The Get Away

By MMW

 Hold it together, just hold it together, Meredith repeated to herself, determined not to burst into tears. The truth was, she didn't know what she felt at the moment, but tears seemed to threaten about as much as anything else. Of course, among the sorrow, pain, self-hatred, anger and any number of other unidentifiable emotions coursing through her, she was lucky she remembered enough to tell the cab driver to take her to the airport.  She tried to focus on the little joke she'd help plan for Ezra. A small smile twitched at the side of her lips as the thought of Ezra's discomfiture. She knew he would be suffering tomorrow morning and wouldn't remember much of what happened, at least not at first. Of course, all of that would change before too long, he would begin wracking his brains for whatever he might have done. Yes, that would be amusing and Meredith was sure her friend would inform her of the results via email.

 Of course, thinking of her friends reminded her of Vin, which triggered her emotions to begin spiraling again. Hold it together, just until you get checked into the hotel, she encouraged herself as her mind sought thoughts of anything that wouldn't remind her of Vin.

 As the cab pulled up outside the airport, she pulled out some bills and paid the cab driver, hoping she'd given him enough for the fare and the tip. Heading into the airport, she dug out her ticket and headed toward the check-in and the security lines awaiting her there.

 Eventually making it through security, she made her way toward the gate stopping at the newsstand to pick up a cross-word puzzle book and a random book. "Definitely not a romance," she muttered to herself as she perused her selections. Completing her purchases, she found her gate and settled into a seat for the duration of the wait.

 As time crawled by and her attempts to distract herself were mostly successful, she checked her watch and bit her lip in puzzlement. It was five minutes before their scheduled departure time and no announcement had been made. Glancing up, she saw a crowd of people gathered around the desk. Ignoring everything else around her, she focused her attention on the noise coming from the counter just a few feet away.

 "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but there has been a delay at the previous departure point. We are working on the problem. Please go sit down and we will inform you of events as they develop," the harried looking young woman announced to those gathered around.

 Meredith sighed and settled back into her chair. By the end of this trip she would be an expert at how to wait in airports. Opening her book to where she left off, she realized she would have to pick up another one before they left, especially if the wait would be of any sort of duration.

 <><><><><><><> Two hours later, Meredith had started on her second book and had picked up two more just in case. She was tired. She was emotionally overwrought and it was taking all her spare energy to hold herself together.  She didn't know how much longer she could last without something giving. It had all been a horrible mistake. She should never have come, never had tried to say anything... Well, she hadn't actually said anything, just asked if they could go somewhere private when that...

 Why was she thinking of this? NO! She would not go there it would just lead to all sorts of problems, like the fact tears were once more threatening to overwhelm her, her resolve all but left her and she felt, once more, the sensation of her heart being ripped from her chest, torn, shredded, crushed and ground underfoot while she watched. She felt... She was...

 Devastated.

 That was really the only word she could use. She was devastated and it was a feeling she had sworn she'd never feel again.

 Her brow furrowed slightly as she turned her attention to the announcement being made. Watching her fellow passengers she followed along as they moved to another gate. The airline had been unable to free their plane due to inclimate weather and they were all being re-routed through somewhere or other before reaching their final destination of Spokane.

 Heaving a sigh, Meredith decided she didn't care where they went so long as it got her out of Denver. She had never been so happy to get out of a place before in her life. Maybe leaving Denver behind and moving to Cleveland wouldn't be so hard after all.

 Brutally shoving those thoughts aside since they came too close to that of which she would not think, she found her new gate and did her best cattle impersonation as she and the other passengers boarded the plane to... somewhere where they would change planes. Honestly, it didn't matter to her right now if they flew her to Japan to change planes, she just wanted out of this city, out of this state and away from herself and the overwhelming emotions.

 Finding her seat, she immediately buckled up and extracted her book, once more losing herself in the rich tapestry of the story.

