Airport 11

katie take chris home, where he takes out his frustrations on his family members. while they are happy to see chris, he can only think of how he may never have another chance with katie. rose had been

We finished our meals in near silence, and to be honest, I wasn't really in the mood for eating. Dom really seemed to have the knack for throwing off one's appetite, Katie wasn't eating much either. I called for the check.

"I suppose we had better get going. I should let my parents know I'm home." I said, removing several bills from my wallet for the meal and tip.

"Yeah, you're right."

Then silence.

She didn't move. I looked at her, as if to question why we should stay any longer, and obviously there was some reason.

"I'm sorry, I told him not to call. I suppose its a trust thing, you know, because of what we used to be. He's just worried, thats all, because he doesn't know you."

This must be her attempt at reasoning with Dom's impeccable timing. I suppose I was getting ahead of myself, because I answered without thinking.

"You're right, he doesn't. And he's right. He shouldn't trust you."

Oh, this is not going to go well.

"What? What does that mean? You know, don't even bother answering. Don't. Come on I need to get you home." Now she was moving, out of the booth and straight for the door, not even looking back to see if I was following her.

It wasn't something that needed to be said, and I instantly regretted saying it. Surely there would have been a better time, or place.

I got up and walked to the car, she was already inside, waiting, tapping away at her phone screen. Dom, I'm sure.

Dom, you were right. He hasn't changed. Maybe I should have just talked to him on the phone. See you soon, xoxo

I don't normally peer over people's shoulders as they chirp away on their phones, but Katie either didn't notice or didn't care that I had a clear view of her message. She started the car and we were soon on familiar streets. At least she still remembered where my parents house was.

"Look, Katie, I'm sorry for what I said back there. Maybe I felt too sure about what I had to say, and I apologize. We've been round and round already in the past, but this is the first time we've had the chance to discuss this in person," I said, trying my best to sound sincere.

"But you can't say those things anymore," she countered. "What happened happened. You really hurt me when you did what you did, and the things you said to Lauren and my family. You really screwed things up."

"Yes. I know. I don't want to make things worse."

I paused for a moment. Oh, I wish I could just keep my mouth shut.

"Just let me say this, Katie. You try finding something you've never had before, then slowly, a day at a time, losing bits and pieces of it. You look for the parts you've lost, but you never find them. It becomes something you can't control. Being in the military is sort of like that. You're something that made my life seem right, seem balanced, but I couldn't hold onto you, for so many reasons. That, among other things, can make a guy make irrational decisions. Please, stop holding that against me. I promise you, you were not the only one who was hurt."

We hope stopped in front of my house, at the bottom of the driveway. I saw my truck, parked near the garage, and my brother, working on his motorcycle. I turned back to Katie.

There were tears in her eyes.

"I've got to go Chris. Goodbye." 

I stepped out of her car and retrieved my bags from the rear of her car. I shut the door and she drove away. I stood there for just a minute, before I heard the call from my brother.

"Chris? Hey man, hey! When did you get back?"

Daniel was a few years younger than me, and for the time being, was still living at home. It was good though, he helped around the house and put in plenty of hours with our parent's company.

"Just now man, good to see you. I figured I would surprise everyone, rather than dragging you guys all down to the airport. Yeah, Katie offered me a ride, so I figured...how are you doin' man?"

He took one of my bags out my hand and led the way up the driveway. Both parents were home.

"Chris? You're back! It's so good to see you. You should have called us, when did you get back?"

I negotiated the pleasantries and tried to settle into the routine, of relating the details of the flight out, how long I was going to be home, would I have to go back. It took quite a bit to restrain myself from just walking back out the front door. This simply wasn't what I wanted to be doing right now.

But this was family. They had dropped what they were doing, for me, and I figured it should be the least I could do, to appease their questions. I had brought back several souvenirs, some postcards for my dad, who always said to get a postcard whenever you go somewhere new. I showed them my gold spurs, awarded to all the cavalry scouts in my unit for completing a combat tour. It was, really, a nice time reuniting with the family, even the neighbors stopped in to say hello and congratulate my safe return.

My brother pulled me aside, after dinner was through. We walked out to the garage, I figured he was going to show me the bike he was working on.

"Hey man, Hannah stopped by." He said.

What?

"What? When was this?" I'm sure the surprise on my face was obvious enough. That was the last thing I figured I would hear on my first night home.

"She was here a couple of weeks ago. I guess she got one of your letters, I think she knew you were going to be coming home soon. You know, you should tell people if you're coming back from a war bro," he smiled. "Here, she gave me a letter to give to you. Swear I didn't open it man."

"Yeah right," I laughed. "Thanks man." 

"No problem. I guess I better leave you to it. You know, they have email nowadays, you both could try that if you're feeling crazy..." His voice trailed off down the hallway, as he left the garage and headed back into the house.

I think this is going to be something good. I fold the letter and put it in my back pocket. Incredible. All it took was her chance visit and a letter to make me forget about Katie. Now all I can think about is seeing Rose.