"Attention passengers, we are now arriving at our
destination, please buckle your seatbelts as we are now landing. We thank you
for flying with us and hope you have enjoyed your flight. Thank you."
Mariah took off her headphones, not hearing what the flight
attendant said, but when she saw everyone buckling their seatbelts, she did the
same. She hadn't slept much on the plane. She never could sleep on planes. It
was too uncomfortable. She usually listened to her walkman, or read a book. If
they showed movies and the movie were good, she would watch them, but sleep was
definitely out of the question.
Mariah looked around her after buckling her seatbelt. A little
girl was happily talking to her mother, excited about her vacation. Mariah
packed the things she had brought out from her bag, making sure that she hadn't
left anything behind. She remembered when she used to be like that with her
parents. Her father would always sound just as enthusiastic back. She smiled at
that thought. Surprisingly though, the memory didn't sadden her like it usually
did. She was just happy thinking about it. Her thoughts were interrupted as she
felt the plane hit the ground beneath her.
'Ah,' she thought. 'Safe on the ground.'
Once they had landed everyone filed out of the plane and into the
airport. She followed signs to get her luggage. It took a while to find them,
and at one point she thought they might have lost her luggage, but she finally
found them. She hauled it on to a cart and wheeled it out to find her mother.
Once she stepped out of the baggage claim, she saw her mother standing there,
with a huge smile on her face.
"Mariah!" she cried. She ran toward her daughter and
hugged her.
"Mom!" Mariah cried. Then she said, "Uh, Mom,
you're crushing me. I can't breathe."
Her mom let her go and said, "Sorry! I'm just so happy you
decided to come! Come on, let's go home, huh?
"Okay," Mariah replied, feeling a little funny that her
mom said home, even though it wasn't really Mariah's home.
When they arrived at her mother's house, her mom directed her
immediately to where she was going to sleep.
"This is your room when your here. So, you can do whatever
you want to it, and you'll always have a place to come to."
"Thanks Mom!" cried Mariah. "This is great!"
"No problem, anything for my little girl. Now get unpacked,
then maybe we could go out for dinner and shop around a bit." Her mother
smiled and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Mariah smiled and looked around her room. There was already a nice
bed in it, and a desk with a computer. She set her things down and began to
unpack a little bit. After that, her mom took her out as promised. They went to
a fancy little restaurant which had great food, and to some malls which Mariah
loved.
'I've got to take Brian here one day,' she thought to herself
smiling.
The two women ended the day by buying an ice cream cone each and
walking back to the condo. Once they got there, they slumped on to the couch,
tired from all their walking from shopping.
"Did you have a good day?" her mother asked.
"The greatest!" answered Mariah.
"Even better than your birthday?" her mother teased.
Mariah smiled. "Well, I guess not," she answered.
The two sat there talking until the middle of the night. Most of
the time was spent talking about Brian.
"He sounds like a wonderful boy." her mother commented.
"He is, Mom, he's the best! He's so caring, and loving,
gentle, and not to mention cute." she said smiling.
Her mom laughed. "I hope I get to meet him soon." she
said.
"You'll love him Mom!"
"Well, I think I do already from all the stuff you've told
me!" she said laughing.
Mariah laughed along with her mother. She yawned and said she was
tired. She said good night to her mother and walked to her room. When she got
there, she closed the door and jumped on to her bed. Thinking about Brian made
her feel happy and secure. She started to drift off with thoughts about him
when the phone rang. She woke up and picked up the phone groggily.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Mariah?" came a voice over the phone. The voice sounded
very eager and anxious.
"Yes, who's this?" she asked, getting up.
"It's Nick. Listen, I need you to come to Paris immediately!
Please!"
"Why? What's going on?"
Nick hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's Brian. He's in
the hospital and it doesn't look too good."