 <><><><><><><> As the plane began its descent, Meredith looked out and felt her jaw drop open. She had no idea where they were, but this new airport looked like a circus, at least from the air. She could see more parking lots and large stones than she could count. As the plane came closer to the ground, she could see that each parking lot was chock full of horses, boats and some sort of bicycle car, it looked kind of like the little bicycle things Europeans drove. As the plane taxied to a stop, the passengers were told they would deplane here and walk to the terminal. In order to get to the terminal, they would need to pass through some of the very crowded parking lots to make it to their connecting flight. 

As Meredith deplaned, she scanned the area trying to find the most direct path through the crowds. Glancing off to her left, she saw that there were fewer people. The distance she would have to travel would be farther, but sometimes distance could be deceiving. She had frequently found that during times when it was busy the longer distance could provide the more rapid path.

 Breaking to the left, she found herself amidst the hustle and bustle of the crowed. Glancing around her, she discovered she'd entered the midst of a group of people who were touting the benefits of living a green life. Taking in the people around her as she made her way through the crowd, she saw sailors and builders gathering information on how to be more environmentally aware as well as large groups of friends wandering around. She smiled slightly the first time a family crossed her path. The parents looked a little harried and their children followed. Meredith did a double take as the children carried their balloons after them. The balloons were shaped like the heads of rivers. At first, Meredith had thought the parents had rivers following them.

 Making her way through the crowd, she entered the terminal and glanced over the crowd. She smiled slightly as she witnessed her fellow passengers trying to find a path through the crowd.  Walking into the terminal, she took in the setting and noticed the stores on either side. Choosing her path, she began moving through the crowd. As she passed one store she stopped and looked in again. There, next to the same gift shop she'd seen in every airport around the country, was "The Bridge Shop". Glancing further down, she shook her head as the noted another store called "Bridges R Us". 

 Entering the store, she looked around and discovered that the only thing on the shelves were bridge related - puzzles, games, models, cards... She shook her head. Never would she have thought of opening a store that sold nothing but bridge related things.

 Exiting the shop, she continued down and passed a little kiosk offering unique gifts. Scanning the little stand she smiled as she found the owner selling the opportunity to name paths. She saw some people who were very obviously tourists purchasing a path name. She also passed some other ticket booths. They were offering tickets to local attractions. Reaching the back of the line, she took in the names of the shops on either side of her, Dream Officials and Success Guards.  Wondering what in the world they could be she allowed her mind to wander.

 As the line moved forward slowly she decided that Dream Officials could be one of three things. The first thing it could be was a place sort of like Fantasy Island where people went in and told them their dreams and then the Dream Officials would make sure you dreamt it at night. That particular explanation wouldn't fly, though because this wasn't the future and no one had yet found a way to control a person's dreams. Her second explanation involved financial planning for people. They would ensure that people's dreams came true by investing their money. This was probably the correct interpretation. Her third idea, though was the one that amused her the most. Dream Officials would tell you the official interpretation of your dreams. You go in, pay them a certain amount and they would tell you what your dream meant.

 As for Success Guards, she could only come up with one explanation and that had to do with financial planning. They would take your money, invest it and make sure your investments grew ensuring your success in later life.

 An announcement came over the loudspeaker. Glancing around, Meredith first located the speaker and then saw the booth. The person making the announcements was dressed as a hiker. Meredith idly wondered why they couldn't make a public address system that actually worked. She shook her head and smiled at the announcement that shores were arriving and departing. It took her a few seconds to realize it wasn't shores that were arriving and departing, but shuttles.

 Finally the line moved far enough forward that she could put her sand colored bag on the conveyor belt that would bring it through. She smiled as she realized the people who designed the airport had tried to make it more family friendly by trying to make the belt look like a tree. She smiled as she saw a young girl begin jumping up and down pointing at the tree.

 Getting to the other side of the metal detectors, she picked up her bag and wandered to her gate. Getting there, she started the long hike out to the other plane and stopped about fifty feet away where they had set up a security checkpoint. They were processing people on eat a time. Once everyone had been checked, they strolled up to the stairs and boarded the plane.

