42. Christa

I couldn’t stop bouncingmy knee as we landed. I was so nervous. What if he already moved on? What if I professed my love to him and he said he wasn’t interested? What if?—“

“Oh my God!” Emily sighed, clutching my knee. “You have to stop. You’re driving me insane.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t help it. I’m so nervous. This is so unlike me.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of that going around.”

I looked at her, suddenly so nervous that my stomach ached. “Do you think he’ll be happy that I showed up unannounced?”

“I—”

I slapped my hands to my face, groaning at my own stupidity. “I should have called first.”

“Well, you could have, but?—”

“I mean, a guy like him…he probably already has someone in his bed. I’m going to walk into his hut and he’ll have some slut draping herself over him!”

“Or—”

“How could he do that to me? We’re married!”

“Technically—”

“I mean, I know neither of us remember those vows, but they still mean something to God! How could he do that?”

“I don’t know.”

I scoffed, shaking my head at the thought of all the things he was doing right now. “I’ll just march up to him and tell him I want a divorce.”

“I thought we were coming down here to tell him you wanted to be with him.”

“Right,” I huffed. “Not if he’s going to bed the closest woman as soon as I leave.”

“You don’t know that he has.”

“Oh, who are you kidding? Of course, he has. Have you seen his body? He’s like a…a…mechanic or something. Ugh, what I wouldn’t give to see him covered in grease.”

“Okay, I think we’re venturing into the category of fantasies I don’t need to know about.”

“I mean, haven’t you ever seen a mechanic and just wondered what was under those coveralls?”

She pulled a face. “Mr. Jenkins? Ew, he’s seventy years old!”

“Not Mr. Jenkins. Just…some other mechanic. Someone muscular like Max. I bet he’d make a great mechanic.”

“Or pilot,” she added.

“Right, exactly.” Then I frowned. “Oh, wait. He is a pilot.”

“Exactly, so why are you dreaming about a mechanic?”

“I don’t know.” I blew out a breath, shaking my hands out. I couldn’t shake out my nerves. I couldn’t talk to him when I was like this. I needed a pill. “What are those pills that chill you out?”

“Xanax?”

“Yeah, one of those.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to hand those out to just anyone.”

“I’m not just anyone. I’m your best friend, who’s freaking out because she’s about to see her husband again! This is serious.”

She nodded sagely. “Yes, and nothing says I love you like a woman walking up to you, drooling out of one side of her mouth and half asleep because she took medication to see you. Score.”

“Whatever. You have no idea what this is like.”

“Oh, I’m getting a pretty good idea,” she mumbled.

The plane finally stopped and I jumped up in my seat, ready to haul ass off the plane. Except, everyone else was taking their sweet time, grabbing their luggage and chatting like this was a social hour.

“This is ridiculous. I’m never going to get off this plane.”

She nodded. “Yes, there are at least a hundred planes out there right now with this very same issue. Thousands of passengers stranded on the tarmac because it’s been thirty seconds since they landed. What is this world coming to?”

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but I don’t care.” Frustrated, I pointed to the people at the front. “Look at them. Move people! I have an emergency!”

“Ma’am,” a flight attendant said, walking over to me. “I’m going to need you to calm down.”

“But, I have to get off the plane. I have to catch my husband.”

“I’m sure you do, but we’re delayed.”

“What do you mean we’re delayed? We’re here. The plane has landed. It’s stopped! How can it be delayed?”

“We’re waiting for clearance.”

“From who?” I snapped, losing my shit. “You get clearance when you want to land. Not when you want to enter the airport!”

“Actually—”

“Do you know that I have a husband who is currently in his hut with some slut on his lap?”

“No, I did not know that,” she said in a bored tone.

“And if I don’t get in there, stuff is going to happen.”

“Ma’am, if she’s already on his lap, things are already happening.”

“Hey!” I shouted, but Emily jumped up, getting in my face.

“Maybe yelling at the stewardess isn’t the right way to go about this,” Emily smiled. “You’re not going to get to him any faster from jail.”

“Why would I go to jail? Arrest the people who are slowing down the line. See, this is why people don’t fly. They don’t want to be stuck at the airport with some know-it-all who thinks she can snap her fingers and run things!”

“I can snap my fingers,” the stewardess grinned. “And if you don’t sit down?—”

“I am NOT sitting down. I have to tell my husband I love him. I need to save our marriage. Desperate times call for desperate measures!”

“This is not going to end well,” Emily said, sitting back down.

“Ma’am, if you don’t?—”

“Listen, just open the door. I’ll just run to the exit.”

“Ma’am, sit down right now or?—”

I didn’t even feel it happening. I was a sane, rational person. Things like this didn’t happen to me. But then there were security guards holding me down, cuffs being placed on my wrists, and I was pretty sure one of them said something about me being put on the no-fly list.

Again.

Life was getting pretty rough, and it was all because I was trying to save my marriage. The door of the cell slammed shut, and all that was left for me was a metal bench and my best friend glaring at me as she sat beside a woman who reeked of marijuana.

“Well…I think that lady knows to never mess with me again.”

Emily snorted. “Yeah, you sure showed her.”