Melina couldn't keep the smile off her face as she stood in wait. She folded her hands together in front of herself as she glanced over the crush of passengers. And in mere minutes, she saw him.
"John!" she cried, breaking into a small run as she met her boyfriend halfway. Other passengers returning to the airport smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Hey, baby," John Hennigan said softly, holding her closely against him with his left arm. His right hand still clutched the handle of his wheeled suitcase. He gave her a sweet kiss on the lips, just a peck for now, but he knew there would be plenty of time for a lot more later.
"How was your flight?" Melina asked, all smiles. They hadn't seen each other in three days, and it was always like this - she would wait in delicious anticipation, always meeting him at his gate at the airport on Wednesdays.
The young man grasped her small, dainty hand, and they walked. She looked so fresh and gorgeous, her long dark hair pulled back at the top, very little makeup on her face. She was wearing a lovely black silk Chinese-style dress with orange, red and blue designs embroidered into it. She smelled wonderful, a mixture of her honeysuckle shampoo and Beautiful perfume.
"A lot better than expected," he replied. "They played Weekend at Bernie's!"
Melina laughed softly, rolling her eyes. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why her boyfriend considered that one of his favorite movies. She constantly enjoyed humor herself, but she was much more a Beaches or A League of Their Own girl. She leaned in closer to him.
"You must have been like a pig in shit!" she cracked in a loud whisper.
John nodded and roared with laughter.
They exited through automatic double doors and found themselves outside. Tons of taxi cabs were idling by on the curb, and drivers honked their horns to get the attention of potential fares. They ignored them, as Melina had driven there. She led John to the parking space where her car awaited.
"So, where to?" she asked as they got in. "Home? Or do you want to stop anywhere in particular first?"
Hennigan eyed her adoringly. She was such an amazing girlfriend, and he counted his lucky stars daily that he hadn't lost her.
"How about we stop for lunch on the way home?" he suggested. "Sushi sound good?"
The pretty brunette smiled and nodded.
"Of course." He knew sushi was one of her favorites. She put the key into the ignition and pulled out of the space. She knew exactly where they were going, as there was a nice little place they frequented whenever the mood hit.
As they drove, a silence fell over them. It was comfortable, and they had the radio droning in the background, but then Melina's head filled with the memory of two nights prior.
She hadn't heard from Dave again since then, but she couldn't help wondering... What did he want? He'd sounded so strange. He'd never sounded like that before, not even when she'd ended it with him.
More importantly, what if he were to call her again now that John was back home until the weekend? She hadn't told him about the call. She felt nervous about the prospect of doing so, too. Not surprisingly, he hadn't taken it well when she broke the news to him about her short-lived relationship with the other man. The thing of it was, she hadn't even cheated on John because they'd been broken up at the time. However, he'd been hurt when she'd told him she had been seeing Batista for awhile during their time apart. She had assured him that she'd ended it with the other man because she'd never stopped loving him.
This was a bad situation. What was she supposed to do if he did call? She guessed she was being a tiny bit irrational. After all, she hadn't told Dave Batista to call her. He knew her situation. He knew she and John were back together, and she'd made it very clear to him how she felt about him.
"You okay?"
John's voice cut through her thoughts like a knife. She turned her head sharply in his direction, at the same time trying to focus on the road.
"Yeah... I'm fine," she lied, nodding and smiling for his benefit. For a split second, she considered just telling him about Monday night's phone call. But no... No, there wasn't any sense in unnecessarily upsetting him.
He smiled at her.
"Can't wait to get home," he said. A sly gleam came into his brown eyes. "Is it wrong that I'm looking more forward to dessert than to lunch?"
That caused the brunette to let out a genuine chuckled. It quickly blossomed into a full-fledged grin.
"Nope... Not at all."