Epilogue
Tessa
“Tessa, it was so good to see you again.” Leo’s brother, Aaron, gave me a hug. I hugged him back, and then I watched as he and Leo slapped fives, then hugged, clapping each other on the back, the way guys do. “So glad you guys were able to come out here for so long this time,” Aaron said. “The two of you.”
“Glad we could, too,” Leo said. He draped an arm over my shoulders. I looked over and smiled at him.
It’d been a year since I graduated college, and Leo and I had spent most of that time traveling. Leo had started working for Xhilerator, a new digital and print magazine that focused on extreme sports, and the first article he did was a feature about his brother, who would most likely be representing the United States in the 2020 Olympics. It would be the first time skateboarding would be an Olympic sport.
Now, Aaron was dropping us at Charles de Gaulle Airport, after we had spent a month in Paris, and we were heading back to the United States. We’d come out to visit him the summer of my senior year, but we’d only stayed for a week; I knew that once I was done with school I wanted to come back for longer. Leo had sublet his apartment while we were gone and the couple who had been staying there moved on this past weekend. We’d stay there for the time being until we decided where the next place was we wanted to go. The main reason we were going back, though? His friend Jack was getting married up in Sonoma, to Colette, whom Leo had previously gone out with.
After we said one final goodbye to Aaron, we checked our bags and made our way through the terminal.
“You ready to be back in the States for a while?” Leo asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said. I’d been enjoying our time traveling, but there was a part of me that was eager to get back and know that we were going to stay in one place for a while. I’d been writing articles for a few different well-known blogs, and I’d just gotten word that a column idea I had pitched to the Huffington Post had been accepted. While living out of a suitcase and getting to see all these new places that I’d never been to before had been exhilarating, I was eager to get back to my own bed—which was also Leo’s bed—to wake up to the same sights each morning. I might get bored with it after a while, but right now, that was pretty much all I wanted.
Leo and I had a window seat and a middle seat, but when we boarded the plane, whoever was supposed to be sitting in the aisle seat hadn’t shown up.
“There’s not as many people on here as I was expecting,” I said as we took our seats. The flight over, every single seat had been filled. On this one, I could see at least half a dozen empty seats.
“Lucky for us,” Leo said. “Though don’t be surprised if they find someone to fill it with. You can have the window seat.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s all yours.”
But no one came to take the aisle seat, and then they made the final boarding call, and they closed the cabin door. I buckled my seat belt as I listened to the flight attendant give the in-flight safety talk, first in French, then in English.
Leo reached over and took my hand as the plane got ready for takeoff. I liked to watch out the window as the ground rushed by, and then got further and further away, my ears popping and my stomach doing a little flip as we became airborne.
Once we reached cruising altitude and the seatbelt sign came off, I reclined my chair and closed my eyes. Only maybe a minute had passed when I felt Leo’s mouth next to my ear.
“You a part of the mile-high club?” he whispered.
“No,” I said.
“You want to change that?”
I smiled. “Is that an option?”
“Of course it is.” He turned around and looked toward the back of the plane. “I’m going to go into the bathroom now. Wait a minute and then come back. I’ll use the one on the left.” He winked at me as he got up and made his way down the aisle.
I looked out the tiny window, and below me I saw the tops of white, fluffy clouds, the blue horizon seeming to stretch on forever. I was excited to be heading back the States, to get to see my parents, meet up with Lindsey again, go up to Sonoma for Leo’s friend’s wedding.
But first: I was going to make my way to the back of the plane and see about joining the mile-high club.
GRIND
BOX SET
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 Claire Adams