One in a Million

The day she told Caroline about wanting to go home, she didn’t exactly get the answer she was hoping for.

“I’ll go with you. I’ll admit it, I’ve been waiting for you to ask,” she had said, “But I have to tell Joe first.” She had paused, avoiding eye contact. “About the kid.”

“You haven’t already?”

“I was hoping you’d be there with me,” Caroline had said the words slowly and quietly, almost as if she was ashamed to ask, “For support.”

Aalia felt nervous again. Asking her to do that was huge, but how could she say no? Caroline needed her. She agreed despite her fear of seeing Nick again. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to. She just wasn’t sure if he did.

Caroline picked her up from the hotel the day before their scheduled flight and they blindly tried to survive the masses of paparazzi. Tears never stopped rimming Aalia’s eyes in their presence because she knew there was nothing but hatred felt toward her in that town. Caroline even felt more uncomfortable than usual as the reporters screamed questions at her. But knowing that it would be the last time they would need to endure that made it somewhat bearable.

When they finally reached the house, they parked in the driveway. Just as Aalia reached to unbuckle her seatbelt, Caroline turned to her and said, “Stay. I’ll just be a few minutes.”

Aalia was confused. “I thought you wanted me to go with you.”

“Just knowing you came is enough. I wouldn’t make you risk seeing him again with what he’s doing with that whore.”

“Don’t call her that. We don’t know her…” She spoke so softly that Caroline could barely hear her. Aalia didn’t exactly feel pleasantly towards Melissa either, but she knew how it felt to be hated by people who didn’t know her.

“Sorry,” Caroline brushed it off, “Just wait here.”

“It’s really no big deal,” she tried to sound at least a little convincing, “I can come with you.”

Caroline smiled at her sympathetically. “You’re not fooling me, Al.”

She escaped from the car after giving Aalia’s hand a small squeeze and approached the house. Aalia let her head fall back against the seat and took a deep breath.

She doubted he was even inside the house. Her imagination told her he was out on the town with his model, taking her everywhere in his stupid supercar and buying her expensive things while she basked in the spotlight of the paparazzi, something that Aalia would never be able to do. She thought she knew him better than that. He didn’t like all the attention either. But apparently she was wrong.

Caroline remained in the house for what felt like hours and Aalia feared Joe would somehow convince her to stay in Los Angeles. She would go home alone if she had to. She wouldn’t force them apart. But she had to admit it wouldn’t be easy by herself and she’d miss her best friend.

Her worries subsided when she saw Caroline emerge from the front door, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She was halfway down the driveway when Joe appeared, yelling her name and chasing after her. He pulled her into his arms as Caroline cried and Aalia had to look away, feeling sad for their loss.

After a few moments, she heard a soft knock on her window and Caroline motioned at her to come outside. She could see the swollen redness of her eyes and Joe’s expression was the same. Aalia met them, stepping out from the car with her arms wrapped awkwardly around her torso, and Joe tried to smile at her.

“Take care of her,” was the first thing he said to her, “Please.”

“I will,” she said in a quiet voice, trying not to look him in the eye. She felt guilty taking Caroline away, and he reminded her too much of Nick. “You have my word.”

Joe searched her eyes and when he spoke again, his voice was gentle.

“He’s not doing it on purpose.”

Aalia blinked a few times, confused and waiting for him to clarify.

“That’s all I can say,” he said sympathetically.

She still didn’t understand. By “he,” she was sure he meant Nick. But what wasn’t he doing on purpose? And why was that all Joe could say? She decided her questions weren’t even worth answering. It was all too late.

“See you around, Joe,” she said. He could tell she’d given up.

He hugged her briefly and then pulled Caroline into a loving embrace, wiping her tears away and whispering he loved her. Aalia was surprised when Caroline didn’t say it back.

As they went their separate ways, the girls back towards the car and Joe back into the house, Aalia didn’t feel closure. Something was missing. When Caroline pulled out from the driveway, Aalia took one last look at the house and sighed, sure that she would always feel that way without him.

------------------------------

Somehow, everything she saw on the day she left reminded her of him. From the Lifehouse song that played on the cab radio to the boardwalk on Venice Beach that they passed on their way to the airport, he was always there. That did nothing but make it all harder for her.

When they finally reached the airport, Aalia felt out of sorts.

“Do you have everything?” Caroline asked her as they took a seat near the gate, waiting for the flight attendants to allow them to board.

“Yeah,” she nodded, taking too long to respond. She unscrewed the cap of a Snapple iced tea Caroline insisted she drink to snap out of it and took a sip. “Oh wait. My boarding pass. Do you have it?”

Caroline reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. She handed it to Aalia who eyed it suspiciously.

“What’s this?”

“Joe gave it to me to give to you.”

Aalia felt her eyebrows crease in confusion. “He didn’t need to buy my ticket.”

Caroline looked at her sympathetically. “He didn’t.”

Aalia was confused as she opened the envelope. Inside was her boarding pass.

“Did you print it out at their house or something?” she asked. Caroline had been in charge of printing their tickets as Aalia didn’t have a printer at her hotel.

She looked over to see Caroline shaking her head.

Her attention moved back to the envelope in search of something that would make it all make sense, and she found it. Sitting on the tip of the flap was a small music note drawn in black ink and she knew.

Just like he promised he would, he had bought her plane ticket back to Arizona.

She couldn’t help the feeling of her heart dropping in her chest. That was his way of saying goodbye to her. To give her the ticket to leave and make it that much easier for her to walk out of his life. She knew then for sure that she had never meant anything to him. She’d been disposable, and he had no problem letting her leave.

She held her head in her hands and let the disappointment overwhelm her once again.