She looked down at her watch, and back up at the big display board on the wall. "Ten more minutes," she said to herself, then briskly walked away from the board, towards the luggage drop off. Staring at the bags going round and round on the carousel, she waited. "Oh! There's one, excuse me, excuse me," she said, squeezing past the crowd of people by the carousel to snag an orange bag off the line.
Setting the bag down, she immediately spotted another bag, his green military duffel bag. She grabbed that quickly and added it to the orange bag. "Hmm, one more, I think..." she mumbled to herself, standing patiently with the bags, trying to avoid the other people pushing past her to get to the front of the crowd.
Closing her eyes for a minute, she leaned against the bags for a bit of support. It had been a long six months. Sure, after the first two or three, the time seemed to go by faster, especially after she had gotten a job, but it still wasn't fast enough for her. Now, finally, the day had come for her sweetheart to come back home, to her. She was so excited, and a little anxious, to see him.
The noise of the crowd blended together, creating a dull roar of background noise, lulling her to sleep on her feet. She heard the footsteps of strangers come and go past her, sometimes stopping to wait near the luggage carousel for their own suitcases, and some just walking past her to some other destination.
A pair of booted feet clomped her way, and she heard the person stop somewhere behind her. Then suddenly she felt a pair of hands grab her sides from behind, and she nearly screamed out loud, but instead gave a startled yelp and jumped slightly. Whirling quickly around to face the stranger, she was about to give him a piece of her mind, then stopped, her mouth slightly open, when she noticed who it was.
"Jake!" she squealed, seeing his familiar face, then launched herself at him. He caught her in his arms, twirling her around a few times, and hugging her close. Giving her a quick kiss on the lips, he put her down, smiling at her. "Anne, you look beautiful. Oh, and I got the other bag," Jake added as an afterthought, holding a black suitcase up to show her, "so we can get out of here."
Anne grinned back at him, glad of the compliment. He had seen the dress on the webcam when she bought it, but the snug black fabric still brought out a great reaction from him. She wore black heels to go with the dress. He was wearing his usual black Dickies and a tan colored tshirt, with his tan combat boots. The pants seemed a bit loose on him, though, but she knew he had lost weight while he was there. Anne had trimmed down a bit herself while he was gone, and she was proud of herself for the accomplishment.
He picked up the green duffel bag, and she grabbed the orange backpack, pulling out the extendable handle, and rolling it behind her. Finally, she thought as she walked slightly behind him, enjoying the view, they could both go home.
***
As Jake walked out the automatic sliding doors, he stopped outside to wait for Anne. "Come on, slowpoke," he teased. "You get up in front, you know where the truck is," he added, grinning at her. She stuck her tongue out at him briefly, then gave him a quick kiss as she passed by him. "You just want to watch the nice view," she mock-scolded over her shoulder, then wiggled her butt at him, laughing.
"So?" he answered simply, goggling at her luscious behind. "Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm, I'm glad you got those dresses. That one fits you very well," he said, his voice a deep rumble. She said nothing in reply, but walked a little faster, her hips swaying a little more with her longer stride, and he shook his head, laughing, then picked up his pace to catch up to her.