Chapter 24
Evan
A fter my final meeting, I head to Montréal-Trudeau Airport. I don’t like airports and flying—it stresses me out—but today, I’m mostly filled with excitement. It’s a short flight, I don’t have to go through customs, and soon, I’ll get to see my wife again.
But then I look at the departures board.
“No, no, no,” I mutter under my breath.
My flight is delayed by over an hour. It’s leaving at the time I was supposed to arrive.
I scan the board for another flight to Toronto with the same airline—maybe there’s an empty seat on an earlier flight and they’ll be able to change my ticket. Unfortunately, the only flight I can find leaves in five minutes, and there’s no way I’ll make it.
“ Shit ,” I say, not quite as quietly.
I was supposed to be home by six so I could be there when Jane’s father arrived. Even if traffic prevented me from getting there before he did, I was at least supposed to be there before dinner. I’m doubtful that will happen now, especially since the next time I look at the board, the departure has been pushed back by another fifteen minutes.
I pull out my phone and see that in my rush to get to the airport, I missed a text about the delay. Not that it would have helped me.
Well, here you are. Screwing up again.
I do my best to shut down the voice in my head. I hate the feeling of being another man who’s disappointed Jane, even if a flight delay isn’t my fault. But travel issues aren’t good for my negative self-talk.
A part of me feels like I should have known this would happen, as unreasonable as that is. Though given everything I had to do today, it’s not like I could have booked an earlier flight anyway.
The last few times I’ve flown, everything went according to plan. I can’t believe this is the time there are problems. I hate feeling so helpless.
Goddammit.
I’ve already checked in online, and I don’t have to check any luggage. Since I was only gone for two nights, I didn’t need to bring much. Once I go through security, I head to my gate and take a seat. I send Jane a selfie of me wearing a black face mask and looking sad. EVAN: My flight has been delayed by over an hour. Start dinner without me. EVAN: I’m so sorry
It’s not that I don’t believe she can handle a dinner with her father, but I want to be there for her. And I do want to meet him, even if I don’t think much of him.
Plus, I really want to see my wife. Even though we haven’t been sharing a bed for all that long, it was still strange waking up in a hotel without her. It didn’t feel right. We’ve texted a little, but I want to tell her about my trip and hear what she’s been up to. Apparently, my parents stopped by with food yesterday, but I don’t know much more than that. I wish she could have been here with me. I’ve been to Montreal a number of times before, but with her, I would have been more interested in walking around the city and trying new restaurants.
My leg bouncing up and down, I mindlessly scroll through the news, barely seeing the words. There’s no point in trying to do anything productive—I can’t think clearly enough for that now. I just need to get through the wait; I’ll feel better once we’re in the air. JANE: I hope it doesn’t get delayed any further. Sitting in an airport sucks. JANE: I know you feel bad about not being here, but it’s not your fault. I understand.
She has a good sense of what’s going through my mind right now, and hearing it from someone else? That calms me a little.
Since she has work to do this afternoon, I don’t say much more. I stare at my wedding band and think of the matching one on her hand. I’ve only worn the ring for about two months, but already, it feels like such an integral part of me.
I take a deep breath and will the plane to come faster.