June 13, 2004
Angel Grove, CA
I had been shocked when Nick said that he wanted to move to Angel Grove but even more so by the fact he wanted to leave that night. I tried to convince him to wait longer but he insisted that the tickets were non-refundable or exchangeable. He told me to pack as much as I could into our suitcases and that he would have his buddies pack up the rest of our bigger things in a moving van to ship to us once we were settled into my mother's house. So, I quickly packed all our important things and our clothes while he made phone calls. He wanted to sell our car before we left, seeing as we wouldn't be driving it there. Something felt odd about the whole situation but I didn't question it. All I wanted was to be back home in California and I was finally getting my way.
After we were packed, I made a super quick one to Trini, letting her know that we would be coming into town tonight. She was excited when I told her, saying that she and Jason would love to have us stay with them until I could get the key for the house. My mom told me I could get it from my aunt as she had the spare but she was on vacation until next week. Trini said it was fine for us to stay as long as we needed and that they would pick us up from the airport when we got in. For the first time in a long time, I felt a burst of energy from being excited.
Nick left, taking the car to sell it to someone and I packed up everything else we would need. I didn't want to chance some of my things getting broken when his friends shipped our stuff. I made sure to bring all of my pictures and other mementos I had. They were all tucked into a shoebox at the bottom of my closet, out of sight. Nick and I had gotten into an argument once about them, him thinking that I was dwelling on my past too much and there was no reason to keep such silly things. So, I hid them and told them I had gotten rid of them. I shoved them into the bottom of my suitcase, where he wouldn't see them.
As I was packing up the food in our fridge, there was a knock at the door. I closed the fridge and jogged over to it. Standing there was a taller man with a bald head that reflected the sun behind him. He was built like a house with broad shoulders and arms that were as thick as my waist. A black goatee was on his chin that matched the dark sun glasses on his eyes. He removed them though when I opened the door.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"Sorry, ma'am. I might have the wrong apartment. I'm looking for someone that used to work for me. You wouldn't happen to know a Nick by any chance?" He asked. I went to answer but something in my stopped.
"I don't. Sorry." I replied. I didn't know why I had lied. Something in me told me to do so though. The man nodded, putting his sunglasses back on.
"I'm sorry to bother you then. Have a good day." He smiled before turning and walking away from the door. I shut it, locking it as I did. I've met a few people that Nick worked for and that guy was none of them. I didn't know who he was but there was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way. Had Nick done something on one of his construction site jobs to piss someone off? Is that why he was so quick to head to California?
Nick returned home a short while later, $1500 in hand. When he walked in the door, he was carrying some food containers. "I got lunch!" He said cheerfully, setting it all on the table where I was sitting and sorting through papers to see what we needed to bring with us.
"Someone stopped here looking for you." I replied. He stopped mid-step, looking at me.
"Did they say who they were?" He asked, shaking his head slightly before grabbing some forks from the drawer.
"Someone you used to work for. It was some big bald guy." He nodded, sitting across from me.
"That's Steve. That's who I was working with yesterday. He was upset when I said I wouldn't be back today since we're moving. He's a persistent guy." Nick said, opening up the container. I saw it was tacos and tortilla chips, salsa on the side.
"He seemed it." I said, eyeing him. "You're not in any trouble, right Nick? Cause if you are, we can trying to fix it." He huffed, slamming his fork on the table.
"What do you want from me, Kim? I already agreed to uproot our lives to move to the other side of the country. Who do you take me for? I'm not in any trouble. Just fucking drop it, got it?" He hissed loudly, causing me to jump. I nodded, not wanting him to get any angrier than he already was. His cheeks were red and he was glaring at me.
"I-I-I'm sorry." I sputtered out.
"Now, eat your tacos." He muttered, shoving the container towards me. I didn't say anything as I grabbed the fork he had set down for me. "The sooner we're out of this shit hole, the better."
A few hours later, a cab pulled up in front of our apartment. Nick carried our luggage out to it while I unplugged all the appliances. I had ran over our food to the girl next store to us who had five kids. She was grateful for it, thanking me ten times in Spanish. I had also given her all of thepaper products we had and anything else that we didn't need. Once all of our stuff was loaded, I grabbed my purse and locked the door. Nick had instructed me to leave our keys on the counter because his friends had on to get in later. Before I left, I wrote a note for the landlord letting him know where we were going in case he needed to send our security deposit to us. Nick climbed into the front seat of the cab with driver and I hopped into the back with my bag.
The airport was bustling as we put all of our bags onto a cart. Nick took them to get checked in, instructing me to keep two bags with us as our carryons. I waited by the gate for him, watching as he spoke to the girl behind the counter. She gave him a bright smile and I saw the familiar twinkle in his eye as he leaned forward and playfully touched her arm. My grip on my bag tightened as I watched him flirt with the girl. He was bad about this. Sometimes, he doesn't even know he's doing it. It's just he acts with people. But it gets under my skin in the worst way, especially when he says I'm making a big deal out of nothing. I brushed it off though, thinking about the sounds of the Pacific Ocean that I would be hearing in the morning. Our flight leaves around 10 pm and we have a layover in Texas. According to our flight plan, we'd be arriving in sunny Angel Grove, California by 6 am. I wasn't looking forward to the late night flight, being crammed into a plane but it would be worth it in the end.
