Tepid

We Are Panic



Ayla picked up her phone and listened to Kate's message for the fourth time.

"Ayla, I'm sorry, baby! I can’t make it out New York tonight! It’s about... 6:30 pm right now.  My flight’s been cancelled; I’m getting a ride to the next city over with Dan.  I’ll be home sometime tonight hopefully if I can make another flight into town. Don’t wait up for me, see you soon! I lov..."

She pressed ‘three’, “Message deleted,” and walked out on to her patio.  The night air was chill and crisp; the moon illuminated the curved patio as it emerged over the tops of the tall, lush oaks.  Wind swept through the yard, oak leaves danced with it. 
The table had been set for two, a celebration of Kate’s return home.  Ayla had prepared everything for Kate.  Her favorite flowers, her favorite wine, only for it to be wasted.  The candles on the table flickered.
Ayla sat in one of the chairs and tossed her phone on the table.  She hunched forward with her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands.  Kate was supposed to have come over, perhaps stayed the night.  They had been together for a little over a year; Kate would never do something like this.  Ayla scoffed at this thought.  Obviously, Kate would; she had.
She let out a long sigh and lifted her head back up, out of her palms.  The moon bounced off her cheek bones and glittered in her eyes.  Her phone rang.
“Ayla?”
“Hey Kael.”
“Are you alright? Audrina told me about Kate... Is she positive?  Do you know who with?”
“Alright? Hardly.  Yeah, she said it was someone on the team.  I bet you it was that tiny one, Becky.  Maybe Alice.”
“Ayla, come on.  Kate does love you; I wouldn’t jump to conclusions based on what you heard.”
“Audrina is Kate’s like, new best friend!  She hardly talks to me anymore; today was the first time she had called me in months!  And only to tell me Kate has been seeing someone else!”
“Calm down.  It’ll be ok, wait until Kate comes home, don’t do anything stupid Ayla.”
Ayla reached into her pocket and grabbed a cigarette; the matches were on the table.  Kate always used to nag Ayla to quit.  She tried a couple times, and had never succeeded.  But now, that didn’t even matter.  “I just... I’ll call you back later, K?”
“Alright, Baby A.  Take care of yourself; everything will be okay.” Ayla punched the red button and tossed it carelessly to her lap.
She grabbed one of the wine glasses, filled it and swallowed it in three extensive swallows.  As she reached for the bottle again, she knocked her glass to the ground.  “Shit!”  She picked up the other glass and filled it.  She blew smoke from her pursed lips.
“Damnit Kate, we had everything,” she threw back the glass. 


Elizabeth’s boyfriend wanted to meet for coffee after they got off work.  She had arrived a little early, so she lit a cigarette and sat down in one of the chairs outside. 
She looked down at her watch.  Landon was now late for their date.  She flicked the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it.  Landon was always late; might as well make use of her time.  She walked towards the door and fumbled in her purse for her phone. 
“Excuse me, miss.”  She glanced up; her long hair fell before her face.  She dropped a purse strap and moved the hair out of the way.  Landon stood beside her with a stupid grin on his face, “Hey you, have a good day at work?” 
No reply.  Not a good sign, Landon.
Elizabeth strode in before Landon while he gave the back of her head a confused look.  She had sounded fine on the phone an hour ago, and while Landon knew they had been fighting a bit lately, he thought they had straightened things out since their last argument. 
Elizabeth walked up to the counter and got in line.  Landon followed.  “I’ll take a latte and a peppermint bar.  Landon, anything you want?”  He looked up at the menu above the cashier’s head, unable to decide.
“Are you going to have anything?”  Elizabeth tapped her fingers on the counter; she had no patience for him.  He looked at her and ordered a decaf. 
They walked to their table and sat down.  Elizabeth took off her coat and placed it behind her on the chair.  “My day was alright.  Busy.  I ran into Jen on the way out and she told me how the project due dates are now a week earlier.  What a great team leader, she is.  She’s already pushed the due date up twice.  And it doesn’t help that my group consists of complete idiots that leave all the work to me.”
“I thought Jen was working with you guys.”  Elizabeth took a deep breath.  He really didn’t listen sometimes, did he?  “No, she just tells us what to do.”
Landon shook his head.  “You know, you’ve been a bitch me to me this entire time.  I try to be nice, ask how your day is going and all you’ve done is given me crap about it,” he leaned into the table. 
“Well, maybe if you listened to what I say once in a while, I wouldn’t have to repeat myself.  I had a shitty day, get off my case.”  Elizabeth crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.  They fought over the stupidest things lately.  She had been holding it in for weeks; she might as well come out with it.  She didn’t really have much of a choice now, anyway.  “Listen, I, um, got a job offer in Philadelphia.  I leave tonight.”
Landon blinked with his mouth slightly opened.  “What? How come you didn’t say anything before Liz?”
“I just... We weren’t getting along, we have hardly talked the past couple of weeks, you know?” Liz looked down; she twiddled her thumbs.
“I guess. Well, you’re moving then?”
“Yeah, job starts Monday.  Listen, I don’t think we should really, stay... Well, together... exactly. Yeah.” Liz scratched the back of her neck.
“I uh, guess so. I really don’t know what to think right now.”
I should have told him sooner...


