My Mumbling Thoughts

I woke up on time for once and was excited about getting to work. Mostly because I knew that I wasn't going to be staying all day and when I left, I'd be off to the airport to pick up Ash. To say that I was nervous was a bit of an understatement. I smoked two fags on the way to work and was very aware of my breathing technique. Slow and steady. Try and keep the fingers from shaking out of your skin and for fucks sake don't start hyperventilating.

After I had changed from "work shirt" into "picking up Ash in this precious Big Squeeze t-shirt" my cell phone rang. It was Mendy.

Me: "Marko."
Mendy: "Polo."

We hung up and jumped in my car. It didn't feel like I was about to see my boyfriend that has been living across the Atlantic Ocean which has kept us apart for nearly eight months. It felt like I was on reality TV and this was all some kind of hoax. A big busty blond host would surprise me at the airport and say, "you are on the new reality TV show, 'Fuck, that joke is cruel!'"

We arrived a little early. Like, two hours early. It took us a small while to figure out where we should be going, but all in all it was fairly easy. Since we had a bit of time to kill, we decided to get a snack so we'd have something to munch on while staring at the arrivals screen.

I got two pieces of bread with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoe on it (supposedly a "sandwhich") for roughly $6.00. Not worth it. Mendy lucked out with some apple fritter that was surprisingly really tasty. It's very hit or miss at the airport.

Ten minutes later, we quickly realized that this was going to be quite a wait, so to entertain ourselves, we made a short video with Mendy's camera, smoked another fag, went to the bathroom, found some chairs so we wouldn't have to sit on the floor, and talked about how we were waiting, yet again, for Ash just like when we had gone to London. What a lovely coincidence.

All this time I was trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I was going to be face-to-face with Ash again. What does one do in this kind of situation? How do you say hello? We talked everyday, but this would be completely different. It may seem simple, but for some reason I was painfully aware of everything I was doing. How I sat, held my arms, and just all of my body language in general. What would I do when I saw him? Run, leap, and embrace in slow motion like in the movies? Or just stand back in absolute awe like, holy motherfucking hell, there he is.

I knew it wasn't a big deal. I would do whatever I felt like doing as soon as I saw him as would he.

We stood up so we could see better. There was a big board indicating which flights were in customs and we saw that his flight was finally off of the plane and standing in line waiting.

We stood. We watched little siblings fight with each other and fall on the floor. We listened to random religious people sing "Hallelujah!" repeatedly. I heard my name over the speakers.

"Samantha (insert last name), please come to the Information desk by baggage claim 14."

Me: "Holy shit. Mendy, did you just hear my name?"

Mendy: "What are you talking about? No, I didn't hear your name."

Me: "Dude, I swear to you that I just heard my name over the speaker. They said to meet them somewhere. Baggage claim 14? Fuck."

Mendy: "Are you hearing things?"

I take her by the hand and start walking. I heard them. I begin looking for a busty blond, lots of ballons, and cameras. They're here. I know they're here. And I'm getting ready to cry a whole lot.

I see a man who looks like he knows something. What that means, I don't know, but as soon as I saw him, I knew there was something up with him. He looked like he was searching for me. He was the bastard that was going to tell me that I was on TV. What an asshole.

I walk up to him.

Me: "Did someone just call for me over the speakers?"

Info Man: "Are you, Samantha?"

I wanted to say, "that depends. Are you working for that blond who's going to make me cry?"

Me: "I am, yes."

Info Man: "Ah. We called for you twice. I need your address for, Ashoke. He's standing in the customs line and he needs it in order for them to let him through."

Me: "Oh, sure. Not a problem."

That was a close one.

I struggled to remember my address and wasn't sure about the zip code, and handed it to Info Man while my heart started to come down from the immediate jolt of adrenaline.

Mendy and I got closer to the door since we were pretty sure that he was about to come out at any minute now. They had everything they needed, right? Just let him go now!

Meanwhile, the religious group were still singing for random people who were coming through the international arrivals door. Singing, clapping, and cheering. I kept my breathing under control. I was focused on the door and every person who walked through had the potential to be Ash. Even the old white women with three kids could have been him.

It happened when I briefly took my eyes off of the door. I was looking at the man with the guitar and in the corner of my eye, I saw him come flying towards Mendy and me with a luggage trolly. Before I could even think, I was swinging through the air. Who would have thought that Ash could pick me up so easily? Well, I am me. I think anyone could pick me up that easily.

"Oh, Sam. I missed you," was all I heard.

Relief washed over me. No hyperventilating. No shaking. I inhaled his shirt and took his hand in mine. Finally. Fucking finally we were together.