The helicopter's rotor kept making white twirls around Amy as she was about to step in the big black flying object. She set her last glance at Ty who was standing few feet away - just enough to be closer to Amy, but also enough to be safely away from the helicopter. The young woman smiled out of excitement. It felt strange to leave everything she knew behind and head to the unknown, but she was curious to know what was waiting for her there.
Ty tried to hold back the tears, but the air that was blown on to his face by the copter made him shed few of them - maybe not out of feeling this bittersweet emotion, but to keep his eyes moist enough to be able to catch in what he was about to witness: her lover's temporary departure. A strong feeling took over him and he started running towards Amy as she waved at everyone.
"Amy, wait!"
"Ty, what are you doing?" Amy's smile dropped. "Don't hurt yourself."
Amy knew they had to be careful around helicopters, but it seemed like Ty didn't really care about it now. When he reached Amy, Ty wrapped her into his arms and pressed her close to give her a proper send-off kiss. A kiss full of longing and passion. Amy soon picked up what he was doing and decided to move her arms from between them to behind his neck. They embraced each other while everyone waited. When their lips finally parted, Ty kept their foreheads together as Amy opened her eyes to look at his fiancé.
"I know we said four months would go by fast, and…" Ty started talking and then tilted his head back enough to see Amy's face, "this is your adventure. I want to support you, Amy."
"You do", Amy nodded. "And I thank you for that."
Ty blinked furiously while he was forming a sentence in his head.
"I wanna come with you", Ty spoke. Amy opened her mouth a little, not knowing what to say at first. It was not that she wouldn't want that - she would love that! - but there were few things they need to consider. It was romantic in theory, but they had to be realistic.
"But what about your school, your work?" Amy pointed out.
"I'll figure something out. I mean, I'll arrange things; I'll work extra shifts, I'll study on the road - anything", Ty planned and looked at Amy with determination.
"But…" Amy looked at the helicopter. Her bags were packed and they had a strict schedule. It didn't give enough time for Ty to prepare for the trip. And it was like Ty read her mind.
"I mean, I'm not coming with you now", Ty looked at the prince who was trying to wait patiently as they held each other, understanding that this was important for them, "but when I get things arranged here. I'll come to you to Europe - if you want me to."
"Are you kidding me? I'd love that!" Amy laughed a little. There was no doubt in her mind. Ty smiled, relieved.
"Then I will make it happen", Ty promised. Amy grinned and shed a few tears out of happiness. Ty removed them gently with his thumb and admired her fiancée. She looked absolutely beautiful and it was going to be hard not to see that face every morning for the next few weeks. "I love you, Amy."
"I love you too", she said again. Ty pressed kisses on her lips one more time, not knowing when he could do that again, so he had to take in as much as he could. "So much…" she whispered between them.
"Take care of yourself", Ty said to her when she gently took her by her shoulders, to let her go again. He knew she knew how to do that and he trusted her to be okay, but Ty still felt like saying it.
"I will", Amy nodded. Ty's hands fell down slowly and he took few steps back. He looked behind Amy and gave Ahmed a nod, letting him know things were okay and they could go now. The prince nodded back and smiled a little.
"Ready to go?" he asked from Amy with his thick accent.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am", Amy said. Ahmed helped her inside the helicopter as Ty returned to the others.
Everyone's eyes were on Ty as they wondered what had been said between the young couple, but he tried to hide from having any kind of eye contact. He was caught inside his head, while trying to hold himself together as he knew that part of his heart was about to travel across lands, across oceans.
Jack put his hand on Ty's shoulder to comfort him. Ty turned to watch as the helicopter slowly rose to the air and said his silent goodbyes again. He was going to hold onto that promise like he would hold onto the vision of her.
Amy stood at the airport and checked her cell phone again. Ty's flight should have been here by now - in fact she had checked it was on time. People were rushing in and walking out with their luggage. It felt like her heart had sunk lower and now made her stomach act all weird.
Two months had gone by fast, but at the same time it had felt like forever that she had gotten in to that helicopter, waved her goodbyes to her family and left Ty behind. Of course they had kept contact every day since then, mostly through texts, but Amy missed having Ty around. Sometimes she would turn to say something to him, but then she recalled that she was in fact in Europe and he was in Canada, kilometers away. Or at times she really wanted to call him, but she knew he was at the clinic and not able to pick up. So, text messages had become handy.
But now, Ty was coming here, and they'd spent the next two weeks together.
Amy had tried to make free time to spend with him, but being on a tight schedule on an Equestrian Tour, she just couldn't stop working for two weeks straight. So, she'd have some days where she would absolutely have to work, but Amy was hoping to bring Ty with her those days. It was a good thing he didn't mind horses, because otherwise he would get really bored. It was all about horses now.
