Alicia
“One way to New Haven, please” I say to the ticket agent in the Main Concourse. I’m standing in Grand Central, and I’ve packed as much as I need for maybe two to three weeks on my own. Jenna was nice enough to let me crash at her parent’s place while they’re away and it’ll be good for me to get away and clear my head.
I’ve left the News of the Times. I don’t know if they fired me. I didn’t resign. I just left. The newspaper came out, I read it at my desk, and then I packed my desk and put everything into my bag and walked out.
On the way I saw Danielle and Mike. They both smiled at me and nodded. I gave them a tight smile as I left.
“Round trip or one way?” the station agent asks me again.
I sigh. As much as I told my Mom and the King, I don’t think I’m coming back to New York City for a while. Too many painful memories. But I have enough in my roller-suitcase and handbag for clothes to last me at least a month.
“One way,” I tell him.
I heard from Mom that Derrick went straight to his plane from Court and he was headed back towards St. Livy.
I can’t go there. But from Connecticut I may think of moving off myself. Maybe Los Angeles? Boston? London?
Anywhere to get away from my broken heart.
The agent hands me the ticket and I thank him, walking down the Concourse. I look up at the windows to Grand Central. It’s lovely – one of the enduring and iconic views of New York City.
I pause for a second to look at the beauty of the terminal Concourse and reflect on the city I’m leaving behind. But every street, every avenue, and every building seems somehow intertwined with Derrick. And it’s just too much to bear knowing that the love of my life is gone.
I turn around to walk towards my train gate when I hear something.
At first it’s just a low hum. But it sounds out of the ordinary. And somehow it’s seems to cut through all the other sounds of the city.
I frown and look around. I don’t see anything.
But the sound keeps getting louder.
That’s when I see something from the corner of my eye. I look up.
Something’s coming. Towards the windows.
It’s getting closer. It’s coming fast.
I stand there, agape at what it could be. There are a few other people who’ve noticed and they’ve stopped and are pointing now as well.
It’s not a something. It’s a someone. I take a few steps back and wonder how they’re going to stop.
And then it hits me. They’re not.
As I’m processing that, whoever the person is seems to get in position, straightening their body like a missile, head first pointing straight and getting their body in one long straight line – becoming aerodynamic and cutting through the air resistance.
It’s like watching something in slow motion as their head makes contact with the age-old glass windows of Grand Central. The windows shatter into a thousand different pieces. Luckily they are high above the train board and no one is underneath the falling glass.
It sounds like a giant explosion. And then the glass begins to fall. The human missile is yelling as he zooms through the air and people get out of the way. His parachute slows him down, but not before he slams into an automated ticket machine head first, breaking it apart.
I wince. That must hurt. But it probably saved his life, cushioning him from hitting the floor or wall. His – it’s got to be a guy who would do something like this, right? – parachute slowly comes down to the ground, settling over him. Dust is flying everywhere and bits of glass are still falling from the windows.
This is when something entirely miraculous happens. The man seems to get up on this own two feet after a moment of lying there. Yeah, I know, it sounds insane, and I’m not lying to you. I mean, he seems shaky, but he de-attaches the parachute and wobbles a few steps away from where he “landed”.
He looks at his wrist for a moment and then walks two steps away from me. I can’t help but notice his trim body. This is what no sex with Derrick for a few days has done to me.
“Alicia?” he calls out.
Oh my God!
He stops and turns around and looks in my direction.
“Alicia?” he calls out a bit stronger and goes to take off his helmet.
Wait, could it be?
“I’m here, love,” he says, taking off his helmet and revealing the smirk of Prince Derrick Blaine that I know so well.
His eyes meet mine and he takes a few more steps towards me. Tears start to form in my eyes as I find myself walking unsteadily towards him as well.
Two steps from me, Derrick sinks to one knee and takes my hand.
“Alicia Bayer,” he says, “I’ve been looking for you my whole life. I was a fool to let you go away once without stopping you.”
“Derrick,” I say back to him. “I’m so sorry for everything. I’m so sorry I lied to you. I love you so much.”
“Ssh,” he says. “I’m the one who’s sorry for everything I ever did to hurt you.”
Tears fall from my eyes freely now. There’s no stopping them.
“Never again, love,” he says. “I’m nothing without you. Will you have me again? This time as Alicia and Derrick?”
His dark, soulful eyes look into mine.
I seriously love this man. What I feel for him is the absolute and purest definition of the word. I sink down to him, and ignoring everyone around us in the terminal, I run my hand over his cheek.
“Only if you let me be Daphne some days,” I tell him with a smile.
He looks at me. And then he smiles.
“Come on,” he says to me. “The plane’s landing and we should get back on it.”
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“Anywhere,” he says. “it doesn’t matter as long as it’s with you.”
I don’t notice the people around us smiling and clapping as he kisses me. All I Can feel is his tongue exploring mine.
I don’t notice the cheers and well wishes as he picks me up and we walk arm in arm out of Grand Central, and into the rest of our lives.