£116.23 was all he had left in the world. Somehow he had found himself paying for a one way ticket to Gerald R. Ford International Airport, Michigan after spending half an hour on a pay phone to a panicked Robyn who diligently rung around various people to find out whereabouts in Michigan Zoe actually was, and to which hospital she would be heading to.
Now all he had was a ticket and a crumpled napkin with 'St Joseph's mercy hospital, Saugatuck' scrawled on it in the blue ink from a pen that he had taken from an unattended reception desk.
The pen now perched neatly in the pocket of his t-shirt, lid hooked over the hem of it, a little blue stripe against the black.
He had packed everything away into his bag and hunched it into his lap, his guitar safely on the floor between his ankles, waiting as he did, to board the plane.
His mind dawdled over the various faces, couples, families, singletons that passed him by, only a handful glimpsing him in return, the odd half glance, a hurried smile, a nod of the head.
He watched as the second had on the huge wall clock ticked down to 6:00PM. The sky outside was black, littered with the lights of descending and ascending aeroplanes and pin-prick stars.
He could see himself in the wall of windows, a seat empty either side of him despite the busy waiting room. Perhaps he smelt too strongly of desperation. He smiled at the thought.
The smile soon waned though as he looked at himself in the window, a pale, streaky version of himself. His hair was thick with city smoke and lay flat against his scalp. He hadn't shaved in days and his stubble was fast becoming a patchy whiskery mess. He, like the guitar case between his legs, had seen better days.
He glanced back to the clock, the second hand ticked down the last few seconds. Zoe would be there now. On the other side of the world. He fidgeted in his seat. Trying to ignore the very real possibility that when he got there, she might turn him away.
It was 7:00 AM U.S time. She had slept for most of the night, but still she woke to bleary eyes and a head that thumped painfully with every step she took. She squinted, almost closing one eye entirely as she was jostled through to the luggage collection area of the air port. She wished she had packed her sun glasses.
Someone with a thick American drawl announced something over the tannoy which she failed to hear over the squeal of metal trolleys and the putter and whirr of the carousel that the luggage bags were tossed onto.
She by-passed it, having only had time to pack hand luggage, reasoning with herself that she would be able to buy what she needed once she was here.
She had never travelled alone before, not like this. She looked about for the right arrivals gate.
How was it that she was actually here? She had been so adamant that she wouldn't be when she had first had that conversation with Guy.
She refused to think about the reasons why she was here, pushed the ever-present emptiness of being to the back of her mind and clutched her bag tighter to her, pushing between the crowds to the arrivals lounge.
Out in the open air the world smelled different. The sky seemed lower, the clouds sailed over head, whispering by on the tail of wind. She felt it against her, nearly knocking her back. It flattened her hair and blew the leaves of a nearby tree into her legs where they bustled and frolicked before scuttering off across the tarmac.
She looked about herself, the steady slip stream of yellow cabs that she'd only seen before in films. Did she hail them, standing proudly on the side walk, arm raised as she'd seen Sarah Jessica-Parker do many a time in Sex and the City?!
She guessed not as she watched them speed, tyres squealing against the wet roads, drivers gesturing non-to friendly to one another from their windows.
Someone shouted, waving an arm from the opposite side of the road. She glanced behind herself to where people milled about, no one seeming to notice the man who was crossing the road.
Turning back to him she realised he was calling to her, smiling at her. He skipped up the curb and made his way over to her.
"Zoe Hanna?"
He asked, holding out a hand. She hesitated before taking it.
"Ye-es?"
She narrowed her eyes. He was tall, much taller than her. His straight white teeth shone a pearlised white as he smiled again, his mouth was slightly crooked she noticed.
"I'm Henry Mollengraaf...Dr. Henry Mollengraaf."
She raised an eyebrow at his introduction.
"I'm from St Joseph's, here to meet you."
He seemed rather pleased with himself, he maintained a hold of her hand until she pulled away, surreptitiously wiping her hand against her thigh.
"How on earth did you know who I was?"
She asked, still slightly taken aback by this larger than life character.
"Your picture."
He held up a piece of paper, the picture from her work badge was scanned onto it, along with the details of her arrival. She cast a hasty eye over it before looking back up at him. He smiled again, he seemed to have too much blonde hair, all bustling about on the top of his head as though he had been electrocuted. His eyes, which were blue and keen, were wide set and narrow. He looked decidedly German with all those teeth and that hair she concluded.
"Are you ready to go?"
He asked, seemingly non-plussed by her scrutiny.
"Let me take that."
He added, taking her bag from her before she had time to refuse. She looked at it, hanging from his shoulder, looking ridiculous against his hip.
"I suppose so."
She spoke into the air, feeling her words leave her lips as the wind whistled past, leading her gaze to the road ahead.
Oh I'm so looking forward to writing tomorrow's update! Hope you all enjoy tonight's :) x