"When good Americans die, they go to Paris." - Oscar Wilde

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

An Uneventful Trip to Paris...Or Not

I prayed for an uneventful trip to France, but of course that's not what I received. Dylan called me when my plane landed at the Charlotte airport. I asked him what he was doing and he sheepishly replied, "Nothing."

"Are you at your apartment?"

"No...I'm not at my apartment."

"Then where are you? You're being sketchy."

After I prodded for several moments, he finally answered, "I'm in the Charlotte airport."

I stopped, not believing what I had heard. I asked where he was, knowing he couldn't get past security. Had he really driven this far to be denied by the airport officials? After several failed attempts to find him, I turned to my right and spotted my boyfriend outside security. My flight boarded in forty minutes. If I left the gates, I'd have to go through security again. But how could I deny him after he'd driven so far?

I left and gave him a hug. But it didn't feel real. For a second, I was disappointed. I had finally accepted that I was leaving and then Dylan had to do something amazing like this. The scent of his cologne, the feel of his t-shirt beneath my fingers, it was all too much. He bore a gift: a video he had made for me. We only had fifteen minutes together because the line to security was filling up. I left him, but he stayed until he saw me pass through the gates.

I just watched the video, secretly knowing I shouldn't have. Now I miss him more than ever.

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