Snowflakes and Misunderstandings
Chapter Three
When the plane touched down in Savannah, Calleigh looked out the window and saw nothing but snow as it covered every available surface. She marveled at the pilot's skills in landing the craft, bringing it safely to a halt. Calleigh inhaled deeply and unbuckled her seat belt, standing up slowly. Exiting the plane, she could feel the cold air as it breezed through the hatch. She shivered roughly as she felt her cell phone vibrating on her side. Getting inside, she flipped the phone up expecting to hear his voice on the other end, but she was disappointed.
" Calleigh! I was looking on the board out here and it says that you landed on time. Can you believe I'm on time?" a very hyper voice said from the other end.
Calleigh shook her head as she rounded the corner, seeing the voice on the other end of the phone. When she saw her, the woman came running to Calleigh, almost knocking her down. Calleigh plastered a smile on her face as the woman pulled away from her, a identical smile on her face. Her blue eyes sparkled in the light and her long blond hair was pulled in a tight ponytail behind her. It had been a long time since Calleigh had seen her cousin and as she looked at her, she was amazed at how much they looked alike. With the exception of the different eye color, Chauncey Duferies could've easily been Calleigh's sister.
"Calleigh, it's been too long. There's so much to get caught up on, where's your baggage, how's work been ,..."
" Whoa, Chauncey, one question at a time," Calleigh said as she put her hands up. The sheer velocity of her cousin's questions made her head spin. She hoped that she wasn't like that , although she had heard Tim say one time that she was ' way too cheerful'. It was in her DNA apparently.
Chauncey laughed as she grasped Calleigh's hand , " Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that it's been so long since I last saw you. You look fabulous by the way. It must be the new boyfriend that I've been hearing about. Is he coming?"
Calleigh's eyes dropped slightly and she shook her head. Now that she was here, she didn't want to think about it, but she knew when she got back to Miami, they would have to face this.
" He went home," Calleigh stated simply. Chauncey immediately noticed the sadness that was intertwined with her voice and gave her a small smile.
" No worries, Cal. You are with family now, and we are going to have a great Christmas."
Calleigh raised her eyes to meet her cousin's and saw the assurance that she wanted. She nodded her head and started walking in the direction of the baggage claim. She would try her hardest to forget her troubles and enjoy her family.
T/C
Tim had dozed lightly as the plane traveled in the air, through the snow that was coming down heavily. When he had woken, he saw that the cabin lights had been turned on and the captain was on the intercom.
" Due to heavy snowstorms in Atlanta, we are being diverted to the Savannah airport. Please put your trays in the upright position and turn off all cell phones as we are making our approach to into Savannah air space. We will touch down in about twenty minutes. We regret any inconvenience this has caused, and thank you for flying Southern Air."
Tim groaned inwardly, knowing what was ahead of him in Savannah; hours of confusion and lay overs as the airlines race to make connecting flights. Closing his book, he straightened up and turned off his cell phone. For the first time, he noticed that neither Delko or Calleigh had called. He gazed out into the whiteness that seemed to blanket the sky and he thought about what Calleigh would be doing at that moment. He could imagine that she had made it to her grandmother's house and she was now talking to her family members about her life in sunny Miami. He wondered if she would mention him in her conversations. He was brought out of his silent questions at the sight of the lights that he assumed were at the Savannah airport and he sighed heavily. This was turning out to be a nightmare.
After twenty minutes, the plane touched down safely and Tim grabbed his things quickly, hoping to avoid the mad rush. Luckily , he made it to the baggage claim before the crowd, and his baggage miraculously appeared on the belt. Grabbing them, he pushed his way through the sea of people, trying to find an airline heading for Syracuse. As he monitored all of the screens, he grabbed his phone and turned it on. He would have to call home to make sure that someone was going to be there to pick him up. After the day he had, he didn't want to be stuck at an airport. His eyes found the carrier that he wanted, it departing from Savannah in an half hour. When he heard the line pick up on the other end, Tim prepared himself for the barrage of questions he was sure that his mother was going to ask him. Thankfully, his brother picked up the phone.
" Hello?"
" Jayson, it's me," Tim said as he grabbed his luggage again and started to the concourse of his next airline.
" Timmy boy! Hey aren't you supposed to be on your way here?"the younger sibling asked.
" I'm on my way. Is dad around?"
" Nope. It's just me and mom. Dad's at the restaurant. What's up?" Jayson asked.
