Chapter 11

Michael sat down in the chair of the terminal. His flight had been delayed for an hour so he was stuck waiting there until it was time to board.

His exhaustion had finally caught up with him from not sleeping the previous night.

"What could twenty minutes hurt?" he whispered to himself leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

It had to be the most uncomfortable chair in the world but nevertheless he managed to fall asleep.

Michael looked around the familiar scenery around him. He was back at the beach where his mother would take him and Linc every Sunday until the day she died.

"Hey stranger." a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Mom?" he asked confused as she sat in the sand next to him.

She confirmed with a nod and motioned to the blanket next to her "Sit down Michael."

He did as he was told and sat next to his mother. "How...I mean what are doing here?"

"You're dreaming honey."

"But if I'm dreaming then how do I know that I'm dreaming? And if I'm dreaming while knowing that I'm dreaming why am I still dreaming? And..."

"Calm down Michael!" she giggled "Don't think about it, it'll just give you a big headache."

"Right, sorry." he blushed a little "I'm just really happy to see you. Especially after..." Michael trailed off not wanting to rehash the horror of the past couple of days.

"I know. That's what I'm here to talk to you about."

"What do mean?" Michael asked still pretty confused.

"Sara."

Michael looked down still a little sore about the subject.

"Michael, why are you running away?"

"I'm not running away from anything mom. She doesn't want to be with me, because she doesn't love me."

"So that means that you're just going to leave without so much as a goodbye?"

Michael rolled his eyes "Not you too mom. Linc already lectured me about it."

"Maybe your brothers' right. You shouldn't walk out on love. What have I always told you and Linc growing up?"

"That true love exists, and if you find it you should hold onto it and never let it go. I understand that I really do but Sara just doesn't love me."

"Well, if you gave her a chance maybe she would tell you that she feels the same way. You just need to give her a chance to tell you."

Before Michael could open up his mouth to object he saw someone walking down the beach. He could barely make out the figure walking toward them and strained to see.

"Is that?"

"Yes, its Sara." his mother confirmed for him.

"What is she doing here? And... Is she crying?"

"This was about a year ago on the day you asked her to leave the door open for you. She's crying because she knows you used her and because she fell in love with you but knew those feelings weren't reciprocated."

Michael's heart wretched in his stomach. If it's one thing he couldn't stand to see it was Sara crying.

"But I did love her back." Michael said tears coming to his own eyes.

"I know that, and you know that, but she doesn't. She thought it was all just a game of manipulation. But in the end the battle between her head and her heart, her heart won. She decided that the love she felt for you was more important than any consequences."

She looked over to see tears flowing down Michael's cheeks as he kept his gaze focused on Sara.

"Now it's time to show that same faith. Tell her you love her and..."

"No, no I can't." Michael said shaking his head "I won't hurt her again. She doesn't deserve that after all I've put her through. I mean look at her. She's crying because of me I did that to her. She deserves to be happy and I'm not the person who's going to make her that way."

"Michael, I know you're scared. I know that you don't want to hurt her. That you're scared if you do open up it will also hurt you if she turns you down. But that shouldn't stop you from trying. She's not happy with the guy she's with. He won't make her happy you're the only person you can do that. You owe her the choice."

"What if she doesn't feel the same way?"

"Then it'll be okay." she said placing a delicate hand on his shoulder "Love is never an easy thing. Sometimes you just have to have a little faith."

"Now boarding flight 102 to Panama." Michael was jolted awake by the airport intercom.

He got up and followed the rest of the eager passengers to the boarding gate. He was so lost in his own thought that he didn't even notice when the fight attendant asked for his ticket.

"Sir? Your boarding pass please."

He reached for his boarding pass as his mothers voice sounded off in his head "Just have a little faith."

"You just have to have a little faith and everything will be okay." he hadn't realized he had said that out loud.

"Excuse me?" the stewardess asked confused by his little outburst.

"I'm sorry, I have to go."

Michael ran as fast as he could through the terminal. He knew he had to find Sara. He would call her friend Heather and...

"Crap." he said as a thought came to mind. Back at the motel he had thrown her number away and knew it was long gone by now.

He closed his eyes and slowly replayed the memory in his mind. There. He remembered briefly looking at her number before disposing of it. He grabbed a pin and jotted down her number.

He pulled out his cell phone and made the call that would take him one step closer to getting Sara back.