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Jake
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I woke up and the dread slammed into me like being hit by a truck. I rolled to my side and propped my head on my hand and looked down at her sleeping form. Leaving her at the airport was going to be like leaving my heart on the plane with her. Saying goodbye was going to suck, but I knew it wasn’t a permanent goodbye. I was going to see her soon. And once all the business with the company and Amanda was resolved, I was going to be with her for good.
“I can feel you staring at me,” she said without opening her eyes.
“I like staring at you,” I said.
Her eyes fluttered open. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“I hate today,” I said.
“Why?” she asked with concern.
“I don’t want you to leave. I hate the idea of you leaving. I don’t want to be alone.”
“Ah, baby,” she said, and went up on her elbow to face me. “You’re not alone. I’m going to be with you even if I’m not physically here.”
“I know, but it’s not really the same,” I said. “I know we’ll talk and all that, but nothing compares to this.”
“This?” she questioned.
“Laying here with you with our knees touching,” I said. “With your hair on my pillow. The scent of your shampoo in the air.”
“Soon,” she said. “We’ll be together soon. Are you still going to try and come out in two weeks?”
“Yes,” I said. “I am going to meet with Darren in New York this week. We’ll hammer out some details and I’ll get everything taken care of. It’ll be easier to fly out of New York.”
“I wish I had more time to spend with you,” she sighed. “There’s so much to see and do.”
“All I want to do is you.” I grinned.
“Oh, you’ll be doing me.”
“What do you want to do this morning?” I asked her. “It’s a small airport. You won’t have to worry about long lines.”
“I think I’d be perfectly happy to hang out right here with you,” she said.
I leaned forward and kissed her. She fell onto her back, and I continued to kiss her, making sure to give her a proper good morning kiss. We took a leisurely shower before we headed downstairs to make breakfast together. I didn’t want to be a downer our last few hours together, but I was struggling.
“So, we haven’t talked about Amanda or the island or anything else,” I said after a while.
“What’s there to talk about?” she asked.
“I just want you to know she is a problem now, but I don’t think she will always be a problem,” I said.
“I think you have to assume she’s going to keep coming after you until she makes you miserable,” she replied.
That was not what I expected her to say. “What?”
“I don’t mean you have to let her come after you,” she said. “I just meant misery loves company. I think she’s freaking out now because she realizes she has well and truly lost you. Seeing us on the island together triggered something in her. She’s going to try and make you miserable, but we’re not going to let her.”
“Are you worried she’s going to come after you?” I asked.
She snorted. “Bitch please,” she said, before laughing. “I don’t think I’m the one Amanda is interested in. She wants to make your life miserable, not mine.”
“I don’t want you to be collateral damage,” I said. “There’s a part of me, the more noble part, that says I should stay away from you for now. I don’t want to drag you into my mess. Amanda is losing her shit and I don’t want her to come after you.”
Gabby shook her head. “Don’t you dare,” she said in a low voice. “You did not get my ass out here in the middle of the winter and make me fall in love with you just to kick me out of your life. I’m not afraid of her. She’s got nothing on me. There is nothing she can do to me. At this point, there’s nothing more she can do to you. She screamed wolf from the rooftops, and it got thrown out. No one is going to believe any of her stories. You’ve got the upper hand here. You found her secret bank account. Your lawyer can threaten to sue the shit out of her if she tries any of her nonsense. You can go to a forensic accountant and find every penny she stole from you. Threaten her. Put her under your thumb like she’s been trying to do to you.”
I smiled and stared into her beautiful eyes. I felt like I was the luckiest man alive. “How did I find you?” I asked.
“You didn’t,” she grinned. “Oleg found me, and he brought you to me.”
“Very true,” I said. “But I found you on my island.”
“Your island?” she teased. “Remember—”
“I know, you were there first.” I laughed at the memory of her argument every time we got into a spat those first couple of weeks on the island.
“Exactly. So, I found you.”
“If you say so,” I said.
“I should probably go pack,” she said.
“Do you have to?” I asked.
She slid off the barstool and gave me another kiss. “I do. I wish I didn’t, but it’s okay. We’re going to get through this. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that. Plus, you have to admit the sex after the time apart was pretty amazing.”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Yes, it was.”
I helped her pack and then carried her suitcase to the truck. Every minute that passed left me feeling empty. On the way to the airport, I kept stealing looks at her. I wanted to remember every detail about her. It was like stuffing my memory banks for the coming weeks. It would be what held me over until I could see her again.
“I love you,” I said as we stood out of the way in the airport.
“I love you. I’ll call you when I land.”
I hugged her tight again before letting her go. I had to step away or I was going to throw myself at her and beg her to stay. I didn’t want to be the guy holding her leg in the airport. I waved goodbye and walked back to the truck.
I knew I was going to see her again soon, but it felt like too long. On the way back home, I drove past the jewelry store we had browsed in on our shopping trip. I had spotted an antique ring. She said she liked it, but it was more in passing than anything serious. I had bought my mom a pair of earrings and we left. But now, I couldn’t get that ring out of my mind.
“Too soon?” I asked myself.
It probably was too soon, but that didn’t stop me from turning the truck around and going back to the jewelry store. There was nothing normal about our relationship. We fell in love in a wild, fiery affair. We were different, yet the same. She was the kind of person I could spend the rest of my life with and be completely happy. She was the only person I wanted to be with. I wanted to have a family and travel together. I wanted to grow old with her.
When I was with Amanda and I looked to our future, and it was fuzzy. I didn’t see us as two eighty-year-olds holding hands and walking along the beach. I didn’t see her holding our grandchildren. I couldn’t see us being old and wrinkled and sitting around in rockers on our porch. When I thought about Gabby, I saw all those things. I could picture us building a life and living out our happily ever after.
I wasn’t going to give it to her right away, but I wanted to have it ready for when the moment did present itself. I knew it would. I walked into the jeweler and went to the case that held the various antique pieces.
“I’d like to see that one,” I said.
“Ah, your girlfriend decided she did want it,” the old man said with a smile.
“No, I decided she needs it,” I replied.
He pulled it out of the case and held it out for my inspection. It was perfect. Blue sapphires ringed the oval diamond. There was a little voice in the back of my head telling me to pull back, but my gut was telling me to go for it. She would love it. It was very Gabby. My eyes roamed the other glass cabinets.
“Do you want to look at one of the more traditional rings?” the man asked.
I looked back at the antique. “No,” I said, having made my decision.
Gabby was unique. She deserved something just as special as she was. I didn’t want her to have a cookie-cutter ring with some big shiny diamond. “This one,” I said firmly. “This is the one I want.”
“Would you like to apply for credit?” he asked.
I reached for my wallet and pulled out my platinum card. “No, thank you.”
“Ah, very good,” he said, his eyes lighting up.
Five minutes later, I was walking out of the shop with the ring tucked into my coat pocket. It was going to be burning a hole in my pocket until I gave it to her. Having it was both nerve wracking and exciting. It was hope. I suspected the next few days were going to be very trying. Seeing the ring would give me strength. It would get me through.
When I got home, I stored the ring in the top drawer of my dresser. It was probably not the safest place, but I want it to be easily accessible. I planned on looking at it several times. I went to my office and turned on the computer. I wasn’t sure how I was going to ask her to marry me, but I was going to ask her. Did I want to do something big and romantic or keep it private and simple? Knowing Gabby, I was thinking the latter would be better. And with roses. Lots of roses and candles.
I smiled as I imagined the look on her face when I popped the question. Maybe a few tears, and hopefully a lot of kissing after she said yes.
