BEER GOGGLES AND RED COATS

By Angel Sentier and Lady Parsley

Chapter Eight

Tessa splashed some water on her face. The women's bathroom in the O'Hare Airport in Chicago was crowded and smelled like smoke. She barely noticed. There was a buzzing in her ears, which could have been from the flight, but she doubted it. Her nervous system had been working overtime ever since she left the local airport. She caught herself twice walking out of the terminal as fast as she could. As if she was on auto-pilot. And the farther away she went from home, the more nervous she became. As she'd sat just then in the bathroom stall, she'd almost burst into tears. Why? Because she realized she'd left her glasses behind. And she wasn't upset because she couldn't see... she was upset because she could. She apparently didn't need them anymore and she was scared. She was changing... but why?

Why? Why am I so panicked? I'm going away from the danger!

She went back to the gate to wait out the remainder of her layover. She sat down near the check-in desk. There weren't a great deal of travelers, but then, it was the middle of the night. She was grateful. She didn't think she could have dealt with an overabundance of screaming children. She glanced at her trembling hands and closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

Calm down, Tessa...

I can't calm down! I want Jeff!

Opening her eyes, she stood and walked to the enormous windows that made up the wall of the terminal. It would have been pitch black outside, if not for all of the lights, but the snow was beginning to fall a bit harder, making it a little more difficult to see. She hoped that the flight wouldn't be cancelled... Or maybe that would be for the best. No one would think to look for her in Chicago. She could go see the Oprah show, not that she'd ever had much interest in daytime television...

She tried to see if there were any workmen down on the ground. Would it make her feel all warm and snuggly to see people working outside? Because thus far, she only felt a gaping hole where her heart should be. There should be guys driving carts and loading luggage, washing the snow off the planes, filling them up with fuel and freezing their asses off... where were they? Didn't anyone else think it was strange that there didn't appear to be anyone getting the planes ready for takeoff?

Squinting through the snowflakes and pressing her nose to the cold glass, she just managed to see someone walking out from under one of the planes closest to her. Well, at least there was one person who was not on a lunch break. He didn't appear to be doing anything useful, though, just walking along the taxi area. He wasn't even wearing an orange windbreaker. A passenger, then, by himself? She tried to get a closer look and walked along the terminal wall, following him. When he walked underneath another plane, the huge machine blocked the falling snow for just a moment and she caught a look at his profile.

"Jeff?" Of course, he couldn't hear her. She knocked sharply on the glass. "Jeff!"

Still no reaction. He either couldn't hear her, couldn't see her, or was ignoring her. He continued to walk, going to the other side of the plane. She hurried along the terminal, trying to keep up with him.

"Jeff! JEFF!" she yelled, banging on the window as she went. No answer from him. She had to get to him. Maybe the flight attendant would let her through the gate early if she explained what was going on. As she came to the next gate check-in station, she ran to the desk. "Hey!" She stopped. No one was there. She looked up at the terminal. Everyone had disappeared. She was all alone. The emptiness welled up inside of her.

The only thing she could think of was to get to Jeff. She ran back to the window and frantically looked for him. He was almost out of sight, down near the end of the terminal, where the planes took off. She ran as fast as she could to the end of the window and slammed both her fists on the glass.

"JEFF! JEFF!"

He stopped. As he slowly turned around, a flurry of snow engulfed his small figure... and he was gone.


"Miss? Miss?"

Tessa jolted awake. "No!"

The flight attendant who had been shaking her shoulder snapped her hand back in surprise. "Sorry to startle you, miss," she said, though she was the one who looked startled. "The plane is now boarding."

"What?" Her head snapped around to look out the window. The night was completely clear with a bright moon overhead lighting up all the snow. She glanced around her and saw passengers and airport staff going about their normal business. A dream... Somehow, she felt more alone than ever in the somewhat crowded airport.

"Thank you," she told the confused woman. She stood and shakily shouldered her purse. She forced her legs to move down the walkway. Why was leaving Chicago proving even harder than leaving home? She couldn't help but feel she was moving in the complete opposite way she should be. What was wrong with her?

To be continued...