My eyelids fluttered open and all I could see was the amazing view outside of my window. It was breathtaking actually. I gazed at the wispy clouds and beautiful pinkish sky, but a strange feeling interrupted my peace. I felt I was being watched. I turned,facing the aisle. Harry was there, watching me. He was staring at me,intensely. "Can I help you?" I asked,a little frightened that he was watching me sleep. "No," he said glancing back towards the flight attendant. "You're just very beautiful when you're asleep," I was shocked. I had only know this guy for a mere 3 hours, and 2 of those I was unconscious. And he was hitting on me? I felt my cheeks flush with color, and looked away. But I looked back studying Harry's face. It was beautiful. The perfect curve of his pink lips, the way his thick eyelashes perfectly framed his green eyes, the sweet dimples that pierced his cheeks as he smiled at me. "What?" He said, still grinning. "Nothing," I muttered, looking back out my window. An image of his face kept popping into my head. There was something off about it, but I couldn't place it. I glanced at him one last time, and quickly whipped my gaze away when I saw it. The scar that ran down his jawline. It was pink, and it looked like it had only healed a short time ago. I didn't want to be rude or nosy, so I didn't ask. I jut enjoyed the last 10 minutes of my flight in peaceful silence, looking out at the clear blue sky. "Please fasten your seatbelts,as we will be landing shortly. Thank you." I buckled my seat and noticed that my partner hasn't because he was out cold again. I decided to let him sleep just that much longer, and reached over to buckle his belt. He awoke with a jerk, and jumped back from my touch. "Woah, a little jumpy are we?" I asked teasing. He tensed up and something dark and frightening flashed in his eyes. He buckled his own belt, not looking me in the eyes. He kept glancing over to the aisle and avoiding me. I slowly sat up straight again, a little confused about this guy. He was definitely strange. The plane made a smooth landing, and I couldn't believe I was actually in London! It was beautiful from what I could see out the window,and not much different from Boston. Harry had unbuckled and left the plane before I could say a goodbye. I was surprisingly disappointed at this, because I was hoping to have at least one friend here. But I guess I know a total of 0 people. Lets hope I'm good at making friends.
I struggled pulling my last bag off the conveyor belt, but with a final heave I tossed it next to the others. I huffed,pushing my long bangs out of my face. Now to find Aunt Edith. She was my only living relative, or at least the only one I knew of. And I knew almost nothing about her. Except that she was really old. Kyle says I'm lucky I found her, but if I were lucky I would be on the beach in Spain, wrapped in Kyle's arms watching the sun set. I cleared my head of that thought, as it made me miss Kyle's touch. I grabbed my phone from my purse and dialed Aunt Edith's number. I think it was her home phone. When she didn't answer I assumed she was already at the airport somewhere waiting for me. I slung a bag over my shoulder and grabbed the suitcases handle and set off on a search for my aunt. I circled the place 3 or 4 times and still hasn't found Edith. Where could she be? She didn't have a cell phone, so I figured if I just waited by the main doors, she would show up eventually. It would be hard to find her because I didn't know what she looked like. But according to Kyle she knew my face. So I sat and waited. My plane had arrived at 4:00 pm and it was now 7:30. I was getting worried. What if something happened to her? Would I be all alone in London? Oh god. I pulled my knees to my chest in the small plastic chair, and tried to calm down. When I get scared nervous anxious, etc. I get really bad panic attacks. And I didn't want to cause a scene in front of all these strangers. It's just the sense of abandonment or being left that causes me to panic. My past has left me scarred. While my eyes are squeezed shut and my heads between my knees I feel a light tap on my shoulder. I jerk my head up, and smile when I see An elderly woman standing in front of me smiling. I'm guessing this is my aunt Edith. She has curly, white, old lady hair. Her face is wrinkled, yet her eyes shine youthfully. I smile back. "Brynn," she whispers almost as if she can't believe I'm actually there. "Aunt Edith?" I ask, just to make sure. "The one and only!" She exclaims, holding her arms open for a hug. I stand up and hold her. She is a lot smaller than me, probably just breaking 5 feet tall. I step back and she looks at me. "We have a long time to get to know each other," she starts, "But I want to know everything now," she laughs, and I do too. "Do you like Starbucks Brynn?" I smile widely. "Who doesn't?" I giggle. "I think we're gonna get along fine,' replies Edith. "Now lets get your bags out to the car and go get some coffee!" She says, reaching for my suitcase. "Oh that one's really heavy, I'll take it. You can carry this one if you'd like," I say handing her the smaller bag. She takes it and we head out the doors. I smile and take a deep breath. I don't know if I really believe in God but I say a prayer anyway.
