The cab driver wished a happy Thanksgiving when the short raven haired sophomore got out of the car.
"You too," the girl said already shivering from the strong winds bringing in cold air from the North. Once she had extended the grip on her small suitcase, setting it up so it was easy for her to let it trail behind her, she quickly got inside the terminal building.
Thanksgiving had the airport overflowing with passengers, mostly from the nearby colleges and the many that wanted to get to their loved ones somewhere else, not here.
Inside the building it was warm but loud, a thousand voices echoed through the architectural nightmare from the late eighties. The terminal building had been renovated recently, only a year ago, scaffoldings had lined the walls and pillars like ivy, now everything looked clean and a touch greener.
Waiting in line, Ione Winter checked her phone for messages and saw that her roommate Chelsea had already arrived in Allentown and was waiting for her brother to pick her up at the bus station. She quickly texted back where she was and for Chelsea to have a fun long weekend.
A quarter of an hour later, Ione was listening to an argument between a tired but still smiling woman standing behind a check-in counter for first class and business class passengers and a purple and black haired girl. The argument was still going on when Ione was next in line to check-in when she overheard the reason for the distress of the purple haired girl.
"I have to be on this plane. I spend thirty-five hours getting here and now you're telling me I won't be able to see my family because you made a mistake?"
"I understand your anger, miss, but the flight is overbooked. I can only book you onto the next flight which is tonight at seven," the tall woman wearing a K-T Pacific uniform said using well spaced silences between the important words.
There was something so desperate in the voice of the girl that had Ione on edge and when it was time for her to check in she let the family behind her go first while she made up her mind.
"I may be able to help out," Ione said. She hadn't even noticed that she had moved over to the arguing women and placed her ticket on the counter.
Two pair of eyes were on Ione who just smiled. "I am willing to swap my ticket with you," she said to the purple and black haired girl. Ione noticed that the girl had green eyes and a fair amount of freckles on her nose and under her eyes.
"To Minot?" the girl asked.
"Yes, it's yours if you want it. I can do that right?" Ione asked the suddenly smiling woman behind the counter.
"Yes, miss, if that is your wish."
"It is, my family gets together tomorrow instead of this evening. I am not in any hurry."
The ticket was taken off the counter and deft fingers flew over the keyboard.
"I don't know what to say," the girl said, her eyes were moist.
Before Ione could object or react, the purple haired girl embraced her as if she had been holding on for dear life. Almost automatically, Ione hugged back and whispered, "You looked like you could use a break."
The embrace lasted little longer because of her remark and made Spencer smile, Ione knew this was the right thing to do.
"I've exchanged the tickets," the employee of K-T Pacific said all smiles now. "You, Miss Brennan will now depart in fifty minutes to Minot and you Miss Winter will depart at seven ten tonight. I've upgraded your ticket to first class and I've added vouchers for the premium lounge and one for lunch. I hope you both have a pleasant trip."
"Thank you... Wendy," Ione said after she had read the name tag on the breast of the helpful woman. "I hope you will have a nice Thanksgiving as well."
When Ione was about to walk off with her new ticket and vouchers in hand she was stopped by the purple haired girl. The hand on Ione's arm was trembling.
"You don't have any idea how much this means to me," Miss Brennan said looking deep into the grey eyes of Ione. "I wish I could do something for you in return."
"There is no need," Ione said softly. "Your smile has already been thanks enough."
For a moment a dark cloud seemed to flash over Miss Brennan's face but it was gone before Ione could really process it. Time seemed to slow down when she watched how dark pink lips moved closer and then touching hers for an electrifying kiss. The kiss lasted much too short.
"Thanks, miss Winter."
"You're welcome, miss Brennan."
Spencer Brennan walked off the plane feeling tired. She had not slept in more than thirty hours, not since she had left London. Like all her movies so far, days had been added at the end to reshoot scenes or to add others. This time she had been lucky, she had made it back home. Her mind drifted to the cute raven haired girl that had made her day.
And the kiss.
When she remembered the kiss her face lit up like a spotlight and most of her tiredness disappeared.
If she had been more confident, less stupid, she would have asked for miss Winter's number. Something that could be called regret nibbled at the memory. After a deep intake of breath, the twenty-three year old movie star went to look for a rental.
"Finally," Spencer said when she arrived at her parent's home, a two story house with large garden on the edge of town. Unable to park near the house she looked for a spot down the street, after a few minutes she found one and parked her rental.
The suitcase wasn't big but heavy. It held a few presents for her parents and her siblings and a spare set of clothes. Her other belongings had been sent to her home in Seattle. Moira, her assistant would take care of that after Moira had spent Thanksgiving with her family in Portland.
Spencer looked at the cars parked along the driveway in front of the house, there were more than she was expecting. She knocked on the door and took a deep breath of chilly November air.
"Spencer?" her mother Karen asked surprised and then her face turned from surprise to love to fear. "I... We weren't expecting you."
"I told Ashton I was coming when I left London. I didn't want to wake you up."
"She didn't tell us..." For a moment a flash of pain made Karen appear years older than her forty-nine years.
"Did I do something to tick her off?" Spencer asked as she was led inside the house by her mother. The sounds of many people talking and arguing came down the hall from the living room.
"I hope not," Karen said unsure. Ahead of her daughter, Karen stepped into the room filled with family and announced, "Look who I found."
Spencer stepped into the room and only found two friendly faces belonging to her brother Lucas and his wife Teresa. "Hi," she said trying hard not to swallow.
"Spencer, I thought you said you couldn't make it," Ashton said her voice dripping with honeyed malice. "Did your girlfriend run out on you again?"
For a moment the chill in the room could only be measured as fractions of absolute zero. It didn't last. Her father and then her grandfather got up, their outcries of shame and anger drowning out the two cries of support in the room with ease.
"How dare you come here after I told you that you weren't welcome anymore," her father shouted. Almost the same words came from her grandfather while Ashton smiled in the back seeing the devastation on her sister's face.