Terminal Love
Gary held Karen’s fingers with enough pressure to keep them from falling to her sides. His forehead rested against hers, having just embraced in a kiss that brought color to the airport terminal’s bleak congestion.
“I wish we could stay together just one more day,” Karen whispered. Gary, through doubled vision from being too close, could see her muscles twitch into a smile.
“Me too,” he said, kissing her once more before moving his head back until she came into focus. “But we’ll see each other again soon. We’ll make a point of it. I haven’ t even left yet and I already miss you.”
Karen squeezed his hand in a fit of unexpected laughter. Her gaze dropped down, “You have my number right?”
“Right here,” Gary produced a folded scrap of paper that Karen had scribbled on before they left the hotel in the morning. “As soon as I get home to charge my phone, I’ll call you. I still can’t believe I let my battery die. Maybe if somebody hadn’t kept me busy all night and I remembered to plug it in. ”
More giggling, “You dug your own grave on that one.”
The boarding attendant announced the final call for flight A31 to Pittsburgh. “That’s me,” Karen said. “Thank you for the magical evening, night and morning.”
The time they spent together had been magical. Two strangers on their first business flight to Denver, arriving at almost the same time to the same hotel bar. Gary bullshitted with the bartender, ordering his first drink of the night when Karen walked in. Karen made her way to the bar. She placed her purse on a stool.
Gary waived a palm at the bartender, “Please, don’t let my rambling distract a young lady from her drink.” He rested his elbow on the bar while turning to face Karen. “In fact, put whatever she’s having on my tab for the seconds of inconvenience I’ve caused her – assuming,” Gary smirked, “the young lady accepts and doesn’t find the offer too cheesy.”
Karen fought a back a laugh, playing it cool. “It’s a little cheesy, but I’m not one to turn down free alcohol. A gin and seven, please.”
“Excellent,” he slapped the bar before extending his hand to Karen. “I’m Gary.” The bartender slid over the glass with a wedge of lime.
“Karen,” she said taking his hand in a softer grasp than she would if he were a business acquaintance.
The two hit it off right away. In a matter of minutes Gary had ushered their conversation to a quiet corner table. They talked about the sorrows of life on the road. Living out of a suitcase. The desire to sleep in your own bed. The difficulties of finding a partner or maintaining any healthy relationship as you bounce around the country on business. The drinks flowed right along with the conversation. Before long the bartender was turning off the TVs and placing the chairs upside down on the tables. Gary didn’t hesitate to ask Karen back to his room. On any normal occasion, Karen wouldn’t even consider the invitation but something about Gary made her entirely comfortable accepting the offer.
The two were locked at the mouth before the elevator doors slid shut. They stumbled down the hotel hallway toward Gary’s door, bouncing off the walls, kissing and groping at chaotic intervals along the way. Inside the room the two laid together on the bed. Sex, though inevitable, was not rushed as Karen rested her head on Gary’s chest. He ran his fingers through her hair telling her how happy he was to have met her because already his heart felt a little less empty. In his thoughts, he wondered if he loved her.
When the tension was too much to resist, they removed clothes and had sex with a tender intensity. Beyond the typical insecurity-induced nerves, the sex was as natural as two long time lovers on a Sunday morning. Afterward they stared into the dark hotel room – the thick hotel curtains shut out all light and only a trickle of orange glow leaked under the door. Without sight, their sense of touch was heightened as they ran hands over one another.
Karen squeezed Gary’s torso. She was trying to push the creeping reality that she would have to leave him in the morning out of her mind. Calculations ran through her head to determine if there was any way she could delay her flight an extra day, but her tight work schedule made it impossible. Enjoy the moment while it lasts, she thought to herself.
Gary felt Karen’s embrace and smiled even though facial expressions were pointless in the dark. His thoughts were momentarily relieved from all of life’s stresses. It was a rare occurrence for things to progress naturally like they did with Karen. Maybe she was the one meant for him. He imagined what life would be like if he dropped everything and ran away with Karen. Move somewhere warm, Costa Rica maybe, and leave all the bullshit behind. Sex, booze and the ocean with a woman who cared for him. His facial muscles relaxed. She could be what he was looking for. The escape from the mundane. Why else would this feel like it actually meant something?
In the morning, neither Karen nor Gary were sure if they’d slept. The hours and minutes had blended together until the clock read six. Gary hopped in the shower while Karen scurried off toward her room to get dressed. They made plans to meet in the lobby in an hour for a quick breakfast before sharing a cab to the airport. It happened just like in the movies, Karen hummed to herself as she packed up her suitcase.
