Page 14 of Heart Strings

“I prefer to think of it as perfect timing.” We produced our tickets and followed the line of people. Giggling, Abigail slid into the seat next to the window.

I had brought headphones so I could listen to music - two hours was a long time to do nothing - but I quickly realized that around Abigail, no time was a long time. We talked as the rest of the passengers boarded, then we talked as the plane took off, and we were still talking a long time after the fasten seatbelts light had faded.

Of course, somewhere during all that talk, relationships had to come up.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been with…” Abigail trailed off.

Your girlfriend? Your ex? Both at once?“Sierra,” I told her to make things easier. “A year. This is the longest relationship I’ve ever had.”

Abigail blinked. “Really?”

I shrugged. “Is it that surprising? I travel all the time. What’s your longest relationship?”

“Two and a half years. My most recent one was only five months, though.”

“Why did it end?”

Abigail’s face fell and she looked out the window at the clouds rushing by. I had only been curious, but clearly, that had been the wrong question to ask… Could she still be into the guy? My first instinct had been to apologize and retract the question, but the idea that some guy could be in her life - some guy who might have been the reason she hesitated to come to Miami - convinced me to let the question linger.

“Um…it was complicated, and it didn’t end well. I guess the short version would be that I realized he wasn’t good for me.” She shook her head. “I haven’t seen him in a long time. Someone told me last summer he had moved away.”

When the plane’s speakers dinged and the seat belt light came on, I decided to drop the question. As long as this guy was no longer in Abigail’s life, I didn’t need to care about him.

Besides, we were about to land in Miami - my hometown. I had waited all week for this, and I had no intention of letting my time with Abigail go to waste.

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