Two

Chapter Two

 

 

The months seem to creep by, but May finally came and I packed a week before time to leave.

The concert was May twenty-fourth through May twenty-six.

I was so excited I could barely sleep. Not only was I excited about the concert and getting to see The Gospel Quartet in person, but I could hardly wait to see David Archer in person.

I had noticed when our tickets arrived that they were for front row seats, so I knew I would get to see him up close.

I was also looking forward to the actual trip since I had not been any where in years. It took my entire salary to just pay rent and basic living expenses, so I never could afford to go anywhere.

     Well the date came for our trip and Jessie came to pick me up three hours before our flight since we were not sure how long it would take to get through the airport security. It ended up taking about two hours so we were glad we arrived early.

I was very nervous about flying since I had never flown before. My sister had flown, but it had been years.

We finally boarded the plane and I held on to my seat till my knuckles turned white.

Our tickets were for first class seats so at least we were not crammed in close to others.

I was fighting not to throw up and the plane had not even lifted off the ground yet.

Jessie suggested I put my headset on and listen to music.

I had downloaded all of David Archer’s solo songs on my iPod, so I put my headphones on and leaned back against the plush first class seat and closed my eyes. David’s soft and mesmerizing voice began to soothe me and I finally relaxed.

     As the plane began to take off, I once again tensed up and even began to sweat. I tried to concentrate on the music and David’s voice but my fear was too great. Once the plane leveled out, I was able to calm down since it barely felt like we were moving.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              I took my headphones off and began to chat with Jessie about our upcoming events. I asked Jessie what she wanted to do the first two days.

Jessie smiled and said, “Let’s just play it by ear. We can always go sightseeing and do a little shopping since everything is paid for including our meals.”

“Well that is true,” I responded. “I am so excited”.

We chatted about visiting Tennessee and in no time we had arrived.

     The landing made me a little nervous, but I was so happy to be on the ground again. I almost tripped trying to get to the door when they announced we could start to exit.

Jessie laughed and said, “Slow down girl, you’ll get to see him soon enough”.

I ignored her and kept walking towards the door. When I reached the inside of the airport, I bent down and touched the floor.

Jessie asked, “What are you doing?”

“I am thanking God for letting me be on solid ground again,” I responded.

She laughed at me and grabbed my arm and we headed for the luggage claim area.

     We both only brought one large suitcase and a carry on each since we knew the airline charged for more than one bag. We figured we brought enough clothes to do what we had planned.

We got to the luggage claim area and found our bags, then went outside to get a taxi. We had thought about renting a car but since we knew that the place where the show was being held was near the hotel, we figured we could just get one later if needed.

     As we went out the door we saw a man standing in front of a car holding a sign that read Mayer. As we got closer he asked us were we Julia and Jessie Mayer.

Concerned I asked, “Why would you ask us that?”

“Good guess,” he said, “Since you were both staring at my sign.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, “Yes we are.”

He took our bags and placed them in the trunk and opened the door for us.

Jessie and I looked at each other wondering who had sent him.

The driver saw our concerned looks and said, “No need to worry the hotel sent me.”

I said, “Oh really, which hotel?”

He told us the name of the hotel and it was the hotel where we were staying, so we finally got in the car.

     He drove us to the hotel and we learned that his name was John and that he had been driving for the hotel for over ten years. John was very friendly and told us about the different sights to see as we passed them.