Thick and Thin

It was a grey sky the day Sara left. I had dropped her off at the airport, cried for an hour, and cried even harder as I watched her plane fly away. Oddly enough, I felt that Sara leaving was a lot harder on me than Eli's departure. I wiped away my tears and headed home, determined to start packing for my trip to New York.

I had to call my clients and apologize for the cancellation the following week for my going out of town. They seemed ok by it and told me to have a good time. I felt a weight lifted. The last weight is to find someone to watch Meike.

I could leave her in a doggie hotel, but I honestly didn't want to leave her somewhere like that. I wanted her to stay in her environment, she was already a nervous dog. Being around other dogs would give her a heart attack. I flipped through the phone book to see if there was any dog sitters who could come in and take car of her a few times a day. With no luck, I decided to call a near by vet.

Fortunately, they knew the perfect person. Patients that come in always recommend her. They gave me her number and she came over later that day to interact with Meike so she could get used to her.

"I can come in as many times as you want me to," She said. "I can even stay here with your permission," She joked. "I have had clients say I could stay, though."

I thought about it. I wasn't sure about having a stranger staying in my place for a week. I thought about the research I did on her, though, and all the good comments the Vet's secretary had told me.

"Of course. I think Meike would be better if you stayed. She gets separation anxiety."

I went over where her food was and handed her Sara's key. I told her where I hide the spare just in case, reminding myself to change the hiding spot when I get back. You never know. I also showed her where I take her outside and where her poop bags were located. I pointed to the nail on the wall by the door where her harness and leash was located.

"Everything is pretty much in plain site," I explained. "She has toys in that box," I pointed to a box by the tv, along with one of her beds. "She loves the orange and black tennis ball thing. It's a lot sturdier than the average tennis balls, they don't last two minutes with her."

I went ahead and paid a couples day worth for her for gas, since she lived a half hour away. I told her I would leave a few extra dollars in case she gets hungry or if Meike runs out of food.

I called Eli as soon as she left, excited.

"I found a dog sitter and she is amazing," I said before he even said Hello.

"Well, hello to you too," He laughed. "That's great news then. I take it you're doing okay without Sara?"

I slumped onto the couch and completely forgot about Sara leaving.

"I was," I whispered. I heard him sigh sadly.

"I'm sorry, babe."

"It's ok, I'll just get started on packing."

"Remember that dress you wore at the restaurant?"

"I wore a lot of dresses at plenty of restaurants." I laughed.

"The black one," he reminded me. "Bring it and I want you to wear it at the show."

I nodded slowly and stared at him cautiously. Must be something big, I thought to myself. I lifted my leg and rested my chin on my knee and yawned.

"Well, I'm excited," I said. He smirked.

"You should be."

***

I had everything packed and ready to go the following week. Before I left the apartment, I gave Meike a long hug and started crying. She was my baby. I knew I was coming back, but I wished she could go with me. I kissed the top of her head and left for my flight.

I read the whole way to New York City, occasionally drifting off to sleep. I also brought Lysol and Lysol wipes, fear of getting germs. Come on, planes are just flying germ carriers.

The ride wasn't too bad, though. Fortunately, there were no holidays coming up and it was mid week, so the only passengers were business people. As soon as I got off the plane, it was like I had to reteach myself how to walk again, even though I was only on it for a few hours or so.

I went over to the luggage claim and got my bags, feeling arms wrapping around my waist, I turned to smack whoever it was until I realized it was Eli.

I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck and we kissed for a few minutes. We rested our foreheads against each other and smiled. I felt like I was staring forever into his eyes, even though it wasn't even a minute. He kissed me on the cheek and took my bags, his smile never fading from his face.

"Excited?" He asked, taking my hand. I nodded.

"I've never been here before."

"You're in for a treat." He took me over to a limo. I stopped and he kept walking, tugging me a little then turning around. He looked at me questioningly.

"A limo?" I gasped. "What is this?"

"It's nothing," he shrugged. "Nicer than a cab."

"A limo?" I repeated. "Are we meeting the president or something?" I heard him chuckle and he tugged me along. The driver tilted his hat at me and took my bags from Eli, putting them in the trunk. Eli opened the door for me and guided me in. It was almost exactly like the limo we had back in Florida when it was storming.

"No president. We're going to stop at my place and get changed so we can head out to the show." He sat very close to me and I rested my head on his shoulder. I felt much better when I was with him, more complete if that makes any sense.

Not even five minutes later, we arrived and a large beautiful building. There were three stories to it, and three doors also. So it was like a duplex, but with three attached. It was beautiful.

My mouth was wide open, and like an idiot I didn't notice it. I felt Eli's breath on my ear.

"Home sweet home."

I turned my gaze to him with my mouth still open.

"Eli, this place is amazing."

"Wait until you see the inside."

He opened the front door for me and I walked in, mouth still gaping. Dark oak wooden floors covered the whole bottom floor and stairs, with a carpet strip leading into the kitchen. It smelt like linen and laundry. There was a huge TV in the living room to our left, along with a big couch and a glass coffee table. He led me upstairs to the second floor. It had two guest rooms and a bathroom and the floor was dark oak wood also. He then led me upstairs which had the master bathroom, which was HUGE, with a walk in shower on one side, the other an antique bath tub. His room, across the bathroom, was also huge. Wooden floors, again, but he had a large black area rug right in the center. His bed, huge, his TV, huge.

