The Pursuit

Nineteen

NINETEEN 

BEEEEEP. BEEEEEP. 

I jolted awake from my sleep. Grabbing my phone from my night stand, I turned off the alarm and stretched my arms out. It was very early in the morning, at exactly four am. My body system was only going to run on six hours of sleep, but I was used to it with the crazy hours I worked.

After taking a quick shower, I changed into comfortable clothes for the flight and checked my bags if I had everything. I always hated packing ever since I was old enough to pack my own things. Unpacking and packing were two of the things I disliked the most in life. 

I let my hair air dry while eating a small breakfast that consisted of cereal and fruits that were still edible from my fruit basket. My phone beeped from the coffee table in the living room, and I walked over to check. It was from Caleb reminding me he would be here in a few minutes.

The airport was miles away from my place but much closer to Caleb's. I couldn't even begin to express my luck for having him in my life. I checked last minute things in my loft, made sure that I wasn't forgetting anything, and hauled my small carry-on suitcase and bag down to the lobby area. 

I had only packed for a five day trip. The convention was taking at least the entire two day weekend, and Monday and Tuesday was the anticipated 'meet the parents' at Caleb's sister's graduation. I remembered Caleb telling me that Selene was the smartest one in the family. A bit wild, but smart. It didn't surprise me that she would be graduating early in the school year.

I lounged around in the lobby, waiting for Caleb's sports car to pull around in front of the building. Once it did, I rolled my things out front and waved at him. The sky was still dark, understandably, with the moon still peeking out. He got out of the car, jogging around to my side, and taking the small suitcase from me. 

"Why didn't you wait for me?" He scowled opening the trunk. "I could have carried those down for you."

"Good morning to you too." Sarcasm laced my tone. I handed him my other bag and crossed my arms in front of my chest. "I'm not immune to manual labor, you know."

A smile finally lifted the corners of his mouth as he shut the trunk and pulled me into his arms, blocking the chilly wind. 

"Sorry, I'm not a morning person," he explained opening the passenger's door for me after giving me a quick kiss on the forehead. "Are you ready?" He asked me pulling out onto the main road after settling into the driver's side. 

"I've been ready since yesterday," I sighed playing with him. "You have no idea how excited I am for this." I turned to look at him. "What about you? I haven't really heard you being excited."

He chuckled quickly stepping on the brakes as an asshole driver swerved in front of us. I placed my hands on the dashboard to keep me from somersaulting forward. Caleb glanced at me worriedly. "You all right?"

"Yeah," I fixed my hair and sent daggers to the car in front of us. "So, are you?"

"Am I what?" He frowned.

"Excited?" I gave him a deadpanned look, turning my body to face him. 

A shy smile only made his face cuter along with the sleepy look. "Oh, right. Well, sure. It's always interesting to see anything new in the world of architecture. I guess you can say I'm excited."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You've been to the convention at least like a thousand times." I said it more of a statement rather a question. I needn't to ask. I could already tell the answer by his face.