After a one night stand on New Year's Eve, Lia and Derrick don't expect to see one another again. After all, she's a Harvard PhD student and he's a professional hockey player for the Boston Knights - there's no way their paths should cross again.
E...
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"We're beginning to make our descent into Los Angeles, so we ask that all passengers please return to their seats. We'll make another announcement with deplaning instructions once we land and are heading toward our gate."
Murmurings of excitement could be heard around me as passengers began to look out the windows and get the familiar thrill that came with traveling. In contrast, however, I was wringing my hands nervously in my lap, wondering if this was truly the best idea.
Was I actually doing this? Flying across the country to see my boyfriend, who I hadn't even known three months ago?
Yes, I was. Because somehow, this guy—this striking, confident, good-looking guy—had begun to chip away at my defenses to burrow himself into a small section of my heart.
Even across the country, he'd found creative ways over the past two weeks to convince me that giving him a true shot was in no way a mistake. There had been days when I'd woken up to sweet good morning messages waiting for me, phone calls and video chats nearly every night to catch up with one another despite the miles between us, and on the Monday after we'd made things official, I'd come back to my office after lunch to see a small bouquet of wildflowers waiting for me.
Which had made the conversation with my professor later that day an interesting one. Awkward for me and amusing for her. When I'd asked about taking a day off, she'd looked at me knowingly. "I'm assuming that has something to do with whoever sent you the flowers today?" she said, and when I nodded, a breezy laugh fell from her lips. "Lia, it's fine. You're ahead on your research, you don't have lab time scheduled, and you aren't missing any lectures. Everyone needs time off, so take those couple of days to recharge and come back ready to put the finishing touches on your defense."
And I'd taken her advice to heart, because for the first time since I started my PhD, I had left my laptop behind in Boston. The action had terrified the piece of my soul that was hellbent on being an overachiever and reaching my fullest potential, but I'd listened to the logical side of my brain as I left my apartment earlier this morning.
This weekend was all about spending time with Derrick, not staring at a screen for hours on end.
"In town for anything special?" my seat mate asked, clutching the arm rests tighter with each meter we descended closer to the ground. Likely a few years younger than me, she'd been fidgety for the majority of the flight, but I could sympathize with the nerves and anxiety she seemed to have coursing through her body.
I gave her a shy smile. "Just to visit my boyfriend for the weekend."
"Oh, that's sweet," she said, before grimacing as the wheels of the plane hit the tarmac and things got a bit rough for a few moments. She exhaled slowly once the airplane attendant came back on the speaker and we headed towards our gate. "I'm here for a job interview."