Dear God please let this be a good experience. Please let me meet knew people and have fun. Please don't let me crash and burn here.
And with that Edith and I are in the car on the way to the nearest Starbucks.
We settled into the wooden chairs at one of the tall tables next to the windows. It was an incredible sight, seeing all of the London lit up. It was beautiful! I took in a deep breath, taking in the rich warm smell of coffee. I smiled. My favorite smell. It reminded me of home. "So Brynn, I haven't seen you since you were two years old. That's when your mother moved to Boston, you know." I knew that. Wait woah. I was two? Mom always told me we had moved there when I was just a baby, only 6 months old. Why would she have lied to me? And also, this means I haven't seen Edith in over 20 years! "It's been a long time huh?" I smiled at her. "Yes, far too long I believe," She took a sip of her drink. "We'll what has Brynn's life been like? Go on, I want to hear every detail!" "When does this place close?" "Not until 2am! Now go on tell me about your life!" I laughed and told Edith everything. Well, almost everything. Everyone has to have some secrets. When I was finished, I realized that an hour and a half had gone by! "So, what about your life Edith?" "Oh surely you aren't interested in a boring old story like that," "Are you kidding?! Of course I am!" "Okay okay, we'll lately I've been on the downhill slump," she started. I took a sip of my latte as she continued. "I was forced to quit my job as a greenhouse worker because of my terrible arthritis. So me and my husband, your uncle Kurt, were living off of his small payment for being a mechanic. Then just two years after I lost my job, about 10 years ago, Kurt was diagnosed with Liver cancer. We really didn't have enough money to pay for his treatment, so we had to dip into our retirement savings. I didn't have a choice! When you love someone, you'll do anything for them. Well anyway I took all $40,000 from the bank, leaving me with around $1500 left. I payed for Kurt's treatments but he died just 6 months later. I had no one left. It wasn't just an average loneliness. I had absolutely nothing. No family. No friends. No money. 'What was I going to do with my life' I thought." She paused, wiping a single tear away from her eye. "I could've had a child to take care of me, but I was young and foolish. A child was not what I needed at the time. It would've shamed my family! After I had an abortion, every time Kurt and I tried we failed. I guess I really messed everything up. I was so down after Kurt died. When you walk through an empty house, you remember. You remember all the good times that you had in that house. And it makes you sad because its empty now. There's no more memories you can make in it. Well that's what I thought at least," she looked up at me smiling. "I was in a slump for 10 years Brynn. But when Kyle called me and told me you wanted to come stay with me I was so happy! I felt like the house was going to have new memories and I felt like I was getting off the downhill slide!"she was still smiling at me but I was speechless. Kyle told her I wanted to come visit her? Why would he say that? I was here because I didn't have anywhere to stay in America while he was in Spain. "It really has been too long Brynn," Edith said, getting up from her chair.i did the same, and she pulled me into another hug. "Definitely," I whispered, fighting back tears. It has definitely been far too long.
"Well! This is my humble home!" She pointed towards a small, run down, cabin-like building. I hoped this was a shed and the real house was behind all these trees. I tried to feign delight but wasn't doing a very good job. "It's not much but it's what we got darling," she said, noticing my disappointment. Darling? Kyle called me darling. Kyle. I missed him so much already! I mentally kicked myself for thinking about him."Let's get your stuff inside," Edith said seeing my sad expression. I got out of the car and grabbed my things from the trunk. I looked back up at the house where Edith was fumbling for the key at the front door. This could be a long four months.
"This will be your bedroom," Edith said, opening a door. The room was very small, just barely fitting the bed and dresser with enough room to move. After living at Kyle's luxury flat for so long it was going to be hard to get used to this kind of life again. "It is really...uh...cozy!" I said fumbling for the right words. "I know it's nothing like you're used to, but it's what we got," she sighed, stroking the bedspread. "This was the room your mother and father slept in when they visited." She stared at it, lost in a memory. "Well!" She said, glancing up at the clock. "It's getting really late! Ill let you unpack and get to bed! Ill see you in the morning!" "Goodnight Edith!" I called. "Goodnight Brynn," I looked around the small room and set my things next to the dresser. I would unpack in the morning. Right now, all I wanted to do was sleep.
