Arrival in Manchester

This is my first attempt at writing so any tips would be helpful. This is a fictional story about how I hope my first meeting with James is next year; however, I am sure it will be even better than this. There’s no sex in it so I apologize if you came here looking for it. I wrote this part for him in August, and have been given his blessing to ‘publish’ it. Names have been changed for safety reasons but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

“Attention Passengers: Please remain seated until we have come to a full stop at the terminal. Thank you for flying American Airlines, and let me be the first to officially welcome you to Manchester”, the pilot said over the planes speaker system. I let out a sigh of relief and thought to myself, “Thank the Lord, I’m finally here.” The longest I had ever been on a plane, prior to today, was for two hours, while on my way to Disney World for the annual eighth grade field trip. It had taken nearly twelve hours to fly to Dublin, and then another hour and a half to get to Manchester, and none of this time was spent asleep.

I was exhausted; felt that I looked terrible, and I was about fed up with other people. Between the foreign bodies touching me, people coughing and sneezing in the contained environment, and the baby crying down the aisle for the entire duration of the flight, I was going insane. *Ping* The fasten seatbelt light went off as we pulled up to the terminal. I watched through the window as the loading bridge was maneuvered into position beside the plane. The other passengers all flocked to the overhead compartments; I just sat in my seat hugging Sparky, my blue triceratops. I never thought the day would, come when I could see the man I had fallen for nearly a year ago.

Over the past year I had started a relationship with this guy, James, in Manchester; however, relationship is a stretch of the term as it wasn’t physical due to the distance between us. Having finally come out of the closet, to him first no less, and being able to accept myself for who I was, I took a chance on him and we have grown closer with each passing day. The past year has not been easy due to the time zone differences.

While I was still asleep, he would have to get up for school, and when I was getting out of work, he was going to bed. This wasn’t a walk in the park for either of us, as we wanted nothing more than to be next to each other during the good and the bad times, but we made it work, and made the most of the time we had on the weekends. During this precious time we would talk for hours on end, watch TV shows together over the internet, and most important to me, just be in each other’s company.

As the majority of passengers trickled out of the plane, I stood up and stretched, welcoming the return of my personal bubble. I reached under my seat and grabbed my laptop bag, and then removed my travel bag from the overhead bin. I fit Sparky securely between the handles of my bag, which contained a change of clothes, deodorant, and other personal affects that I could manage with should the airline lose my suitcase, and latched it so he wouldn't fall off. I thanked the three stewardesses and the steward for their service, and they wished me well in return. Butterflies filled my stomach as I walked onto the loading bridge, and then toward the terminal building. I knew he would be waiting for me, and I could hardly contain my excitement.

I walked into arrivals area and, following the large amounts of signs, made my way to the baggage claim. I saw him first. He was dressed in his purple shirt with a bouquet of roses, my favorite. I smiled to myself. He was scanning the crowd of new arrivals trying to pick me out. Moving swiftly, I snuck around to get behind where he was looking. It wasn't easy mind you as the terminal had a lack of tall objects near which to hide. I finally got behind him enough so that he couldn't see me, and I closed the distance between us in two seconds. Just as I neared him, he turned around and looked right at me.

We both froze for a moment, taking each other in. video calls do wonders, but there is nothing like meeting someone for the first time in person. I peered deep into his eyes, and felt I could see into his very essence. “Well hello there”, I said first with a shy smile across my face, “Even better looking in person I see.” He blushed and large smile appeared across his face. “I was about to say the same thing”, he responded which my body promptly responded by blushing in return. I carefully put my bags down next to me, stepping into the straps so no one could try and make off with them, and ran my hands up his arm before embracing him tightly.

I had dreamed about finally being able to touch him, to feel the warmth of his body, and take in his scent. My eyes began to water out of sheer happiness that we were finally together. I moved my head out of the crane in his neck, still embracing him, and looked into his eyes again. “I've wanted to do this since I first met you”, I explained and kissed him on his lips as he muttered, “Wait.” I was in heaven while we were locked together in a kiss that made time stand still as I moved my hands through his hair to his cheeks, pulling him deeper into the kiss. That is until I heard a cough from my right and noticed a woman standing there beside us with an amused smile across her face: his mother.

Immediately embarrassed, I released her son from the kiss I had so very much enjoyed and dreamed about, wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “I am so sorry Mrs.… I mean Rev. Moore, I didn't see you there”, my cheeks turned a deep shade of red. “It’s just that I have wanted to be here, with your son, for the past year now and.… I promise to keep myself better in check from now on”, I said shyly looking down at the ground. I shifted as she walked towards me and lifted my head up with her hand. “You don’t need to apologize; you two have been through a lot the past year for being so far away. I hope you two find what you are looking for in each other. Now, let’s go home and get you settled in”, she said with a smile.

I picked up my bags off the ground, crossing the shoulder straps so that the bags made an X out of my body, and walked up to James. He handed me the flowers and said with a cute smile, “I told you I would bring them.” I smiled myself, bringing the flowers up to my nose and inhaled their fragrance. I took his hand in mine, kissed him on the cheek, and thanked him as we walked out of the airport holding hands. So began the happiest time of my life.