Chapter Fifty

When we finally arrived at the airport it was crowded. Back in the car, I checked for the earliest flights back to San Francisco. There was one leaving at six in the morning, with the short connection in London. I tried to buy a ticket online, but the page showed an error every time I went to the payment step.

I thanked Nirved and almost hugged him when we stopped at the terminal.

I ran. I ran to the ticket office.

"I need a ticket to San Francisco, I saw there is a flight at six," I said, my heart in my throat.

The woman looked at her laptop and started typing slowly. After what felt like hours she looked up at me.

"I'm sorry, it's full."

"What?" I asked. How can a flight from Colombo be full? "Please check again."

"I've already checked, m'am."

And at that moment I had the stupidest idea ever. I ran again. There was a long line to the security check, and I ran to the end of it. I halted at the last person and started walking the length of the line, but soon it stopped at the open door to the next hall where people were taking out their laptops and liquids, taking off belts, and going through a metal frame.

By that time Arthur would be inside, he had left at least half an hour before me. He would have completed all the checks and would be sitting by the gate.

As I clutched the hope that wanted to spill out, I did something crazy.

"Arthur!" I screamed.

People turned to me with wide eyes, but none of them were familiar. My heart sank as I stood on tiptoes, but still, the view was blocked. A security guard walked up to me and asked who I was searching for. I gave Arthur's details, and as the man walked right to the checkpoint, peering at each one, asking if he was Arthur, but none of them were.

I was too late, he was already inside. Or in any other place. He could have checked into the hotel for the night or gone to a bar. But bars in the village closed early, and the hotels grew dark at night. I thought he would be there.

Arthur said I knew where to find him. His house.

The guard turned to me and shook his head. I mumbled my thanks and grabbed the handle of my suitcase. I didn't know what to do. So, I turned and walked slowly to the rows of seats.

I gasped when I saw a familiar shape hunched in the far corner. Arthur was looking outside, wireless earphones in his ears. His look was frozen, absent, it was as though his figure was carved from marble.

I ran again, leaving my suitcase by the nearest seat, I almost tripped on someone"s shoes. But in a few moments, I stopped in front of him.

His eyes widened in surprise and the corner of his lips went up for a second. Arthur pulled off the earphones and stood up.

Before he could say anything, I hugged him so fiercely that he stumbled back a little. I pressed my head to his chest and felt his heart racing.

When his warm hands pressed into my back, when they got lost in my hair and rubbed the base of my neck, I exhaled. I didn't notice that I was holding my breath, waiting.

"Why are you here?" he asked quietly.

I let go of my hands and looked up at him. "You have to hear me out."

I told him everything, bared my soul. I told him about the kiss, about the part of me that kissed her back. I told him how I had lived with that old part of me over the last few days, just to realize that the love was long gone. I told him about that night, how he misunderstood things. How Alice still grieved and that seeing me brought back memories of Jake.

"I think she thought if we got back together that the feeling of him would be closer. She wanted to seduce me," I said.

"If I didn't enter the room would you …"

"No. Do you remember her face?"

Arthur shook his head.

"She was crying because I'd said that everything was in the past."

He scooped me up in his arms and swayed lightly.

"You're wrong on one thing, Emily. Alice didn't do all of this to remember Jake, she still loves you, she never stopped."

"Maybe, but I stopped."

We stood silent for a long time.

"Do I still have a chance for a future with you?" I whispered.

His laugh was warm.

"Maybe."

I hit him lightly on his chest.

"Because what I wanted to tell you was that I realized that you are my home," I said.

He was smiling so widely it lit my heart.

"Is this a feeble attempt at saying I love you, Arthur?" he joked.

And when I felt my cheeks grow crimson, he continued. "Because the things that you read in those pages are true."

He stepped close and put a thumb on my chin, lifting my head a little. "I love you, Emily, and I want to be with you."

And before I could reply, he kissed me, deeply. My knees grew weak, and he held me in his arms.

"Yeah, I think I'm in love with you, too," I said, just inches from his lips.

His laugh was loud and genuine.

"God, I missed you, Emily."