The airport could not be any busier.
I arrived twenty minutes early to get a parking spot and now, more than half an hour later, was just pulling into the parking lot due to an insane amount of traffic around the airport. I called Graham to warn him that I would be late and he informed me that his flight actually landed early, which is the first time I've heard of that. In my experience, it was a blessing if a flight was on time.
The boys decided not to attend -what would have been- an awkward meet and greet.
Once parked, I began walking into the airport lounge where I knew he was waiting at the Starbucks. He told me not to bother coming inside but he didn't know I was here yet so I wanted to surprise him.
Once through the thick crowd, my eyes zeroed in on his familiar leather jacket that I don't believe he's taken off since our early college years. We attended two semesters at the same college before he split off and headed to the city to 'find himself'.
I crept up to the cafe even though his back was turned to me. I saw him continuously glance at his phone and take a sip of his latte between checking texts.
"Boo!" My hands shot out to grab ahold of his shoulders and shook him, making the metal chair he was in rattle on the uneven tile.
He. Didn't. Even. Flinch.
Graham tilted his head up from his latte and smiled wide, "Cellphones have the best reflections. I spotted you the second you walked in. Take a seat! Wow, you haven't changed a bit. Same boring attire. You should really come to New York and get some life pumped into your soul."
"Hello to you too..." I grumbled as I plopped down across from him, still upset that I wasn't able to scare him. Then I looked down to my outfit and scowled at him. "It's business casual. I own a business now, thank you very much. And I could say you haven't changed either, damn hipster."
His smile only widened at my sour tone. "How'd you come across a business to run?"
"My dad, he left it to me and I only just found out about it. One of the many things. But that's a conversation for another time, do you want to get in the car and go somewhere else? This place is overcrowded," I glanced around at the bustling people. "And it kind of smells."
"Smells? I love that airport smell!"
My eyes narrowed, "You're such a freak. Bring your latte along, come on."
I placed my hands on the table and used the leverage to stand, giving him a deadpanned stare, and started towards the doors with him scurrying behind me. Today I took Nico's BMW M3 that had a silver matte finish, he wanted me to drive in style. And it had his cologne stained into the seats so that any guy who entered the car would know that it belonged to another man.
The lights flashed when I pressed the button to unlock the doors and then I popped the trunk for him to put his luggage. I had my hand on the driver's door when I caught him still standing a few feet away from the car, looking between myself and the car.
"What? Get in, let's go." I had plans today and having him stare at the car was not on the list.
He threw his stuff in the trunk and climbed into the passenger's side as I got behind the wheel. I was thrilled to see that there was no traffic currently leaving the airport, just flooding into it.
"It's busy around here during the holidays." He commented when he looked over to the other side of the highway. "Guess people are picking up those who want to escape the winter weather up north, can't say I'm any different. So, what are we hurrying to get to?"
"Only our most favorite place in the world!"
Now it was his turn to go all sour, "No."
"But—"
"No means no. Damn, didn't those lectures in high school teach you anything?" He shook his head at me and went back to gazing out the window.
My phone buzzed and it was a near reaction to reach for it but Graham beat me to doing so.
"Keep your eyes on the road!" He shouted before looking at my phone. "Ah, someone named Cole said, 'Are you okay? Nico and I were thinking we could meet your friend tonight over dinner. Text us back because we're getting worried.' Who's Cole?"
I avoided the question, "Can you just text back saying sorry and that I'll think about dinner?"
"Only if you tell me who he is. And Nico?"
"It's complicated." I gripped the steering wheel tight until my knuckles went white and he noticed my stiff composure.
He immediately began texting and then I caught that whatever he was writing was now sent.
He placed the phone between his legs and smugly stated, "Guess I'll be finding out how complicated it really is over dinner. I told him that we will meet them at Bellini's on Sunset Boulevard at five. What are we doing until then?"
I chuckled darkly, "Oh, since you pulled that shit, now we're definitely going to your favorite place. And this time I'll have my phone out to record you."
"No!"
He noticed that I already pulled off the exit and began taking the known route to the best thing that existed in this city, especially if Graham was there. The trampoline park; where uncoordinated people looked foolish and made others laugh.
We discovered this place back in high school and ever since then he would take me here if I needed cheering up. At this moment, I was fine, but for old time's sake I needed to bring him here and get a video to always hold dear. It was minutes off the exit and I pulled into a parking spot in a nearly empty lot. At this early time on a Thursday, only employees were here.
"This is perfect! No one else is here to watch your shame." I winked at him and grabbed a duffle bag in the backseat that had a change of clothes for both of us.
Somehow I made it out of the changing room before he did so I got my phone ready to record. When he appeared, he tentatively walked out and I felt a giddy smile spreading my mouth wide. I picked out his outfit this morning at Walmart and, much to my dismay, he looked good in the neon orange leotard that I bought as a joke.
