There were people everywhere. All waiting to greet the new arrivals. Angela seen mothers embracing their daughters, who were home for summer break, friends chatting excitedly about where their first tour stop would be, and lovers, holding and kissing each other as though they had been apart for decades.
It was the latter that made her think about where he was, for just a second, but to her, a second to long. Since writing the book she had thought about him more often. There was a time when she didn't think of him as much or with as much affection, but since writing the book, and bringing up all memories, the emotions she had for him seemed to come with them. She had been in relationships since him, she had actually just gotten out of one, but theirs was the only one she continually thought about. The memories of him always filled her with regret and anger. How she had been so young and thought she would never love anyone as much as him, so far she was right. She had loved him more than anyone and that made her vunerable, and when he left it almost killed her. She didn't understand it then, still didn't, but at least now she had come to accept what had happened.
Coming out of her thoughts she looked to find Rickie, who was supposed to be meeting her at the gate. She looked around for him but did not see him. Angela set her bag down, pulled out her phone from her purse and checked the time.
I guess I'll wait a few minutes before I call to ream his ass.
After several minutes she saw a man running to the gate. He was handsome, in is twenties, and sophisticatly dressed. He had short black hair, dark chocolate eyes, and a smile that could light up a room from hundreds of miles away. In his hand he held a home-made sign that read Angela, in big glitter letters, and balloons. She almost thought he would fly away, he had so many balloons.
"Angela," the man yelled. "You like?" he asked looking up to the balloons.
She laughed. "Don't make a big deal or anything," almost embarressed when other people looked over at the two of them with amusement on their faces. Dropping her bags she threw her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. She could not believe how much she had missed him. It had been several years since they had been in the same room together. She was busy with her book and her life in New York, and he was busy with his life and his work here in Los Angeles.Rickie was working with a youth orginazation to help give runaways and homeless teens a place to go. He was very much involved with the project, having been in a similair situation years before. Not only was he a partner with that, he was also a teen counslor. He lived alone, his last serious relationship ended about a year ago, his boyfriend had moved to Paris and as much as Rickie wanted to go, he did not want to leave behind "his" kids. He did not want them to feel abandoned like he had felt when his aunt and uncle left him. The last time they had seen each other was when Angela's dad Graham graduated from cooking school three years ago. They kept in touch by phone and internet nowadays, both calling each other when life was to much for them to handle.
"Rickie, you look fantastic," Angela said pulling away to look at her high school friend.
"Thank you, you look great yourself. I can't believe you're really here...finally. It only took you what 7 years to get out here."
"I know, it's just..."
"I was kidding Angela, I tell you some things never change."
They both laughed and began walking towards the baggage claim.
"So how are you feeling?" Rickie asked her a little bit concerned.
"What do you mean?" she replied a little confused.
"I mean the break-up? How are you?"
"I'm fine, I mean we're still friends and all, us together just was not working out. He said I was in love with a ghost, whatever the hell that means. I just think he couln't get past the success of the book."
Rickie paused knowing exactly what that meant. Before saying "Well it's his loss and you know he'll be calling you soon saying how much he misses you and that corney shit. The man does have a way with words though, I'll give him that."
"It doesn't matter, we've tried several times, and every single time he just, I don't know, he just brings shit up. Just to have something to fight about, and I'm done with all the drama. Plus the sex was good but not great, and I'm ready to expand my horizens."
Rickie laughed at her, it was true though. She had dated several people but she had only actually slept with a handful, and at 25 she needed to catch up with the rest of the world.
Finally, Angela's bags came into sight.
"Those are mine."
"What did you do pack your whole apartment?" Rickie asked, amusement on his face.
"You are the last person to scold me about packing to much, I remember our graduation trip, took four people to haul you bags up to the hotel room."
"Okay, you got me on that, but I was young and stupid, what's your excuse?" He asked glad that they were getting back into their fun loving banter.
"Just stupid I guess," Angela said with a smile on her face as they walked outside to Rickie's car.
Rickie and Angela were in Rickie's car heading to Rickie's apartment in Santa Monica. She was sitting in the passenger seat fiddling with the radio, and after a few minutes she found a song they could listen to. The ride so far had consisted of talk about what they were up to these days. The conversation then turned to Angela.
"So...I read the book." Rickie told her.
Angela held her breath waiting for the bad news. She could not say anything, she could only look at him and wait for his reply.
"I loved it. It was very much you. All the drama between you and Jordan, I mean that's what the book was really about...not high school."
"It was not," she shot back. "It was about high school, there were a lot of high school...things in it."
"So articulate miss author, and it's called reading between the lines." He said laughing. "And what kind of name is Miguel, I mean so I look like a Miguel to you? Say it with me Mi-guel" He said in the best seductive way he could muster.
Angela looked at Rickie, one eyebrow up staring at her, trying to be sexy. She laughed. "Miguel is a very sexy name, I thought you would like it. Did Rayanne read it?" She asked nervously.
"Yeah, she read it."
"And?"
"And, well what do you think?"
"She hated it. She hated the way I portrayed her didn't she?"
"Are you kidding, she loved it. She loves any and all attention she gets, always has.
Angela felt a sense of relief. These were the two people who meant the most to her in the world, well besides her parents...and her sister. Their opinions meant a lot to her.
"And it was not about Jordan." Angela said, trying to convince herself more than Rickie.
"It's your story"
"That's right and don't you forget it."
"Does he know about the book? I mean he is one of the key characters in it." Rickie eyed Angela waiting for an answer.
After a few minutes she said, "I don't know if he knows about the book, he was never much of a reader to begin with. I didn't tell him. Why should I, it's not about him, it's about me."
"You still love him." It was not an accusation, it was a fact.
"How could I love him? He broke my heart. I mean he just left. How could you do that? How could you do that to someone you cared about?" She was angry. Everytime she thought about him she grew angry. Their relationship had never been 'normal.' And they were young. But she hated that she still thought about him, that she still missed him, and that she still loved him.
"Check, you don't love him.Got it." Rickie glanced over to look at Angela. She looked miserable.
"You know, it's okay if you do. Love him I mean."
She could deny it all she liked but Rickie knew the truth. It was the reason all her past relationships had failed. Even if she didn't know it or didn't accept it, he knew it for her.
