The One She Loves • George Springer

Bittersweet Memories

| S A M A N T H A|

"I'll take a Carmel Cocoa Cluster frappe with whip and an extra shot."

"mkay, it'll be done soon."

I nod and take a seat on the bench across from the small shop in the airport. I grab my phone and text Lily.

Hey I'm at the airport, my flight leaves in thirty minutes so I'll land at Bush in about four hours.

I scroll through Instagram and pass the time for a few minutes until I get my coffee.

I get to the plane and finally take off. I put in my earbuds and listen to music for the next three hours and thirty minutes.

•

I land at 11:37 and give Lily a call.

"Hey Lily, I just landed where do you want me to meet you."

"At our house, Carlos and I invited our friends over to meet before we go out."

"Alright that's good. Same place right?"

"Of course!"

"Cool. I'll see you in about an hour."

I get an Uber and in an hour make it to their house. I walk up to the door and can hear people.

I hear Carlos, Lily and a bunch of other people laughing. I start getting nervous not really knowing who's there but when I hear Jose, Jake and Marwin's voices I feel much more relaxed.

I jiggle the door knob and walk in. I quietly close the door and see a group of a little over ten people in living room. They haven't noticed me yet.

I drop my bags and smile faintly remembering all the times and memories associated with this place.

"OMIGOSH IT'S SAM!!!"

I quickly whip my head towards the group and watch all the ladies and Lily rush up to me.

"I've missed you so much!"

"We need to fill you in with everything!"

"You look so good!"

I laugh, "I missed all of you guys too!"

Lily exclaims, "Oh I totally forgot to introduce you to someone! Her name is Deisay. Jakey finally found a girl!"

I yell, "AWWHH JAKE!!"

I look over at him in the living room and see him blushing bright red and holding a very beautiful lady's hand.

I walk to the living room after hugging all the ladies and shake Deisay's hand.

"Hi I'm Sam."

She smiles with bright white perfect teeth, "I've heard so much about you!"

I give everyone hugs and didn't notice George sitting on the other side of Jake.

Everyone gets really quiet when we just look each other not knowing what to do.

Apparently Carlos didn't notice cause he asks, "Why's everyone so quiet?" Lily smacks his arm and he then realizes why. "Oh."

George sighs, stands up and gives me a quick hug. I hold my breath the entire time and stand stiff not really knowing if I should pat his back or give him a hug back or say something.