Reunion or Reality Check?

[zydrate]

(closed)

Name: Melanie Marcus (maiden name: Lewis)
Age: 33
Occupation: Recently Divorced Housewife
******************

Ray, Wyoming

The small airport was full, not as full as one of those huge city airports, but there was a line, which was rare. But Melanie took it all in stride, her smile was contagious, she was sure. She had been waiting patiently for the last hour to talk to someone about her luggage being lost. How it could get lost in such a small place was beyond her.

In an hour she was due to fly out to New Mexico but she knew she couldn't go anywhere unless they found her luggage and if even they didn't, she was going to have to get new stuff once in New Mexico...Santa Fe to be exact.

Great, wouldn't James be happy about that bill...

James, Mel's ex-husband, was currently stationed at Warren AFB in Cheyenne, of course that's where Mel used to live also, at least until the divorce was finalized last week. Now, she was going to go to NM to stay with her sister for the time being and figure out what to do with her life...

As Mel got up to the counter, this was going to be the third time the clerk behind the counter would be seeing her...she noticed he stopped to roll his eyes at her but Mel just smiled, "Any word yet?"

"No Mrs. Marcus, nothing yet..." she wondered if she should change her name.

"Are you serious? I can't miss my next flight...please, can you look again?" Melanie asked frantically.

"Mel?" Came a call from the end of the counter. Of course Mel turned to see who had called her...that voice sounded familiar... "That is you Melanie!"

Finally seeing who called her, Melanie could only smile wide and laugh nervously, "Shaun?!" She exclaimed as she felt his arms wrap around her, embracing her in a tight hug.

Shaun Valentine was an old classmate from high school that Mel used to date for a while but then, he went on to college and from there, they had lost touch. Things between them when they were dating was so serious. Melanie thought she couldn't love another...

 

[steelknight]

Name: Shaun Valentine
Age: 34
Occupation: Fire Fighter

***********************

Ray, Wyoming

Shaun was still amazed at the price of a tuna fish sandwich in an airport. Initially he thought the prices in New York City were ridiculous, but apparently all airport shops set their prices based on the simple fact that once you go through security you will agree to nuclear war before having to go through that nightmare again. But he had his principles to defend and refused to have his wallet be held hostage due to hunger. Looking at his watch he saw that he still had a couple hours of this layover left before his connecting flight to Santa Fe would be departing. Afterwards he still had a 2 hour ride to Acomite Lake, but he could pick up something on the way.

Shaun was returning from a seminar for battalion chiefs in fire departments across the country held in New York. After the events of 9/11, authorities were constantly updating and refining procedures for local emergency personnel. Shaun didn't mind the hours of meetings and the endless contradictions regarding the best way to handle an emergency. The bottom line was that it would help him protect people that needed help, and that is why he became a fire fighter. The long flight back to the desert of the southwest however, was something he could do without.

Shaun's stomach was beginning to mount a protest toward him leaving the airport food court without making a purchase, but he tried to distract himself by mentally running down tasks he would need to do when he got home. After going through work related matters and getting the air conditioning in his truck recharged, his thoughts came to rest on Amy. They had been on-again/off-again for the past 2 years. She was a great girl that he had met after moving to Acomite Lake. She was smart, had a terrific sense of humor, very attractive.....but for some reason she just didn't make his heart beat out of his chest. Sometimes he felt like he was trying to make it work with her just because it seems like it should. Now he found himself debating whether he should give her a call and turn the off-again back on.

"It would be nice to see her again," he thought to himself,"but we both know it will end up right where we are now. She deserves someone that doesn't wonder if he should.........."

His thought trailed off into silence. In fact the entire airport seemed to have quieted and slowed down when he caught sight of her. The woman at the counter arrested his attention. He was behind her and slightly to her left so he couldn't tell for sure, but he had to find out. He began slowly making his way to the counter, walking passed people waiting in an adjacent line completely oblivious to their objections. Each step put her face slightly more in view and he found himself begging that it be her and at the same time not allowing himself to believe it could be. She seemed to be frustrated about something as she spoke with the man at the counter and then he saw it. The shift of her weight to one foot as she sighed.

I don't believe it! It's her...that is Melanie Lewis!" his mind screamed. Before he realized it he had called out her name.

Mel? That is you Melanie!

Rushing over he wrapped her up into his arms in a tight bear hug. She felt so small, just as he remembered all those years ago. A light clean scent welcomed him as he held her which he couldn't determine was her shampoo, her fabric softener, or just her. He eased his hold on her, suddenly concerned that he might be holding her too tightly. He pulled back and heard her say his name. At that moment he was aware of two things, he was no longer hungry and his heart was pounding.

 

[zydrate]

Melanie still couldn't believe it was him. Shaun. The only guy she dated all through high school. The guy that caught many a girl's attention way back when. Well, with the way he was looking now, he was still as handsome... just older, but in a good way. He looked more distinguished. More mature.

And for some reason, Mel felt like a disaster. Her hair wasn't styled, just tossed into a messy ponytail, her jeans and green top hugged her in all the right places though...that much was sure...

"Oh wow, Shaun!" Melanie exclaimed again, she was sure she was blushing. "My goodness...Look at you! You look great!" She didn't mean to but she hugged him again. He really was a sight after all this time. "What's been happening with you?" She asked, realizing she was bombarding him with questions.

The last time they had talked, was the night of their graduation... The night they had wanted to take each other's virginity and go further in their relationship but that never happened. Instead it turned into an understanding that they weren't ready, at least not yet, they wanted to see how the summer went and see how things went by the end of the summer...

