The Protector: Broken (working title)

Chapter 22: THE PRODIGAL GIRLFRIEND (I KNOW)

"Guys! Your mom's home!"

"MOM! What's for dinner???"

I open my eyes again. That was freaky. Oh good, we should be landing soon. I go to the bathroom and check myself. I go through my purse for some lipstick and a little mascara. I fix my hair. I go back to my seat, and the seat belt light goes on. "Perfect timing!" I say to the lady next to me, who smiles and agrees. I am excited to see Mark. I can't believe after what I just put him through, that he still loves me. I realize how blessed I am, and I thank God for him. We land and I'm shaking with excitement. I try to look over the shoulders of the people in front of me to see him waiting. He shouldn't be hard to find, with his unruly dark hair and being a head and shoulders taller than the average bear. Finally I am free from the shuffling herd and I look around anxiously. I don't see him. I check my phone for messages. Nothing. I check the board. Did I give him the right number? Maybe he hit traffic. I am back in LA, after all. I sit down and wait. The crowd thins. I watch admiringly as a couple find each other and embrace. And I wait some more. I curl up on the seat and fall asleep. Maybe he changed his mind? I wouldn't blame him...

"Ma'am?" Someone was trying to wake me up. "Ma'am, would you like your dinner?"

What the? Why is someone in the airport asking me...wait, where's Mark?? I woke up scared and I was being confronted by a stewardess, smiling. I was still in my seat, in the airplane. It was another dream. "Oh my God. Yeah, dinners fine, thank you." No more sleeping for me.

I spent the next couple hours flipping through the stupid catalogues of stuff I'll never buy and watching 'Twilight' for the umpteenth time, marveling at the seeming perfection of a love that could be eternal. At the same time I couldn't help but grimace at the thought of living like a vampire...uck. It's kind of eerie, really. I mean, I have my own Edward, in Mark, who can read my mind. Hmpf. Maybe I should ask Mark if he's a vampire? I laughed to myself at the ridiculousness of the thought. The lady next to me looked away nervously. Poor thing. She must think I'm psycho! Finally the seat belt light comes on!!! I ran to the bathroom really quick. I checked myself for sunspikes, the works. I realized that, unlike in my dream, I do not have a purse of makeup. A good sign that it's for real this time. I went back to my seat and put my seat belt on and looked around me for any other signs that I might be dreaming again. I decided asking my friend next to me would be a good barometer. "Am I awake?" I ask. She looks away quickly. Good. Cuz if she had started talking to me, I would definitely have assumed I was dreaming again!

I love landing in an airplane, there's a certain rush that comes with it when I hear the sound of the tires hitting the runway. It brings to reality the velocity with which we were just traveling in the air, hundreds of feet above the ground. That's one thing that has eluded my understanding. Flying. Air under the wings, yada yada. If you blow under my tummy, it doesn't make me fly! It might tickle me though. I giggled to myself again. The lady next to me got up to get her bags before the seat belt light was even off. As much as I'm itching see Mark, I hate trying to elbow my way through the crowd of people rushing to get off the plane, so I waited till the plane was almost empty. Of course, Mark might be nervous that maybe I changed my mind. Heck, Sasha almost changed it for me. That was scary. I finally decide it's empty enough to get my bags out of the overhead compartment and head out.

I stood up and a man from a few rows back stepped in close to me, "Let me get those for you..." I started to decline his offer, and then turned to see it was Mark. He smiled a smile of revelation.