Reasons

Chapter One

Chapter 1:

 Word Count: 1,779

                Juliet makes her way through baggage claim, sliding in between dozens of frantic bodies. She doesn’t need to wait in line because she did not check any bags. Only two carry-ons were necessary.

She didn’t plan on staying long.

She reaches the silver bathroom door and finds an empty stall so she can change her clothes. It was a lot warmer in England when she left and then the connection flight was in California, so she is still wearing shorts. She strips down into her nude bra and underwear and pulls out a plain white t-shirt, flannel, and skinny jeans. She also trades her flip flops for her Uggs sealing her other clothes inside. She slides into her dark wash jeans and snuggles her feet into the caramel colored boots. She exits the stall and finds an open mirror in the bathroom where she can finish getting ready. After brushing her hair and teeth she pulls back her hair out of her face and secures a high ponytail with a black scrunchie.

More women start piling into the bathroom and Juliet recognized a few from her flight. The middle-age looking blonde woman who sat across from her from San Francisco to Sydney seems to recognize her too.

“Are you here with a tour group?” she asked with a very thick Swedish accent. Juliet shook her head politely and said “No ma’am.”

“Oh, I just thought everyone on that flight was! Silly me! What are you here for?”

“I’m—“Juliet began.

What am I doing here? She kept asking herself the same question.

“I’m visiting some family.” She decides to go with. Juliet gives the woman one more smile before turning her back and digging through her makeup bag.

The woman made a few more attempts at small talk saying how jet-lagged she was going to be and how she can’t wait to go on an Outback Adventure tour of some kind with her tour group. It only took her a few minutes though to realize Juliet wasn’t really interested and stopped trying to talk.

Normally, Juliet wouldn’t be so into makeup but she felt the need to today.

The last thing Juliet did was throw on her blue and black flannel and then finally felt all put together. She walked out of the now crowded bathrooms and found somewhere to sit. She checked the time on her phone and saw that it was nearly 4:00 already.

You need to call her. Juliet thought to herself.

You need to call her now.

She picked up her phone only to be reminded again that she is no longer in England…aka her phone doesn’t work out of Europe.

She mutters a curse word and stands up to go find the payphones. She found them no problem and with a small amount of reluctance picked up the phone and slid in twenty cents. She then hesitated. She couldn’t move and felt paralyzed. It’s not that she forgot the number. She was just generally afraid. Afraid of the kind of response she will get just flying in unannounced…well unannounced was an understatement and she knew it.

She took in one deep breath and held it in as she punched in the numbers quickly before she could change her mind. It wasn’t until the sound of the first ring did she let out her breath. It rang again and her anxiety skyrocketed.

What will she say when she knows it’s me?

Ring.

 What if she is not home?

Ring.

What if HE is there?

She quickly pushed the last thought of her mind, knowing it was extremely unlikely.