Dreaming In Stereo

Part 8 -- Perfect Duet

Ethan sat on the bed looking around their hotel room, which was now stripped of all their possessions. It looked like any other vacant hotel room in the hotel, except for the four suitcase piled in a square near the door, which was ajar. It was surprisingly clean--the beds were made, fresh towels hung in the white-marble bathroom.

"It was fun here," Tahlia spoke up, all of a sudden. "But I miss Geelong."

"Yeah," Ethan muttered, more to himself than to Tahlia or anyone else. "Yeah, I'll miss Sydney too."

Tahlia glanced at their mum but didn't say anything. Ethan stood up, stretched, and then walked over to his suitcase. Tahlia followed suit. His parents were already leaning against the wall near the doorway, double-checking their wallets and their bags to check they had all their important possessions with them.

"Let's go then," Mrs Karpathy said. They left the hotel room, closing the door behind them. The Karpathy family had stayed at the fifth floor, so they took the lift down to the lobby, which was mostly empty. It was quite early in the morning for people to be up and about in the hotel lobby. This meant no queue. They checked out quickly and soon got into a taxi and were heading on their way to the airport.

"The Lanzons will meet us there," Mrs Karpathy told Ethan.

"Cool," Ethan replied. He paused for a second, and then reached into his pocket and took out a deck of cards and started shuffling between them. Ethan stopped abruptly, and put the cards back into his pocket.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence until the taxi driver slowed to a stop outside the airport, which, being the Sydney Airport, was busy and packed with people 24/7 and today was no exception. Still, the Karpathy family managed to squeeze through the crowds and crowds of people and get their tickets. As they walked up to the security aisle, Ethan felt someone poke his shoulder. He whipped around and saw Chris, grinning.

"Chris!" Ethan exclaimed.

"Who?" Mrs Karpathy turned around and saw the Lanzon family standing right before her. "Oh, hello. Thanks for coming."

"Well, Chris really wanted to see Ethan off," Mrs Lanzon replied. "Boys," She chortled knowingly and the parents were off in a discussion about their kids, which left Tahlia standing quite awkwardly and Chris and Ethan also deeply immersed in conversation.

"I guess we have to put the band off for a while," Chris said.

"Yeah, sucks," Ethan replied. "Still, I can always come to visit. Right? And you can come and visit me in Geelong, or something."

Chris nodded.

"Where's Lara?" Ethan asked.

Chris bit his lip. "She couldn't be here. But she'll miss you, and she told me to tell you that she says goodbye."

"Tell her the same," Ethan told Chris. "In fact, tell Jakob that too. God, I'll miss this place."

"This place, as in the airport?" Chris asked.

"No, this place as in Sydney," Ethan replied. "Jeez. And you're supposed to be the smart one, Chris."

"Oh my god! You made a joke, Ethan! Congratulations!" Chris clapped his hands mockingly while Ethan shoved him. Chris laughed harder.

"Boys, boys," Mrs Karpathy said. "Ethan. We have to go now, or we'll miss the flight."

And stay in Sydney a little longer, thought Ethan, though he didn't say this aloud. Instead, he just nodded solemnly.

"All right," Mrs Karpathy concluded. "Well, it was nice meeting you. We'll definitely keep in touch, right?"

"Definitely," Mrs Lanzon replied. "And I suppose the boys will, too."