“What’s your name?”  Tom sat at the airport bar drinking a tequila and tonic; the best way to fly.
The woman sitting a chair down from him was hunched over with her elbows on the bar.  She turned and looked at Tom.  “Do I know you?” Annoyance hung in her words.
“I’m Tom.”
The woman raised her eyebrows. That’s fantastic.
No response. 
“Where you headed, Sweet Cheeks?”  Tom took a gulp of his drink.  He swallowed hard; the ice cubes clanked together in the cup.  He finished it off and set it down.
“My name is Carmen.  And I’m getting out of this city in...” she looked at the clock overhead, “twenty three minutes.”  She looked back down at her drink.
“Carmen.  I like that name, but, ‘this city’?  What do you have against New York?”
“Does it matter to you?”
“I guess not.  Well, I’ll be damned. My flight boards in about twenty three minutes as well.  American Airlines?”
“What do you know about that, Tom? We are on the same flight,” Carmen shifted her weight in the stool; she looked straight ahead as she spoke. 
Tom stood up; he held a briefcase in one arm and offered the other, “Shall we head to the terminal then, young lady?”
Carmen looked up at him again.  She grabbed her bag and jacket, got up and let out a heavy sigh.  “Why not?”
“So, what is it that you do, Carmen?” Tom asked as he stepped onto the escalator. 
“I’m a student in California.  How about you?” she asked to spite him.
“What else do you know, I studied in California too.  Which university?  Me, I am a lawyer in Florida.”
“Great, okay.” Carmen stopped in front of a wall of screens.  She pulled out her ticket and looked at the flight number: 281. “Two, eighty-one... Two, eighty-one, ah, here.”
“Cancelled?”
“You have got to be kidding me.”  Carmen stuffed her ticket into her bag, sat in one of the chairs across from the screens and pulled out her cell phone. 
Tom sat in the chair next to her and set his briefcase on his lap.  A voice rang out on the overhead speakers, “All flights scheduled from 6:30 and on have been cancelled.  All incoming flights have been directed elsewhere.  You may choose to stay here over night or find a hotel in the city. We are very sorry for this inconvenience and we cannot disclose any information about cancellations. Thank you.”  A deep hum of low talking fled among the terminal.  Carmen ended her phone call. “What’s going on?”
“It would seem that all the flights have been cancelled, incoming and outgoing.”
“Well, did they say why?” she gave Tom an inquisitive look.
“No, they did not.”


Scott pulled up to his ex wife, Patricia’s house. He got out of the car and opened a back seat door.  Scott’s son climbed out, ran up the steps to Patricia’s porch and rang the bell.  Scott followed, Autumn leaves crunching beneath the soles of his shoes. 
“Alright, Champ.  You be good for your mom this weekend.  I’ll pick you up Monday after school, okay? I love you.”
“Love you, Daddy.” The boy threw his arms around his father’s neck and squeezed.  The door opened. 
“Patricia.”
“Scott.” They stared at one another for a second or two.
Scott looked down at his son. “See you later, kiddo,” he ruffled the boy’s hair. 
“Bye, Dad!” He waved as he wedged behind Patricia to get through the door.
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you next week.”
“Yeah, you will.”
Scott turned and walked down the steps to his car.  He was going to miss his flight.
Damnit.
He turned on the radio. “...sure of the city.  They haven’t released reasons yet, but it is confir...” Scott changed the station, static.  He looked in the dashboard and grabbed a CD.  ...Hits by Phil Collins.