The story continues...
The next two days flew by as Abby tried to get ahead of her workload. She was exhausted by the time they were at the airport, awaiting their flight to Savannah. Abby opened a romance novel she had brought with her and propped her feet up on the top of her carry on bag. Ed studied her for a few minutes. He was in a sort of denial; he had convinced himself he wasn’t really going home. It had helped steady his nerves. Out of curiosity, he craned his neck and tried to read the title of Abby’s book. He wasn’t sure, but it sounded like a romance title. This sort of intrigued him. “Do you have any other books?” he asked Abby, peering over to try to read some of the passage that she had been focused.
Abby turned and Ed was so close to her, she jumped a bit in her seat and responded, “No, just the one. You still have time to grab a magazine,”
“Nah. I wished I had remembered my Ipod,” Ed said, leaning back in his seat.
Abby bit her tongue before she made a comment about how men always need help packing so they don’t forget things, at least the men in her family did.
“You could borrow mine,” Abby offered, reaching into her bag to locate it.
“Thanks, Abby,” he said, scrolling through her playlists as soon as she handed it to him. He put in the earpieces and began listening.
“I love this song,” he gasped, tapping his foot.
Abby looked up from her book and giggled at him. Ed looked blissful, his blue eyes shining. She hoped it lasted since she knew how worried he was about the trip. She was a bit worried, too.
They boarded the plane and settled into seats that were as always, too narrow. Ed listened to Abby’s Ipod for hours. Abby’s Ipod was an up close and personal look into the woman sitting next to him. It wasn’t what he had expected, a mix of raw, loud, angry music, dance music, and beautiful poignant songs intermixed. It was amazing. Just like Abby was amazing. Ed had liked her since the day at the furniture store; there was a reason she was the first person he reached out to during his bout of depression. She was more like him than he realized; she knew pain too.
Abby was engrossed in her book. Ed leaned his head on her shoulder and waited to see if she’d push it off, but she didn’t. Within minutes, he was fast asleep; comforted by being close to her.
Abby was so glad to stretch her legs and get off the plane. The line in the ladies room took forever since apparently all the women on the plane were there. Abby expected to see Ed upset as so many men would be, but he was sitting in a chair, listening to her Ipod again, his eyes closed. Abby tapped his shoulder and he jumped up with a smile.
“Sorry for…”Abby began.
“No worries. You okay?” Ed asked, brushing hair out of Abby’s left eye. His fingers trailed over her cheek which made Abby’s body hum with tingles.
“I’m fine,” she fibbed.
“Should we head to baggage?” Ed asked, studying Abby’s face which seemed flushed.
“Sure,”
As Abby was bending forward trying to organize her bags, she realized that Ed was staring at her. He was staring at her cleavage. Surprised, Abby glanced down at her v-neck t-shirt and put a hand over her chest. When Ed caught her gaze, he gave her a big smile. Abby broke Ed’s gaze feeling her heart pound in her chest. A few minutes later, Abby nearly tripped over her bag but Ed caught her arm and steadied her.
“Careful,” he said.
Abby then noticed a thin man holding the sign which read Edmund Spenser. He looked bored with faded acne scars on his skinny cheeks. He was dressed in a suit with shiny black shoes. Ed steered Abby and their luggage towards the man with sign and said something quietly to the man out of Abby’s earshot. The chauffeur rushed forward to grab Abby’s bags from her. Ed waved her on, noticing the startled look on my face upon seeing the black stretch limo. Abby climbed into the back of the limo in awe. She had never been in a real limousine before. The inside was beige leather, soft to the touch. The windows were tinted and Abby could barely see out of them. Ed scooted across the bench seat beside Abby.
“Never been in a stretch limo,” Abby whispered.
“Bethany said a car. She’s showing off,” Ed said, frowning, his forehead creased.
“How far do we go?” Abby asked.
“About an hour,” he said.
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