"Flight number 2246 with destination to Las Vegas, Nevada is now boarding, please move to gate B12 to board on time" a melodic sweet voice resounded in the small airport as he walked as fast as he could towards the same mentioned gate.
His small piece of luggage hanged on his left shoulder with only a few change of clothes that he will probably leave untouched. He was regretting his decision already, but the phone ringing nonstop on his right hand said he was going to have a lot to handle during this weekend. He tossed his bag to one side and fixed his denim jacket in a way to calm himself before taking the call.
It was a last minute call decision, but his best friend would have killed him if he wasn't there with the rest of the group on a special day like this one. He was going to drive his truck to Las Vegas nonetheless some other crazy romantic ideas came to his mind and soon he had a flight reservation in his hand. That was the moment when his fear of flying took the best of him.
He almost stayed home, but the ticket was too expensive to waste it. He took the money from his savings to open his own consultation and he had to make the most of it.
He gazed up to the signboards with the number of gates left to arrive to B12. He heard his phone again while he turned right to make the line to board his flight. He breathed deeply ready to hear Miranda's voice and for one moment he knew how it will sound. A perfect pitch of madness was going to come out from that little country mouth.
"Hey" he whispered as he took a place in the line and offered a polite smile to the person in front of him.
" Where the hell are you?" Yes, as he imagined it. After twenty years of being best friends he knew even the smallest detail about her. He smiled to himself while he heard another very familiar voice on the background, telling him that Miranda was going out of her mind.
" I'm on my way" he murmured with an annoyed tone. He was dealing with his fear and Miranda was being facetious again.
"On your way to where , exactly?Neverland?" She asked sounding completely furious, but behind her tone there was a a very concerned Miranda. " You were supposed to arrive last night , Blake! Can you imagine how worried Marley and I have been because you never arrived and you haven't picked your phone?"
Yes she was worried and that was worse than angry. She becomes mommy bear when she worries about any of them.
" On my way to Las Vegas. I just decided to take a flight over there instead of driving my truck. It was a last minute thing so I didn't have time to tell you guys" he explained lowly while he saw that his turn to show his ticket was two steps away.
" A flight? You on an airplane? Did I miss something?" Her adenoidal tone with surprise made him chuckle lightly.
"I just want to try something new" he whispered while he took a deep breath in to calm his nervousness.
" Something new? Huh I see... so when are you going to arrive?" Her high pitched voice was doubting his lame excuse, but instead she asked another question.
" Around evening " he watched the person before him handing her ticket and he tried to finish the call with a fruity tone to give Miranda some piece of mind about his whereabouts. " I'll be there on time. I promise"
" Evening" she murmured as she did when her brain was working on reading his mind. " Colorado is right there, Blake"
" I know. My flight has one stop in California" he knew the moment his words left his lips that she will know what he was about to do.
" You're going to see her" she yelled excited on the phone, making him to put it away immediately.
Miranda was still asking questions about his visit while he handed his ticket to the air attendant and greeted her before continue to enter the airplane.
" Yes, I'm going to see her. I'm not answering any questions,M. I'll be in Las Vegas on time for Joshua's graduation. I'm boarding now so I have to go" he didn't want to talk about his feelings right now. After five years he finally made up his manly courage to tell Liv how he felt about her.
There was the same fear of not being good enough for her, but this time he had to let her be the one to make her decisions about them. They have stayed in each other's lives for a long time even when her life changed becoming one of the most famous actresses in the industry. They have talked every day, Skype until one of them falls asleep, write letters or share thousands of pictures. It was about time for one of them to confesses their feelings.
" I understand. Have a good flight" she said in a flat tone that hid perfectly how excited she was about his encounter with Liv. " and Blake, good luck!" Then she hung up.
After the worst ten minutes of his life while thinking all the possible worse case scenarios about how the plane could crash, the flight attendant to be a terrorist or if maybe the captain fell asleep he took a deep breath and put some country music to relax. He left his fist marked on the dashboard from how hard he grabbed the damned thing. Two hours later he was still sweating when the flight attendant announced that they were able to remove their seatbelt to leave the plane.
He almost ran out, but the little girl sharing the seat with her mother looked at him with a sweet smile that made him forget about his deadly fear for a minute. Then she asked why was he so eager to see California. He helped them with their luggage while he told her about Liv. They walked out of the immigration line and outside to the big, busy city of Los Ángeles, California.
" Madam, are you taking a taxi or will someone pick you up?" He asked politely while he left their luggage beside them.
