Day By Day

“Why are you doing this?” Anna cried out as tears streamed down her rosy cheeks.

“I’m doing this because it’s the only way for me to get to where I want in life.  I’m not leaving you; I’m coming back on my breaks and I’ll call you every day.”  Gavin grabbed Anna and held her in his arms.  Anna continued to cry and tears began to fall from Gavin’s already watering eyes.

“I love you,” Anna mumbled, looking at Gavin with glistening eyes.

Gavin could see the fear in her eyes.  “I know I should stay, I want to, but I can’t.  I have to try to achieve my goals.  I’m only going there because they gave me a scholarship.”

Gavin looked at the clock on the wall of the airport terminal and he almost cringed when he read the time.  They would be calling his flight number to board soon.  He would come back after orientation to ride with his parents out to Oregon with all of his belongings.  He planned to ask Anna to come with to see her one last time before school started.  He couldn’t stand the thought of not seeing her for half a semester.  Eight weeks, that’s two months, he couldn’t get the thought out of his mind.

“This is the first boarding call for Flight 192 to Portland.”  The gate official’s voice rang in Gavin’s ears.

Gavin held Anna as tightly as he could trying to spend every possible second that he could with her.

Then he heard it, “This is the final call for Flight 192, final boarding call for flight 192.”  The gate official’s voice seemed to echo throughout the terminal after the announcement.

“Baby, I have to go,” Gavin said as he picked Anna’s chin up to kiss her one last time before leaving.

“Don’t ever leave me.  Be with me forever,” Anna pleaded as Gavin nearly cut her off with a kiss.

“I won’t ever leave you, remember, I promised.”  Gavin gave her a last kiss and hugged her.  “Je t’aime beaucoup plus pour toujours et longeur babe, I will always love you, forever, and more ever.”

“Je t’aime beaucoup plus pour toujours et longeur too baby.  Call me when you get settled in, no matter what time it is ok?”  Anna looked down at her feet and the tears continued to pour out of her beautiful hazel eyes.

“I will babe.  I’ll talk to you soon. I love you.”  As he finished speaking Gavin turned and headed for the gate to board his plane.

He had never been so heartbroken when leaving for something that he looked so forward to doing.  Was he making a mistake by not staying?  The thought has crossed Gavin’s mind many times.  He couldn’t be. Anna wanted him to do what was best for him.  She didn’t want to hold him back. Was that what she really wanted?  Did she really want him to put his dreams on hold to be with her?  These are also thoughts that had crossed Gavin’s mind numerous times over the past few months.  He dare not ask Anna these questions though.  If he did, she would feel she was holding him back.  It would ultimately start a fight, and the result would be the end of their relationship for good.



         Gavin took his seat once he was on the plane.  He immediately texted Anna on his cell phone, saying, “I miss you already.”  After a few moments his phone vibrated with her reply; “I miss you too…” The first part Gavin expected, but the ellipses made him feel a little bit uneasy.  Once again a thousand or more thoughts began streaming across his mind.  The biggest question that he was most unsure of was the first to cross his mind.  Will they make it through this together?  Would they be able to make it the distance, or would their relationship crumble as many do in a long distance situation?  As Gavin was processing these questions he was interrupted by his phone vibrating once again.

         This time the text read, “I love you.”  He very quickly texted the same back without hesitating.  Afterwards he fastened his seat belt and closed his eyes in an attempt to relax.  He accomplished this feat for a few minutes, until being interrupted yet again.

         “Hi, I’m Amy,” a perky, young voice rand out.

         Gavin quickly opened his eyes and looked at the source of this sound.  When he saw her, he could barely utter back the words, “Hi… Uhm… I’m Gavin.”

         “This is seat 312C, right?”  Amy asked already knowing the answer.

         “Yes, it is,” Gavin said with a smile.  “Your seat I take it?”

         “Sure is.”  Amy sat down next to Gavin after putting a duffel bag in the over head compartment.

         “You already knew this was your seat, didn’t you?”  Gavin turned toward Amy trying to read her.  Oddly enough she was doing the same thing to him.

         “Yes, I admit, I did.  I wanted to talk to you though.  I saw you outside at the gate.  Was that your girlfriend with you?”  Amy looked down and fidgeted with her fingers a bit awaiting an answer.

         Gavin smirked while answering, “Yeah, for now.  She’s kind of iffy about me going away.”

         Amy looked at him.  “Why is she iffy?  Where are you going?”  Amy couldn’t believe how comfortable she felt talking to Gavin.  She had never felt like this before.

