Chapter 40
forty
Kate
I slide into my seat with tears running down my face and my heart in my throat.
I stare at the door, scanning every face that steps onto the plane for Josh’s, some foolish part of me expecting a grand gesture.
Some last-minute, against-all-odds, movie-worthy moment where he barrels past the gate attendants and throws himself onto the plane, out of breath and wild-eyed, saying he can’t let me go.
That he loves me too much. That this means too much to walk away from, even temporarily.
But then the door closes with a thud, and I startle at the finality of the sound. At the locks that click into place.
He’s not here.
The fantasy dissolves, leaving only silence and stale cabin air behind.
This isn’t a movie. There’s no dramatic soundtrack, no airport chase scene, no perfectly timed confession that changes everything.
This is real life.
And in real life, sometimes love isn’t enough to rewrite the script. Sometimes, you board the plane, even though your heart is still at the gate.