Always Come Back to You

I sighed as I heard the lady's intercom voice come on over the airport speakers once again. It woke me up out of my two hour nap that was greatly needed. Times like these were the reasons as to why I hated having such a demanding job at time. However, being able to see the world and look back on all that I've done at the end of a project is completely worth it.

I grabbed my carry on items and headed towards the gate so I could board my plane. This time, the line went smoothly, not having to worry about any hold up with kids and such. After my pass was scanned I headed down the walkway and onto the plane.

A grin came on my face as I noticed that I got the window seat, and also one with extra leg room. There also seemed to be not that many people in first class either which made me feel less claustrophobic about flying. There was always that thing about planes that freaked me out. Having a controlled oxygen amount and potentially running out terrified me and the fact that things could so easily go wrong.

I looked up when I saw someone cough lightly beside me. A tall but skinny frame was standing up and shoving some bags into the overhead compartment. Soon after I heard the “click” of the compartment closing I saw a face appear in my line of sight.

“Hello” The person smiled in my direction. It was a man who looked like he was in his early twenties. He wore a black tank top with an ampersand on it and black skinnies. His mouth was a bit ajar and he had obnoxiously big ray bans on which made him look a bit like a douche.

“Hi” I replied giving him a weak smile. I then went on to pull out my sketchbook and notes so I could get started working.

It sure seemed like the man from before wouldn’t let that happen though. Taking a seat next to me, he made it obvious that he was looking at what I was writing and reading before clearing his throat.

“Work? What do you do?” He asked.

“I’m an interior designer. I’m just currently working on a house in Newport Beach - more like a mansion really.”

“That’s so cool! So fetch!” He responded before becoming embarrassed about his language “Do you have a nice house yourself as well then?”

“I own a loft in New York. It used to be a warehouse but an architecture firm I work with - William Rawn Associates - they converted it to full story lofts. They gave me the penthouse loft along with half a million if I designed all of the stories. The penthouse would have been worth five million, so it was a good deal.”

“That’s awesome! I’m actually flying out to Los Angeles to look for a new apartment. I’m from Arizona originally but L.A. is just so much more convenient with everything. Looking for a good building... I’m a bit of a interior design junkie”

“That’s nice. What do you do for a living, if you don’t mind me asking?” I asked him curiously.

“I play in a band called A Rocket To The Moon actually. Sorry, I should have introduced myself before. Eric Halvorsen.”

I shook his hand before introducing myself as well. We spent the majority of the flight talking about my job and his. It was nice talking to someone who understood the toll that constantly traveling had on a person. Although his career was a bit more demanding, it was nice talking to someone who didn’t see it as such a glamoured up lifestyle. Both our jobs called for us traveling away from home, sometimes at long periods of time.

I worked with three architecture firms which were spread out across the world. My main location of residence was in New York, close to the firm that I work with the most, however I was constantly flying out to Los Angeles and Paris, or wherever they were working on their new project. I was expected to stay for a couple of days to weeks to help work on the interior and figure it all out.

Halfway through the conversation, Eric seemed to see that I was a bit tired. When he asked, I just responded with the fact that I had just flown back to New York from Paris and had three hours of transit time before flying to Los Angeles. I hadn’t even been able to go home during that time either.

“Go to sleep, really. You need it.”

“Yeah? I guess I probably should. I feel like I’m so tired I can’t sleep though.”

“Trust me, when you fall asleep you’ll feel so much better.”

He quickly reacted when he saw me pull out my iPod from her bag “No no no - here you should listen to my band’s music. I mean I play bass but I help write songs!”

I cocked an eyebrow up at him before agreeing and putting the earphones in. He then leaned over towards my side a bit so that I could lay my head on his shoulder and fall asleep nicely. As the song named “Annabelle” started playing I felt my eyelids start getting heavy and soon after fell asleep.

“Hey! We’re here” I felt soft taps on my shoulder. Groggily sitting up I noticed that the seatbelt sign was back on and that we were descending. I looked up to see Eric sitting there with a small smile on his face. He reached over to fix something in my hair which made me blush immediately. I probably looked haggard with my hair sticking up all over the place.

“Yay, gotta go to work” I murmured which cause him to chuckle.

“Yay - gotta go apartment hunting” He mocked me jokingly. I faked a glare at him before laughing and taking my earphones out.

“That’s really good music. I’m gonna go need to buy some of your music now” I smiled pressing pause on the machine.

When the flight finally reached the ground and the door was open, Eric and I both got out and headed towards baggage claim. After collecting our baggage, we bid each other farewell quickly as he had to get to a meeting with a home owner.

Once I took a step out of the airport and was greeted with the beautiful California air, I sighed loudly. If he wasn’t in such a rush, I would have asked for his number. Hell, I should have. He was sweet, funny, kind of stupid, but also smart and intelligent at the same time. Everything that I wanted in a guy. He shared my love for music and my job, and seemed all in all, perfect.

Once I got into the corporate limo sent to me by Richard Meier & Partners, the driver sped off towards the Newport Beach area. Knowing that I looked a bit shaken, I went to pull out my hair brush and makeup from my bag. However when I reached in my palm grazed a cold metal object. I pulled it out to see that it was Eric’s iPod.

Knowing that it was probably of big importance to him and that he’d need it, I began searching on the iPod for any signs of a schedule and such. Luckily, I found that he had scheduled an appointment looking at an apartment in downtown Los Angeles.

I didn’t know wether I should continue going to Newport Beach or ask the driver to turn around so I could return Eric’s iPod and perhaps even exchange numbers. My work life had completely taken over my life, I buried myself in my work. I had little contact with all of my old best friends, but they also went on to get married as well. My last relationship was three years ago and we broke up because of the fact that I had to go to Paris for two months working on a new museum. It was tough, and as much as I had liked Eric I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take that step again. I knew that I had to take some time to myself though. I couldn’t live life emerged in my work and end up a lonely dying and unhappy woman.

“Can you please turn the car around and go to this address please?” I handed the iPod to the driver who nodded and headed that way. It took about an hour to get into Los Angeles with the traffic which left me sitting in the back a nervous mess. Not only was I possibly jeopardizing my job, I was also doing something I hadn’t done in years - try to have a love life.

When we finally reached the building I got out shakily letting the driver know I’d be back in a bit. Looking down at the information regarding the meeting, the instructions seemed a bit odd, but I followed them anyway knowing that it was probably my best bet at finding him.

So, I took the elevator up to the 30th floor. Then I got out, took a left, then a right, then down the long hallway until I saw a exit on the right. I walked into the exit and then climbed the stairs pushing open the door at the top.

The first thing I saw was the beautiful skyline of Los Angeles. Then looking at the rooftop, I noticed a table with two chairs sitting there. They both had silver platters on top of them. The table as also surrounded by rose petals. I walked closer towards the table and my breath hitched as I finally noticed him sitting on the ledge staring at me.

Feeling a bit awkward about possibly ruining his date, I held up the iPod shaking it. He slowly made his way over towards me and gave me a sly smile.

“I’m glad you came to me” He grinned.

“W-What? Wait, what you planned this all?” I burst out completely shocked.

He nodded with a smile still on his face “I’m staying with my friend here, he owns an apartment in this building. I typed in the address when you were sleeping and slipped the iPod in your bag. I was really hoping you’d come”

A true smile made it’s way to my face as I looked at Eric “All this, for me?”

He nodded once again and pulled me in closer and captured my lips in his.

“All for you.”