Sweet Sofie

***

Early that morning, Sofia got the call. Eric’s dad asked if she wanted to pick Eric up at the airport. She’d almost said no. She still hadn’t heard from Eric. But she needed closure. If Eric had really decided this was the end for them, she needed to hear it, the sooner the better. The torture had gone on long enough.

She arrived at the airport early. When they’d dropped him off the day after Christmas the airport had been a mess. Afraid to get stuck in that kind of traffic, she’d given herself plenty of time. The traffic today didn’t even compare.

Planes flew in and out of the airport, and Sofia stared out the window, wondering which one Eric would be in. Each one that flew in tied her stomach up even more. She wiped away a tear that slid down her cheek. Sofia hadn’t bothered with makeup. She knew her face would be a mess. Even if things were okay between them, seeing him again would be emotional.

She thought of Brandon and decided there was no way he was in love with her. Maybe he loved her as the only friend he thought had ever given him a chance. But in love? He didn’t have the first clue what that was. There was no way could he be feeling for her what she felt so deeply for Eric.

When she finally saw on the monitor that his plane had arrived, she took a deep breath and sat down. She sat and watched as one by one, the passengers came down the escalators. Her sucked in her breath when she saw him. He seemed lost in thought. Like the other passengers, he headed for the baggage claim. She stood and waited, her heart thumping wildly.

After grabbing his bag from the conveyer, he turned and headed back in her direction. He was still completely lost in thought, staring and the ground in front of him. Finally, just a few feet away from her, he looked up and their eyes met. He stopped in his tracks, and the person behind him nearly ran into him.

Sofia stood there, not sure what to expect or say. Within seconds, his eyes flooded and he looked away.

“I missed you.” She barely got the words out. “I missed you so much.”

Eric dropped his bags, took the few hurried steps to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. She felt him take a deep breath as she wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so sorry, Eric.”

“Don’t be, Sof.” He kissed the side of her head. “I’m over it now, but I’ll never be over you. I was stupid to think I could ever be over you.” He pulled away to look at her face. It killed her to see him cry. “So stupid.” He kissed her softly. Then he hugged her again, holding her tight for a while.

“He’s gone, Eric.”

Eric tensed, but he didn’t say anything.

“Your dad probably told you but I wanted—”

Eric pulled away. “Don’t. I don’t wanna hear it.” He stared at her. “You love me?”

“Of course.”

“Then that’s all I need to know.” He kissed her again. “I wasn’t even sure until just now when I saw you. Now I know for sure. I could never be happy without you.”

Sofia smiled, feeling the warm tears stream down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around his neck, an enormous relief washed over her. “Oh, Eric, I was so scared.”

“Me too.” He rubbed her back then pulled away, but took her by the hand. “Let’s go.”

He grabbed his luggage and started walking fast.

“Where are we going?” she asked, the excitement building with every step. Eric was home, he forgave her, and she’d never do anything to screw up again.

For the first time since he’d arrived, she saw him smile and a twinkle in those amazing brown eyes. “We got a lot of catching up to do.”

He squeezed her hand. After weeks of crying herself to sleep, she could finally smile, feeling the familiar flutter in her stomach that only Eric would ever make her feel.

***

It wasn’t quite the weather Eric had hoped for, but it didn’t matter. This was just the first of seven glorious days he’d be spending with Sofia on their cruise. They originally planned to take a shorter one because of the price, but his dad had surprised them with the seven-day one. As usual, he said it helped to know people, and he had plenty of friends in the travel business.

Eric walked back to where Sofia was sitting on the deck. They’d both brought their laptops with them. Sofia said she couldn’t wait to write while sitting on the deck of a cruise ship, drinking a fancy cocktail. Eric was glad since his dad had hooked him up with a few web-building jobs for some of his associates. As obsessive as he was when it came to that stuff, he’d need all the time he could get. What better time to get started on them then on a cruise ship next to Sofia—while she wrote.

Sofia looked up from her laptop as he reached her with their drinks. “Ooh, fancy!”

He’d looked forward to seeing Sofia in a bikini all week, but March was hardly the time of year for that. It didn’t matter. Even in jeans and a light sweatshirt she was beautiful as ever.

Eric handed her the drink with the big pineapple wedge, then leaned in and kissed her. She put down the laptop and took a sip of her drink, looking out into the out into cean. “This is heaven.”

Moving his own laptop from the chaise he’d been sitting on, to the table next to it, he sat down. “Yeah, it is.” He eyed her as he sipped his beer. “Did you get any writing done?”

“I did, actually.” She smiled. “I was inspired yesterday by Angel and Sarah’s engagement announcement. They were so happy, a story came to me.”