Love at First Letter
Chapter Twenty
I was tired. Having only slept a few hours last night and being forced to pack up everything for the plane ride to Georgia, I was in desperate need of coffee. I had thrown my hair into a bun at the top of my head and I had no make up on my face. I was in a pair of sweatpants and one of my father's old Army sweatshirts. I wasn't in the mood for a plane ride, all I wanted to do was sleep.
Sarah had one of her friends drive us to airport so she didn't have to worry about her car. I smiled when I saw Brett and his sisters standing there waiting for us. I had to force myself out of the warm car and into the brisk morning. We pulled our suitcases out of the back of car and I was thankful I only had one suitcase and a carry on.
I stood in front of Brett who without saying anything handed me a cup of coffee and I smiled up at him appreciatively. Brandy and Brittany already had their coffee in hand and Brett handed Sarah hers. "I really need this." I say to him as we walk into the airport and make our way through security.
it didn't take us long to get through security and when we arrived at our gate our plane had just arrived so we went straight to our seats. Courtesy of Sarah, Brett and I were seated next to each other with Brett by the window and me by the aisle. It was a small plane seeing as the flight was only going to be about forty-five minutes. Sarah was across the aisle sitting by herself and Brittany and Brandy were both seated in front of us.
I could hear the sister's whispering back and forth but couldn't make out what they were saying.
"You know, you still look beautiful without all the makeup." It took just these few words from Brett to make the butterflies in my stomach flutter and my cheeks to flame. I was aware of how bad I looked this morning and the huge bags that were underneath my eyes but he didn't seem to mind.
Brett and I sat in silence while the flight attendants made their rounds to make sure everything was secure and then went through their spiel safety. Once we were high in the sky I unbuckled by seat belt and folded my legs underneath me.
"You know before going to the military, I had never been on a plane. In fact, before the military, I had never been outside of Georgia."
"Never?" I asked him finding that hard to believe.
"Never. We didn't really need to leave the state and we never really had the money to go anywhere either. Now that we make more money and my mother finally got a job we have more money and can afford going out of state."
"Was this your sister's first time leaving Georgia?" I ask him and peek over the seat to see that both of his sister's were reading their own magazines and were sharing on headphone and bobbing their heads to the music.
"Yeah and they loved the trip."
"Well I'm glad." I peek out behind Brett and out into the clouds. I always loved flying, although it had always made my mother very sick. She would have to take a lot of medicine before she got in a plane and even then she kept a puke bag in hand, which she always ended up looking. She was always a very motion sickness prone women and it didn't help that she really didn't like heights. She couldn't look out the window and any bump of turbulence had her clenching on the seats or onto my father's hand.
My father on the other hand loved to fly, and he loved being the pilot. It was one of his favorite things to do. He had owned his own plane and would always take me out up in it. It was smaller plane but perfect for the two of us. He had told me he would teach me how to fly but we never got the chance.
"I remember the first time I ever flew." I told Brett as I continued to look out the window. "I was sat in between my mom and dad and I had fallen asleep on my father's shoulder. It was a long flight and I remember being woken up to my father yelling, 'We're going down, we're crashing' and I actually thought we were going to get in a plane crash. I remember crying and freaking out. I had a panic attack and my dad had to get me one of the oxygen masks to I would breath. My dad just laughed at me and I didn't talk to him for a week. He had to buy me two stuff animals and ice cream just for me to talk to him."
Brett smiled at my story and pulled up the arm rest in between us. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and brought me back into his chest. He rested his chin on the top of my head and said, "He sounds like a great dad."
"You got that from that story? He almost gave me a heart attack."
"But he loved you."
"That he did."
I let my eyes drift close, only to have them snap open when a baby a few aisles back began to wail. I could hear the mother try and console her baby but it did nothing but make the baby cry louder. I lifted my head from Brett's chest and a sigh, of course I wouldn't be getting any sleep. It's apparently too much to ask for.
"You don't like babies?" Brett asked me.
"You do?"
"I love kids. I've always loved kids and a I've always wanted a really big family when I'm older. Not a lot of people do." Brett shrugged his shoulders and flagged down a flight attendant as she was walking by. We both ordered a soda and thanked her as she walked away.
"How many kids is a big family?"
"I'm thinking about four or five. I've always wanted to adopt a kid though. How many kids do you want to have?"
"I'm not sure. I figure when I do get married we'll just see what happens. If I'm meant to have only one kid then I'll have only one kid, if I'm mean to have more it'll happen. I'm not too fond of the idea of giving birth but I do want a family some day, just not sure how big yet."
Brett nodded at my answer and I was thankful when the baby finally stopped crying. I liked babies, I just didn't particularly like them when they started crying. I remember the first time I had held a baby back on the base. After a few minutes it started crying and I immediately gave it back to the mother. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to make him stop crying. Honestly, babies were much cuter when they were laughing instead of crying.
"So how long are you in Georiga for?" Brett asked me.
"A little over a week, maybe longer. There's a bit of time before I need to be in Orlando, Florida. It's about a couple days inbetween so I don't know if I'm going to stay here or go home." I say to him and I could see him frown out of the corner of my eyes. "What do you want me to do?" I look up at him through my lashes and take a sip of my soda.
"I want you to stay."
"Then I'll stay."
When the plane landed and we collected our suitcases, I remembered something. I didn't know where we were staying. I quickly paid for my food and made my way towards the others and sat down at the table infront of Brett and beside Brittany. "Where are we staying at?" I asked Sarah who looked slightly uncomfortable.
