Olives
May 2007
The wall of heat hit her as she ducked out of the plane and onto the metal staircase. The air itself seemed too thick, seemed to choke her lungs. As a girl who always thought the climate in New York seemed balmy, this was utterly ridiculous. Robin had never felt anything like it.
Still, it was thrilling. And after so many hours stuck in that metal hell-in-the-sky, just having some space around her again was amazing. She followed the crowd in a daze, fighting to relax, not to recoil from the heat, but she could already feel the sweat beading on her brow.
Buenos Aires. She was really here! And she wasn't even feeling tearful any more. Not that there was any moisture left in her body to allow her to cry anyway! Not when the heavy air was leeching it all out of her.
It was hard, so hard, to be the girl of someone's dreams. It was hard to be the shining thing that they want with all their heart. It was even harder to know that you just want completely different things.
She never wanted kids in Argentina.
And now she was here, dealing with a temperature and humidity she'd only ever read about… and now the adventure was real but the reality was that she was all alone. She was alone and she missed Ted like crazy; really missed him like her heart was torn in two. This wasn't a hurt like she'd ever felt. This wasn't the romantic sense of wandering adventure that she'd always dreamed about.
How do you think this ends, Robin? She asked herself. She guessed that it would end with sadness and a return to New York.
At the airport bar, she sat and nursed a large glass of rioja. She breathed deeply, in and out, in and out, trying to hold back the sob that always threatened to burst out of her the minute she parted her lips. She watched the bartender - he looked so young, like a student. He was dark, swarthy and very good-looking. She tried to focus on that, despite the fact that she felt grimy, matted, unattractive.
He turned around and smiled at her and Robin's heart lift just a little bit. She returned the smile (tried to, but it was probably more of a grimace). He sighed and moved forward and she swore he was going to come on to her, okay, probably in Spanish, but it would prove that she still had it.
Instead, the bartender slid a plate of green olives along the bar and settled it in front of her.
She hated olives.
Ted loved olives.
That was why they were so fucking perfect for each other, right?
Robin felt her bottom lip begin to wobble and she had to get up and flee before she broke down completely.