Sara couldn't understand how she had gotten to this point. How her life had spiraled out of control without her realizing it until it was too late. She finished stowing her carry-on bag in the compartment above her seat and settled herself into the seat closest to the window. She loved to fly and was glad she was able to get a window seat for her flight to San Francisco. She sighed quietly and looked out over the airfield, watching airport staff loading baggage into another plane but not really seeing.

Sara leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, trying for the thousandth time to organize the events of the last year in her mind. Her marriage to Gil had been anything but what one might call normal. After finding her in Costa Rica, she and Gil had been at their happiest. They were together and that was all that had mattered to either one of them. During the day they explored and assisted the research team together. At night they learned one another again. Their connection had always been strong and a bit overwhelming and proved to survive their separation. Remembering the happiest days of her life left her with pain in her heart knowing that those days were over and she would never know happiness with Gil again.

The sound of the compartment above her head being opened prompted Sara to open her eyes. An older woman in blue jeans and a white dress shirt put her bag away and sat down next to Sara.

"Hi," the woman said looking at Sara, "I'm Josie."

Sara smiled and held out her hand, "Good to meet you. I'm Sara."

"I love to fly but…" Josie began.

"But?"

"This is going to sound wrong but I find trying to have polite conversation for an hour and a half with a complete stranger very awkward," she said, wincing.

Sara laughed, "I'm with you. So you don't mind if we don't do the awkward conversation thing?"

With a relieved look on her smiling face, Josie replied, "Not at all. What I really want to do is nap." She looked around the plane which was rapidly filling up and got comfortable in her seat. Sara went back to looking out the window and to her thoughts. When Sara was asked to go back to the lab to help out neither she nor Gil had been worried about their relationship. They were both independent people with a lot of respect and love for each other. They spoke on the phone daily the first two years. Then Gil began taking assignments in remote places where cell phone reception was minimal and they talked whenever they could. Gil rarely made it back to the states but when he did they spent nearly every minute together and parting at the end of each visit became harder and harder.

As she thought back now, Sara wasn't sure which of them began pulling back first. For her part it was merely a defense mechanism. The longer she was apart from Gil the more she missed him. She had no idea how difficult it would become only being able to speak to the love of her life sporadically over the phone, making love only the few times they were able to see each other each year. As she had been from the beginning, Sara was more open with her emotions and concerns for their marriage than was Gil. After three years she began seriously suggesting she leave Vegas to travel and work with him again. At first, he just avoided discussing it. Preferring to pretend everything was okay, maybe believing if he didn't admit there was a problem it would simply resolve itself over time. And then about a year ago, the changes in their marriage became more prominent and at the end of each conversation both hung up feeling unsatisfied and angry with the other.

From then on the sporadic calls came even less until they spoke just a few times a month and those calls were anything but happy. Gil didn't want her to leave Las Vegas. Yet, he said. But he wasn't ready to come back either. The strain of the separation wore on Sara. She fell back into the habit of trying to lose herself in her work and used most of her energy to pretend for everyone at the lab that her marriage was fine.

Sara glanced up and saw the flight attendant giving the usual instructions in case of an emergency landing. She picked up her purse and turned off her cell phone. She wasn't expecting any calls anyway.

TBC...