Chapter
28
"Attention
passengers, we are now arriving at our destination, please buckle your
seatbelts as we are now landing. We thank you for flying with us and hope you
have enjoyed your flight. Thank you."
Mariah
took off her headphones, not hearing what the flight attendant said, but when
she saw everyone buckling their seatbelts, she did the same. She hadn't slept
much on the plane. She never could sleep on planes. It was too uncomfortable.
She usually listened to her walkman, or read a book. If they showed movies and
the movie were good, she would watch them, but sleep was definitely out of the
question.
Mariah
looked around her after buckling her seatbelt. A little girl was happily talking
to her mother, excited about her vacation. Mariah packed the things she had
brought out from her bag, making sure that she hadn't left anything behind. She
remembered when she used to be like that with her parents. Her father would
always sound just as enthusiastic back. She smiled at that thought.
Surprisingly though, the memory didn't sadden her like it usually did. She was
just happy thinking about it. Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt the
plane hit the ground beneath her.
'Ah,'
she thought. 'Safe on the ground.'
Once
they had landed everyone filed out of the plane and into the airport. She
followed signs to get her luggage. It took a while to find them, and at one
point she thought they might have lost her luggage, but she finally found them.
She hauled it on to a cart and wheeled it out to find her mother. Once she
stepped out of the baggage claim, she saw her mother standing there, with a
huge smile on her face.
"Mariah!"
she cried. She ran toward her daughter and hugged her.
"Mom!"
Mariah cried. Then she said, "Uh, Mom, you're crushing me. I can't
breathe."
Her
mom let her go and said, "Sorry! I'm just so happy you decided to come!
Come on, let's go home, huh?
"Okay,"
Mariah replied, feeling a little funny that her mom said home, even though it
wasn't really Mariah's home.
When
they arrived at her mother's house, her mom directed her immediately to where
she was going to sleep.
"This
is your room when your here. So, you can do whatever you want to it, and you'll
always have a place to come to."
"Thanks
Mom!" cried Mariah. "This is great!"
"No
problem, anything for my little girl. Now get unpacked, then maybe we could go
out for dinner and shop around a bit." Her mother smiled and left the
room, closing the door behind her.
Mariah
smiled and looked around her room. There was already a nice bed in it, and a
desk with a computer. She set her things down and began to unpack a little bit.
After that, her mom took her out as promised. They went to a fancy little
restaurant which had great food, and to some malls which Mariah loved.
'I've
got to take Brian here one day,' she thought to herself smiling.
The
two women ended the day by buying an ice cream cone each and walking back to
the condo. Once they got there, they slumped on to the couch, tired from all
their walking from shopping.
"Did
you have a good day?" her mother asked.
"The
greatest!" answered Mariah.
"Even
better than your birthday?" her mother teased.
Mariah
smiled. "Well, I guess not," she answered.
The
two sat there talking until the middle of the night. Most of the time was spent
talking about Brian.
"He
sounds like a wonderful boy." her mother commented.
"He
is, Mom, he's the best! He's so caring, and loving, gentle, and not to mention
cute." she said smiling.
Her
mom laughed. "I hope I get to meet him soon." she said.
"You'll
love him Mom!"
"Well,
I think I do already from all the stuff you've told me!" she said
laughing.
Mariah
laughed along with her mother. She yawned and said she was tired. She said good
night to her mother and walked to her room. When she got there, she closed the
door and jumped on to her bed. Thinking about Brian made her feel happy and
secure. She started to drift off with thoughts about him when the phone rang.
She woke up and picked up the phone groggily.
"Hello?"
she answered.
"Mariah?"
came a voice over the phone. The voice sounded very eager and anxious.
"Yes,
who's this?" she asked, getting up.
"It's
Nick. Listen, I need you to come to Paris immediately! Please!"
"Why?
What's going on?"
Nick
hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's Brian. He's in the hospital and
it doesn't look too good."
***
