Page 2 of Rules Of Our Own

He looks frantic, hair sticking up, shirt half-buttoned, and his eyes dart through the crowd, begging for help.

People shift around me, but no one steps forward. The attendant looks at the man with sympathy. “I’m sorry, sir, but the best I can do is book you onto the later one.”

His shoulders collapse inward, and the corners of his eyes redden. His helplessness goes straight to my heart, and I step forward, knowing this means bailing on the girls, but I’ll make it up to them somehow.

I move to his side, facing the attendant dressed in an impeccable blue suit, and slide my ticket toward her. “He can have my seat. I don’t have a checked bag.”

The man audibly inhales, and he looks between me and the attendant. I give him a hesitant look, worried I’m giving him false hope.

Her fingers fly over the keyboard, and she scans the screen before looking at us with a blooming smile. “I can make the switch,” she addresses me. “You do understand you’ll have to wait four hours for the next flight?”

“Yes. It’s not a problem,” I say immediately.

She nods and hands the soon-to-be father his boarding pass. “Enjoy your flight, and congratulations.”

He turns to me, eyes watering. “Thank you,” he says and wraps me in a hug. I pat his back a few times until he lets me go.

“No trouble at all. Congratulations.”

With those words, he’s off, rushing down the tunnel toward the plane.

A warm feeling settles in my stomach, happy with my decision.

“You were very generous,” the attendant remarks, not bothering to look up from her computer.

I shrug in response. “It was nothing. Anyone else would’ve done the same.”

Her gaze floats over the crowd of people finally moving toward the counter. She raises a brow and hands me a new ticket. “I’m not so sure about that. We’ll see you in a few hours.”

I make my way toward the waiting area and do my best to get comfortable on the hard plastic seat before pulling out my phone.

Sighing, I type in the group chat.

Me: Missed my flight. Coming in late.

My bestie slash university roommate is the first to respond.

Sidney: Please tell me you weren’t still at the clinic. I texted you two hours ago.

Me: No comment.

Piper: Sorry to hear that. Still coming in tonight?

Even though it’s Piper’s wedding, I’m not surprised she’s calm about me being late. If anyone understands my obsessive need to concentrate on the charity, it’s her. As someone who works as a physiotherapist helping patients with new prosthetics, Piper’s just as invested as I am. We’ve bonded over the years, and now I’m as close with her as I am with Sidney.

Me: Just a few extra hours. Don’t wait up.

Sidney: Please *eye roll emoji* We’ll see you when you get here.

Me: *kissy face emoji*

Sidney: Wait! This has nothing to do with Jason, right?

Sidney and Piper hate my ex Jason with the intensity of a thousand burning suns.

The Jason who wants the house, the wife, the 2.5 kids, and the picket fence. The Jason who grew up with a silver spoon and a dad who sits on the board of my hospital. The Jason who never misses an opportunity to bring up the fact that he’d been the reason I landed my internship in the first place.

The same Jason who made me feel like an absolute piece of garbage.

---