Her walk back to the front was slow and almost wobbly. She held onto the back of each seat as she made her way down the aisle. I knew my showing up would be a shock, but clearly it had really done a job on her. Sweating profusely, I was in no better shape.
By the time the plane landed, I’d had no further interactions with Kendall.
Her voice came over the intercom once. “Please remember to take all of your belongings before deplaning.”
I waited for all of the passengers to empty out of the aircraft before slowly walking toward where she was beginning to clean up. I stopped short at the sound of the Captain addressing her.
“Kendall, you feel like getting a drink with us downtown?”
My fists instinctively tightened. I knew all too well what he was up to. He was a fucking snake. This was the pot calling the kettle black, of course; I was a viper myself at one time.
“No. Thank you. I’m kind of tired. I’m gonna head home.”
Home?
Was she living in Boston?
She wasn’t looking at me as I passed by them to the exit. With everyone’s eyes on her, I couldn’t risk causing her to break down here in the plane. Instead, I simply walked with a lump in my throat down the jetway to the terminal and waited.
Ten minutes later, Kendall emerged, flanking the two pilots and the rest of the crew. She was rolling a small black suitcase. When she stopped, the Captain turned around.
“Are you sure I can’t convince you to come?”
“I’m sure. See you next week.”
“Alright.”
I gave him the evil eye. When they were out of earshot, Kendall finally turned to me.
Sucking in my jaw, I stood there facing her, still barely able to breathe let alone talk.
I managed to say, “Hi, Perky.”
Her eyes slowly filled with tears that didn’t fall. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you think? I needed to see you.”
“You should’ve left well enough alone.”
I took a few steps closer. “I needed to know you’re okay.”
She stepped back a bit. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
“How did you find me?”
“I’d stopped looking, and then it happened.”
Understandably, she looked confused. People were passing us by, but we just stood motionless in the same spot.
“I need to know what’s going on with you, Kendall.”
Shaking her head, she cried, “Well, I don’t want to know what’s going on with you. Because I can’t handle it.”
I raised my voice. “You can’t handle the thought of my fathering a child with another woman because you still love me.” Inches from her face now, I said, “I hate to break it to you, but you left for nothing.”
“What do you mean?”