HOW DID ONE CONTINUE to pursue a woman after another man showed up to… to do what? Prevent her from boarding the plane? End a luxury trip with a man she wanted to sleep with? Only to have said man, the one she now knew had romantic feelings for her, turn and leave without a word? She first suspected it that night in Medford long ago when he showed up in the middle of the night, insisting he had to apologize to her. But that was only after he began freaking out for no reason, or so it seemed at the time. She knew his response had to come from somewhere. Somewhere deep down inside him where things were real and important. Like his heart. He harbored deep feelings in his heart for her.

But he denied it. Twice. He didn’t seem to care too much about her between those two critical times.

A cool, competent, cooperative union as colleagues ensued, but only recently, that seemed to be changing too. They seemed to be recapturing their prior chemistry, and they were getting along better than before.

Now, she was watching the tallest man within a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree radius run away from her. He was running away from her, as if the building were on fire and the sprinkler system was spraying water everywhere.

He was running away from her. From this whatever that existed between them.

She couldn’t breathe. A heavy weight, possibly the burden of indecision, was bearing down on her chest, stealing the air from her lungs and she feared she could not breathe. She blinked when hot tears stung her eyelids. What the hell? Crying? For what? A man who failed to proclaim what he felt? Who once yelled at her for having sex with the same man she was now planning a trip with? After seeing them together there, he assumed what? Did he realize she was having sex with Lloyd? Maybe he refused to believe it and came there to tell her something… Maybe it was something about how he felt about her. Perhaps when he saw Lloyd, he confirmed the extent of their relationship and now he couldn’t even look at her anymore. He wouldn’t want to be with her now. Had she somehow been reduced to tainted goods?

She bit her lip. The stabbing pain in her gut was sharp. What was it trying to tell her? She was hurt by Chris? Or didn’t she care?

But he bought a ticket to Phoenix.

Just to get into Gate D.

For her.

Then he turned around and just left? She shook her head, failing miserably to understand.

Lloyd touched her arm, and his fingertips brushed gently on her skin as he tapped her. “Julia? What… what was that all about? Why was Chris here?”

“Me. I think he came here for me.” Well, duh. Everyone at the airport saw that. But why didn’t he speak up? He was already there. Here. He could have just said it. It was almost out in the open, so why not say something?

“I see.”

Silence. Lloyd cleared his throat. People still swirled and milled around them. Julia began to feel dizzy and had to shut her eyes.

“Did you know?”

“No. Not really.”

“Do you want to know?”

“No. Not really.” She glanced up, shaking her head and sucking in a breath as she shut her eyes again. “Maybe.”

Trying to conceal the hurt as well as the anger he felt, Lloyd clenched his jaw. “Julia?”

“I don’t know.” She whispered it like a dying breath. Barely audible. “I don’t know.”

He glanced at his watch, peeking through his shirt sleeve. “We need to go now if we still intend to catch the plane. You’re still going to board with me, aren’t you? Even if he thought something else? He didn’t say…”

Julia shut her eyes. Nodding. He was no longer confident. Lloyd’s tone and words belied his self-assured appearance. Julia waffled. She was ready to leave and run after Chris, but she didn’t know if that’s what she wanted since he hadn’t spoken up. Again. How real could anything between them be? If he came this far though, why did he run away without fulfilling his whole purpose in coming there? Lloyd had already seen him so he must have known there would already be consequences. Why didn’t Chris speak up? What stopped him? He was right in front of her as she prepared to leave with another man. She steeled her resolve.

“Have you ever talked about… you know, anything beyond work? Pursuing a friendship with him?” Lloyd asked.

“Never. Well, just this.”

“So this came as a shock to you?”

She hesitated. “I wouldn’t call it a shock. Yes. No. There was… something going on. A very subtle, underlying thing at first. But—”

“Do you still want to go to Hawaii? With me?”

She swallowed. “I don’t know now.” Shaking her head, her confusion seemed worse. “Maybe… but maybe we shouldn’t go.”

“I want to go. I want to go with you. Let’s not let his unwelcome… intrusion ruin that, or change it. Please come with me, Julia. I’m here. I spoke up for you despite the consequences and that I could lose you. So come with me. He didn’t speak up for you. He just left.”

Julia walked over and gathered up all of her stuff for something to do. She stared at him. Voices of reason swirled in her head. What should she do? What could she do? What did she want to do? Whom did she want? How could she know whom when she just discovered there might be a choice? A choice she didn’t realize until Chris turned and walked away from her. It sounded like a permanent farewell.

“Julia?”

She glanced up. Lloyd’s hand was out, still waiting for hers. She stared at it long and hard before she heaved her arm up and reached out to him.