One week in Chicago
He was amused that he had figured 986 miles would be no big deal. He had assumed that Skype and email and text messages and delirious 3am phone calls would be enough to tide them over. Regardless of the ability of alternate forms of communication were to sustain a relationship, 986 miles was a very big deal.
He was excited and anxious during the train ride to O'Hare. He nestled himself in a corner window seat. An entire week with AJ was more than he could have hoped for, it was more than they had spent together so far. There was a lot of money involved that neither of them had but they were young enough and careless enough that it felt romantic.
The midwestern air always feels heavier at the airport, like the city is trying to greet every traveler. It's evident even as you step off the train and enter by the baggage claim. It's evident by bewildered glances and expressions like Clarke's - that of affection. He hikes up his shoulder bag and continues to wade through the sea of confused and tired and cranky families waiting at the baggage claim. Wedging himself between a father and two little boys presumably waiting for their mother and a woman in a suit holding a sign for someone official, he watches for AJ to come with the flow of passengers coming from various recently arrived planes.
He was excited and anxious during the train ride to O'Hare. He nestled himself in a corner window seat. An entire week with AJ was more than he could have hoped for, it was more than they had spent together so far. There was a lot of money involved that neither of them had but they were young enough and careless enough that it felt romantic.
The midwestern air always feels heavier at the airport, like the city is trying to greet every traveler. It's evident even as you step off the train and enter by the baggage claim. It's evident by bewildered glances and expressions like Clarke's - that of affection. He hikes up his shoulder bag and continues to wade through the sea of confused and tired and cranky families waiting at the baggage claim. Wedging himself between a father and two little boys presumably waiting for their mother and a woman in a suit holding a sign for someone official, he watches for AJ to come with the flow of passengers coming from various recently arrived planes.