Jay checked his watch. Again. Only five minutes later than the last time he looked. He readjusted his position in his seat. His back was stiff because of the paltry cushioning material. His knees banged into the back of the seat in front of him and he tried to find a position that stretched out his legs a little, but couldn't.
He motioned to the person next to him that he needed to get out. Being crushed in the middle seat of a fully occupied airplane always made him feel a little claustrophobic. At six and a half feet tall, Jay did not fit easily into spaces proportioned for the average man.
He avoided flying whenever possible, and if he did have to fly, he tried to get an aisle seat. But this flight had been impromptu.
The girl moved and Jay pushed himself into the aisle, grateful to be able to stretch his limbs. He still had to crouch a little as the ceiling crowded close, but he moved up and down the length of the plane and after a minute, felt better. He waited in line for the bathroom, even though he didn't need to go, but rather for something to do.
Only the ding of the seatbelt sign got him to return to his seat. The plane was twenty minutes out from his destination, so everyone needed to wait patiently for the end of the flight.
Squeezed back into his seat, Jay could see over the top of the seatback in front of him, but not much out the window other than some sunshine. He gripped the edge of his seat cushion and thought about all the reasons he'd had to make this trip.
Because Rob was at the other end.
Rob, whom Jay had known for over a year. They'd met at a conference and hit it off. Jay had believed in instant attraction, but not love at first sight. Not until Rob.
They'd both been in such different parts of their lives that finding each other had seemed like serendipity gone entirely wrong. Jay had been single, but nursing a recently rejected heart. Rob had been at the beginning of the end of a relationship, and he hadn't wanted to complicate anything. In addition, they'd both started brand new jobs. Rob had been promoted. Jay had moved companies. They lived five hundred miles apart.
So, they'd caroused the bars and talked all night, and kept themselves suspended in an odd position of available and sheltered. In the end, they had done nothing more than exchange handshakes, hugs, and contact information.
Then they'd e-mailed and called, visited through digital means, and gotten their lives in order. And now, Rob had invited Jay to his apartment. The other boyfriend was gone, and Rob had worked through the mess with his lease, and the mess with his heartache. It was time to move forward.
They still had a lot of decisions to make. Five hundred miles and two different careers didn't mesh without a lot of difficult choices--nor trust that this was the relationship that would survive past all those other things. But Jay had never felt quite this sure about anyone else ever before.
The plane touched down and the interminable wait to disembark made Jay nearly yell and shout, but eventually he escaped into the terminal.
He had only his carry-on bag and he headed directly for the curb. There was a blue sedan waiting, familiar from photos, and from the driver smiling at him.
"Rob," Jay said, as Rob exited the car and stepped up on the curb.
"Have a good flight?" Rob asked.
"No, but I have an excellent destination."
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