First Trip Home

"Don't you want to get home to your old bed? To see Mom and Dad? To see Sam?" My sister was asking me all these questions as we drove home from the airport because I asked if we could stop at my favorite smoothie place.

"I just want to grab a peanut butter smoothie before they close," I said with as I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. I have a headache from the annoying couple sitting behind me on the flight."

My sister, Theresa, laughed and agreed to bring me to get a smoothie. After our quick stop, I was finally home. It was close to midnight on Thursday. I hadn't been home in five weeks and I was so excited to see my family. My parents were still up when I walked through the door. I hugged them both for a long time before retreating to the backyard where we talked for over an hour. It was great to catch up with them on such a beautiful, August night

I originally planned to fly home Friday morning, but Pete helped me work it out so that I could take a half day on Thursday. By staying late for a few days, I was able to have a long weekend home without even having to use any vacation days. I didn't even fly back until Monday night! Pete is really turning out to be an awesome boss.

Even though Scott and I originally planned to see each other every other weekend, I ended up waiting the extra week to come home for my brother's engagement party. Sam and Linda, his fiancée, had set the date for their wedding also, but it wasn't for another two years.

After catching up with my parents, I almost instantly fell asleep once I was in bed. I hadn't talked to Scott much on Thursday, but he still thought I was flying in on Friday. My sister and I were going into Manhattan on Friday so I wanted to surprise him for lunch!

I woke up Friday morning and got ready for the train. I threw on a pair of black jeans and borrowed this floral tank top from my sister to go with it.

My sister was taking a summer class at her college and had to visit the Museum of Modern Art. The plan was to go there, then surprise Scott for lunch, and maybe squeeze in some shopping.

After about an hour at the MoMa, we made our way to Scott's office. I had texted him around 11 in the morning, claiming to be on my way to work since that was 8 California time. I asked him what his plans for the day were and he told me he was going to work through lunch so he could leave early to pick me up from the airport. I started to feel kind of bad that I was messing up his plans, since I really like to have set plans whenever I do anything, but I figured he'd be happy once I showed up at noon for an impromptu lunch.

I tried calling Scott but he didn't answer. Then, I texted him asking him if he was busy. I still didn't get an answer. I finally decided to just meet him in his office. Maybe my plan was going to backfire. If he was too busy for lunch, though, I'd just go with my sister and meet him at my house later. He knew we were having dinner with my family and now that he wasn't picking me up from the airport, I was hoping to have some alone time before our meal.

My sister wanted to grab an iced coffee, so I went up to his office on my own. Since I was in such a casual outfit, I definitely stuck out. Oh, well.

I felt like I stuck out even more once I arrived in the doorway of Scott's office. I expected to see him hunched over a computer screen, unable to take his eyes off the screen. This turned out to be somewhat correct. However, he wasn't hunched over. He was leisurely leaning back. There was also a tiny blonde girl sitting on his desk with her back to me. She wasn't saying anything, but her giggling went through me like a cold winter wind.

"Caroline!" Scott exclaimed and it sounded like an excited exclamation and not an "oh, shit," exclamation. I think.

"Hey, babe," I enthusiastically greeted, giving the best possible smile to his blonde friend who was now blankly looking at me. "Guess who's home early!"

He immediately stood up and walked over to me. He wrapped me in a huge hug, lifting me off the ground in the process and swinging me around. I lost a visual on the girl, but before he twirled me, she had turned back around. I know this is mean, but I was hoping now she felt uncomfortable.

Once he put me down, he flattened his purple tie down and caught his breathe before realizing the situation.

"Oh, Caroline," he began. "This is Melissa. She's been interning her for a couple weeks."

Cool. Scott never mentioned that there were interns working over the summer, especially not pretty ones. I gave Melissa a quick smile and told her it was nice to meet her. She smiled back at me with the same fake enthusiasm and waved her dainty little hand, her Alex and Ani bracelets rattling against each other.

"Can I steal you away for lunch?" I asked, turning away from Melissa and pretending she wasn't there.

"Um," Scott began as he looked back at his desk and pressed his lips together. I was about to yell at him for even pausing when he finally responded. "Sure, I can finish up what I have left for the day when I get back."

I gave him a quick kiss on the lips before turning and waving to Melissa.