Falling for Him

by Amy Stephens

  I waited for the right moment to approach them but I could only stand there and watch. I wasn’t sure it was right to break up this family reunion. I was so close I could hear them talking to each other in Spanish. At first I found it uncomfortable because I didn’t know what was being said, but then I reminded myself that English was Jaime’s second language. I doubted his family even knew much English much less how to speak it.

  I tried again to walk their way but I just couldn’t. I felt like I was spying on them, an intruder invading their privacy. I could see Jaime looking around without really being obvious about it and I hoped it was me he was looking for.

  He had told me there would be an area set up for refreshments and I assumed this was where they were headed when I saw Jaime’s brother start to push his grandmother’s wheelchair. Still remaining discrete, I followed along.

  I fell in line behind them and picked up a small plate of mixed fruit and a plastic cup of something bubbly that I presumed was ginger ale. I took a small sip hoping it would calm my nerves but there was no way I could eat anything. I ended up tossing the plate of fruit in the trash and continued to sip the ginger ale while standing behind a pole that offered a direct view of them.

  I came up with a plan and worked my way up through the people that separated us. When Jaime was just a few feet away, I reached up behind him and tugged on the back of his shirt. But I didn’t wait for him to turn around. I kept walking and crossed my fingers he’d follow me.

  I turned the corner when I reached one of the many doorways that lead out of the room. I glanced back to see if he’d taken my lead and, sure enough, he was within a foot of me.

  “Just keep walking.” I turned to tell him.

  When the crowd of people had thinned out, I noticed a set of elevators up ahead. I walked up and pushed the button to go up. I had no idea where these elevators went to, but I needed to be with him one last time. I knew it could be quite a while before I’d get to see him again and I needed something to remember until the next time. He stood beside me and we both pretended not to know each other. When the doors opened, we both stepped inside. Not knowing which floor to go to, I pressed the button for the tenth floor. I wondered if he had noticed the message that had been placed next to it.

  “THIS FLOOR CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS”

  When the doors shut, we both wrapped our arms around each other not caring if there was a camera watching us or not. He held me and I trembled knowing our time together was drawing near the end.

  When we reached the tenth floor and the doors slid open, we stepped out into the lobby area. Sure enough, tarps were hanging from the ceiling and were draped everywhere. There was also lots of power equipment tools lying around as well as pieces of sheetrock propped up. Light fixtures were hanging from extension cords that ran up into the ceiling. There was no disputing the message left in the elevator: this floor was definitely under construction. But the most important part of all was that no one was here. It was just the two of us. Alone.

  Jaime pulled my face to his and we shared a very passionate kiss. When we pulled apart, I looked down at his outfit. It was the same clothes he’d worn in the photograph only this time, it was real.

  “You look very nice.” I beamed. “And congratulations. I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thank you, baby. Thank you for coming to see me tonight.”

  “I told you I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

  He wrapped me in his arms again and I just enjoyed being held. Who knows how long it’s going to be before I’m able to let him do this again. He kissed the top of my head and I pulled back to look at him in the face. This was the hardest goodbye I’ve ever had to have. Not even when Monica left to go to college did I feel so overwhelmed, so lonely.

  “Baby, you know I need to get back to my family.”

  I nodded my head and felt bad for having pulled him away from them for so long.

  “I know. I just needed to see you one more time.”

  “I love you Erica. Don’t you ever forget that, okay?”

  I couldn’t speak and had to look away. He reached for my hand and walked me back towards the elevators again. As we stood waiting for it to reach our floor, I gripped his hand tightly afraid I’d never get to hold it again. I used my other hand to wipe away the tears that now flowed freely down my face. Once inside, neither of us said anything. Jaime pressed the button for the bottom floor and I reached out to press the one for the parking garage. This was it.

  When the doors opened for him to step out, he squeezed my hand again before letting go. Then, he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

  “Goodbye.” I barely heard him say the words.

  I couldn’t say anything. I was a total mess.

  He stepped out, leaving me behind. He didn’t look back but went on to join his family again. As the doors started to close and he was almost out of my sight, I told him. But he didn’t hear me. He couldn’t.

  “I love you.”

  I dropped down to the floor and squalled like a baby.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I don’t really remember coming home that night. The next few days were a total blur. We were busy at work with Christmas being just days away so I was able to drown most of my sorrow in my work.

  Joann noticed that something wasn’t right about me and offered to run the front while I unpacked freight in the back room. I really didn’t feel much like being around people at the moment and was glad to be able to hide out, away from everyone.

  On the day Jaime was set to leave the military base for good, I called in sick to work. I hated calling in because Joann really needed me, but she knew I’d not be the best of help with the mood I had been in lately.

  “Honey, if you need to talk about whatever’s bothering you, you know you can always come to me.” She’d told me just two days ago.

  Some things are just too painful to talk about and this was one of them. I needed time, and I needed him.

  Classes were over for the semester but the security guard didn’t even hesitate to let me in when I showed him my ID for school. He waved me right on through.

  I could see the prison camp once I’d made the turn onto Fullard Lane. It wasn’t the first time I’d driven this way but it would most likely be my last. Another security gate was up ahead and I knew this was as far as I could go.

  There was another entrance into the prison besides this one but it was used for deliveries and such. I just hoped this would be the one they used and not the other one. There was parking all around and I pulled up underneath a giant oak tree and shut off my car. I don’t think I was ever this sad when my first pet, a dog named Rusty, had died back when I was five.

