaged. It was funny, really, because I was in the middle of class when she called.
“Oh my God, Sarah, you won’t believe it. I’m engaged. Erik asked me to marry him. We went out camping, since it was our anniversary, and that’s when he popped the question, when we was about to make steaks for dinner. I’m going to send you a picture of the ring.”
Which she did, and I had to admit it was a beautiful ring, and they looked so happy together, as well. Darla went onto tell me they planned on coming to New York so we could all celebrate.
The ride into Manhattan was long and crazy because of course, there was traffic. But like a good driver, I had learned a few shortcuts that would get me home quicker than most, over the year of me being there. Before I knew anything, I was near our street and near our apartment building. I really loved our apartment; it was big and showed a lovely view of the skyline of Manhattan, especially at night. We would often turn off all the lights except for a few candles, and just sit on the couch and watch how beautiful the lights looked across the city. It was nice to wake up in the morning and watch the sun come up along the buildings, casting a beautiful aura over the city.
When I got up to our apartment, I could immediately smell something cooking. “Hello, I’m home!” I shouted, walking toward the aroma of garlic and tomato. “Hello, babe, what you got cooking today?”
Max took the lid off one of the pots, and
steam rolled up into the air, letting the wonderful fragrance of garlic flow into my nose.
“Oh, that smells so good. My mouth is watering. When is dinner going to be ready?”
“Very soon, my dear. You go and change your clothes. Say there, wait a minute, what do you have in that bag?”
“Oh, this bag?” I had made some fudge I called ‘Mochalatta Memory Fudge’, because when you ate it, it left a lasting moment on your taste buds. “Just something I made in class.”
“What is it?”
“Fudge, Mochalatta Memory Fudge. Something I thought up and made in class. I got rave reviews from my teacher and some of my classmates.”
He came around the island of the kitchen toward me, eyeballing the bag I had in my hand.
“I saved you a couple of slices. Would you like a piece?”
“That’s a stupid question to ask. Of course I want a piece.”
I opened the bag and broke off a piece from one of the slices I had. He looked at me and smiled as he opened up that pretty mouth of his for me to feed him my chocolate. Letting out a moan of blissful joy, Max closed his eyes for a moment, before licking his lips.
“Oh my God, no wonder you got so many comments over it. I swear, you are going to be an amazing chocolatier, once you open up shop, Sarah. Can I have another piece?”
“No, you can’t, or you’ll spoil your dinner. We’ll have some for dessert.How about that?”
Grabbing me around the waist, he released a primal growl from deep down within his throat, and I could tell the chocolate was doing its magic.
“Listen, why don’t I go and turn off the stove, and maybe we can have dessert right now.” A coy smile lifted his lips, and I knew he wanted to have some fun.
“I’ll bring the chocolate, then.” I smiled.
THE END
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