" My husband will be here shortly, but thank you for helping us. I hope that girl knows how lucky she is of having someone like you in her life"
" Don't be nervous! She loves you too" the little girl told him with a wide smile .
He knew Liv loved him, but he wasn't so confident about it. There was a thin line between friends and lovers and sometimes he had doubts about how much she really wanted to cross it. He smiled politely to both of them and waved goodbye before heading down the street to find a cab.
Thoughts of their life together ran through his mind while the driver took him to Liv's apartment. The change in the weather was a significant memory to both of them. Summer. They used to spend every summer together around the lake, riding bikes around the ranch as a extreme sport or just ride horses for hours. Sometimes they played a few silly games and other times truth or dare.
At some point he started to stare at Liv wondering how and when did she became such a beautiful girl. Soon he felt nervous around her and the instinct to protect her or take care of her only increase along the years. Her smile, her goofy laugh and how easily she blushed at the most random situations were things that he kept with him despise the years and the number of lovers he have had before.
" We're here" the driver told him with a grouchy voice bringing him back to the present. Now his stomach was growling with excitement and nervousness.
He handed the money to the man and stepped out. The bag always hanging on his shoulder caused a tiring effect on his muscles and he changed it to the other side. He walked in the fancy and luxurious apartment building and greeted the receptionist.
" Is Ms. Davis here?" He asked knowing she was going to call Liv and ruin the surprise effect on his confession.
" Yes. You know the address already, Mr. Steele" she smiled widely with a know-it -all tone.
She saw the confusion in the way he arched his eyebrows and he asked a silent question with his eyes. " Ms. Davis gave us clear instructions about everyone who can have immediate access to her. You're one of those friends" she clarified.
" Thanks" he smiled at her and saw a little hint of blush in her cheeks as she lowered down her head to hide it from him. It was too early to try to read her.
He walked to the elevator and waited for it. He felt so out of place with his wear out jeans, blue denim jacket and the old cowboy hat that once belonged to his brother. Everyone looked like taken out from one of those celebrities magazines he had on the waiting room in his little office in Colorado.
The elevator opened and he greeted two women dressed in sketchy floral dresses. He greeted them, but as he expected neither of them took a moment to even look at him. If this was the live Liv wanted then he wasn't sure he was ready to handle it. However, his feelings kept saying that they could find a way to work it out.
There was a very catchy song on the elevator. It helped him to relax and to free the butterflies in his stomach. Soon the fear of rejection was replaced by courage. By the love he felt for her.
The doors opened in a bright hall with soft colors and golden lines decorating the walls. It looked luxurious and expensive. He slowly walked towards her door. One more turn and he will be, in a matter of seconds, facing her again.
He turned right and stopped on his tracks when he saw her. Her beautiful long hair falling down to her waist as shine as the sun in the same season they loved. She was laughing and he could tell it was genuine. Her sleek robe barely covered her body as she leaned forward to the source of her antique laugh.
His heart immediately contracted against his rib cage at the sight of the tall man in front of her who had -obviously- vicious thoughts about her. He saw him smirk while she took a step back suddenly aware of their proximity.
" Just go home, Ryan" she giggled with a light slur in her voice.
" I will go if you give me a kiss" he replied sweetly with a wide smile. Blake's heart fell down to his feet while he started to feel as if for the first time in so long he was bout to cry.
Yes, he had heard it before a million times: men don't cry, but this time he felt as if he was losing the best part of him and the worst part is that she looked happy with this guy.
" There's no chance I will kiss you, Ryan. Just go home. We don't want people to see you spent the night here or else they will get the wrong idea," she hushed him to go.
Blake knew he had to leave after those last words, however, the pain he was feeling didn't allow him to move anywhere. His heart was breaking little by little, he could have hear the sound of the pieces shattering all around. He was a masochist because he continued to witness the love of his life sharing the same intimacy and complicity they had with someone else.
And then she did something he wasn't expecting her to do. She kissed him. Blake took a step back without hesitation and started to walk down the stairs. He didn't stay any longer to face her or him. He wasn't ready to see her with someone, he wasn't ready to let her go, to share with someone his best friend.
He walked away because it was the first time in so long that he saw her truly happy. "Love is selfless"- his mother used to say and now it was his turn to let her go. She deserved to smile like that everyday of her life.
Just like he imagined..she picked someone else, but him. The summer rain started to fall as he approached the next bus stop to return. While the rain drops hit his face and the agony of losing what he never had kept weaking him, he made a promise.
This was the last time he will see her again, for he also needed to learn to be happy without her.
He had to forget. To forgive and move on.
Little did he know that moving on will come sooner than he thought.