I pushed my finger under the flap, tore it open, then pulled out the paper. There were only three lines. I read them quickly, gasping as the words sank in.
I chose myself, konjo, and you, if you still want me.
I will see you very soon.
Love, Elias
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but with everything in me I believed he would keep that promise.
I closed my eyes as tears streamed down my face, the tightness in my chest I’d been trying to ignore for days finally loosening. Sensing the meaning of those words seeping into my bones. The relief of being certain that I hadn’t been in this alone.
In the distance I heard an announcement that they would start boarding in a few minutes, and I pocketed the note, trying to get myself together. Suddenly I felt someone standing close to me, and what sounded like Elias’s low, husky chuckle coming from above.
“I told Saba you wouldn’t wait.”
I snapped my head up and saw him only a couple of feet away. He was wearing his leather jacket, gray scarf, red Chucks, and the most beautiful smile I had ever seen on his face. I stood up fast, knocking over my laptop bag, and almost jumped him before I remembered where I was.
I couldn’t just kiss him. I had to keep my head. This was not me realizing my lover—who I thought I might never see again—was actually getting on the flight home with me. Elias and I couldn’t be that to each other here. No, right now I was just saying hello to a friend.
Touching him always made everything simpler, so I closed the small distance between us as my body shook so violently my teeth chattered. I could see a flutter in Elias’s cheek; he was working as hard as I was to keep from grabbing me.
“You’re here,” I gasped, still astonished he was standing in front of me.
That smile again. “I am, and I’m going to New York. I’ll need to come back to Addis before classes start, but this is it…”
“Can we say a proper hello?” I asked, shaking like a leaf.
He let go of the death grip he had on the handle of his carry-on, and we moved to bump our shoulders together. As our bodies touched, I could feel the shivers running through him, and I was sure he could feel mine. We pressed together one shoulder, then the other, and finally thumped each other hard on the back.
“It’s good to see you, Desta,” he breathed out, and I could hear the depth of emotion he was feeling in the trembling in his voice.
I shuddered out a breath that felt like it was coming from the deepest place in my soul. “You too.”
After a moment we separated and moved to sit beside each other, waiting for the plane to board. We had to look ridiculous with the giddy grins we both had on our faces, and I did not care in the slightest.
“So how did it go with your parents? I was so worried.”
He shook his head, smiling sadly. “Better than I expected, actually. My dad especially has always prided himself on being counter-culture,” he said, amused. “So he was pretty good about it. My mother was shocked, but she’s coming around. Mostly they want me to be happy. I think it’s also easier for them that I’ll be in the States where things are better, at least when it comes to this. My sister already knew. Or at least she says she did.”
I exhaled, the last bit of tightness melting off my shoulders. “I’m so glad.”
He gave me a regretful look, and I saw him fist his hand from where it was right by mine. “I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch, but once I decided I wanted to try to leave with you, I had a million things to do, and it wasn’t certain until almost the last minute that I’d be able to pull it off. Saba was a lot of help. She was able to get my visa expedited, and Bonnie was great at helping me get all my paperwork in for my resignation from Aid. It’s been hectic.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe no one told me anything! Traitors.”
He laughed. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”
“Well, I was shocked, so good job.” I tried to sound annoyed, but I was so clearly ecstatic he wasn’t buying it.
We sat there in silence, grinning at each other for the next couple of minutes, and with every second I got more desperate to get on the damn plane. Thankfully boarding started, and soon we were walking onto the plane together.
As we shuffled along the bridge, I felt like I was literally heading into a new life.
Once in the plane, we didn’t have seats together, of course. I’d gotten an upgrade to business class and Elias was in the back of the plane. He looked at me ruefully and pointed in the direction of his seat. “I’ll see you in New York City.”
I balked and grabbed his jacket, refusing to let him out of my sight. “Hell no. We’re sitting together. Here—” I said, looking at the seat number on his boarding pass. “Let’s go to yours. I’ll give mine to the person sitting next to you.”
Now it was his turn to balk. “That’s a business class seat. Why would you do that?”
I looked up at him with the most pissed-off face I could manage while also experiencing delirious levels of happiness. “Because the man I love is in row twenty-eight, and that’s where I will be on this long-as-hell flight.”
“Okay, Desta.” He cracked up and kept shuffling along to the end of the plane. God, I wanted to weep. I thought I’d never hear him say my name again.
We got to his