"Ready?" He asked, walking over to me. I nodding, watching his tuck a piece of paper into his wallet.
"What's that?" I asked, eyeing it. He scoffed.
"Her phone number." He replied, rolling his eyes. "The receipt for our bags once we land. C'mon. We gotta get boarding."
We ended up waiting for about an hour and a half near the gate while they redied our plane. Nick paced the floor by the window, looking out of it and stopping now and then. Every once in a while, I would catch him looking up the terminal towards the direction of the front entrance. I didn't bother asking him what he was doing. I saw the annoyance on his face from impatiently waiting and I didn't want him to use me as the target of his frustrations. Instead, I flipped through the magazine I had bought from the coffee shop nearby.
When they finally called our flight, Nick nearly dragged me to the gate. We checked in and boarded, our seats in the middle of coach. I was relieved to see that our flight wasn't too full and there were no children to be found. I love kids but I didn't think I could handle them on the plane with us for the next few hours. As I sat in my seat, I thought about that fact we were moving back home and that we would be able to possibly build our family now. If I couldn't get pregnant, there were other options out that way we could try. I had read up on surrogacy and different types of embryo transfers that we could try. I was hopeful at trying to start again once we were settled and I was hopeful Nick was too.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be taking off in approximately five minutes. Please take your seats and secure all belongings." The flight attendant said into the phone at the front of the plane. I buckled my seat belt and tucked my purse between the arm rest and me. To my left was the window and I could see people loading things into the plane next to us.
"I'm excited." I said, turning to face Nick. "Are you?"
"Yeah. Sure." He replied, leaning back in his seat. "I'm more excited about getting some sleep."
"No one told you to stay out allnight." I replied, teasing him. He mumbled something under his breath I didn't catch. I went to ask but was cut off by the flight attendant going into her speech about safety protacols if we were to crash. By the time she was done, Nick was fast asleep. Sighing, I leaned back in my seat and glanced out the window again. The sun was long gone, the moon now in the sky. I could see it as the plane taxied out of it's parked space and started towards the runway. It picked up speed, gaining momentum for the lift off. It was a bit bumpy as the wheels lifted off the ground but soon, we were airborne.
Our layover in Houston was horrible. When we arrived, there was a mix up with some of the other passenger tickets. We were lucky and ours weren't part of it but it slowed everything down. We weren't allowed to leave the area due to this either, causing all 30 passengers to hang out in the small area just outside of the gate. We had one bathroom to share and couldn't leave to go get food. By the time they cleared everything up, we were forced back onto the plane. Nick was even crankier now with the lack of sleep and now food on top of it. He snapped at me about everything to the point where I just stopped talking. Everyone on the flight received a complimentary dinner and around 3 AM, we were heading to California.
I was exhausted as I picked at the chicken salad they had given me. Nick had devoured the meal he had gotten along with two beers. He was passed out again shortly after, snoring away. I was the only one awake it seemed, the lights dimmed for everyone to rest. I looked out the window as we flew, the moon lighting up the clouds enough for me to see them. For a moment, it reminded me of teleporting, flying through the sky with easy. We used to zip around anything in our way, our colors streaming behind us. Even with a job to do, we were young and carefree. I wanted to feel that way again and that hope of Cali came back to mind.
I was awoken by the ding of the cabin, telling us that we were getting close to our arrival time. I elected to not wake up Nick, letting him get as much sleep as possible so that he would be in better spirits once we arrived. He stirred as we descended, stretching his arms and legs the best he could in his seat. He rubbed his eyes, sitting up and looking passed me out the window. I could see the ocean from here, the sun beginning to rise off the surface of it.
"Look at the sunrise." I said, glancing over my shoulder at Nick. He nodded, putting a hand on my back.
"It's pretty." The plane slowly dropped, heading towards the runway. As we landed, the flight attendant gave instructions on what to do once we were stopped. I put my purse over my shoulder and waited for the light to come on. When it did, people began to move about and unload their bags from the overhead compartments. Nick grabbed both of ours and I followed him off of the plane and into the terminal. Checking my watch, it was a little after 6 AM. The smell of coffee and pastries greeted me as we walked through the gate and into Angel Grove Airport.
"I'm going to get the rest of our bags." Nick said, setting our bags on a chair next to me. I nodded.
"I'm going to look for Trini and Jason." I replied.
"You do that." He muttered before walking away. I scanned the small crowd of people, standing on my tippy toes. At the far end of the hall, I saw a flash of black hair followed by a petite figure walking.
"KIM!" Trini Kwan's voice called out, her arm waving in the air. My face lit up and I waved mine towards her. She pushed through the people and behind her, I saw her fiancé Jason. He was just as tall and muscular as I remembered, his biceps showing under the red t-shirt with cut off sleeves he was wearing. Once Trini was cleared off the crowd, he sprinted towards me. I ran towards her two and when we met, we collided in a bone crushing hug. "It's so good to see you!" She said, squeezing me tightly. I felt mist in my eyes as tears welled up in them.