"Mia—"
"Shush, this is my payment for picking you up on such short notice."
He rubbed the back of his neck, "Ah... Could it also be your payment for a week's stay at your house?" Graham didn't miss the color drain from my face and he scrambled to plead with me, "I won't be a bother, I'll sleep on the couch, I'll clean. Please?"
I couldn't find the words to tell him about Nico and Cole, which would've been the opportune moment but instead I said, "I'll think about it. Now get in the trampoline pit."
"Fine." He grunted and walked to the nearest set of trampolines.
The building was huge and currently empty minus the employees, so he literally had a pick of any area but he chose the one with the dodgeballs laying around. I hopped in right after him and tinkered with my phone for a split second to turn it on and press record, but it was enough time for him to grab ahold of a ball and send it pummeling my way. The impact of it threw me off balance and I landed on my butt.
Managing to bounce back to my feet quickly, I jumped over the grid-like platforms to reach the nearest ball and I threw it at him without mercy.
At some point, one of the employees came over and reminded us of some rules before leaving us to our fun. I forgot about my phone, I forgot about the boys, I forgot a lot of things in that moment. It felt amazing to just have some stable, clean fun.
"Tie breaker!" He shouted out to me from across the pit, "Grab one ball and get ready for the final battle!"
I laughed and bent for the ball at my feet, momentarily letting down my shield as I thought he would do the same. Luckily, I peaked at just the right moment to see the fastball he threw at me while I was bending over. What a cheap shot!
It never made contact because I dove to my right in order to avoid the loss. I forgot about the thick, metal bars separating each of the trampoline grids, and even though they were covered in padding, they still hurt when your ribs made direct impact with them. As I just found out the hard way.
"Mia, you okay?" His concerned voice broke through the ringing in my ears.
I gave him a thumbs up but he didn't buy it because I could feel him bouncing his way over to me.
"Holy shit, I'm so sorry. I didn't think you'd try to go all matrix on me and take a dive like that." In an effort to help, he rolled me onto one of the grids and off the bar. It did little to alleviate the pain. "If you let me stay at your place, then I promise to massage you until you feel better and all the aches are gone."
My face heated at the thought of him massaging me like he used to back in college and I put on a facade to fight through the pain. There's no way that the boys would allow that. They'd break his hands before he touched me.
"Nope, all good now." I gritted through a fake smile.
"Then we should get dressed and head to my sister's place." Graham offered his hand to me and I avoided it, choosing to get up on my own. It took some effort but I managed.
And he thought that comment would slip by me... "I can drop you off and pick you up later on. Gives me time to do some errands."
"What errands are more important than your best friend?"
"And what part of she tossed me aside for some fuck boy, don't you understand? I'm not going in but I'll drop you off, end of story. Don't make this difficult."
He gave up the fight and headed to the changing room to get out of that ridiculous leotard. I'd have to find some other way to embarrass him while wearing that and record it. When he walked out in his real clothes and saw me still in my gym clothes; he figured it out.
"Your side still hurts, is that why you didn't change?"
"Maybe." I stuck my tongue out at him and walked out to the car. I winced when I had to bend down to get in my seat and I swear this guy knew me so well.
"You should let me or someone more qualified look at it." He sounded like a parent.
"And you're somehow qualified to assess the damage? You took that one first aid course online and you're an expert? If it still hurts tomorrow then I might take your advice and see a doctor."
"I'm sorry—"
"Stop apologizing!" All I could do was laugh at this concerned man.
If there's one thing I know about Graham, it's that he overly apologizes for things and isn't content until the word 'sorry' has come out of his mouth a hundred times in a single day. He didn't like that I laughed at his apologies. So he turned stoic towards me and didn't say a word until we pulled into Nelly's apartment complex.
And that word was, "Bye." Then he slammed the door.
Always so dramatic.
As soon as he disappeared into the apartment, my phone began ringing. Nico was calling and I answered with a feeling of guilt because I forgot to text or call them. Even though I didn't have to report to anyone, I wanted to.
"Hello!" I cheerfully greeted him, just praying that he didn't make me feel more worse about myself than I already did.
"How's your little playdate going?" Nico, as collected as ever, sounded cool on the surface but I could tell something was brewing beneath said surface.
"Great, I just dumped him at Nelly's for a few hours. I was thinking of going to the office and finish up what I started yesterday. Then I'll have to swing home to change and then back to Nelly's to pick up Graham before the worst dinner ever."
"You agreed to it though?" He sounded confused and I sighed.
"That was Graham, he texted Cole back, not me."
Nico paused and then carefully asked as if tip toeing around a toddler, "Does he already know?"
"He doesn't even know I'm dating anyone. Tonight will be beyond awkward, he's like an older brother to me, why do we have to do this?"
"Is he like a brother to you in the way Francesca was like a sister to us?"
Oh, touché.