" I've ran into a slight problem. The flight had to be diverted from Atlanta to Savannah so I have to connect at a later time. I was just calling to make sure that someone would be at the airport when I got there."
" What time do you think that you will be in?"
" The flight leaves here in about thirty minutes," Tim said as he came to the desk of the airline. He grabbed the ticket stub from his previous flight out of his pocket and handed it to the clerk. She took it with a smile and typed on the computer. Tim covered the phone and asked, " What would be my arrival time in Syracuse?"
The clerk looked up at him and smiled lightly then glanced back down, " If there are no more diversions, you should arrive three hours and forty five minutes after leaving here. Would you prefer the aisle or the window seat, Mr. Speedle."
" Window, please," Tim answered as he dropped his hand. He spoke into the phone, not hearing his brother on the other end, " Jay?"
" Waiting for you , bro. So , what time are you going to be in?"
" It's eight thirty now, and I was told that the flight would be three hours and forty five minutes, so I'm going to ball park it at eleven fifteen maybe eleven thirty."
" Alright, dad said he wouldn't be back until eleven ,so I guess it's going to be up to me to come and get you."
" Great. Don't tell mom, okay. I don't want her to worry. And don't be late, Jayson." Tim warned as the clerk handed him his ticket.
"Sir, will there be another ticket?" she asked as she held on to the ticket that he had given to her. He glanced down to see Calleigh's ticket in her hand.
" I'll be there. Hey, you think I need to take mom's truck? I don't think I have enough room for you and your girlfriend in my car."
Tim closed his eyes, feeling the pressure building behind them . On both ends, the question of Calleigh provoked him. Turning back to the clerk, he answered, " No, just one will be fine."
" Tim?"
" Thank you sir, and have a nice trip," the clerk returned sweetly as Tim grabbed his things once more. Once he walked away from the desk, he turned his attention back to Jayson.
" What?"
" I asked you if you thought that I needed to take mom's truck? I know how you pack, and , your girlfriend is well... a girl," Jayson replied slightly sarcastically.
" That's cute , Jayson, really. Just bring your car," Tim replied, repositioning his suitcase in his free hand.
" What about..."
"Jay, just drive your car."
" What did you do?" Jayson sighed. Tim stopped walking and took the phone away from his ear as he dropped the suitcase. This was the second time today that he had been asked what he did.
" I didn't do anything? Why is it always assumed that I did it?"
" Because, she's not with you," Jayson responded smartly. " Doesn't that tell you something, sherlock?"
Tim closed his eyes tightly and massaged the bridge of his nose before opening his eyes. He was stunned to see her as she crossed the terminal, her long ponytail swaying behind her. His eyes watched her every move as she strode to a seat, searching for something.
" Tim? Tim... Hey , Tim!"
Tim came back to himself and quickly spoke, " Jayson don't be late." He flipped the phone down before Jayson could reply and he walked with purpose to the woman.
T/C
Calleigh tugged on the bag as Chauncey picked up the suitcase with a grunt, holding it with two hands as they walked to the doors of the airport. Chauncey stopped momentarily as she repositioned her hands on the suitcase and picked it up again, then dropping it.
" Hey Cal, what the hell do you have in this thing? It weighs a ton!"
Calleigh smiled heavily at her cousin and handed her the bag off of her shoulders, " It's not that heavy, Chauncey. I just packed for the amount of time that I was going to be here, a couple of suits , some pants, four guns..."
" Nah uh, Cal! You don't have guns in here... do you?" Chauncey asked as several pairs of eyes stared at them. Calleigh felt her cheeks turn a bright red as she moved to shush her cousin.
" Chauncey, you want to quiet down? I was just joking. There would be no way I could carry even one concealed weapon in my suitcase through security, they would have me arrested."
" Whew ! For a moment there I thought that you were being serious," Chauncey said as she slung the bag over her shoulder. This one was lighter, but not by much.
" No, I couldn't have possibly put it in my suit case... So I put them in my bag," Calleigh said as she started to laugh. Chauncey threw off the bag and tossed it to the floor, starting to open it. Calleigh put a hand on her shoulder and said through her fits of laughter, " Chauncey, I'm joking. I don't have any guns here."
" Right, I have to see for myself," Chauncey said as she pulled the bag open.
" Really, I'm serious, I left them all at home. Now close my bag and let's go. I need some apple cider."
Chauncey grinned at Calleigh as she closed the bag and slung it over her shoulder, " Grandma just made a fresh batch, so it should be good and warm when we get back."
