Fear courses through my veins as I stand up, slowly slinging my bag over my shoulder. Cole waits patiently in the isle as the rest of the passengers file out, flashing me an encouraging smile.
"You ready?" He asks.
"Yes... maybe... no... I don't know..." I ramble shakily.
"It will be fine, Marriya. I promise."
Nodding weakly, I follow him from the plane.
A warm surge of air cocoons me as I walk into the airport, pale sunlight flooding the room from the wall of windows to my immediate left.
Scanning the airport, I quickly find a middle age couple holding a sign with my name scribbled across it in colourful ink.
"I guess this is it," I say quietly to Cole.
"Bye, Marriya," he whispers. Impulsively, he pulls me in for a quick and slightly awkward hug.
"Bye, Cole."
Waving weakly, a flash him a small smile before I turn away and begin walking towards my parents.
They scan the small crowd emerging from the plane until their gaze fixates on me, their eyes widening.
My shaky, shallow breaths begin to quicken as I make my way towards them.
Biting my lip, I stop about a foot from my mom and dad.
"Marriya," my mom whispers incredulously. Reaching forward, she pushes a small piece of hair out of my eyes. The next thing I know, she's pulled me into a tight embrace. Wrapping my arms around her slowly, I try to ignore the awkwardness of the situation. I'm even more uncomfortable as I'm shifted into the man's arms.
My mom stands happily beside my father, both of them smiling down adoringly at me.
"You're so beautiful," my mom says. "My darling daughter."
Tears threaten her eyes as she looks down at me, her lips pressed tightly together.
"Marriya," my father whispers. "I can't believe it's you. After 16 years, it's really you"
Their voices are weak as they speak to me, both obviously only seconds from bursting into tears in the middle of the airport.
"Hi," I say, my voice shaky and quiet.
"Come darling, its quite late. Lets grab your bags and go home," my mom whispers to me.
As she turns away, my father stokes a tear from her cheek. I follow behind them meekly, overwhelmed by the intense outpour of emotion I have just encountered. In these past few minutes, I've felt more loved and cherished then in all of the 16 years I spent in Toronto.
The second we reach the luggage area, I spot my two large duffel bags containing all my belongings. Angela allowed me to keep my clothes and makeup, but took everything else away. Anything in the bags besides that were gifts from my friends.
"Here, let me grab those," my dad smiles, reaching out and taking the bags from my hand.
"Thanks..." I trail off.
"Look, sweetie, I know you may not be comfortable calling us mom and dad yet, and that's okay. For the meantime, I'm Cheryl, and this is George."
"Thanks," I say, heat rushing to my face as I begin to realize how obvious my emotions are. Either Cheryl is very good at reading me, or Angela just didn't love me enough to care. For my own sake, I force myself to believe the first one.
The drive home is beautiful, the sun sinking slowly in the sky as we go, pink and orange slowly chasing away the remains of bright blue daylight. It is 11pm here, but I am utterly exhausted as it would be 2am in Ontario.
YOU ARE READING
Crazy Stupid Love
Fanfiction"She was his first, he was her last." Marriya Mitchell didn't have it easy. Her life was far from perfect, and the people around her were a constant reminder of that. She had a dad who was never there, a verbally abusive mother, a physically abusive...
