Page 15 of Only After We Met
And then it was like words weren’t needed, because she stood on her tiptoes, hugged me like an old friend saying goodbye, and kissed me softly on the cheek before pulling away brusquely.
“Bye, Rhys.”
“Take care.”
She nodded, turned, and walked into security. I probably should have turned around then and walked off until I vanished into thecrowd. But I didn’t. I stayed there, hands in my pockets, contemplating her matted hair—I hadn’t had a decent brush to offer her that morning. My sweatshirt was wrinkled and hanging loose over her back.
Ginger had already laid her backpack on the conveyor belt when she turned back toward me. She seemed surprised that I was still there. And then I knew it. I knew she was going to do something crazy. I almost smiled as she started shouting at the other passengers asking if anyone had a pen.
I struggled not to laugh.
People watched her squeeze out back through the line, dodging those waiting and running toward me with a pen in her hand. She was so nervous…so gorgeous.
“I know you must think I’m nuts, but I don’t know… I don’t know, Rhys, just…if you ever get bored or you’re looking out that window of yours into the sky and you can’t figure out anything else to do, write me.”
As she babbled those words, she grabbed my hand and wrote out a series of letters I soon figured out was her email. Again, I wanted to kiss her, but instead, I just stared. She walked off again and vanished from my line of sight, crossing through the scanner and into the airport.
I don’t know how many times I’ve asked myself what would have happened if I’d kissed her that day. What would our lives have been like? Would anything have changed? Yes, but thatyeswas filled with unknowns that would never stop pursuing me. Or her. Two roads came together, hers and mine, and even if they weren’t meant to run side by side there in Paris, where we were then, they were still the beginning of a far longer path: a detour to the moon.
7
Ginger
I sat there and watched the planes waiting to take off on the runway, thinking to myself,I should be sad. I should have been missing Dean, trying to figure out why he’d left me and what was going to become of my life from then on. But I wasn’t. All I could think about was memorizing every detail of Rhys that I’d learned in those few hours. I could recall every touch and the gravelly tone in his voice. The way he looked at me. The way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed. The lightness in my stomach when his thumb followed the course of my veins, as if he were feeling my pulse. And the moon I could see from his window. And us on the moon.
Can you fall in love with a person after just a few hours?
Can you forget them a few hours later?
8
From: Rhys Baker
To: Ginger Davies
Subject: [No subject]
I don’t really know where to start. I just wanted to see how things were going and let you know the ink in the pen you used was permanent. It took days to disappear. I was all careful on the bus in case it blurred or something, but no need to worry about that. I guess I should say semipermanent, but either way, you chose a good one.
Well, I hope you’re good, Ginger Snap.
From: Ginger Davies
To: Rhys Baker
Subject: I’m not crazy
Okay, so it’s been four days since I left, and I guess I can admit I didn’t think you’d write me. I mean, I’d get it, after seeing merun at you with a marker in my hand like a knife-wielding psycho from the movies. But I don’t know, I just realized then that it had been so long since I’d met anyone I felt so good with and I was sad when I thought we’d never learn any more about each other. And I thought about all the things I didn’t have time to ask you, all the things we didn’t talk about, and you know, the rest is history. Do you think I’m spinning out?
P.S. I’ll ignore you calling me Ginger Snap.
From: Rhys Baker
To: Ginger Davies
Subject: You’re not crazy
You’re not spinning out. We can talk sometimes. Be friends. Don’t leave me hanging: What were those questions you wanted to ask me?