Chapter Four

Exhausted, Erin slept through the morning and woke up sometime around one. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept that late…but then again, she also couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone to bed at 5 am.

She’d fallen straight into bed after she got home, only taking the time to throw on a pair of sweats and wash her face beforehand, and barely had time to mentally recap the night before she was asleep.

Now, as she lay in bed trying to fully awaken, her thoughts drifted back to the night before and the person she’d spent it with.

Jon Bon Jovi. Of all people to have the seat next to hers on a cross-country flight, who ever would have imagined it would be him? Even in her wildest dreams she wouldn’t have imagined it. But there he was – that muscled-bodied, blue-eyed, blonde-haired beauty. And he had struck up a conversation with her.

She had opened up to him so easily – and he with her in return – that it surprised her. But it felt so…right…to talk to him and tell him the things she had. He was a great listener, and though they had just met, he seemed to genuinely care about what she had to say.

Not to mention the fact that she was undoubtedly attracted to him. Whenever he had flashed that mega-watt smile her heart had thumped a little harder, and she wouldn’t soon forget the softness of his hand as he helped her out of the limousine.

She couldn’t deny that she had felt some sort of spark between them, but this morning she chalked it up to being delirious with exhaustion. They had flown all night and she was operating on maybe six hours of sleep and nearly twenty-four waking hours – she hadn’t been thinking clearly. He probably didn’t feel the same way anyway, she told herself. She had just been another woman to cross his path, another passenger on a lonely flight to pass the time with.

I never said you didn’t have an effect on me.

The words resounded in her mind, and her heart skipped a beat. Maybe she was another woman to cross his path, but something told her she hadn’t crossed it for the last time. Or at least, she hoped she hadn’t.

In spite of herself, she smiled and rolled out of bed to begin the day.


After a shower and a quick breakfast – although it should have been a lunch by then – she checked her answering machine messages. There was one from work, one from her neighbor, one from her friend Tawna, all calling with various insignificant reminders or tidbits of news and gossip.

There was nothing from the airline yet, but Erin knew that it could be a day or two before they called. And since she didn’t know if they’d call ahead of time to let her know they had it and were going to ship it, or if they’d call after it had been sent, she decided not to worry for the time being. She wasn’t missing anything she couldn’t live without for a few days, save for her toothbrush and the last bar of soap she’d thrown in her bag before she left. But she could easily pick those things up at the grocery store down the street.

The latest message was left that morning around 9am.

Hey baby, just wanted to make sure you got home all right. You said you’d call me and I haven’t heard from you, so I’m getting worried. I’ll try again later, but let me know that you’re safe. Don’t forget to call me. I love you.

Erin sighed as she deleted Max’s message and consulted the caller ID. Sure enough, he had called three times since he had left the message. She had told him she would be home late when she found out in San Diego that the flight was delayed. Actually, he had called her – he had a copy of her itinerary and was checking the live flight tracker online, and had seen that the departure time had changed. Regardless, he had known that she’d be home in the wee hours of the morning and that she’d most likely sleep in.

Erin knew she had to call him - Max worried easily - and she had just picked up the phone when the doorbell rang.

She opened the door to reveal Max standing on the porch.

“Oh good, you’re home,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”

“Well hi,” Erin said with the voice of surprise, letting him inside. "I was just about to call you back..."

Max stepped in and hung his jacket on the coat rack. “I got your answering machine,” he said pointedly.

“I was asleep – I just got your message,” Erin explained.

“You were asleep at noon?”

Erin raised an eyebrow. She got tired of his interrogations quickly nowadays. “Yes, I was asleep at noon, I was tired. I got home at five this morning.”

Max furrowed his brow. “Five? The flight got in close to four. Why did it take an hour to get home?”

Erin explained how the airline had lost her luggage.

“Aww, you poor thing,” Max said, pulling her close to him and stroking her hair. “That must have been so traumatic. I wish I had been there to help you.”

Erin laughed. “I’m fine, Max,” she assured him. “It wasn’t a big deal. It’s annoying, but it doesn’t put me out. And they said they’ll return it in a few days.”

Max nodded. “If you need me to call them and speed up the process, I will.”

Erin fought the urge to roll her eyes. “They aren’t going to speed anything up just because you call. It’s fine, really.”

“All right,” he said softly in her ear. “You know, I missed you. I missed the feel of your skin and your scent and seeing your smile…”

He held her tighter, and Erin could feel through his jeans that he was aroused. Normally, that would have made her smile and she would have begun teasing him until they both collapsed naked on her bed, but this time she was surprised to find herself hoping that wouldn’t happen.