Sadly, both left for different colleges and lost touch almost immediately...

 

[steelknight]

Looking at her made Shaun feel almost 20 years younger. Shaun had every intention of keeping in touch with her after they both left for college, but somehow during his move into the dorm he lost his address book which had all of his friend’s addresses and phone numbers, including hers. Most of those high school friends had long since faded from his memory, but Melanie was still there. Aside from playing truth or dare in grade school, she was the first girl that he ever kissed. Through the years when he thought back to those times, he could swear he could still feel her lips burning against his. The sound of her voice in his memory had grown softer over time, but he could still make it out. He always loved the soft moans that she made when they kissed, which grew more urgent when they had serious make out sessions. She was so expressive and he always wondered what she would be like as a lover.

“Uh-Hummm” the man at the counter uttered, imitating the clearing of his throat to get the attention of the two.

“Oh, I’m sorry” Shaun said as he collected himself, “I just briefly overheard enough to know you are looking for her luggage, right?”

“Yes, and for the third time we do not have it”, the agent answered coldly.

“Ok, well then let’s do this. I am going to give you my card.”

Shaun pulled his wallet out of the breast pocket of this jacket and opened it, not only to retrieve one of his cards but also to flash his badge. He had learned that when a person sees a badge, no matter if it belonged to a policeman, fire fighter, or crossing guard, problems that were previously unsolvable seemed to get worked out. He had no reason to believe that the airline wasn’t actually looking for her bags, but by flashing this metal emblem, if they were anywhere in this airport they would be found.

He handed his card to the agent and with a smile said, “That way you can just call my cell when you find them and she won’t need to continually check and take your time.”

It was clear that Shaun’s plan worked perfectly as the agent’s eyes grew wide when he saw the badge. Taking the card from his hand the agent replied, “I will contact you the minute Ms. Marcus’ bags are located Mr……” pausing to look at the name on the card, “Valentine”

Glancing at the name on the agent’s lapel badge Shaun replied, “Thank you Dennis” intentionally using only his first name as a method of sending the subtle message that he was kind but also his superior. Turning his attention back to his dear friend he said, “Well, let’s get out of these people’s way shall we?”

The next 20 minutes found the two sitting at a table in the food court area. Shaun felt like he had to catch her up on the last 15 years in that amount of time, and he worried that she may be feeling as if she were being buried in an avalanche. But her body language said nothing of the sort. Her eyes never seemed to wonder, indicating she was bored. She would brush her hair behind her ear, allow her shoe to dangle off of her toe, and her smile…oh how he had missed seeing that. In that time he told her about his time in college, the death of his father, his recent promotion to battalion chief, his heart break at watching the Red Sox blow a 9 game lead over the Rays in September and miss the post-season (as well as the trip he took to the new Yankee Stadium while he was in NYC for the sole purpose of spitting on the floor.) The entire time she listened, asked questions for details she was interested in, and offered him that beautiful laugh that he always loved hearing. He had missed the relationship they had so much. Melanie was special in that they were friends for some time before they began looking at each other romantically. That circumstance can be a recipe for disaster, but in their case it seemed to make their relationship stronger. But timing, misfortune, and perhaps a little bit of him not fighting hard enough allowed the opportunity to slip away. Based on what he had heard at the counter, it has slipped away for good.

Shaun was enjoying his time with her so much that he intentionally pushed out of his mind the statement the ticket agent made at the counter. He didn’t want to have to deal with what it meant, but he wanted her to be happy and he supposed it would be unrealistic to expect her to say that she had been pining away for him all of these years and was just waiting for him to show up at a small airport in Wyoming.

Forcing a smile and doing his best to not show any sadness he managed to say, “So....you are Melanie Marcus now.”

 

[zydrate]

Melanie listened to everything Shaun had to say. She drank in every word and the nostalgia came back from their days in high school. The both of them sitting around, talking about their future...only this time it was about their past. Well, right now, more of Shaun's past.

His passion was there. Especially when he talked about baseball. The one sport Melanie could not stand. At least until Shaun came along. He had taught her the specifics of the sport, what call was what, especially what the intensity of the game meant to some.

“So....you are Melanie Marcus now.”

"Well..." Melanie started quietly. She looked down briefly and tried to put on a brave face, "I was Melanie Marcus until just over a week ago when the divorce was finalized..." she said, finally looking Shaun in the eyes.

"You see.." Melanie started her long, pathetic story. At least it was to her.

She told Shaun about how she went to college, met James, who had just enlisted at the time, asked Melanie to marry him and on a whim, she said yes.

"I guess you could say I said yes because I thought I was ready...I mean, James was great, he loved me and well, at the time, I loved him." Melanie said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

The truth was probably only half told. At the time, James was her savior. He adored Melanie, and probably to this day, he still did. But things just didn't work out.

It took them both over 12 years to find that things weren't going to work.

Melanie told Shaun how she wanted children and James didn't. How she wanted to go back to school and finish earning her degree but James preferred her to stay home and be a good soldier's wife.

"So, in the end, we talked it out. I told him how I wanted certain things...as did he, so we agreed that we couldn't make each other happy anymore and well....here I am."

With a laugh, Melanie shook her head, "Please, don't get me wrong, we talked about it and came to a conclusion. Things between us were done in total agreement. No hard feelings on either side. We just needed for things to be finalized before I decided to move out, keep things civilized among our friends on the base and especially his military 'family', if you will."