Page 50 of The Significance of Moving On

When he drops me off at the airport, he hugs me, burying his nose in my hair and whispers. “Be safe. Call when you get there because you know I’ll worry.”

And that’s it. I’m off on another adventure. This one thanks to Casey.

My ears pop as the plane sets down, but Miami warmth floods through the thick window and I’ve never been as happy or simultaneously sad to see the sun. Kelsey will be waiting for me with open arms and a comforting hug, but God help me I can’t stop thinking what if he doesn’t want me? What if his answer is no? What then? This ultimatum, I probably should’ve thought this through a little better.

It’s the right thing, it has to be the right thing or else why would I feel this strongly about it? Living life without Tom is hard enough, imagining it without Casey, without that gorgeous smile, without his generous heart, without those strong hands that have held me up more times than I can count in just the short period we’ve known each other—he rescued me, in every way possible—and I don’t want to do this, live life without him.

I let all the other passengers leave before even trying to myself. Once the last person has passed, I stand to retrieve my carry-on from the overhead bin and amble through the aisle, down the stairs off the plane. With this flight we actually exit to the outside where the sun’s glare causes me to more or less see the world in orange, until my eyes adjust.

Kelsey stands right where I knew she’d be, inside the terminal waiting by the seats to greet me.

She shrieks, literally shrieks my name. “Tally.Oh my god.Tally.” And this sense of calm takes hold. She’s had my back too—for years now.

Surprisingly, because it hasn’t been an issue for a while, that sucking vortex feeling starts to sneak back in the space between us, wanting to keep us apart. It’s as if the vortex knows that if I lose Casey, I lose Kelsey and Demetrius, too. D is loyal to Case, and Kelsey’s in love with D. I’ll have to move. It’ll be the end of all that I know and love. But it can’t keep us apart today. Whether Casey chooses me or not.

I push through the invisible vortex and run to her, falling into her embrace. Without speech, without eye contact, she knows what Iwantat this moment—opposite my Casey who so often knows what Ineed—punching a hole right through her sympathy and my sense of spatial inebriation. The vortex dissipates leaving the reality of Kelsey, my best girlfriend ready to help me wade through yet another mess in my life.

“Come on,” she says while moving forward toward baggage claim. “We’re gonna get you sinked, drinked and inked.”

Uh, “sinked and drinked, Kels?”

“You know rhyming on the spot isn’t easy.”

“What exactly is sinked, anyway?”

“You know, sinked—as in sink it in?” She winks.

I shake my head fully understanding and offer up, “How ‘bout laid, displayed and Chardonnayed?”

“Parked, quarked and marked?” She offers back.

“Okay, now you’re just being ridiculous. Quarked isn’t even a real thing.” I tease.

“Right.Andthat’sthe problem? How ’bout that you’ve never been parked?”

“So?”

“So maybe if someone parks you good enough, you’ll forget about the one who won’t.”

Ouch. Hello to you too, white elephant. “And that is the actual problem. If only I could’ve forgotten about him when I was with Able Mackey. But there’s no forgetting that man. When I get parked, I want Casey behind the wheel. I want Casey controlling the gear shift. I want Casey backing into the carport—”

“La la la la la—TMI, Tal, TMI. Some things my ears can’t unhear and even worse, my brain can’t unimagine.”

“You just imagined me and Casey, like together?”

“La la la… not thinking.”

“Was he any good? More importantly, was I any good?”

“La la freakingla.”

I throw my head back and laugh, the loud, belly-clenching kind, knowing that this is exactly where I’m meant to be right now. Casey gave this to me. Even if he hadn’t asked me to let him know when I landed, there’s no way I could stand here in the Miami sun and not let him know what this trip means and pull my cell from my pocket.

His voicemail picks up.

“Case, it’s me. I’ve landed and I’m with Kelsey. Thank you. Thank you, with more thanks than I can express on the phone.” Then I hang up.

“Right,” I say to Kelsey. “Let’s do this.”

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