Page 48 of Somewhere With You
4:43 PM
Subject: Longstanding Friendships
Dear Amelie,
You’re a hard one to track down, my friend. But word on the street has it that you might be traveling to Ecuador in the next few days. I find that to be quite coincidental as that’s where I’m headed, as well. Anyway, I’d like to see you.
I’ll be staying at the Hilton Colon Guayaquil. If you receive this in time, meet me in the hotel lobby on June 30th at 4:00 PM ECT. In the meantime, my phone number is below, and I’d love to hear from you.
Hope to see you soon, kid.
Jack
Two days later, Jack boarded a plane bound for Ecuador. He still had yet to receive a response back from Amelie, but something in his gut told him she would show, and if she didn’t, well, he decided that he would still make a nice holiday out of it. It wasn’t until he’d placed his bags in the overhead compartment and taken his seat that he began to have second thoughts. He fumbled with his phone and checked his email again when suddenly the lady in the window seat spoke up. “I see you’re one of ‘those.’ My son is one of those, too. I just don’t get it. Must be a generational thing…”
Jack glanced over at the woman, unsure if she’d been speaking to him. “Oh, don’t mind me. I promise not to talk the whole time. But I just think it’s so odd how people can be encapsulated in an aluminum cylinder, which happens to be shooting through the sky at a very high rate of speed and not even know the persons name they’re sitting next to… Anyhow, I’m Jane.”
He didn’t buy it. He knew her type. She was a nervous flier, which meant two things for Jack: she’d talk the entire time, and it was going to be one hell of a long flight. He eyed the heavyset woman who appeared to be in her mid to late sixties and stuck out his hand. “Jack Harrison,” he said before going back to his phone.
“I really have no idea what you kids do on those things.”
Jack smiled but didn’t look up. Nip this in the bud now, he told himself.
“I’m going to visit my son. He’s a scientist. He’s studying in the Galapagos.”
Jack stared at his phone. “You must be proud.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Oh, I am. Very proud. But if you ask me, I think he’s too focused on his work. He needs to find love, settle down, and give me a few grand babies. He seems to think he has all the time in the world. But when one gets to be my age… well, you start to see things a little differently.”
Jack leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. “I’m sure.”
She didn’t take the hint. “How about you? Do you have children? I see you’re not wearing a wedding ring, but that doesn’t mean anything these days.”
Jack sighed. “No. No children for me.”
To his surprise, the woman didn’t respond right away. Jack felt the plane reverse and taxi down the runway. He checked his email once more and switched his phone to airplane mode. He felt the woman watching him from the corner of his eye. “This is my first time flying,” she said and then paused. “It’s hard to believe I’m sixty-eight years old, and I’ve never flown. I’d always meant to, you know. But somehow, life just has a way of passing you by.”
“Yes. I do know,” Jack remarked. He looked at the woman and considered that he was seeing her for the first time. He sensed her nervousness. “There’s no need to worry, Miss. Flying is relatively safe. I’ve flown probably… hundreds of times and I’m still here. If you get nervous, just pretend you’re somewhere else. That’s what most people do.”
The lady smiled. “Hundreds of times? It sounds like you’re well-traveled. Care to humor an old woman and tell me about the places you’ve visited? It really helps my nerves to focus on conversation. ”
Jack remembered his mother making the same request during her chemo treatments, and especially in her final days. Talk to me, she’d say. Tell me about your day. Tell me about the weather. Tell me about school. Jack would spend hours talking, telling her about everything and nothing. He’d forgotten about that until now. He swallowed hard. And then he spent the next five hours telling a random stranger his life story.
“This friend you’re going to see,” the woman smiled, “she sounds really special.”
Jack nodded. “She is.”
“Do you think she’ll show?”
He pondered the question for a moment. “You know, I really don’t know. We’ve been through so much together that I’d like to think that if she’s received my correspondence, she will, but then again, I know I really hurt her. And who knows, maybe she’s happily married with a few children by now. Maybe she has no desire to see me, to revisit the past.”
“For what it’s worth, dear, I think you’re doing the right thing, flying out here. So many people would call or write or email, as you young people like to do, and leave it at that—but not you. You’re actually showing up. And showing up is what matters in life. It makes all the difference. Even if the outcome isn’t what you might’ve hoped for. No matter what… at least you’ll always have that.”
Jack checked into his hotel with three hours to spare before the time he’d proposed to Amelie that they meet in the lobby. He went upstairs, showered, unpacked and dressed in a clean pair of blue jeans and a button down shirt. He paced the room for a bit, and then powered up his laptop, checked his email, fumbled around the room a bit longer before deciding to head down to the bar to kill some time. Jack ordered a glass of red wine and drank half. He checked his watch repeatedly until finally, with half an hour remaining, he made his way out into the lobb
y to wait. Jack heard the familiar voice call his name as soon as he rounded the corner. He looked up to see Amelie barreling toward him. He braced himself as she crashed into him, catching him a little off guard when she jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. He tripped backward a bit before he was to able steady himself by evening out her weight. He regained his balance and pulled back a little trying to see her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck and dug her face into his neck. “Amelie. I can’t breathe.” He reached up and attempted to loosen the grip she had around his neck. “Hey. Hey!” he whispered. “You’re cutting off my air supply…”
She pulled back then and let her legs drop to the floor. “I can’t believe you’re really here!”