The Both Of Us

03- Loved with a 'd'

Two hours and thirty minutes later, we're out of the plane already and in the airport, waiting for our luggage. Holly's awake now. It's seven in the morning and she slept through the flight, so did I but I still feel exhausted.

"Mommy I'm hungry." Holly tugs on the hem of my jacket. "Can we eat?"

"We will, just after we get our bags, okay?" I tell her and rummage through my hand bag and fish out the pack of crackers I brought with me in case Holly wanted to eat. She didn't eat in the plane, she was asleep and I did try to wake her up for the meal but she refused to and now she's hungry. "You can eat these while we're waiting, okay?"

Holly nods and takes the crackers from my hand. I look around for Lance by the washrooms who told me five minutes ago he was going to take a piss. There were a lot of people going in and out but someone caught my eye, and it wasn't Lance.

I freeze for a second or two and immediately turn around. There is no way. I take out my phone to call Lance and his phone rings inside my bag. I forgot he had left it with me.

"Claire, I got our bags."

I turn and find Lance with our bags already and I sigh out in relief.

"You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I thought I saw someone I knew." I say and hand him his phone." I called you, but your phone is with me."

"Ready? Holly's hungry already. Let's drop our bags first at the hotel then we'll eat?"

"That sounds great." Lance says with a raised brow at me. "If you remembered to book rooms."

"What are you talking- oh my Lance I didn't book any!" I exclaim at him. "I completely forgot about the hotel. I was so busy with Holly and our stuff and making sure to get tickets, I didn't book rooms at all."

Lance lets out a chuckle and shakes his head. "I know."

"You know and you didn't tell me?"

"I know and I didn't tell you, yes correct." He nods and starts walking to the exit with our bags.

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I booked one for the three of us." He says to me and I hold Holly's hand and catch up with him. "I was going to get two separate rooms but this was the only hotel with vacancy within a five mile radius. It has two separate beds."

"You are a hero, you know that?" I tell him with a smile.

"Of course I know that, baby girl." He flashes me a smile of his own. "Let's go. Holly's not the only one starving."

We exit out of the doors of the airport and someone calls out my name- an oh so familiar voice I wished and prayed I'd never ever hear again in my life and he's calling me and it hasn't been even an hour since we arrived. As a reflex, I turn my head around and heaven knows I shouldn't have but I already did and he knows I heard him.

"Claire let's grab a cab."

I don't answer Lance, or acknowledge Holly tugging at the hem of my jacket. I stare at the face of the man who called my name, and I freeze just like I did earlier while searching for Lance. The colour of my face drains and I'm pale as snow.

I don't move, I don't make a noise. My eyes are still wide, my mouth partly open. It's like I've seen a ghost and he's good as one- at least to me anyway.

Eight years, eight long years of trying to pass him off as a ghost in my head, trying to forget him and everything he brought along with him- the memories of the past I longed buried and burned.