Airports

"I love airports. There's something so romantic about them," Angel said dreamily. She was curled up on the couch, sewing a button on one of Collins' shirts.

"I've never been to one," Mimi stated. She too was sewing, fixing up one of Roger's socks.

"Really?" Angel questioned her best friend. They were alone in Mimi's apartment, the smell of cookies in the oven floated over their heads, filling the apartment with the sweet scent. "You should come with me then."

Mimi beamed. "Sure! I'd love to, thanks Ang," Mimi continued patching the sock. "So what's so romantic about them?"

Angel sighed. "Oh, I don't know. Reuniting with your loved ones, after a long time, or a short time. And just being grateful that you didn't die in a plane crash, or hoping that you don't. It makes the time you spend in the airport seem more valuable."

Mimi giggled. "That sounds like something from a romantic comedy."

"Does it?" Angel laughed as she looped a new string of thread threw her needle.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

She searched the crowd of people for her lover. There were sooo many people. Men in fancy business suits, women in the height of fashion, families, couples, all mixed together. Mimi was chowing down on a pretzel from the food court while Angel looked for Collins. She read the slip of paper he had given her. "Gate 24A; Arrival time 6:00 p.m." it read. It was 6:15 now, and she was standing at the gate, but Collins was nowhere to be seen.

She started thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong. Buzzline had sent Mark to Connecticut to shoot footage of another riot, and Collins went with him. "What if the plane crashed?" she thought. "No… they're probably just delayed because of something…" But even Angel, the most positive and optimistic of all, couldn't shove the 'what ifs' from her mind.

Soon 20 minutes passed. Then 30 minutes. Then 40 minutes. Then 525,600 minutes. No, I'm joking. But soon Collins' flight was an hour late. Angel went up to the flight attendants desk. "Hi. I was wondering about this flight, do you know why it's so late?"

"No, I'm sorry sir, we don't," the young flight attendant replied. "The pilot didn't send us any distress signals, but our mechanical and electrical teams are searching the skies as we speak."

"Okay," Angel sighed. "Thank you."

Then she made her way over to the food court where Mimi was sitting.

"Hey Ang, any news?" Mimi looked worried.

"No…." Angel pulled out the chair across from Mimi and sat down. "They don't know anything. It could just be wind, but for all we know they could have crashed or blew up or-"

"Angel, Collins will be fine," Mimi interrupted Angel, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder lovingly. "I mean, you know him better than anyone! And you know that if they did crash, which they didn't, he would try with all he's got to stay alive. There was a point, and I know this because Roger told me, when he would have gladly died. But not now. Not now that he has you. Angel, you're his everything. His reason to live." Mimi smiled sadly at Angel, whose eyes were now watering.

"But Mimi, what if something did go wrong, and he's gone forever! What if they crashed! What if-" Angel sobbed.

"Then Collins will have fought to the death," Mimi finished for her. After gazing at her crying friend for a while, she called over a waiter.

"What's the best thing on the menu?" Mimi asked the scrawny teen waiter before them.

"Umm…" he glanced down at his shoes. "Well, the apple and chicken toasted sandwich is my favorite," he gestured toward the second column on the menu in Mimi's hands.

"Then we'll take two… no, make that four," Mimi said brightly with a warm smile. The waiter nodded, scribbled the order on his notepad, and left the two friends.

"Meems, what? Why four? We can't both have two," Angel looked confused.

"You're right Ang. There's no way we can eat all four. I guess Collins and Mark will have to eat the other two," Mimi smiled.

"But what if-"

"No more buts Angel. They have to come now and finish these sandwiches for us. Because we can't just throw them away, that'd be wasteful. They have to come and eat these extras now," Mimi said, proud of herself for maybe giving Angel hope. "They have to be alive now, because we need them to be."

Angel smiled slightly. Mimi had given her hope, false hope maybe, but it was still hope. The two then proceeded to eat their sandwiches as if nothing was wrong. They giggled and gossiped together like they would any other day. Mimi told Angel about a homeless man that had asked the manager of Cat Scratch for a lap dance, and Angel shared stories about drumming. Mimi didn't notice, but every few minutes Angel snuck a look at the wall clock. Soon their flight was 2 hours late. Angel cringed, but didn't tell Mimi how worried and sick she felt inside.

Then she felt arms wrapped around her shoulders, and saw Mimi smile instantly. Angel recognized the almost albino skin tone and screamed, "MARK! Omigod thank heaven you're okay!" Angel almost leaped out of her chair and pulled Mark into a tight hug. "Wait, where's Collins?" Angel pulled herself off of Mark.

"Back there," Mark gestured behind him. "He had to get his bags from luggage claim," he explained. But Angel had already taken off running.

Collins saw her running towards him and ran up to meet her. He lifted her up in the air and pulled her into a sweet kiss. "Angelcake," he sighed up against her. He held her face in his hands lovingly. "Angel, why are your eyes so red? Have you been crying?"

Angel slapped him playfully. "Of course I've been crying you idiot! The love of my life was 2 hours late, and no one had any idea what happened to the plane!"

Collins blushed. "Am I the love of your life?" he smiled.

"No silly, you know it's Markie," Angel giggled jokingly. Then she kissed Collins again, whispering in his ear, "I love you."

"I love you too Ang," Collins grabbed her hand and swung it, the pair walking back towards where Mimi and Mark were sitting.

"So why was your plane so late?" Angel asked him.

"Oh, we didn't leave on time. We got delayed because of weather, but the airport wanted to keep it 'hush hush' for some reason. Something about the airline getting sued," Collins explained.

"Mimi was right," Angel smiled brightly. "Are you hungry? We got you and Mark sandwiches," Angel laughed.

"I could eat," Collins answered. "What kind of sandwich?"