“Adrian.” My heart is hurting. “Just stop. It’s over. I don’t want to be with you anymore.” I can feel tears welling in my eyes. “I know I should’ve handled this better, but—”
“You don’t want to do this, Paris.” He cuts me off. “I know you better than you know yourself, and I truly appreciate all you’ve done for me. That’s why I want to take this next step in our lives and show you just how much I do. I’ve talked to one of the partners here and he said he’d be happy to give you a clerk job. It pays twice as much as what you’re currently making, so you’d be able to support me in getting my PhD. That’ll move me up to partner faster, allow you to have money for yourself, and who knows? By the time I get out of school, you may realize that you don’t want to be a journalist anymore. That you’ll be happy being my wife and raising our kids. In fact, most of the wives here at the firm don’t have master’s degrees, so it may be a bit strange if you had one.”
“You are so selfish, Adrian.” My voice cracks. “Do you know that?”
“I bought you a two-carat ring and I’m selfish?”
“I have a flight to catch. Is this all you called to talk to me about?”
“I said I was sorry.”
“And I said I was done. Anything else?”
He hangs up and I let out a sigh of relief, but I know it’s only short-lived. He’ll call back like he always does, and I’ll answer. We’ll get into another argument until one of us hangs up, and then we’ll repeat this process until I crack and run into his arms again.
Except that last part isn’t happening this time.
“Paris?” Blake calls from the other side of my door.
“Yes?”
“We need to leave in ten minutes if you want to make your flight.”
I wipe tears away and open the door. “I’m ready.”
I’m sure he can sense that something is wrong, but he doesn’t mention it. Instead he walks past me and picks up my bag, motioning for me to follow him out to his car.
We don’t speak on the way to the airport. In fact, I barely look his way.
That amazing kiss from last night is long forgotten. All I can think about is Adrian’s phone call and the two texts he’s sent since: “I find it so ironic that I’M the selfish one, when you almost depleted our savings account for a random trip to nowhere. Is the real reason for your trip to meet someone else? Is that it? You want to sleep with someone else before you marry me?”
“I’m sorry for that last text, Paris. I didn’t mean that. I understand you wanting a break. Just call me when you’re feeling better and aren’t as upset.”
“Paris?” Blake’s voice gets my attention and I realize he’s holding my door open. “You are catching a flight today, right?”
“Right. Sorry.” I climb out and take my bag from him. “Um…Thank you so much for letting me—”
He slips an arm around my waist and kisses me, making my knees go weak. “You’re welcome.”
Holding back a smile, I murmur “Thank you” and head inside.
I look over my shoulder to get one last look at him, but I realize that he hasn’t gotten back into his car. He’s following me.
“What do you think you’re doing, Blake?”
“I’m making sure you get there safely.”
“There’s no need for that. I think I’m perfectly capable of getting on a plane myself. There aren’t too many ways that I can mess that up.”
He crosses his arms and I know this is a lost argument, so I ignore his presence and walk up to a desk agent.
“How may I help you today, Miss?” She looks up.
“I’m here for my rescheduled flight to Boston.” I slide my license across the desk. “Paris Weston. Would it be possible to have a window seat?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. That flight was canceled fifteen minutes ago.”
“Fifteen minutes ago?”
She nods. “You should be receiving a phone call or a text notification any minute now.”
As if on cue, my phone vibrates, and I hold it up to my face. It’s a text: “This is a message for all passengers who have flights booked out of Reagan International for the next five days. All flights have been indefinitely grounded due to concerns from the National Weather Board regarding the snowstorm that is set to move into the area over the next week. Please check with your specific airline regarding refunds, rescheduling, and hotel affiliate reservations.”
“Five days?” I glare at her. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Ma’am…”
“No, are you fucking kidding me?” I notice a security guard walking over, so I lower my voice. “I still have seven days left after the weather passes, right? Can you book me on the next available flight, please?”
“Did you purchase flight protection?”
“No.”
“Well, in that case, it’ll depend on the number of passengers that are already scheduled for that flight and open availability. Customers with flight protection will receive the first tickets.”
I try to stay calm. “Well, can I fly somewhere else then? Somewhere that costs the same amount?”
“All US Airways tickets are nontransferable, Miss Weston. Would you like a refund for that portion of the trip?”
“Are you saying that I’m stuck here?”
“I didn’t personally say that, but given the number of stranded passengers and the fact that you didn’t buy flight protection.” Her voice trails off. “Your return flight to Nashville won’t be affected at all. In fact,” she says, tapping on her keyboard, “I changed it, so you won’t have a layover in Atlanta this time. It’s a direct flight now. Would you like a refund for the Boston portion of your trip?”
“No, I would not like a refund. I would like for you to—”
“She’ll take the refund.” Blake covers my mouth with his hand and gives me a look of sympathy.
I bite my tongue, preventing myself from telling him to stay out of this.
“Here you are, Miss Weston.” The agent hands over a voucher. “I also refunded your first flight in light of the circumstances. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” She has the decency to look halfway sincere.
“Thanks.” I sigh and let Blake lead me out to his car. There’s not a single snowflake falling from the sky and I’m tempted to run inside and demand to speak to the CEO.
“Are you really that upset about missing your flight?” Blake speeds onto the highway.
“Of course, I’m not upset. I buy flight tickets with no intention of flying all the time.”
“I meant to imply if you were upset about spending more time with me.”
My eyes widen as far as they can go. “Excuse me?”
“You’re more than welcome to stay with me until after the storm passes.”
I burst into laughter. He’s out of his mind.
“Is my hospitality that funny?”
“It is.” I take a deep breath. “No offense, but I don’t trust you.”
“You could, if you wanted to.” He smiles. “Stay with me.”