Amy lowered her gaze to check her phone again, when she suddenly felt someone cover her eyes with their hands. At first she got startled by the surprise, but then she realized it couldn't be anyone else but Ty.
"I'm sorry, miss, I think I'm lost…" Ty's voice said. Amy's lips curled up. It was like music to her ears. "I was hoping you could help me."
Amy removed his hands and turned around, a wide grin painted on her face. The butterflies from her stomach flew free now. He was here!
"Well, I could certainly try…" Amy said and wrapped her arms immediately around him. Ty's face lit up when he saw her fiancée's face again. She looked absolutely beautiful.
"Oh, are you always this friendly here in Europe…?" he acted abashed.
"Yes", she just said and kissed him. Ty responded and pulled her closer. Amy felt complete again.
That night, they were staying at one of the hotels Amy had already become so familiar with. She knew some of the staff by their name, was greeted on her way in and out and knew her way around as she had taken lazy strolls after hard day's work almost every day for few hours.
Amy could no longer remember what it was like to have her things in one place for good, not taking them out of the bag and putting them back soon after. But everything still felt nice and fresh; she loved discovering places, meeting new people and working in different places. The horses were amazing, the job was nicely challenging and the benefits weren't bad either. And the hotel rooms weren't actually that bad, even though they hardly felt like home with all the fancy things and goodies Amy had never even knew about.
"Wow, I felt so filthy using that bathroom", Ty said when they were getting ready for bed. Amy was going through some schedules for tomorrow, but then put her iPad away on the night table, to listen to what Ty had to say. "Like, is my toothpaste worthy of their sinks."
Amy laughed.
"Well yeah, the place is not too shabby…" she admitted.
"I've never been to a place like this before. I've only stayed at motels. And look at you - looks like you've done a bit of a shopping", Ty noticed her new nightwear. It was silky, even had lace on it, so it was something he had not expected to see on Amy. "You fit right in."
"Is it weird…?" Amy felt self-conscious all of a sudden. Ty crawled in and shook his head.
"Not at all. Just… new", he said and admitted the spoon position with her. "That means I just have to get to know it better…" Ty fiddled the fabric and Amy smiled. She knew this tone of his voice.
"Of course", she giggled a little. Ty started kissing her neck.
"Hmm, that feels nice…" Amy closed her eyes and relaxed.
"I've been wanting to do this for a long time now…" Ty spoke and caressed her gently. "And now that I can, it just feels so much better than I remembered."
"Hmm…" Amy murmured lazily.
"You smell really nice too", he combed away her long blonde hair with his fingers and took in her scent. "New perfume?"
But there was no response. Just silence.
"Amy…?" Ty asked and leaned forward to see if she was still awake. But she wasn't. Her chest was heaving slowly and her eyes were closed. Amy had fallen asleep.
Ty sighed and rolled on his back. He checked the time. Well, he figured it was no wonder she was so tired, it was 11 pm already. Which meant it was still late afternoon in Alberta.
As Amy was driftin away, Ty did not feel sleepy at all…
"Ty…" Ty heard Amy whisper hours later as she caressed his cheek. He peeked through one eye and saw Amy all dressed up for work, standing next to the bed. A faint light was drawing her silhouette from behind inside the dim bedroom. Her hair was pulled back and she looked like a professional.
"Hmm, what time is it…?" Ty coughed a little to clear his throat.
"7 o'clock. I have a meeting, like I told you", Amy reminded him about a conversation they had had yesterday on dinner.
"Oh yeah yeah", Ty nodded. He felt exhausted and buried himself even deeper inside the warmth of the bed. Only his short brown hair peeked out under the white covers.
"Will you be okay?" Amy asked.
"Mh-yeah…"
"There's breakfast for you and you can use room service if you want something else. It's on Ahmed", Amy reminded. I'm not gonna feel bad about using his money, so maybe some fine Champagne for breakfast, Ty thought to himself but kept his mouth shut. "Will you be studying like you said?"
"Probably…" Ty said, but didn't even want to think about that right now. Sleep was all he wanted. He wasn't one to have a conversation with this early, so Amy decided to give up. But there was one more thing she needed.
"A kiss to-go?" Amy asked. Ty turned around, brought his face out of hiding and puckered his lips so they could exchange a peck. His eyes were still closed, but he was never too tired to have a kiss, that much she knew. Amy smiled and fixed Ty's covers to make sure he wouldn't get cold. It was drafty in these rooms for some reason.
Amy collected her jacket and phone. Ty could hear her close the door as she left, but from that point on, everything went black and he soon fell back asleep.