         Gavin began speaking while sitting up to turn towards Amy more.  “Well, we’ve been together for two years in January.  She’s still in high school back in my hometown of Adams in Minnesota.  She told me to pursue my dreams, so here I am.”

         “You love her I assume?”  Amy smiled.

         “More than anything…”  Gavin paused, “I just can’t stop thinking that she doesn’t feel the same way.  She doesn’t trust me.  If I told her that I was talking to you right now, it would start a fight.”  Gavin looked up as the intercom beeped.

         “I suppose we’ll have to continue our conversation once we’re in the air.”  Amy turned to face forwards as Gavin did and the two put on their seat belts almost simultaneously.

         The flight attendants began going through the pre-flight lecture and Gavin pulled out a pack of gum, offering Amy a piece.

         “Thanks.”  Amy whispered putting the gum in her mouth.  “Mmm, watermelon is my favorite.”

         “Really, mine too.”  Gavin whispered back with a feeling of joy.

         The two of them sat in silence for the remainder of the pre-flight and the take off.



         Back at the airport Anna was just gathering herself in the Women’s restroom.  She looked up at the mirror in disgust.  She thought, Why didn’t you end it before he left, you know you don’t want to be with him anymore.  She grabbed some paper towel, wiped the tears from her face, fixed her make up that had been smeared while she was crying, and left the restroom.  She made her way to the first coffee shop she could find in the airport and ordered a French vanilla cappuccino with cinnamon.  It was her favorite “cheering up juice.”  A she sat down with her drink, she noticed a man approaching her slowly.

         “May I sit here with you?”  The stranger pointed to the chair across the table from Anna.

         “I guess,” Anna was surprised by this random stranger approaching.  She felt herself greatly attracted to him though.

         “My name is Marco.  May I ask, what is your name?”  Marco talked with such finesse that it made Anna feel like she was dreaming.

         Anna struggled to find words.  “Uhm, my name is Anna.  It’s nice to meet you Marco.”

         Marco reached across the table to shake Anna’s hand.  The instant their hands touched, Anna wanted to be with Marco.  It was as if Gavin was instantly erased from Anna’s mind.

         “What brings you to the airport Anna?  Going on a trip?”  Marco’s voice was low with a Spanish accent and very soothing to Anna’s ears.

         “No, I was seeing my boyfriend off.”  Anna looked down at her coffee on the table after speaking.

         “You have a boyfriend?  How long have you been together, if you don’t mind my asking.”  Marco asked trying not to sound anxious.

         “We’ve been together for two years in January.”  Anna continued to look down.

         “Why are you staring at the table?  Are you ok?”  Marco already knew that Anna wasn’t ok, but he wanted to make sure that his assumptions were correct.

         “I don’t want to be with him anymore.  When I tell him that I love him, there’s no feeling behind it, he doesn’t know that though.  I’m breaking up with him after he’s been gone for a couple weeks; I just want to figure out a reason for ending it.”  Anna looked at Marco and was put into a trance feeling while staring into his dark brown eyes.  When she looked at Marco, she felt comfortable, protected, and safe.  She quickly realized that this was a foreign feeling.  She didn’t feel like that when looking at Gavin, ever.

         “If you don’t want to be with him, why are you waiting?  Why not just end it now?”  Marco’s questions were valid and Anna had asked herself the same ones.

         “I just keep telling myself that once I see him after some time apart that maybe my feelings will come back and I’ll have the feelings for him that I used to have.  Maybe I’ll fall in love with him again.”  Anna sobbed as she spoke, but she felt no sadness, instead she felt relief.  It felt as if the tears were carrying away the dread of being with Gavin.

         Marco looked at her and picked Anna’s chin up to look her in the eyes.  “Love isn’t something that you can force.  It has to be mutual and natural.  If you try to create artificial love, it will only cause misery and pain.”  After speaking Marco stood up, pushed his chair in, and began to walk away.

         “Where are you going?”  Anna jumped out of her chair to chase after him.

         “I have to go check into my hotel.”  Marco continued to walk as he spoke and Anna followed him like she was a little lost puppy.

         “Can I come with you?” Anna asked anxiously.  “Please, I don’t want to drive back home tonight.  I just need the company of someone I can talk you, and you’re the only person that I know and trust.”

         “Okay, sure, we’ll get your car and take it to my hotel so the city doesn’t tow it over night.”

         The two of them made their way to the parking garage and got in Anna’s car.  After that they drove to the hotel where Marco was staying.