It wasn’t that Max was unattractive – he had a sweet, almost boyish face with dark brown eyes and curly brown hair that sat atop his head, forever unmanageable. He was modestly built, tall and slightly lanky, but with enough muscle to save him from looking like a beanpole. He had long, slender fingers, the kind that performed masterpieces on a piano, which he played in his spare time. His stomach was flat, his hips were narrow. His ears didn’t stick out, and he had two eyebrows. All things considered, he was a good-looking man.

But for some reason, she wasn’t turned on by him in the slightest right then, and she vaguely wondered why. Perhaps it was because he now stood so shadowed by the presence of last night’s encounter – an admittedly sexier, kinder, more confident man that had Erin’s sense of reality temporarily skewed. She couldn’t shake those blue eyes from her mind.

She pulled away from Max. “So is that the only reason you came by?”

He nodded. “I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“Well as you can see, I’m fine,” Erin smiled. “Do you want to hang around for a bit? I actually need to swing by the store real quick, but you can come with me, if you want.”

Max nodded again. “Sounds good. But bring a jacket – it’s chilly outside.”

A few minutes later they stepped outside and Erin found that Max was right as she felt the nip of a cold wind. It was late September and the weather had been starting to cool off for a couple of weeks on the east coast…but San Diego was still going strong in the mid-80’s and even 90’s as the Santa Anas and infamous “Indian summers” rolled through, and Erin had gotten accustomed to donning shorts and t-shirts outside.

Now, she pulled her coat around her more tightly and kept pace with Max, whose strides were considerably longer than hers given his height. They rounded the corner and approached the small grocery store, and Erin picked up a toothbrush and more soap among other food supplies.

Max walked her back home and helped her put the groceries away, making her go over every detail of her trip and showing his enthusiastic interest. She told him about the retreat and about her quick visit with family, but didn’t even hesitate to leave out details about the flight home. There were some things you just didn’t tell Max.

They ate a casual dinner at her house together and he left afterward, giving her another kiss and mentioning again how much he had missed her.

Since she had to get back to work the next day, Erin flopped into bed early to try to get to sleep at a decent hour. She didn’t have to try very hard, though, as she fell asleep around nine-thirty and slept for nine straight hours.

________________________

A few days later, Erin was eating breakfast and getting ready for a half-day at work for a meeting with her boss when the doorbell rang. She ran to answer it and was greeted by a UPS deliveryman holding a large box. “Are you Erin Sullivan?”

“Yes, I am,” she answered. “Is that from the airlines?”

“It sure is. Could you sign here, please?”

Erin signed the clipboard, then happily accepted the package from him and brought it inside. She finished her breakfast quickly and unpacked the box, relieved to find everything as it was supposed to be, her bag undamaged and still locked with the TSA lock. She carried it upstairs and set it on her bed to unpack that afternoon when she got home.

When she arrived at the office later, Jill, the secretary at the front desk stopped her.

“Mike got called into a last-minute conference call with Spain,” she said. “It’s supposed to take all afternoon, so he had to cancel his meeting with you. You don’t have to stick around; you can go home early. Enjoy an early weekend,” she smiled.

“Oh,” Erin said, surprised. “Is he on the phone with them now?’

Jill nodded. “Just called about ten minutes ago. Apparently it’s a last-minute proposition that couldn’t wait over the weekend. I don’t have details yet.”

Erin sighed. “Okay…well I have some things to do anyway, so I think I’ll get those over with so I don’t have them hanging over me. Thanks, Jill.”

She retreated into her office and closed the door, sighing. She hated when her boss got called into those last-minute meetings, especially when they were overseas. They always took forever, and this one was going to set her back a day since they’d have to hold the meeting on Monday and she couldn’t get started on Monday’s work until Tuesday. And missing a day didn’t sit well with Erin’s tight schedule. She decided to get as much done as she could today and hopefully lessen the backlog next week.

A few hours later, Erin emerged into the crisp Autumn air, satisfied with what she’d been able to accomplish. Since she’d worked through lunch she was hungry, and decided to stop at Starbucks on the way home.

She walked the single block to the shop and pushed open the door, greeted by the warm smell of coffee beans and pastries. There weren’t very many people inside, and she walked straight to the girl at the register and placed her order for a caramel machiatto and cinnamon scone.

She waited for her order quietly, massaging her neck and feeling the lingering effects of the jetlag. She’d probably go to bed early again tonight and catch up on the rest of sleep this weekend, and she’d be good as new on Monday. Right now, she was looking forward to a hot coffee, getting home and changing into her pajamas, and lounging around the rest of the night in front of the television.

Just as she was pondering what movie to watch, a voice in her ear made her jump.

“So,” the voice said mysteriously. “Have you gotten your luggage back yet?”

Sunday, October 12, 2008