The Fast Lane

Chapter 29

It was around 5 in the afternoon when we pulled out of the driveway of my house. “I’ll start driving but if we see any of Rich’s people we’ll switch,” Harry said, winking and leaning across the median to kiss me. He held and played with my hands all the while we were driving to the airport and waiting in the security lines and ticket lines. As we neared the counter, he turned and put his lips against my forehead.

"Love, could you stand over there while I get the tickets?" He mumbled into my skin.

I laughed and put my lips against the skin of his chest that was peeking out of his open plaid shirt. “No.”

He backed up and looked at me. “Please? Pretty please? I want it to be a surprise.” I raised an eyebrow at him and then turned to walk reluctantly to a bench a few feet away. I didn’t look away from him as walked to it and sat down. I crossed my legs and took two fingers, pointed at my eyes, and then pointed at Harry. “I’m watching you,” I mouthed and I raised my eyebrows twice. He laughed and blew me a kiss. I observed him as he whispered with the ticket woman and hurriedly shoved our tickets into his back pocket. He thanked the ticket woman and excitedly gave me a thumbs up as he walked toward me and pushed me onto the moving sidewalk.

"Why are you so excited for this trip?" I asked, giggling at his anxiousness.

He threw his arms around me and squeezed me tightly. I wrapped my arms around his lower back as he spoke. “I just haven’t been to this place yet. I bought the place on the Internet and paid someone to bring the furniture in and paint everything. I’m just excited to finally be using it.” He backed up and held my face. “I’m excited you’re coming with me.”

"Coming with you where Harry!?" I began to bounce in his hands.

"When we get to the gate I’ll tell you!" He began to jog away from me and down the concourse that we had just entered. I waited until I came to the very edge of the moving sidewalk and stepped off, taking my time to catch up to Harry. "Oh Loooove," he dragged out. "Don’t be like thaaaaat."

"I am not happy with you right now Harold."

He raised his eyebrows and grinned when I called him by his full name. “I think you will be in just a few moments though.”

Harry was certainly right. As we arrived at the gate, the gate TV revealed that our destination was Costa Rica. My mouth hung slightly agape as Harry handed me my boarding ticket. I began to grin and looked up at him, wrapping my arms around his stomach. “You bought a place in Costa Rica. We’re going to Costa Rica.”

Harry’s smiled proudly and shrugged. “I just had a hunch and bought the place. And now we’re going.”

When we landed in Costa Rica, Harry had a car waiting at the airport for us. I looked around and just imagined seeing Joel or Caleb since they usually dropped Harry’s cars off for him. I supposed he had a different crew of people waiting for him here in Costa Rica. We followed the GPS down the long dirt roads and through the dim and dirty towns of the area. It was dark out and I couldn’t see much, but the flickering lights of some of the houses allowed me to catch a glimpse of the bad shape that a lot of them were in. Soon, we disappeared into the mountains. I always thought of Costa Rica as an island and was under the impression that we would be staying near a beach, but it was quite the opposite. After 2 hours of twisting and turning on small dirt paths and mountain roads, we arrived at Harry’s fourth home.

He struggled in the darkness with the keys. When we finally got in the door, I struggled to look around in the dark. “Is this your… room?”

"Well, it’s actually a run-down hotel. It went out of business. I guess we are standing in the lobby." As Harry put that bit of information out there I began to see the outline of the counter and other pieces of the lobby. Three areas of the lobby were walled off like a normal room, but the fourth area was completely open, almost like Harry’s other apartments but without the window. I leaned up against the banister that lined the open side and peered out into the mountains. The light from the moon wasn’t providing much for us to see with and Harry, having never been here before, was searching around for a light. "Maybe I should have planned for an earlier flight…" He grunted as he tried to reach behind a bookshelf. I found a couch in the darkness and sat down. As Harry shuffled past me, I grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards down on top of me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and played with his hair as his head rested on my chest. He pulled his legs up onto the couch and crossed his ankles.