Page 63 of Forever Fascinating

She was in a foreign country, could hear a variety of languages around her, and for all she knew? He could have bailed on the trip or gotten stuck… or changed his mind. She should have all these doubts running through her head, little voices that told her this was a mistake, yet there was nothing.

Looking up, she saw the gate attendants opening the doors, before closing them again… only to see the best sight in the world.

His plane.

A massive jet taxied forward, and she looked out the windows, watching the walkway descend to meet it, before aligning against the sides of the aircraft. Time seemed to tick by so slowly as the rest of the world around her became a blur… waiting… only to see the gate doors open again as the first passengers from Kabul spilled out into the airport.

People of every kind began to unload… and then she saw Matthew.

His eyes met hers, and that beautiful smile made her melt. She couldn’t speak because of the lump of sudden emotion in her throat as she raised a hand, suddenly nervous, only to see him make a beeline for her.

His arms crushed her in a massive hug as he picked her up from where she was standing, holding her against him. Jana’s arms wrapped around his neck, as she laughed tearfully.

“I’m so glad to see you,” he whispered thickly against her shoulder, his voice shaking. “You are the best thing I’ve seen in four months.”

“You too, mister,” she finally choked out, closing her eyes in relief.

Time seemed to stand still as they stood there hugging, holding each other, and both just quiet, as if they needed to savor this moment, this connection that had suddenly been reestablished between them.

Finally, Matthew cleared his throat, released her, and smiled shyly at her… holding out his hand.

Jana clasped his and nodded.

“My hand missed yours,” she replied unabashedly, smiling up at him only to watch in amazement as his entire demeanor seemed to brighten at her words. He pulled her hand to his lips, kissing the back of it, and cleared his throat again, before speaking.

“Let’s get through customs, get our rental car, and begin our adventure, together,” he urged quietly, his eyes holding hers.

“That sounds perfect.”

She had no idea how much time had passed before they were finally sequestered away in some strange vehicle that neither recognized and sitting in the parking lot of the rental car facility, before looking at each other again… and the map that the attendant had given them, speaking very heavily accented English.

Jana couldn’t help the slight laugh that escaped her, causing Matthew to look at her, before he started chuckling, too.

No words were needed. They shared a knowing smile, as he put his arm around the seat to look behind them, and backed out of the parking lot.

This was all sheer insanity.

It was the middle of the night. They had no idea where they were going. They’d exchanged their cash for foreign currency at the airport and were about to embark on a quest to search for their hotel in the middle of this massive city with all these strange buildings, signs, and winding streets.

… With a paper map of all things.

Getting out her phone, she already had the hotel’s address plugged into her GPS, and tossed the map onto the dash.

“Make a right here…” she instructed, smiling “… Then a left to merge onto a main road that has literally almost no vowels in the spelling of it.”

Matthew flashed a smile at her.

“Lead on, milady…” he urged, flipping on his turn signal.

Almost an hour later, they parked, unloaded their bags, and walked into the building to check in. The streets were lovely in the darkness, illuminated by moonlight, and she couldn’t wait to see what this world looked like in the daylight. The front of the hotel was dotted with wrought iron balconies and lined with a variety of potted plants, giving a quaint feeling to it.

Matthew checked them in at the counter, while Jana took in everything around them. She had put on the booking that they would be coming in extremely late, asking them to hold the room… and this place was spectacular.

The walls looked like they were weathered stucco on the inside of the building and something that looked like a tree was in a massive terra cotta container in the corner under a winding staircase made of wood.

“Okay, we’re ready…” Matthew said gently, touching her arm, and handing her the key. “There’s two keys for us. I’ll take your bag.”

“I can carry it.”

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