He's the One

"Look, I really can't miss this flight. Could you please check again?" The employee behind the desk at JFK International Airport sighed and rolled her eyes, like what I was asking was the equivalent to cutting off her right arm. My nails clicked against the counter, an anxious habit of mine, as I waited impatiently for her to look up my booking. Again. "The name?" she drawled lazily. "Alice Wolden. W-O-L-D-E-N," I said, spelling out my last name slowly. She clicked around slowly, her eyes roving over the computer screen without interest. Her left hand kept going to her mouth, over and over, so I guessed she was itching for a cigarette. Her short, spiky black hair was greasy, her eyeliner applied much too thickly, and her ruby lips were set in a permanent frown. Maybe she was a sweet girl, but right now her attitude matched her appearance - dark. I'm sure I wasn't helping her current mood either, but I'd booked this flight a week ago. How could they have lost it? "Oh. Found you," she said. I handed her my I.D.; she passed it back with my boarding pass. "Have a nice flight. Next!" I grabbed my lone suitcase and ran for my gate. I only had a few minutes. The good thing about the airport was everyone was always rushing somewhere. People were prepared, moving out of my way as I hurdled past them, like the whole thing was choreographed. I made it to my gate with one minute to spare, panting as I approached the more friendly looking woman standing there. I handed her my boarding pass. "Good thing you made it here now," she smiled. "We were just about to close the gate for boarding. Go on and find your seat." "Thanks." I walked at a sane pace onto the plane. I located my seat and stowed my suitcase, then flopped down in the small chair in relief. Made it! I pulled out my phone to put it in airplane mode as the stewardess began the usual speal, but a text from my sister stopped me. Meredith: See you when you get here! Quickly, I sent her a thumbs up, selected airplane mode, and slid the phone back into my pocket. As the plane began to move, I thought again about the reason I was going back to Green Ridge. I hadn't been back in over a year. Well, actually, the truth was I hadn't been back in six years aside from two Christmases, the last being two years ago. I'd been able to put off visits with fairly good excuses - school, work, travel expenses. This time, I didn't have a choice. Meredith's engagment. Ugh. Not that I didn't love my sister. I did. She was one year older than me, and people had often mistaken us for twins when we were kids. But as we grew up, that stopped. We both had fair skin and our Mom's blue eyes but that's where the similarities ended. Meredith was blonde, thin and perfect. She had the face of an angel, and legs for days. Somehow, my blonde hair in childhood had grown out to be red with our Dad's curls mixed in. I wasn't a big girl, per se, but I definitely had curves, and, of course, I was no more than a whopping five-foot-seven. In school, I had one friend, the only person I still talked to from Green Ridge apart from my family, while Meredith had quickly and successfully become popular, fitting right in with the 'in' crowd. She'd gone to all the parties, stayed out late, went shopping in the city, dated. . . oh boy, did she ever date. It always seemed odd to me, my sisters' love life. I couldn't fathom having a different boyfriend every month like she did. I smiled, remembering some of the guys she used to go out with. Randy, the self-proclaimed bad boy. Chris, the captain of the football team. Hugh, Chris' best friend. Stewart, Rick, Adam, Michael, Chase, Rod, Eric, Samual. . . lots and lots of boys. It wasn't something I ever envied, Meredith's many conquests. Except for one. Nicholas Stone. The only boy my sister ever truly dated. The one who lasted the longest, from the second half of her senior year and all throughout the summer. When they'd broken up, I was undeniably relieved. Because, out of all the boys she ever brought home, of all times I smiled and shook my head - silly, wild Meredith - her relationship with Nicholas Stone was the only one I ever felt truly jealous of. I suppose anyone would feel the same way. . . if their sister were dating the guy they were in love with. I pushed the thoughts away as the plane climbed in the air. Or I tried to. The memories came anyway, filling my head. Months of anger and jealousy and hiding in my room with headphones on, music blaring to drown out the noise coming from the room next door. Months of helplessly sneaking peeks at the guy who was off limits, wondering why someone as smart and sexy as him would choose to be with someone as flighty and airheaded as my sister. The two weeks he'd come with us on summer vacation to our family's cabin. My disastrous birthday- No! It was years ago. I won't think about it. I scowled at the bland gray floor of the plane. I loved my sister. I'd gotten over my silly childhood crush. Nicholas Stone was no more than a blip in my life, a lesson hard learned. So what if he'd caused me endless nights of crying myself to sleep? Who cared if he broke my heart? I was an adult now. Living on my own in New York, paying bills, working on getting my dream job. I never had to see his face again. I would get through this engagement business with Meredith, and before I knew it, I'd be eating T.V. dinners in my living room again. I leaned my head back, closing my eyes. I focused on the muffled roar of the engines, blocking out any more unnecessary thoughts or memories. Two weeks. It's just two weeks. It's just two weeks. . . I repeated it over and over in my head until I finally nodded off.