The plane touched down, jolting Nick from the sleep he'd slipped into over the flight. Surprising he passed through customs pretty quickly. As he walked through the giant expanse of the airport he grabbed a Newspaper, choose a hidden seat in the back of a café and tried to escape the reality that he lived.
His hands flicked through the report of a house fire and the expecting news on the Royal family. He flipped through a recounting of a meeting of ministers in parliament and for some reason found himself in the Personals. His eye was drawn to the small corner column, then to one single line, a name, a past he'd not forgotten: By Ashlee Ryan.
"Oh god" he whispered, catching his words with a swift hand
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick tapped his foot impatiently on the floor of the elevator. When the door finally opened he was the first out. He practically ran down the well lit modern furnished hall and screeched to a halt at the main desk.
"Ashlee Ryan?" he questioned quickly to a young blond receptionist
"I'm sorry?"
"Is there an Ashlee Ryan that works here" Nick said agitatedly
"May I help you Sir?" a well dressed man, with a stiff neck and suspicious eyes questioned
"I'm looking for Ashlee Ryan"
"I'm afraid we cant help you then, Ms. Ryan has left"
"Where can I find her?"
"Surely you can understand we cant supply you with that information" he chuckled, a hearty English laugh
"I need to find her" Nick breathed, it had finally come to this, one moment in his life when he remembered the words someone once spoke to him - Fate opens the doors, you're the one that must walk through them. This was his door, this was his fate, he knew it before yet was too scared to see it, now he prayed fate would hand him just one more chance and the girl he loved would come back into his life.
"Then I'm sorry, she's left the paper, last I heard she was on her way to New York, I believed she went to LA first" the man said solemnly.
Nick didn't think to ask anymore. He raced down the hall and back into the mouth of the elevator - Fate would not close this door on him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ashley touched down into the familiar LA landscape, little had changed since she'd been here last, not that she thought anything would have. As she walked from the airport she caught sight of the clear, cloudless blue sky. She knew she was home, but something still felt unsure.
She shook her head and hailed a taxi, she would spend one night here in the city of angels before departing for New York where she simply wanted to disappear.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
For the second time in so many hours Nick found himself in an Aeroplanes first class cabin. He silently prayed that a tail wind would push them along quicker than the usually slow trip. His feet tapped consciously on the floor below him as his eyes scanned the cabin. Most of the people around him were dressed in suits, either sipping back on Champagne or dosing in their large comfortable seats. Nick however, was neither drinking, nor comfortable. He was eager, because for once he understood the meaning to his best friends words, "You'll understand that you've made a mistake when it may be too late to change it". And all Nick could do was pray that it wasn't too late to change his fate.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(The Next Day)
Ashlee checked her bags in and wearily scanned the clock high on the wall beside her. It was 12:37, meaning she had an hour to kill somehow.
She pushed her leather handbag higher up her shoulder and made her way through the bustling crowds of holiday makers. She wandered into the departure lounge, found her gate, and took the nearest seat she could find. She sighed whisper-quietly as she placed her carry on in the seat beside her. This was it, she figured. The last flight she would make. New York would become her home. A vast expanse of people who would never ask her where her heart lived, a vast city where she could live, without really living in the world. A place, above all, she could try and forget about the face that plauged her mind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(1:03 PM LA Time)
The plane landed precariously on the Tarmac of Los Angeles International Airport. The sun was high in the cloudless LA sky and the air was thick and hot. Nick grabbed the only bit of luggage he had - a small black leather suitcase - and scrambled ahead of others out of the plane.
He knew to clear customs may take close to an hour so his feet were taking him as fast as they possibly could, through the maze of slow people and signing. For once, out of all the times he'd landed in LA airport the arrival's hall and customers were practically empty. His heart pounded with a strange sensation that maybe someone was giving him a helping hand, maybe fate was holding that door open, just long enough to slip through.
Instead of the usual 1 hour wait through customs and alike, Nick managed the course in 20 minutes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(1:23 PM)
Ashlee starred at the people who were filing up to the boarding stand. She felt a tear welling up in her eye, but forced it back.
Don't cry, this is for the best, escape, disappear she reminded herself, still unsure of the ominous feeling building up inside her.
She stood up, then sat back down. She still had 7 minutes before boarding began.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick, suitcase flung over his shoulder raced around to the departure section of the airport. He'd noted there were 2 flights leaving to LA, both at the same time, one with American Airlines, one with United. One at Gate 12, one at Gate 7. He knew LA airport, especially the domestic departures, like the back of his hand, he knew he could make it to either one - but not both. Gate 7 was down the first isle of departures, and Gate 12 was down the second isle. He knew he couldn't make it to both. Both departed at the same time, leaving him approximately 7 minutes, not nearly enough time to make it to both.
He stopped in front of the first isle of departures, his eyes wide, his heart racing. If she was here in this airport there were two places she could be, and he had not the faintest idea which to choose.
He closed his eyes as people, eager to make their own flights rushed by. His world stopped, frozen in his minds eye.
He saw a thick river of dark golden hair, caressing the smooth sating skin he'd touched with gentle persuasion. He thought of her smile, her lips that shone like a freshly picked rose delightfully moist with the morning dew. He thought of her eyes, so honest, so open, so truthful, like tiny pools of a soul bathing in the thick cream of her eyes. He closed his eyes tighter and saw the lifeless figure, pale even against the whiteness of the sheet below. Her saw the same dark golden hair curling haplessly down the pillow, and how as the wind blew gently through the high window, her hair serenely moved open as if enticing him closer.
