In Patagonia, Andy and I had talked with Weasel and David about how to manage his return home. Weasel and Andy said that on return they were usually very tired. David said he sends the kids to the grandparents for a week to allow Weasel to reset. For the first two days, they would be alone, but he was on her clock. The next two, he went to the grandparents and left her alone, so she had time to think and unwind. Then, she rejoined the family at the grandparents.
We had little interest in joining the TLS pressure cooker at The Suites and I knew he was tired, so we told the producers that we'd start at his, then time apart, and end the week at my house. They are welcome to film when we are together and our reunion at the airport, but I'd pick him up and take him home.
The day before his arrival, I got a message from Wing asking me to meet her at Andy's before picking him up. I had complete respect and trust in her, so I acknowledged her request unquestioningly.
We met at his place, and she asked me to grab some boxes from her boot as she opened and unlocked his front door. These were food for the kitchen: mostly breakfast and dinner items for the next few days, but I noticed a parcel containing the unused wedding night champagne, chocs, and cake which she set on the table and smiled. Then, she worked through the house arranging and setting out things, firmly but politely tasking me as if it were her own place, but I knew from Andy that she had to be intimately familiar with it to get his kit if an emergency occurred and he wasn't at home.
Leaving the house, I reflected that the house fitted the guy: orderly and tidy with a good selection of fiction and non-fiction books, painted mostly in single colours, and the kitchen was well-stocked considering how long he'd hoped to be away for and had generally more equipment than a solo male house would, but I knew that he loved making as well as eating. It was a house that, while lacking female occupancy, would easily occupy me.
She asked me to pass over my phone and open OMessage, saying "Just need to tweak it", which I did. She muttered, "That'll teach the fuckers." I responded, "What?" she replied, "Technical issue." I let that slide too as I decided if I didn't need to know, better that I didn't. I know when to hold and when to fold and this was a fold. What I wanted to hold was my man and that was now very soon.
Soon, we were finished, and she locked up saying, "I'll drive", so I got into the passenger seat. As we drove, she passed over an envelope which I opened. It contained two ID cards. The first was my Nest Ventures [friend's company]/ Rapid card with my picture and CEN logo on it. The second said Airside.
We got to the airport and turned away from the international terminal which surprised me, then turned into the staff parking. Guess it's the deluxe service again, I thought. Instead of going to Arrivals, she drove to the staff car park and told me to get my passes out. I looked at her questioning and she just shrugged. After my initial experience with 10B, I had decided that it's best not to be too questioning when around EAs, so more sliding and folding, but I wondered if this was her revenge on The Pests manifesting.
After going through staff screening, she took me straight to the gate where he would arrive. We idly chatted to kill time, and then the doors opened. My, very tired love exited first, surprised to see us. I thought that it was quite funny that we were both wearing grey zip-necks and jeans. He made a dummy run at Wing, veering at the last second, dropping his bags and enveloping me in his embrace, whispering "Missed you so much, my love," and his hands found my back and we wept tears of love and joy.
I whispered back, "My love is with me, our missing over," and embraced him, already feeling our breaths slow and our relaxation increase, despite the flow of passengers around us. Wing gently patted our heads in a motherly gesture, "See you at Joe's Café in 15. Extra marshmallows," she smiled and headed away.
He leaned back slightly and kissed me. Our embrace tightened, hands gently roamed spines, causing more gentle waves as we slowly, but deeply Frenched. There was a slight hint of passion running through us that we'd never felt before as we stood oblivious to the throng. Our kisses and breathing slowed further, but the relaxation waves deepened and flowed deep through my body. I let out a gentle moan and kissed him deep and long, then said, "You bugger, that was a month's kiss," and kissed him again as my orgasm subsided.
He picked up his bags and we walked hand-in-hand to the café where we saw her with the drinks and an over-sized portion of marshmallows. We embraced the older lady saying, "Thank you," and this time it was a trio of sobbers. He took a marshmallow in his hand and playfully placed it near her lips, but she used her fingers to retrieve it, eliciting a laugh, then he placed one in his mouth and leaned in, which I took with my teeth, causing a kiss, then we drank half of our cups, interspersing with a few more marshmallow kisses as Wing looked on like a mother goose over her goslings.
He nodded to the adjacent table, and I rubbed my head on his shoulders, triggering him to disentwine and head to the table, returning with a kid's doodle board and pen. We entwined fingers and locked lips and started carefully writing L O V E on the board. I noticed Wing leave the table, then come back with a pitcher and an angry look on her face as we continued our second L O V E, then a final kiss.
"Phew, thought you were going to set off the fire alarms," she said, smiling.
"Our vows," I replied and got a quizzical response from her. He is open with her, but not that open, I realised. "My now-love told me that we were writing our story together," and I kissed him and passed him a marshmallow via my teeth again for a final smooch.
"You two," she said and hugged us from behind.
The airport was emptying fast as the witching hour was nearly upon us and we walked towards baggage claim, our arms periodically touched, and we drank, fed marshmallows, and chatted about us, Patagonia, and Wing.
After baggage claim, she escorted us down the Aircrew line to passport control. We got out our airside passes, and he dug out his passport to pass, then she said, "If I were you, I'd just stroll through the door ahead to the car," hinting about her finale for The Pests screw-over. I realised that she'd diverted their calls on my phone and had somehow nobbled his too and wondered where the calls were going to as hers too, was silent.
With her immediately behind, we followed her instructions and walked through the door slightly apart, noticing and semi-ignoring the cameras as, from behind, she told us to head right to the Aircrew park. Unseen to us, she was flashing two birds at the camera crew and had a shit-eating grin on her mug, proving again that pissing off an EA is an incredibly dumb idea.
As we exited, he rubbed my hand and nodded at Wing, whispering "Spare room?"
The last thing I would normally want to do on my first night with someone is to share the house with a third person, but this was definitely the right thing to do, and I regarded her as a friend now. I rubbed my head on his arm and got two fingertips gently raking up my palm. Again, he had demonstrated respect and care.