"I missed you guys so much." I said, her holding me at arm's length. Her almond shaped eyes were also filled with tears and the Asian American woman I considered my best friend smiled at me. She looked fantastic, a yellow tank top with white flowers on her torso and a pair of black shorts on her bottom. Her long hair was braided down her back and she didn't look a day older than she did in high school.
"You have no idea how happy we are to have you back here." She said. Letting go of me, she moved to the side to allow Jason to step forward. He smiled down at me, shutting me a wink before giving me a tight hug.
"Have you been working out?" I asked, teasing him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He laughed loudly, picking me up off the ground. He set me back down and I noticed that Nick was standing off to the side with our bags. Letting go of Jason, I smiled at Nick. He didn't return it but did walk over to me and wrap an arm around my waist. "Guys, you remember my husband Nick. Nick, this is Trini and her fiancé Jason."
"It's nice to meet you, man." Jason said, holding his hand out to shake. Nick eyed it for a second before taking it. I saw he was gripping his hand tightly when he shook it. When they let go, Nick turned his attention to Trini.
"Thank you for letting us stay with you. I wish we didn't have to but you know how Kim's mother can be. God knows how the woman takes her time doing anything when it doesn't come to her dating life." Nick said. Trini looked confused for a second before smiling.
"No worries! We love having you guys with us. It'll be fun. We can get to know you and help you guys get settled in." She replied. "C'mon. We have the SUV outside. I thought we could stop and get breakfast before heading home."
"That sounds amazing." I said, smiling at her. Nick grabbed the cart with the luggage and pushed it towards Jason.
"Do you mind? I would but I have this thing with my back." Nick asked. Jason hesitated for a moment but nodded his head.
"Sure. No problem." Jason grabbed the cart and pulled it behind us as we walked. Trini looped her arm with mine, smiling.
"I can't wait to show you our house. It's the cutest thing you'll ever see. And just wait until everyone sees you. We invited them all over for a BBQ tomorrow. We thought you might want to have the day to get settled in before having everyone over in your face." I laughed.
"I appreciate that." I replied.
"I thought you would. If you're up to it later though, I thought maybe we could head to the mall."
"Duh. I was just thinking about the mall on the way here. I'm so happy to be back here. Thank you guys so much for helping us."
"Anytime. I'm so glad to have the whole gang back together. The only one we've been missing since Zack moved back from NY was you! But now you're here and it'll be just like old times." Biting my lip, I glanced over at her.
"Everyone is back in Angel Grove?" I asked. She nodded as we walked out of the airport. I saw a red SUV parked in a spot right outside and knew it was Jason's. He pushed the cart over to it and Nick helped him unload our bags into the back.
"Yeah! Rocky, Aisha, and Adam just finished up school and moved back. Zack switched his agent so that he could come back. And Tommy is running his new dojo here in town. Wait until you see it! It's just like how he always dreamed it would be, Kim." I stopped, looking to see if Nick was listening. I saw he was talking to Jason about construction, not listening to Trini.
"Hey. Can we wait to talk about Tommy until we go to the mall later?" I asked quietly. She raised an eyebrow at me and nodded.
"Yeah. No problem."
"Thank you." I whispered. Jason closed the trunk door and walked over to the driver side door. Trini got into the passenger side and I took the seat behind her, leaving the one behind Jason for Nick. He climbed in, shutting the door behind him.
"He's pleasant." Nick muttered in a low voice that I was hoping was low enough for only to two of us to hear. Reaching over, I grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze in a way to show him I wanted him to stop. He rolled his eyes, sitting up straight. "So, Jason. What do you do for work?"
"I help run a dojo here in town." Jason replied. "I have a youth's kick boxing mentor program that I lead as well."
"Wow. So I guess those muscles aren't just for show then." Nick said, smiling at him. Jason pulled off the curb and into traffic.
"I guess not." Jason replied.
"What about you, Trini?" Nick asked, shifting in his seat. Trini turned in her seat to face us.
"I run the bio lab for the local environmental science center." She replied.
"So, you're a lab assistant." Nick replied. I shook my head.
"No. Trini is the one in charge of the whole place." I stated. "Everyone else works under her."
"Something like that." She replied, smiling at me. "I just enjoy doing my part to help all the sea creatures around here. We test the waters and make sure that they aren't toxic or contaminated. We also develop ways to clean up the oceans when there are oil spills or other manmade disasters."
"Always the hero." Jason said, bringing her hand up and kissing the back of it. I smirked, enjoying seeing the two of them still together.
"That's pretty impressive." Nick said. "I don't blame ya, Jason. Having Kim make more money than me is pretty nice. Who says that the man needs to bring the bacon home along as the lady still cooks it, right?" I felt horror fill me.
"Let's eat!" Trini said, cutting everyone off as Jason pulled into the parking lot of the local diner.
