As
the day wore on, it became increasingly
clear i had to get out of
the fort. i would've gone crazy had i stayed there.
Laura had already called me from
the New Orleans airport, which was a nice suprise and helped calm me down a bit. Finally satisfied that
her flight was in the air and hurtling toward
Hartsfield Int'l, i went out for a drive.
Driving around aimlessly can only do so much to calm you down, plus the city was dead. It was a Friday night, but it seemed like the only things happening were in me. i had been completely useless for several days at this point, far too excited and nervous and hopeful to be able to concentrate on anything.
We had both been at two gatherings together, but the typical fragmentation of gatherings hadn't been conducive to either of us being able to converse freely. IM (and a few /msges) served as our main channel of communication for weeks, starting out as random snippets of chat and quickly gaining momentum. My flatmates started to notice me spending more and more time chatting each night. Sacrificing sleep for chat time with Laura became my modus operandi.
i don't know what it was, exactly, but she had me like a habit. It just felt so good. The more we talked and i found out about her, the more i wanted to. i had it bad because she was so good. i had already talked with her about coming down for New Year's weekend to hang out. At the rate we were going, i would've never made it. Fortunately, a convenient excuse came up and with some frantic late-night pointing and clicking, transportation was arranged. i just had to make it through that week. i was dizzy and floating with excitement. My feet seemed like they would never touch the ground again.
Back from my drive, i had managed to kill a whole 20 minutes. i tried my damnedest to keep busy and keep my mind off the fact that Laura would soon be there, but to no avail. Her flight was about 20 minutes ahead of schedule, causing me to jump back in my car and burn rubber all the way to Hartsfield.
When Laura finally emerged up the escalator, a huge smile broke across my face and the jitters i had been cultivating since Sunday disappeared. She didn't see me at first and slowly walked through the crowd. i followed behind her, keeping a few steps distance, watching the way she moved. i put my hand on her shoulder, said, "Laura". i completely melted when she turned around, looked me in the eyes and hugged me tight. She felt so warm, so wonderful, so right. i had a feeling we would probably kiss at some point in the weekend, but after that, i knew we weren't going to leave the spot until we did.
We made our way back to the fort, and left to go have dinner with my friend Jeff. Jeff can be a bit overbearing at times, but i knew he'd be on his best behavior as i had been talking about Laura coming up since Sunday. It's hard not to talk about someone this amazing.
Back at the fort, we got up on the roof and watched the clouds go by, looked down through the skylights and cuddled on the hatch cover. i've never felt as at ease with anyone as i do with her. i was (and still am) in awe at how well she just fits into my life.
The rest of the weekend seemed to go in delicious slow motion. i just couldn't take my eyes off her. Her smile and eyes and freckles when she just woke up, french toast for breakfast, a motorcycle ride to get ingredients for dinner, Fear of a Black Hat and Tomb Raider were rented and we returned back home. The combination of her arms wrapped tightly around me, the wind and vibrations from the motorcycle made the short jaunt around the city the most enjoyable i've had. Smot was poked, Fear of a Black Hat was watched and dinner prepared, albeit slowly and giggly. We walked in the cool air to the Tabernacle for the concert, which rocked. The crowd was interesting, as it consisted of jailbait, frat boys, sorostitutes and us. We walked back in the refreshing air to my ghetto apartment and snuggled on the couch. She was a dream, completely tangible, right there in my arms, so it must be true.
The next day, Ken's fictious ice cream parlor was nowhere to be found, so we settled for gelato before we were to meet Summer and Phil for lunch. It had been a while since i had seen Phil around Tech and it was good to finally meet Summer. i didn't say much as i was still in awe of the previous 40 hours, so fresh and sweet in my mind. And she was still there, which made it hard to concentrate. We played around in a nearby store, trying on Bootsy Collins sunglasses and looking at the lack of posters before we parted ways with the other happy couple en route to the airport.
We hugged and kissed for one last time before she went through the extra-long lines for security. She turned around to look at me and i blew her a kiss as she made her way to the metal detectors. Normally, i love hanging around in the airport but i just couldn't do it then. i drove back home with the radio off, the only sound coming from the engine and tires on the asphalt. i looked around the fort when i got in. There were very few signs she had been there at all. A few butts of her clove cigarettes in the ashtray, some Bill Hicks and Henry Rollins and a few books she loaned me near my messy bed. i soon discovered the t-shirt of mine she had worn. The neck was sweet with the smell of her body spray, but the rest of it had the intoxicating and sublime scent of her on it.
Then i realized what had been here before that was now missing. Somehow or another, she had crammed it somewhere - her carry-on bag, or pockets perhaps. i had no idea, but she made off with it before i knew what hit me. She's fast and sneaky at times and knows exactly what she's doing. How she got past security with my heart is still a mystery to me.