" Great," Calleigh said as she searched for her pocketbook. Chauncey had started to walk towards the cold air that was bursting through the door, not noticing Calleigh. Calleigh put her suitcase down and riffled around some more, " Chauncey, have you seen my pocketbook?"
" I thought you had it?"
" So did I, but it's not here," Calleigh said as her heart starting beating a mile a minute. Her life was in her pocketbook, including her identification and her home address.
" Maybe you dropped it,"Chauncey returned as she looked behind Calleigh. She saw nothing but the sea of people as they walked through the terminal.
" I can't lose my bag, Chauncey. I've got to find it."
Chauncey put a hand on Calleigh's shoulder as she reached into her pocket for her keys, and told her, " Go to the car, and I'll go back to the concourse to see if you left it there."
Calleigh nodded her head and picked up the suitcase and grasping at the keys with no effort, and walked for the door. Chauncey turned and walked back to the concourse, seeing as the number of people had tripled. Coming to the area that they were in, she started to search under the seats for Calleigh's bag. She stopped suddenly, feeling like someone was watching her. Looking around, she saw him as he stared at her, and she quickly adverted her eyes. She continued to look as she noticed him starting to walk towards her.
T/C
Tim came up to her, feeling a thump in his chest, as she continued to look down, and smiled. He couldn't believe his luck, after all that had gone down, here he was standing in front of Calleigh. She bent down some more, reaching for something, Tim put his luggage down and helped her. He picked up the bag, noticing it was the one she always carried with her, and handed it to her. She took it and smiled at him, melting his heart. Whatever they had been fighting over had fled his mind as he glanced down at his feet, feeling the warmness coming to his face.
" Hey, thanks mister," she said cheerfully.
Tim shot his head up quickly with a confused look on his face. Mister?, he thought. She turned to walk away and Tim put a hand on her arm, causing her to look back at him in surprise. " I said thanks. You can let me go."
"Wait,..."
" Look, I've taken self defense class , bud. So if you know what's good for you, you'd let me go," Chauncey replied as she turned to face him, the fury evident in her eyes.
It was at that moment that he knew that he wasn't looking at Calleigh, there was something different about her, besides the fact that she had threatened him with bodily harm. Her eyes didn't sparkle like hers, and he noticed finally , that they were blue and not green. He quickly let her go and offered his apologies, " I'm sorry, Miss. I- I thought that you were someone else. You look just like her."
Chauncey looked at him and let her smile come back, taken by his chocolate brown eyes and the sincerity she saw in them. She couldn't help but notice the dark hair and the five o'clock shadow, and she wiggled slightly. She had to admit, he was cute... well more like hot.
" It's not a problem,..."
" Tim," he said as he let his own smile cover his face. He noticed as she had gotten a little antsy and smiled more broadly at him. He couldn't believe how much she looked like her.
" Tim," Chauncey repeated as she extended her hand. " The name's Chauncey Duferies sorry about the threat, but you have no idea of the amount of crap I have to put up with daily."
" Oh, it's alright, Chauncey. I shouldn't go around putting my hands on random women," he returned, finding himself smiling more as he talked to her.
Chauncey smiled more and stood there, unable to speak. In an instant, she had turned into a mute at the sight of his growing smile. Whoever is his girlfriend is one lucky gal, she thought as she pulled her hand through the blond ponytail as the intercom came on through the airport.
"Attention, flight 113 to Syracuse is now ready to board. Please have your tickets ready at the gate...."
Tim looked down at his ticket and sighed through his smile, " Well , that's me."
" So Syracuse , huh? I kinda figured you for a yankee," Chauncey replied as she glanced at the direction of the door. She knew that Calleigh would be spitting nails at her diversion, but she couldn't quite tear herself away, not until his eyes let her go.
" Yeah, Syracuse,"Tim chuckled to himself. The flurry of activity motivated him to grasp his luggage and he smiled more, " Well, I guess I should be going."
" Don't want to miss your flight," Chauncey replied turning around. " Have a safe trip, Tim."
" Thanks, Chauncey."
She started to walk then turned to watch him go, he turning to watch her at the same time. He was finding it hard to leave, but he pushed her out of his mind and replaced her with Calleigh. Seeing this woman had made him want her even more. When he finally started back to the gate, he shook his head and told himself that he was going to call Calleigh as soon as he was able. He glanced back at the concourse to see Chauncey as she disappeared into the crowd. He approached the gate with a smile. At least he would have a good flight home.
TBC...