Gary turned Karen toward her terminal gate after a final, prolonged kiss. He slapped her on the ass,“Okay sweetheart, get a move on. You’re going to miss your flight.”
“Alright. Alright,” Karen pouted. She stuck out her bottom lip before turning back to Gary to steal one last kiss. “Call me as soon as you get home to Chicago and charge that phone of yours.”
“The very first second,” Gary said with enough enthusiasm that people turned to stare.
Karen covered her mouth, blushing a little. She jogged to her gate and handed over her passport and boarding pass. She turned to blow one last kiss in Gary’s direction before she disappeared into the tunnel a little sad but moreso overwhelmed by all the promise the future held. She would get home and wait for Gary to call. Yeah, it was a little pathetic but she was allowed to be corny just this one time.
As soon as Karen disappeared into the tunnel, Gary turned to walk away. He reached into his blazer’s inside pocket. He pulled out his wedding ring and put it back on his finger, tossed Karen’s number into the garbage, powered on his cellphone and went to catch his flight home to Seattle.
You’re an odd duck.
@Ben
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a rhinoceros!
You barsteward, you got me until the last paragraph.
@Diego
People say I’m TOO romantic…
FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP!!!
@Tremble
It’s like clapping but with your…
I totally cheated and jumped ahead when you talked about the scrap of paper. That foreshadowing was *thick*
@Bryan
Goddamnit you ruined the ending for me.
I knew that there was going to be a catch at the end but for some reason didn’t expect that one (isn’t it the most obvious twist?)
Something that got me caught up in the middle was that I stumbled over a double negative: ““Are you kidding me? I feel like I’m holding a million dollar lottery ticket. There’s no way I’m not cashing this thing in.” He kissed her on the nose and on the lips before returning the scrap to his suit pocket.”
I have nothing against double negatives and say/write them all the time, but this one stuck out.
Anyway, I really liked it and am looking forward to more regular posting.
@Max
Thanks, I took out the double negative. This was actually an old story I wrote 2 or 3 years ago. That was one of the original lines in the story that I didn’t re-write. Apparently this story is similar to a recent movie. I wont say which one so as not to ruin the ending, but a couple of people have pointed it out to me. Bummer, man.
Needs more crime, and full penetration. But thanks for the 5 minutes of entertainment in an otherwise shitty Saturday at the office.
@Zach
Full penetration? What do you think this is, some kind of smutty http://www.lifeat160.com story?
Glad to hear I helped out with a shitty Saturday at the office. 5 minutes of entertainment is more than double what I’m usually capable of. Laaadies?
@Marina
Sweet. You caught the title. You’re smart.
@Jennifer
Oh Jennifer… you had me at “Griffin”.
@Drasko
Thanks mang.
I agree with Zach.
Also – nice title.
Oh Griffin….you had me at hello.
really cool…enjoyed this story!
Great story, I could see it coming, though. It was clearly signalled when she kept on asking about the phone number. Also, why didn’t he give her his number?
I mean no offense, it is a great story well told, if you could come up with a way to telegraph the ending a little less it would be even better.
Well done!
@Doh
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, the consensus is that it’s too obvious. I deleted a bunch of lines from the phone number part early on. I’ll see if that helps anything. I used to have a line in about how he had given her his phone number (which would turn out to be fake) but it was only adding to the blatant foreshadowing. Hmmm… I’ll keep working on this story.
DOH: That was the giveaway. Married men don’t give their numbers away. Girls..help me out here..
@Jennifer
And how do you know this about married men, Jennifer? This sounds more interesting than my story…
I’m a little confused. If he’s truly the magnificent bastard that he turns out to be in the end, then what’s with all the thoughts of rainbows, unicorns, and costarica in the middle. His character is a little inconsistent. But still a fun read.
@Molestor
My guess is he probably had a bitch-wife waiting at home…
Christophe
Could you please finish with the disclaimer that any resemblence to anyone real or dead. is tottaly based on the confessions of your friends.
I look forward to Part 2 of the story … 18 years later a teenager knockes on a door in a upscale suburb of Seattle. The title”When you hit 50 your misspent youth comes back as teenagers.
Welcome to one night stand shagamony!
@Michael
If an illegitimate child shows up on my door step, he/she better bring me a case of beer for the grade A genes I passed on.