"We're actually staying--"
"You're coming to stay at my house." Brett said, shoving a few fries into his mouth. He smirks at me as my jaw drops. "My parents want to meet you and we have the room. You shouldn't have to pay for the hotel room when you can just stay with us. It's not that far from Atlanta, just about a thirty minute drive. But any hotel you find in Atlanta is going to be way overpriced."
"And you're waiting to tell me this now?" I ask him, gesturing down to my clothes. "I could have at least made myself presentable when meeting your parents. I don't want them to think I'm some slob."
"They know you're not a slob, just tired. And they're going to love you aren't they girls?"
"Yes." Brandy and Brittany chorused but it didn't make me feel any better. I still didn't want to meet his parents looking like this. And I know it wasn't like I was his girlfriend or anything but still. I ignored the girl's conversation as I continued to eat my food. I could feel Brett's gaze on me but didn't look up. I focused solely on my food until it was time to leave.
True to Brett's word, he did live in a subdivision. We pulled up to a white two-story house with an old ford truck in the driveway along with an SUV and a small toyota car. They were not very loyal to one brand of car. There was a basketball hoop on their curb and a few kids were playing catch in the middle of the road down the street. They had all fled to the side of the road when our car turned onto their street but now they were back to playing.
When I exited the car I could hear the sound of a dog barking and frowned at the thought of my dogs. I really did love them and didn't like being away from them for so long. But if would be at least a month before I returned home. We grabbed our suitcases from the back of the car that Sarah had arranged to pick us up, due to Brett's parents not being able to pick us up.
Brandy entered first, yelling something our to her parents who came rushing into the hallway. There were pictures hung up on the walls and candles sat on each of the tables. To the right there was a living room with a television playing a cat lounging on the back of the couch. She took on look at us and turned back as if she didn't care, which I guess she didn't.
Brett's parents took their turns giving each other their kids hugs before they stood in front of us. "Mom, dad this is Hazel Tate and her agent Sarah, Hazel and Sarah this is my mom Lindsey and my dad Daniel."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Lindsey said as she shook Sarah's hand and stopped in front of me. "I've heard so much about you. That boy keeps rereading your letters and the girls never shut up about how good your books are." I feel my cheeks heat up as she wraps me in a hug.
"It's nice to meet you too." I say to her and face Brett. "You reread my letters? That's cute!" Brett just shakes his head and chuckles.
Daniel sticks his hand out to me which I gladly shake as he says, "It's nice to finally meet you. You have quite the handshake, did your father teach you?"
"He was in the military sir, it's all about the firm handshake. At least that's what he used to say."
"Used to?"
"He's dead now."
"Well I'm sorry for your lose."
"Thanks."
After the introductions were made and Lindsey practically forced a glass of lemonade into each of our hands she showed us each to our rooms. Brittany would be staying with Brandy and Sarah and I would share Brittany's room which had a blow up mattress on the floor, which I told Sarah that I would take and she didn't fight me about it.
"Thank you for letting us stay here Lindsey, it means a lot." I say to her as I'm sat in the kitchen. Brett was around here somewhere and his sister's had gone off to their friends house to brag about the amazing trip they had and I couldn't help but smile at them.
"Of course darlin', we wouldn't want you paying for a hotel room when you could stay for free here. And here, you get home cooked meals instead of that fast food crap." Her southern accent was thicker than Brett's but no where near as thick as Daniel's. If Brett's dad talked too fast I think I'm going to need subtitles.
"It's been a while since I've had a good home cooked meal." I tell her. "We're not going to have dare though right?" And to this she just laughs. She wipes her hands on her jeans and smiles at me.
"I'm not a big fan of deer so you don't have to worry about that at all. Tonight we're just going to have some chicken. You're not a vegetarian are you?"
"No ma'am."
"Good." She says to me and turns back towards the sink where she was cutting up some strawberries. "Why don't you go out and talk with Brett, I'll bring y'all some snacks in a little bit." I nodded and stood from my seat. I made my way out to the back yard and plop down onto the rocking chair next to his.
"You didn't tell me you had pets." I say as I cast a glance at the rotweiler who was sleeping in the grass. He was sprawled out in the sun and I could hear his snores from here.
"Never asked." He shrugged, not looking at me.
"Is something wrong?" I ask him and he still doesn't look at me. His focus is on the ground and I silently wonder if I did or said something wrong.
"Can I take you on a date?" He asks me. His head was tilted towards me, his eyes locking on mine. I nod and he smiles at me. "Be ready tomorrow night at seven o'clock."
"I'll be ready." I say to him and couldn't wait. I didn't know what he had in store but I was excited. I couldn't help but think that maybe just maybe he would finally kiss me. After all, isn't that what you're supposed to do at the end of the date? I sure hope so.
*******
Another update?
I just felt like writing and I love when that happens.
Sorry it's a bit of an abrupt ending but it's almost midnight here and I have class tomorrow so I need to get some sleep! I'll update the next chapter which is the date soon!
This is unedited by the way!
Have any of you read the Throne of Glass series? I just purhased the first book in the series because people were saying it was good but I want to know if any of you out there have read it. Let me know in the comments if you have and if you enjoyed it or not. I'm debating whether to get the rest of the series before I start the first one, but if I'm not going to like it I would rather not waste the money.
So let me know!
Did you like this chapter? Bet you didn't see that coming. Staying at Brett's house? What! It actually wasn't planned in the beginning but I can have so much more fun with this!
Comment & Vote!