 As she stepped on, Meredith noticed they were playing soothing music. It created a peaceful atmosphere. She felt some of the tension begin to drain from her shoulders and found it easier to focus on her book. The whole experience at the airport had been soothing and she was glad that between it and the exhaustion she could feel creeping into her bones, she was beginning to relax as the emotional edge was taken off. She knew she still couldn't rationally evaluate what had happened, but she had a better handle on her emotions. After a good cry and a good night's sleep, she should be fine. She would then call Marilyn, one of her friends from school, and talk things out with her. She smiled at the thought of Marilyn. Whenever Meredith needed a rational discussion of the events affecting her, Marilyn always came through. Somehow, her friend could make even the most confused situations seem simple. Hopefully, with Marilyn's help, Meredith could determine whether she should take the job in Cleveland or not. The truth was, if she was going to take it, she needed to let the company know soon so she could give her two weeks notice to Travis.

 Accepting a pair of free headphones, Meredith adjusted them to her head and all sound around her died as the quiet music soothed her. Though never one fall asleep in a moving vehicle, she leaned back slightly in her chair and allowed the soothing sounds to wash over her. As the plane started down the runway, the sounds of the woods began playing through her headphones. This was definitely the most peaceful part of the trip so far. As the engines revved, the sound system emitted a lapping sound, as of a wave on the shore of a pond. Meredith pictured herself walking along that shore as the plane headed down the runway. She opened her eyes slightly at the roughhewn feel of the plane as it gating speed. Once the plane was in the air the cool air began circulating through the cabin, once more working to relax her.

 Closing her eyes for a few minutes, allowed the natural sounds to create images in her mind. She pictured herself out in the open, relaxed in a field somewhere watching the clouds as they shifted across the sky. Opening her eyes, she decided the clouds looked much more lush from the air than they had in her imagination.  Relaxing back in her seat in the early morning light, Meredith lost herself in the sounds of nature.

 <><><><><><><><> Opening the door to her hotel room, Meredith set her bags on the luggage rack, turned, closed the door, locked it, kicked off her shoes, walked to the bed and burst into tears. Grabbing the box of tissues from beside the bed, she settled down to cry out the emotions that had been raging through her all night.

 She had no idea how long she'd been crying before she fell asleep. All she knew is that she had fallen asleep. At least she assumed she had fallen asleep since she woke up.

 Rubbing her eyes, Meredith opened her bag and grabbed her toiletries and a change of clothes. Right now she wanted a long, hot shower. Turning on the water, she stripped out of her clothes and stepped into the steaming stream, allowing it to pound on her tight back muscles.

 As the water worked to relax her muscles, she found the long trip combined with sleep and the shower had helped her gain a little perspective on what had happened. The truth was, while her actions might have been out of character, nothing had been said with Vin. True, she had allowed her feelings to show fully for the first time, but Vin had seemed very taken with whoever that was so he probably hadn't seen her open heart.

 Meredith closed her eyes and released a sigh. It wouldn't do to lie to herself. Vin had seen what she was offering, had read her heart and soul, and then had turned and smiled at that... that... witch,  wordlessly agreeing with her evaluation of Meredith.

 Well, at least Meredith knew what Vin wanted in a woman and she wouldn't change for him, wouldn't be that for him. Besides, he'd very blatantly turned away from her and all she had, making it clear he was not and probably never had been interested.

 She released another sigh and wondered if she really should believe her heart which told her that Vin was her friend and felt for her as she did for him, or believe the proof she had which showed her that Vin didn't care for her and most likely had only been leading her on, playing games... She tipped her head back into the stream of the shower and wet her hair. She wanted to wash the smell of airports out of it.

 She would get the last of the airport smell off of herself, explore the city a bit, eat dinner and call Marilyn. She knew Marilyn would help her see things more objectively. She also knew that Marilyn would tell her whather own mind was telling her; she would have to make her decision on what to do without thought of anyone else but herself. It was time for Meredith to do what was right for herself, not for what might be and now, she was sure, what never would be.

 With that thought, she began the process of once more locking away the pain where it couldn't hurt her, of once more sealing her emotions, her love, herself, the shattered remnants of her soul, in a stone sarcophagus she would call her heart.

 Finishing her shower and getting dressed, Meredith grabbed her purse and headed out of her hotel to explore the town.

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