Final Ticket

six

August 10 was the day Maddie was bound for Heathrow, and Solomon was on the verge of mental collapse. He really began questioning this decision, wondering if maybe he should just conveniently forget to pick her up.

Except he was just too nice to even think of doing that. Even so, he knew she was excited for this. She had said five or six times already how excited she was to get to know him, how excited she was to see him and see London; and despite how scared he was, he had to admit, he was excited to see her as well.

His eyes wandered to the gigantic clock on his wall right as it hit 3:00. Without delays, Maddie's plane would be there at 4:27. He rung his palms nervously as his eyes fixated in front of him, watching the second hand tick away. He couldn't look elsewhere, he had done such this morning and went on a cleaning spree; making it a point to take his trash out so she didn't know how much he had drank a couple days ago. He had to be sure to stay sober for her for the next two weeks, to make a good impression.

It felt like she was the only one who could ever sense when he was drunk. Everyone else just thought he was being "random," but she could somehow tell by his inability to type that he was out of it.

He drummed his fingers against the arm of his chair, in tune to the Pink Floyd song playing in the background on his PC. His mind had seemingly become blank now with so many thoughts running amuck. How would Maddie like him? Would she think he's a loser? Or a creep? Well she had to have thought the latter at this rate; random guy that she barely knew sent a plane ticket. That's totally normal, right?

He fiddled with a button on his coat nervously now, feeling a little overdressed. He typically dressed in ties and oxfords but this time he had fussed around with a tie and had a long coat on over it all. Hell, he had even tried relaxing his hair, but to no avail. So it was stuck plopping over his eyes like he was a puppy in need of a trim. What was this girl doing to him? He didn't even care much for his appearance, and now...

He was pretty sure he was in love with a girl that might not even exist.

He impatiently looked at his phone. Was it time now? How about now? Aaaaand now? Hell, with the track record airtravel had, maybe he should've gone to Heathrow to check if her plane was delayed.

But what if...

He began to ring his palms, before running his fingers through his hair. He had to stop with the what ifs before it destroyed him.

Solomon gathered his phone, his wallet and his hand sanitizer, and headed towards the door.

Buzz...

He swore under his breath, knowing it was nobody he cared to speak with.

He was right.

[15:09:49] Paul!: Solliepop, we're in town again. I brought Porgi with me but I can't take him with me to Purnell's house. Can you keep him a couple days?

[15:12:02] No. 78921: I'm expecting somebody and I don't know if she's allergic. Besides, Porgi is YOUR bloody pet, not mine. And also, I don't know when you were last here but I've kind of had a cat since I moved out? And I don't want your mutt running around terrorizing my cat.

He didn't let him reply, opting to put his phone in sleep and hoping the messages would be lost and Paul would get a hint.