You Should Know

I shut down my laptop and I had to get out. It was 2 a.m., but I couldn’t be cooped up. I threw on my sneakers that I had put near the door. I pulled my sweatshirt down over my leggings and grabbed my wallet and keys. I stuck them in the front pocket of my sweatshirt and left the apartment. I walked out to the street. I would walk over to Angel and Kings and see if anyone was there. It was only around the corner about a half a mile.

“Sadler,” Rob said as I saw him walking toward me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked with a laugh.

“I was coming to see you, I sort of think I got you in trouble,” He said nervously.

“What do you mean?”

“I left Gabe a message today and was like, ‘dude, don’t know if you talked to Sadler, but it was nothing,’ and then when I wouldn’t tell him what the nothing was, he got frustrated.”

“Its fine, he was going to find out either way,” I smirked at him to assure him he was in the clear.

“I was hoping you had talked to him,” He laughed and kicked the ground a bit with his feet.

“Yeah, we’re sort of on a break now…not really sure. I apparently seem to make things difficult,” I smiled and let a small laugh out. It was kind of ridiculous. “I was hoping you were still at work and not off boffing Meghan,” I winked.

“I feel really uncomfortable talking about that with you,” He grinned widely.

“So you are giving it to her?” I teased.

“I like her. She’s a good girl.”

“She is and you’re a very nice guy. Meghan definitely could use someone like you in her life.”

“So, now what?” Rob asked pulling my hood up over my head and pulling the strings tight.

“Breakfast?” I mumbled through the little hole left for me to look out of.

“Better idea, let’s make breakfast at the bar,” Rob smiled he let go of the strings and put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me toward Angel and Kings. I stretched the hood back out so I could breath and put my arm closest to Rob around his waist and we walked.

“How do you feel? About the separation?” He asked pulling me in closer.

“I just hate that he’s so far away and we can’t talk it out, you know? I mean we weren’t together…technically, but I wanted him to know. I didn’t want it to loom and I certainly didn’t want him to find out from someone else, especially because it was nothing,” I sighed and just shook my head.

“Better idea!” Rob laughed. “Do you have your wallet and ID on you?” He asked.

“Yes, why?” I was worried about the plans that were going through his head.

“Trust me,” Rob said and pulled me into the street. He hailed a cab. “Get in,” He commanded holding open the door to the cab. I got in and crawled across the cab and sat down.

“JFK, please,” Rob said as he shut the door.

“Wh- what are we doing?” I asked turning in my seat to look at him.

“I’m not doing anything. You are. You’re going to see Gabe.”

“I don’t have that kind of money, Rob. I can’t just fly out and come back by Monday…” I fought him.

“I’ll take care of you,” Rob put on a goofy grin.

“No, that’s not necessary. Rob, nice thought, but such last minute on a weekend and it’s so close to Thanksgiving,” I stuttered. “We need to stop, we’re not doing this.” I said sitting up to tell the driver to stop where we were, but Rob put his hand over my mouth and pushed me back in my seat a little.

“I want you to pick up some shifts at Angel and Kings, just on the weekends or whenever and you can pay off your debt that way, okay?” He didn’t really ask, but more demanded.

“I’ll pay for it. That’s what credit cards are for, right?” I smiled, he was crazy.

“That is very true, but I actually could use you in Angels and Kings,” Rob laughed.

“I’ll still help you,” I hugged him tightly.

We arrived at the airport and searched the flights for something in Los Angeles. There was a flight leaving in about an hour, so Rob and I ran and tried to see if we could get on. When we got to the counter they were just about closing it.

“Hi!” I gasped out of breath as I skidded in front of the counter. I felt like I was in “Home Alone,” when they raced through the airport.

“How can I help you?” The attendant behind the counter asked politely.

“I hope you can. I need to get on the flight to Los Angeles. Is that possible? Is there anything left?”

“We’re closing up this flight, but there were two seats available, let me look to see what we can do,” He said and started typing away.

“And we only need one ticket,” Rob butted in.

“Okay, we can get you in… Can I have your ID?” He asked and I pulled my wallet out and then my ID. I practically threw it at him.

“Let’s see, we’ll put you on for like $100, but you’ll have to get a return flight. Does that work?”

“That works!” Rob said before I could even open my mouth.

“Yes, that’s fine,” I laughed at Rob and his enthusiasm.

“Well, when are you returning?”

“Tonight? Maybe tomorrow morning?” I looked at Rob for confirmation.

“She just needs to be back here and sitting at Brooklyn College at 8 a.m.,” Rob instructed.

“We can book you a return flight. I see there is another last ticket on a red eye that gets you in at 6 on Monday morning,” He said looking at Rob now for all instructions.

“She’ll take it!”

“Okay, I’m going to run your card and it’ll be a total of 275.82, that okay?”

“Better than okay. I thought I was going to be paying an arm and a leg!” The attendant just laughed and processed everything.

“Have a safe flight!” He said and handed me my tickets.

“Thank you so much!”

Rob and I ran to the terminal and as soon as we got to security we had to part ways. I jumped on him and wrapped my arms around him tightly.

“Thank you for this idea. I hope he doesn’t hate me,” I laughed and he put me down on the ground.

“This is the grand gesture, Sadie,” He smiled and shoved me toward the gates.
I walked through security without any hassle. I only had what I was wearing and my wallet and keys.

“Oh, Rob!” I called to him. “Can you water Gabe’s plants for me?” I laughed and threw him the keys.

“Sure! Get going before you miss the flight!” He yelled as he caught the keys. I smiled and then headed to the gate.

I boarded the plane and took my seat. I was nervous, but it was the grand gesture. It was me saying that I loved him and I wanted to be with him. I was trying to make things less complicated, that’s what we needed. I was never one for labels, but I needed to define what we were and that didn’t mean we had to label it. In seven hours I would see if he felt the same way.