𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐈 | 𝐂𝐋𝟏𝟔

𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈

·˚ ༘

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February 20th 2023

ZAHRA NICHOLS

Wesley came to open the front door as the doorbell rang. "Hey Wes," Amara greeted him with a casual nod as she stepped inside. Her eyes scanned the living room, taking in the space that Wesley and I had made our own. "The place looks nice," she remarked.

"Hey loser," I said, giving Amara a quick hug. 

"Help me with last-minute packing, will you?" I asked. Amara nodded, and we made our way to my bedroom. Amara plopped down on my bed, her gaze following me as I moved around the room, packing up my makeup and other essentials. "Why are you even taking this job?" she asked. I sighed, trying to keep my voice light. "What's wrong with it? It's a good job, a real one. I can't keep interning forever," I reasoned, forcing a laugh that felt a bit hollow even to my own ears.

"Yeah, but Sky Sports has so many other branches. Why not go to football?" she pressed.

"Well, no jobs were open, and I do like Formula One. It's just better, okay?" I replied, a bit defensively. The truth was, the job was a dream come true, but it came with strings attached, strings that had the potential to tie me back to a past I wasn't sure I was ready to face.

Amara leaned back on her elbows, skeptical. "What if you run into he who must not be named again? What if you have to interview him?" she complained. I tried to shrug off her worries, even though they were my own. "It's not the end of the world if I do. We're all older now, more mature. It's gonna be professional. No hard feelings. Look, you can even say his name," I said, hoping to convince both her and myself.

Amara rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. "Charles. See? I said it. Doesn't mean I'm not worried."

I finished packing and took a deep breath, trying to steady the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside me. "Thanks, Mara. I think Wes made us lunch," I said, flashing her a smile. We shut my suitcases closed with a click and headed towards the dining room.

Wesley was already setting the table, he looked up and smiled as we entered.

"Hey, you two. Just in time," Wesley said, placing the last dish on the table. "I made your favorite, Zahra—chicken alfredo."

"Smells amazing," I said, moving to his side and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

We all sat down, Amara dug into her plate, clearly enjoying the meal. "So, Wesley,  how's the... I don't know, drawing houses thing going on?" she asked between bites.

Wesley leaned back in his chair. "It's been crazy. The firm's got a new project so, lots of late nights at the office."

Amara nodded appreciatively. "How's med school treating you?" I asked.

Amara smiled. "I'm practically living in the library these days. Speaking of which, I should head there soon to get some studying done."

We finished our meal with more chatter, after we cleared the table and said our goodbyes, Amara gave me a tight hug. "Good luck with the new job, Zahra. You're going to be amazing. And call me as soon as you land, okay?"

"You bet I will. Thanks for everything," I replied, feeling a rush of emotion as she left.

With Amara gone, Wesley and I had a few minutes before leaving for the airport. We grabbed my suitcases and headed out to the car. The drive to the airport was filled with quiet conversation, and for once he let me play my playlist instead of his.

We pulled up to the terminal, and it was time for me to be on my own. Wesley parked the car, and we got out, he insisted in carrying all my bags.

As we walked towards the security checkpoint, my nerves got the best of me. "You know, I read somewhere that airports are like emotional black holes," I began, my voice too bright and too fast. "People are always crying—happy tears, sad tears."

Wesley chuckled softly, his hand resting on my back, guiding me through the crowd. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"And the food is always overpriced," I continued. "I mean, why does a sandwich cost ten dollars? It's just bread and some lettuce."

"Because they know you don't eat before you leave," Wesley replied.

"And the lines! Don't get me started on the lines. They're always so long. You'd think by now they'd have figured out a faster way to get people through security."

"Maybe you should add airport consultant to your resume," he teased.

We reached the security checkpoint, and I knew this was it. The point of no return. "Wes, I..."

Before I could finish, he pulled me into a tight embrace, his hand stroking my hair. "Before you say anything, you're going to be amazing, you deserve this, you've been working hard for years."

"I know, I know," I said, my voice muffled against his chest. 

He pulled back slightly, his hands resting on my shoulders as he looked into my eyes. "You're gonna regret it if you back out now,"

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "You're right. See you soon."

Wesley then gave me a firm but gentle push towards the security line. "Go on, Zahra. You got this."

With one last lingering kiss, I grabbed my bags and turned towards the security checkpoint. I glanced back one more time to see Wesley watching me, it was like a parent sending off their kid for the first day of school. I waved, forcing a smile, and then turned away.

With a deep breath, I picked up my bags and headed towards my gate.

┏━━━━━━━━━━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━━━━━━━━━━┓
𝐀𝐔𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐘'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒
❀ Short chapter since it's my last week of school and
so many people are leaving so I've been at
 A LOT of goodbye parties
❀ SO SORRY THIS TOOK KINDA LONG FOR NOT THAT MUCH
 I'VE BEEN FREAKING OUT AB MY REPORT CARDS
┗━━━━━━━━━━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━━━━━━━━━━┛