Being late to take him to the airport today was not part of my plan to send Leo off to Singapore with an unforgettable goodbye. Reaching his side slightly sweaty, out of breath, and muttering “Sorry” is next-level tragic. Leo looks like he might dump me by takeoff.
“Nina, I told you if you couldn’t take me to the airport today, it’s no big deal, I’d grab an Uber. I’ve called you five times, and you didn’t even pick up your phone.” Leo’s jaw is clenched, and he’s pointing at the time on his watch. Late to get Leo, I ran out of Royal-Hawkins so fast I left my phone on my desk. This is not how I wanted our last hour together to be.
“You’re twenty minutes late, and you know how I feel about being rushed for the airport. Especially flying international.” To be fair to me, Leo and I have not flown together, so I’ve yet to see his type A travel habits in action. We’d only talked about the possibility of going somewhere someday.
Leo opens his hand, palm up, in a signal to hand over the key fob. He pops the trunk and in eight swift moves loads his luggage. Instead of giving me the keys so I can drive him to the airport and wish him bon voyage with a rom-com-worthy kiss, I’m met with, “Get in. I’ll drive.”
In the passenger seat, I don’t know what to do with my hands. Leo grips the steering wheel in a way that doesn’t look like he wants to hold one of them. Minutes tick by without us exchanging a word.
“Let’s call Marisol, I want to say goodbye to her,” Leo says, softening a bit, and points to his cell phone on the center console. Marisol’s always my best asset.
“I’m pretty sure she’s in meetings all afternoon, but I know she’d love a voice mail from you,” I offer.
“Never mind. I’ll shoot her a text from the airport. This morning she texted and bet me twenty dollars you’d be late picking me up. I told her no way; you’d want every last moment you could possibly squeeze out of me.”
Jeez, is Leo not going to let this one go before he gets on a plane and leaves me?
“So, you need to pay her twenty bucks. I’m not forking over cash for your bad habits,” he teases. The sides of Leo’s mouth turn up slightly, and I sense him relaxing.
“Funny, you don’t call my lateness a bad habit when I’m tardy to work so we can get in a morning quickie,” I throw out, hoping a little humor from my end will be well received. Leo booms out a hearty laugh, and just like that I’m done with driver’s detention.
“You know we’re going to have to get creative with me in Singapore and you in Pasadena, right?” Leo winks at me as he accelerates through the last yellow light to make it to the freeway on-ramp.
“I don’t know how creative I can be in my office. When you’ll be getting home in the evenings, I’ll be arriving at work. I can’t get freaky in the main office; Mimi has impeccable hearing.”
“I said creative, not loud,” Leo informs, reaching over to unbutton the top of my blouse for a peek at my lacy lavender bra. “I want to see these lovelies on screen.” Clumsily, Leo fondles my boobs from the driver’s seat with his right hand. The guy’s left-handed.
“You focus and drive right, and maybe you can get a last peep show in short-term parking.” The fact that in twenty minutes he’ll be gone is beginning to sting my eyes and cause a catch in my throat.
As we exit for Los Angeles International Airport, Leo’s hands are back on the steering wheel to maneuver the lanes. “No time to park. I’m going to pull right up to the terminal. You wait with the car while I run and grab a cart. If any of those airport parking hounds gives you trouble, tell them to sit tight, I’ll be right back.” Clearly, Leo doesn’t know Black folks don’t mess with people in uniform.
“Okay,” I mumble. Leo’s gone into operational mode whiplash fast. I need a bit more physical connection with him, I’m already missing being curled up in bed playing with his thick dark hair. But the moment has passed. Or at least, it’s passed for Leo.
Chucking me the keys, Leo hops out of the car like a kid starting the first day of a new school year full of possibilities. I slowly get out, pop the trunk, and struggle to pull even the smallest of Leo’s bags out it’s so stinking heavy. It feels like he’s moving away for forever.
Running back with a cart, Leo rides it the last fifty feet like the excited man-child he’s transformed into before my eyes. I hold the cart while he loads the luggage. Leo unearthed the woman in me that had been laying low since my divorce five years ago, and for that I’m grateful. Right now, that woman sure would like to continue getting some action from this tall, toned, self-possessed man swinging luggage in front of her, but I tell myself how lucky I was to have the past couple of months. I had an unexpected summer surprise that I should be thankful for rather than resentful that it’s ending because now, with Leo gone, I can put all my focus on the students and families at Royal-Hawkins. And that’s a good thing. Really.
Too soon, the bags are loaded, and there’s nothing left to do but say our goodbyes. I tug at a rogue thread on Leo’s cuff, not sure who should be the first to say whatever needs to be said to try to make this grim moment less painful.
Leo adjusts the top duffel, making sure it’s secure. His hands are calloused for a lawyer, one of the first things I noticed as he deftly undid the tie on my turquoise dress in his room at the Biltmore. I’m going to miss those hands something awful. Leo turns to me, hooking his arms around my waist, pulling me close. “Nina Morgan Clarke, it’s been one hell of a summer.” I nod my head in agreement. The only way I can keep my composure is if I don’t speak. “We are two smart people insanely attracted to one another,” Leo says, planting a lingering kiss on my lips. “We can make up our own rules on how to do us.” I’m pretty sure the rules of long-distance mean talking on average three point five times a week, and even then, the probability of us lasting is nil. “Anything’s possible for us, Nina.”
I clear my throat and unhook Leo’s arms from around my waist. I need the moment to end, this is already too hard. I have a school to get back to running and a daughter to parent. The real world is calling me back to claim my place.
“You’re right,” I say, kissing Leo on the cheek. I whisper into his ear, “It’s been a hell of a summer.” I take one last look at Leo, turn, and head back to school.
THREE
FROM: Courtney Dunn
DATE: August 30
SUBJECT: new year, new start for all
TO: Nina Morgan Clarke
Dear Nina,
I left you a voice mail at the end of the school year, but never heard back. Writing today to say I hope your summer was as invigorating and purpose-driven as the Dunns’！ I’m sure you know, last year in first grade Daisy showed a real passion for oceanography. Serendipitously, the children’s piano teacher, Adia, was going to Costa Rica to help her sister who was having a baby. So, I decided we would all fly there, and Daisy, Geoff, and I would submerge ourselves in some global volunteerism while Adia helped her sister with the newborn （sadly my stepson, Benjamin, couldn’t join us, he was in Provence with his mother）。 The envirotainment program our travel consultant found housed us in a dreamy beachfront villa and came with a chef who made us incredible plantains morning, noon, and night. The whole experience really connected us to the dire need for ocean conservation. And bonus, Adia was close by so she could babysit in the evenings, and Geoff and I got to go out and have some fun pura vida style!