I walked over to the window, which was strange that out of all this stuff he had and how beautiful the house was, the window was my favorite part. It covered most of his wall, and you could see a park from there. There were kids playing in the street and laughing, enjoying their summer vacation before they had to go back to school. You could see restaurants and fast food places. It was peaceful, in a way.

I jumped when Eli wrapped his arm around my waist and stared out the window with me.

"This is how I clear my head," he said. "I just look out the window. See those kids?" He pointed to two ten year old or so boys, with brown hair. "They're twins. Their mom passed away a couple years ago. And that guy?" He pointed to a man, couldn't be any younger than 35. "That's their father. He's a great guy."

"This place is amazing," I whispered. I saw Eli nod from my peripheral vision.

"Now get dressed shower, do whatever girls do," he smiled and kissed my cheek. He left the room before announcing he was getting ready too.

I grabbed my dress and went into the master bathroom to wash all of the plane off of me. I set my dress on the sink before getting undressed. I walked in the marble shower and turned on the hot water. I decided not to wash my hair since it took forever to blow dry.

I tied a towel around my body and went back to Eli's room to grab my hair stuff. He was standing by the window again, this time wearing a black tux. He turned around and raised his eye brows at me.

"If I knew you would come in here like that, I wouldn't of gotten dressed," he teased, walking closer to me. I smiled and grabbed my curling iron and hair straightener along with my heat protectant spray.

"Calm down, I'm here all week."

After I did my hair and slipped on my dress and put on some black heels that weren't so high, I walked out of the bathroom with Eli waiting in the kitchen.

"Ready?" He breathed loudly. I could tell he was starting to get a little nervous. I nodded and we walked out of the house, the limo driver waiting patiently.

We went down a couple blocks before hitting the highway, and about five miles later we arrived at a arena. The limo driver dropped us off and we headed inside, each step we took I could feel Eli's palms getting more and more sweaty.

"You ok?" I asked him. He nodded and gave a weak smile.

"Just nervous."

I squeezed his hand and we went inside the actual showing place. He pointed over to the front, where Claire, Bianca, Drew, Sara, Adam, and Eli's parents were sitting. I smiled wide seeing Sara and Adam. As Eli and I approached, they all stood up and hug us and shake Eli's hand, words of congratulations spreading through the area.

"It's nice to finally meet you," I told Clare. She pulled me into a hug.

"It's nice to meet you too! I keep hearing all these stories, it's nice to see you." She was holding a little notebook and a pen. "I'm a writer for the paper here and I'm doing a story on Eli's production. I've done Eli's plays before so it's not as nerve wracking," she smiled. The lights started to flicker and we took our seats. An older guy went up to the podium and began to speak.

"Thank you so much for joining us today. As you know, we will be showing a few short films by our amazing students. I've been teaching here for thirty years, and I have never had such smart, passionate students until now. We will be watching, "A time and a half," by John Smartsky, "Where are we?" by Shannon Glock, and last but not least, "Letters" by Elijah Goldsworthy."

When he said Eli's name I squeezed his hand.

The first film showed. It was about a half hour long, and very beautiful. It was about a husband who was losing his wife to cancer and how they cope with it together. The boy, who the guy said was John, explained the moral of it, and how he unfortunately lost his mother to cancer. He got he story from watching how his father handled things. I rubbed tears from my eyes.

The next film was a little more intense. It was mainly a bunch of kids that did drugs like acid and shrooms. When the girl came up to the podium you could tell she was a very 'peaceful' person.

Finally, Eli's was up. It showed a boy tapping on a school desk with a pen, a piece of paper out in front of him. It showed him start to write, and he stood to put it on the teachers desk. Then it showed a girl in a classroom reading the letter. Then it showed their first phone call, and their first dance. It then showed them fighting, yelling at each other and splitting apart.

I looked over at Eli, and he nodded to the screen, telling me to keep watching.

The boy was distraught. He was at a party, drinking. He stumbled all the way home. He left home for college and tried moving on but he couldn't. He traveled for vacation with a close friend and he found her years later. They fell in love all over again.

I wiped a tear away from my cheek and smiled at Eli.

He had been working on this even before we got in touch again, I remembered him telling me he had been working on the film for a few years now. It was about us. He never forgot.

He stood up and walked onto the stage, the room filling with applause. My hands actually started hurting after a while.

"I started this a few years ago. The point of the story is never let distance get in the way of things that you love. If you believe there's a reason, then there is a reason. Don't give up." He paused and looked at me, smiling. "My inspiration was this girl I met in grade 12, her name is Alexis Tubb. She started out as a pen pal for my English class, but the more I wrote her the more I wanted to know about her. We met, yes. I fell in love with her instantly. Unfortunately, we fought and had no contact for years.

But that was when my best friend married her best friend. We went to Florida, and I instantly fell in love with her all over again. I felt that spark in me. I knew it was because we were meant to be together."

I covered my face with my hands to hide from the stares. I could feel my cheeks burning and tears streaming down my face.

"Alex, can you come up here?" he asked. I dropped my hands and shook my head violently. No, I thought. Please no. I hate standing in front of a crowd. I felt Sara shove my shoulder and I smacked her. I walked slowly up the steps to the podium. I heard a few whistles and cat calls, half of them coming from Sara, I'm sure.

I waved weakly at the crowd, cursing Eli silently for dragging me up here. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a kiss, the whole crowd growing louder and louder. I rested my hands on his neck and pulled him closer and smiled into the kiss.

"Thank you for coming," Eli smiled and he picked me up bridal style and went down the steps to meet with the smiling friends and family.