He closed his eyes tighter till he could feel her, see her, breathe her. He saw the hair, a little darker than before, a head covered by a soft black hat. He smelt the sweet scent of perfume, a scent he instantly knew. He saw two eyes, sad, alone. His eyes sprung open.
"Gate 12" he announced as he took off in the direction of the 2nd isle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(1:28 PM)
A small girl held tightly to her mothers hand as the wandered down the boarding tunnel to their awaiting plane. Ashlee stood, took a deep breath and walked towards the line filing down the tunnel.
"Here I come New York" she smiled, adjusting the black hat on her head.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick took the corner with a skid, almost taking out an elderly couple. He flipped his head backwards and yelled an apology. He didn't have time to look at his watch, but he knew he must have only had a matter of a minute before they boarded completely. He prayed hurriedly that he'd not made the wrong decision about the Gate numbers. His legs became heavy, his arm ached from the suitcase it carried. The two long flights were getting to him, but he slowed not a bit.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ashlee half smiled as she handed the uniformed greying women her boarding pass. She studied it for a split second then passed it through the machine.
"Just go on down" the lady smiled showing an arrary of perfect teeth, for a second Ashlee wondered if they were real.
Ashlee nodded then stopped in her tracts,
"God, I forgot my coat" she huffed irritatedly
The lady smiled warmly, "That's okay, just get it"
Ashlee wandered back to where she'd been sitting and bent down to pick up her coat.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick stopped abruptly in front of the small sign "Gate 12" his eyes scanned the boarding passengers. His heart stopped, and his mouth fell. He couldn't see her. He ran up to a lady on the boarding tunnel, pushing in front of a man in a blue suit.
"Excuse me, how long have you been boarding for?" he asked, trying to gasp some air
"Hum, only about 5 minutes"
"Ashlee Ryan, has she gotten aboard"
He noted the look of confusion on her face.
"5'8 dark hair, brown hair, brown eyes, uh, is she on there?" he asked quickly.
"I'm sorry I don't know" the lady shrugged her small framed, older shoulders.
Nick bolted to the tunnle but was stopped by security.
"Please I have to find her" he pleaded, but to no avail.
Nick felt his heart tensing. He'd chosen the wrong gate.
"Sir, please move away from the boarding passengers"
Nick walked slowly back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ashlee stood with her coat in her hands. She adjusted the dark glasses on her face, and cursed the high boots she'd worn, and made her way back to the diminishing line.
She stood behind an seemingly irritated man in a stiff blue suit. It took as though she was the last passenger. She took note of a security guard who had his back to her, and seemed to be towering over someone. She shrugged as she smiled at the lady for the second time in so many minutes.
The lady looked at her strangely, and leant in.
"Ashlee Ryan?" she questioned
"Yes" Ashlee replied
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nick starred over the top of the security guards shoulder as he called up someone downstairs. They would only let Nick leave accompanied by a security officer. Nick was drawn to the back of a head, a girl, with long flowering hair, a deep shade of mahogany, and a fluffy looking black hat atop her head. She turned, taking something off her face as she did. She looked directly over, and in an instant Nick bolted past the guard.
"Ashlee" he called, running towards her
She seemed startled, then astonished.
"Nick?"
He noted her voice was weary, but she recognized him.
A stiff hand grabbed his arm and slammed him backwards.
Ashlee jolted forward as the guard took Nick into a choke hold them pushed him down onto the ground.
"It's okay' she called, "He's with me"
The guard looked across at Ashlee then helped Nick up, one hand still attached to him arm.
"What are you doing here?" Ashlee said softly
"Slipping through fates door" he whispered
They starred at each other for what seemed like hours. Time had changed many things. Her hair was darker, his was lighter. His face was softer, his eyes a deeper blue. Her face was whiter now, not blessed with the Florida sun, her eyes were a clearer shade of the brown they once were. But, even though time had changed many physical things, they both knew it had not changed what they felt.
"Ms. I'm sorry but we need to board" a voice broke the silence from behind.
Ashlee turned to the older lady, then to Nick, then back to the boarding tunnel.
"I never stopped thinking about you" he whispered
"I -" she muttered, she had a plane to catch, New York held her escape.
"Ashlee please-"
She hushed his lips with a single finger.
"I'm sorry Nick, I have to go" she replied as she pulled away.
Nick wanted to cry out, bring her back force her to listen to him tell her how much he loved her, but instead he watched, silently and helplessly as the black mouth swallowed her up.
His heart shattered right there in that spot, and his knees became weak. He bent over and cried as he heard the distant sound of a door shutting.
A hand took his arm, he looked up to see an officer, eager to remove him from the boarding area. He complied silently and began to wander, broken and emotionally bruised, back the way he'd run so desperately a matter of minutes ago.
He heard his name called from behind. He spun around to see Ashlee running towards him. His arms widened and without hesitation she fell helplessly into his welcoming familiar arms.
"If fate didn't close the door on us, how could I?" she whispered as the world around them become invisible.
The End
Thank Yous
First off there is one very special person that I want to thank, Meg. In November 1999 by some fluke chance you stumbled upon a small website containing just one story, and called "Vixen". And for some reason you decided to read it and then email the author - me. And thats, where it all began.
I dont know how you found me, and i dont know what made trust you almost instantly, but by fate or fluke I have the very best friend I could ever ask for. This one is for you.