Meet Me Halfway(13)

I locked the door and spun around, feeling like I was fifteen again, getting caught sneaking out of my house in the middle of the night. Looking up, I spotted Jamie’s head peeking out of his room, “Did you spill your drink all over yourself again?”

Yes. Yes, I did.





Chapter Four





A week after my phone call with Layla, I somehow found myself on a small airplane at five o’clock on a Saturday morning, heading to my home state. It really was crazy how life could change in the span of one day.

Layla had called me the day after my mini-breakdown and demanded she come live with us, refusing to take no for an answer. We’d struck a deal; she’d move to North Carolina as long as I flew to her and made the cross-country drive with her.

The one-way ticket had been surprisingly affordable, so if I was being honest, I didn’t argue hard against the idea. She was my best friend, and I missed the shit out of her every day.

So there I was, smashed in the middle seat between two armrest hogs, on my connecting flight to Kansas. Thankfully, the time zone went back so I’d gain a few extra hours during the trip and arrive by eleven o’clock. I couldn’t afford to take more than two days off from any of my jobs, and my parents couldn’t watch Jamie on the weekdays anyway.

Layla would be picking me up from the airport, and we’d be heading straight over to get the moving truck. At that point, we’d load up her boxes as quickly as possible and immediately start the twenty-hour drive to North Carolina.

We were planning to drive straight through in order for me to make it to work on time Monday, but we’d pulled so many all-nighters in our lives, I had faith we’d do all right. As long as we took turns, it couldn’t be that hard.

I shifted in my seat, fiddling with the “I love mommy” bracelet Jamie had made me a few years ago. I wasn’t sure what had made me decide to wear it, but as I was packing, I’d suddenly felt the need to bring a piece of him with me.

It’d been only the two of us for so long, I suppose I just needed some reassurance. It felt weird to know I’d be in a different state than my child. I’d never done it before, and it felt wrong somehow, like I’d abandoned him.

In the rational part of my brain, I knew those toxic thoughts weren’t accurate. But when you spend years being ridiculed and critiqued for every parenting choice you ever made, it’s hard not to join in and judge yourself right along with the haters.

Jamie knew I was traveling to Kansas to visit Layla, but he thought I was taking a “girl’s vacation.” He didn’t know she’d be coming back with me, and I couldn’t wait to see his face. He’d been in love with her since he could speak.

Back when he was about five years old, Layla had brought her boyfriend at the time over, and Jamie had burst into tears because he’d wanted to marry her. I had a feeling she was eagerly waiting to tease him about it.

Declining a drink from the flight attendant, I pulled out a highlighter and one of the three college textbooks I’d managed to squeeze into my carry-on bag. Laying it out across my lowered tray, I prayed I could study without the motion of the aircraft making me nauseated.





“You studied both flights?”

“What else was I going to do? Crochet?”

“Sleep, Mads, you were supposed to sleep.”

I shrugged. It was so rare for me to get daylight hours to study, and I was already going to miss out on time during our return trip. I felt like it was only logical to take advantage of the flights. I doubt I could’ve slept in the middle seat anyway. That was just asking to wake up cuddling a stranger’s shoulder.

When I’d landed, Layla had been waiting at the airport coffee shop. Dressed in a baggy sweater and leggings, she hadn’t noticed me when I first arrived. She’d been hunched over a book with large, square glasses resting on her freckle-dusted nose. Her hair was loose, landing about mid-waist and was an eye-popping, vibrant blue. I might have hugged the ever-loving shit out of her.

Since I hadn’t needed to check a suitcase, it didn’t take us long to reach the parking garage and cram ourselves into her tiny Miata. I’d landed early afternoon, so as long as there weren’t any hiccups with the truck rental or packing up her stuff, we were looking good to put some miles behind us before it got dark.

“So…” she started, merging onto the highway, and I already knew where this conversation was going to head. “Meet any hot guys lately? Maybe a new guard at work, or a nice, scruffy gas station attendant?”

I rolled my eyes. Layla had been on me for years now about getting back out there. She knew me well enough to know I was lonely, but she also knew me well enough to know I had neither the time, nor the desire, to date.

In my experience, there were only four things the human male species was accomplished at: donating sperm, exaggerating the number of recipients they’d donated to, bragging about where the sperm was deposited, and disappearing the moment said deposit did its intended purpose.

I told her as much.

“You’re too young to be so damn cynical, Mads.”

I bristled at her disapproving tone. “It’s the truth and you know it. And that’s with me not even mentioning male number two who came after that.”

“You’re seriously the most pessimistic person I’ve ever met.”