         “I love flying, don’t you?”  Amy asked once the plane was in the air.

         “Yeah, it’s amazing.  It gives me kind of an adrenaline rush, ya know.”  Gavin smirked.

         “Definitely.  Thanks for the gum by the way.  It helped a lot during the pressure changes.”  Amy gave Gavin a hug, then as quickly as she hugged him, she moved back to her seat.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, it was just kind of an impulse.”

         “It’s ok.  Would you mind another?”  Gavin asked shyly afraid of Amy saying no.

         “Another piece of gum?”  Amy gave Gavin a confused look.

         “Haha, no, no, I meant another hug.”  Gavin chuckled and opened his arms wide.

         “Are you sure?  What about your girlfriend?”  Amy questioned hesitantly.

         “It’s just a hug, right?  We’re just friends.  Don’t worry, it’s no big deal, it’ll be our little secret.”  Gavin winked at Amy jokingly.

         “Okay, you convinced me.”  Amy leaned towards Gavin with a smile on her face and their hug began.

         While they were hugging both of them felt something, but neither mentioned it.  Something was different afterwards, though.  Neither of them knew quite what to say.  The silence was only broken when the stewardess came by.

         “Can I get you two anything; drinks, food, pillows, a blanket?”

         “I’m ok for now, maybe just some apple juice.”  Amy looked at Gavin awaiting his requests.

         “Same,” Gavin paused, looked at Amy, then added, “And a blanket with two sets of headphones please.”

         “I’ll be right back with your drinks.  Then I’ll grab your blanket and headphones and bring them to you.”

         “A blanket,” Amy began, “What for?”  Amy shivered as goose bumps began to cover her body.

         “For you to cover up with, I know that you’re cold.  Look… you have goose bumps.”  Gavin laughed quietly as he pointed at Amy’s arms.

         “Thank you.  Sorry for asking like that, I’m just not used to someone like you.”

         “It’s okay, but what do you mean ‘someone like me’?”  Gavin looked up as the stewardess made her way down the aisle with their drinks in hand.

         “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.  You’re just a really sweet guy.  Your girlfriend is very lucky to have someone like you who is so caring.  I hope she doesn’t take you for granted.”  Amy noticed Gavin fidget for the first and only time since they met each other.

         “So, uh, what are you going to Oregon for Amy?”  Gavin quickly changed the subject to avoid talking more about him.  Talking to others about his personal life made him feel very self-conscious and awkward.  Even if that someone he was talking to made him feel more comfortable than his own girlfriend.

         “I’m going to go to school there at the University of Oregon.  I want to study Landscape Architecture.  What about you Gavin, why are you going to Oregon?”

         “For school as well, at the U of O.  But for Architecture with a possible minor in Landscape or maybe Creative Writing.”  He smiled, looked at Amy, and she smiled back.

         “Really,” Amy’s face began to seemingly glow.  “That’s amazing!  Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other, and we’ll be able to get to know each other better too.”  Amy’s smile grew bigger.

         “It looks that way.”  Just as Gavin was about to continue speaking he was cut off by the stewardess who has returned again.

         “Here’s you blanket and headphones that you asked for.  Please let me know if you need anything else.”  She smiled at Amy and Gavin and vanished behind the first class curtain.

         “So where will you be staying tonight?”  Gavin asked after the stewardess disappeared.

         “I have an apartment that I lived in over the summer.”  Amy looked at Gavin.  “What about you?”

         “I don’t know yet.  I’ll probably just get a room in a hotel somewhere.  I don’t really have anything lined up right now.  I plan on getting an apartment as soon as I find a job.”  Gavin paused and pondered to himself what to say next.

         Amy cut off Gavin’s pondering and asked, “Why don’t you just stay with me?”

         “Are you sure?  I don’t want to be a bother or anything, or intrude.  I’m sure your boyfriend wouldn’t like it very much.”  Gavin felt anxious as he finished the last sentence.

         “Boyfriend, haha, don’t worry I don’t have one.  And you won’t be a bother.  It’ll be great!  I can even help you look for an apartment and job tomorrow.  I think there’s some open places in my complex if I remember right.”  Amy put on her headphones and pulled the blanket over her leaving just enough for Gavin to use if he moved closer to her.

         “Thank you,” Gavin whispered as he smiled, put on his headphones, and scooted closer to share the blanket.

         The two fell asleep under the blanket halfway through the in-flight film and slept until the stewardess woke them before the decent into Portland.