Breathe Again

Chapter 15

Madi woke up around 5:30 am to her email chiming at her, that's what she gets for being such a light sleeper. It was an email reminder from the airport that her flight was leaving at 8am and she jumped out of bed in a panic.

She was so distracted all day yesterday to remember to check for the email telling her flight information for the day. Great, she needed to find Rob and tell him she couldn't meet him at 8am, since she would be on a flight to Michigan. Then she realized she didn't have his phone number or his room number.

Great. She jumped in the shower, called down to the front desk to arrange the shuttle to get her to the airport on time, and then rushed around her room packing all of her things.

She wrote a letter to Rob, in case she couldn't catch him in the lobby before she left. Madi left her name, including her last name which she doesn't think she ever gave him.

It's still weird wondering if she should go by her married name or maiden name anymore. She also left her phone number and told him she was so sorry she couldn't find him before she left to say goodbye in person.

Madi told him to call her when he could and she would hopefully still see him in California in a few weeks and good luck in London. She wrote Rob on the envelope and sealed it, then headed down to the coffee station in the lobby with her bags in tow.

Madi waited until the very last minute, sipping her coffee in the lobby, waiting to see if Rob would come down early so she could see him and explain why she had to leave.

Once the shuttle driver arrived and started to take her bags outside, she walked over to the front desk to give the letter to the front desk agent, seeing that she could get it to him when he went to checkout or came down for breakfast so he didn't think she stood him up.

The girl in front of her talking to the agent looked familiar, but she couldn't place why. She moved over to sign something so Madi could approach the front desk agent. She handed her the note with Rob's name on it and asked her if she could get it to him when he came down for breakfast, and that she was so sorry but she had to leave for her flight.

"I'm one of Rob's co-workers. I'd be happy to see that he gets it. I'm Talia by the way." the girl said, reaching her hand out to shake Madi's.

"I'm Madi. You wouldn't mind seeing that he gets this?" Madi asked her hesitantly.

"Not at all. I think we are all meeting for breakfast anyway, I'll make sure he knows you had to leave in a hurry." she said with a genuine smile. So, Madi handed Talia the letter, thanked her, finished checking out and headed towards the shuttle to get to the airport.

Once Madi got to her gate and waited to board, she remembered that she saw Talia in the Hotel Lobby Bar last night when she and Rob got back, but what she didn't know was that as soon as she left the hotel, Talia trashed her letter to Rob letting him know why she wasn't at breakfast and why she had to leave so suddenly.

As soon as Madi arrived in Michigan, she turned her phone off of airplane mode and had zero texts. She figured Rob would have opened her letter and texted her by now. Maybe he was in a rush to finish todays lectures and pack, since he was leaving today as well and heading for another country. Madi tried to not let it bother her, but something inside of her told her something was off.

Meanwhile, Back in Boston...

Rob:

Rob woke up at 7:30 and took a quick shower before heading downstairs. He got down there right at 7:55 and waited for Madi.

This girl came into his life like a hurricane. All consuming, beautifully chaotic, complex, strong and intriguing. He could spend hours just listening to her talk.

By 8:10 he started to think about going up to her room and knocking, maybe she slept in? As he was walking towards the elevators, he heard someone calling his name, "Hey Talia, I'm kind of busy. I'm supposed to be meeting someone." Rob said walking past her.

"I know, Madi had to leave early this morning. I ran into her checking out about an hour ago. She said she got an early flight and had to go, but wanted me to tell you she had a great time meeting you and to contact her sometime." Talia told him.

"Oh, did she leave you her contact info to give me? I was going to get it from her at breakfast this morning." he asked hopefully.

"No, sorry. I thought you had it, otherwise I would have asked her for you. Maybe she was just trying to be polite and that's why she didn't leave it." Talia said sadly.

"Damn it, I don't even know her last name! She wouldn't have just left without letting me know or leaving some kind of information for me." Rob barked as he headed for the front desk.

"Hello, I know it may not be policy, but I'm looking for some information for Madi in room 512. She checked out early this morning and forgot to leave her number. If you can't give me that, can you at least give me her last name?" Rob pleaded with the guy in front of him.

"I'm sorry sir, the phone number on file is the airline that was paying for her room and we are not allowed to give out any personal information." the agent explained.

"Rob, it's okay. I'm sure she'll find you if she wants to, and she would have left her info if she wanted you to find her. Come on, come join the rest of us for breakfast, there's nothing we can do right now." Talia said.

"I guess you're right. I'll be right there." Rob told her. "Thank you for trying, I know it's against policy and such." he said to the front desk clerk.

"Sprouse." the man said quietly, so only Rob could hear.

"That's her last name?" he asked hopeful.

"I don't know what you are referring to sir." the agent said with a small wink.

"Thank you anyway." Rob said with a smile.

"Okay Madi Sprouse, where could you be?"