  I looked down at my watch and hoped I hadn’t missed it.

  There was a special kind of fencing that surrounded the prison and pieces of metal paneling were woven through the chain link fence so no one would be able to see inside. Then, I heard the sound of the bus before it even came into view. The diesel engine was loud and couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.

  The gate slid open, then the bus doors opened as it came to a stop. The security guard stepped up to the opened doors and I watched as the guard and driver had a brief conversation. Then, the doors closed and the bus pulled on through.

  I strained to see inside as it drove past me. With its tinted windows it was hard to make out who was inside or even which seats were occupied. I gave it enough time to reach the end of the street then I cranked up my car and tried to catch up behind it.

  For the next fifteen minutes, I rode behind the bus at a relatively safe distance. I always made sure there were at least five or six cars separating my car from the bus in case someone realized I was following it. I saw the sign announcing the airport up ahead and I put on my turn signal just as the bus started applying its breaks.

  I’d never been to this airport before since it was one of the smaller ones, but Jaime had explained to me that he would fly from here and into Atlanta.
With the hour difference in time and an hour layover, he’d be home in Miami later tonight. I wanted to be happy for him, I really did. After all, he deserved this.

  I pulled up in one of the handicap parking spots near the front but didn’t shut off the car in case someone drove up and asked me to leave. The bus had come to a complete stop and there were two others who had stepped off already. Jaime was the third one to finally get off and I watched as he stood there holding his one bag.

  He was wearing the same clothes he’d worn for his graduation. They were nice and probably one of the nicest outfits he owned. From the size of his duffel bag, there were very little personal items he’d had with him over the last ten years. He’d probably keep it as a carry-on bag and not bother with going through the luggage ordeal.

  He looked up in the sky as if this were the last time he’d take in this scenery and he’d need a mental reminder of what it had looked like. Memories. We’d surely made our share of memories over the last few months and I just hoped he wouldn’t forget them.

  Or me.

  I watched as he and the other two guys walked into the airport, alone. There was no security guard or government official leading them inside. They were free men, free to go their own ways. They’d served their time.

  I really wanted to jump out of my car and run inside after him but I didn’t. I wanted to keep the good memories to myself and just hoped there would be more to make in the future.

  As the plane lifted from the runway, I wasn’t sure if this was his flight or not, but I felt pretty confident he was on it. I watched it descent higher and higher until I could no longer see it in the sky. I continued to watch other planes land and take off and wondered if that would be me one day. Flying to see him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I had really hoped Jaime would’ve called when he’d made it safely home but he hadn’t. I was disappointed and it only made me more depressed when I thought about it. I knew it was a difficult transition for him, one that he would deal with for a while. It was still too early to think he’d forgotten about me.

  Christmas came and went and I still hadn’t heard anything from him. As each day passed I felt myself slowly slipping further away from him. But I couldn’t give up just yet.

  The day before New Year’s, I picked up the phone and attempted to call the only number I had for him. I tried numerous times but couldn’t complete the call. It was tortuous. I didn’t want this to end just being a painful memory.

  Two weeks later, I was getting home from school late on a Monday night when my phone rang. I figured it was Monica wanting to talk about the latest that was going on at State. Over the holidays I’d finally confessed everything to her, and not just the parts that had made me feel good. When I had shared his photos with her she was honest with me and said, just based on looks alone, she would have chased after him, too.

  But that’s the problem. No matter what Ray had said in the beginning about me throwing myself out there for Jaime or Monica’s assumption that I had chased after him, I honestly didn’t. I think it was a mutual attraction that had happened between the two of us that had developed over time. Sure, we had flirted with each other, but show me two people that didn’t. I felt like our relationship evolved into something more and, truth be known, I think we both were against it at first. God, what was I going to do with myself?

  I let voicemail take the call and figured I’d call her back after I’d fixed myself something to eat.

  She’d done her best to talk me into transferring to State before the next semester had started. She had it all worked out. I could live with her and she’d help me pick out the right classes I needed to take. I seriously considered it, but there was no way I could have all of the paperwork for an additional student loan processed in time to start. When I’d registered for the next semester at Bishop I decided against taking any classes out on base this time, even if it meant not taking a particular class that I needed. I just couldn’t put myself through going back out there just yet. Maybe next semester, but right now I’d settle for all of my classes being at the main campus.

  The microwave beeped and I pulled out the leftover plate my mom had left for me. I grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and walked back to my room. Using my foot since both hands were full, I closed the door behind me.

  Since my food still needed to cool off, I decided to change into a t-shirt and boxer shorts. I placed my phone beside the bathroom sink and dialed voicemail. I turned it on speaker phone and listened to the messages while I washed off all of my makeup. One of the girls from work had called while I was in class and she was needing to see if I’d work her shift on Friday. The next message was nothing more than a hang-up call and I told myself it was probably the wrong number. When the person on the other end had heard my voice and realized they’d called the wrong number, they’d hung up without saying anything. Then, the final message began to play and I suddenly stopped what I was doing.

  “Hey baby. It’s me. I know you’ve probably been worried about me and I hope you didn’t think I had forgotten about you. I’ve missed you so much and I’ll just try to reach you later on. Love you.”

  I went numb and my body was in a complete state of shock. He’d called. He’d finally called me. I tried to get myself to breathe but I started to hyperventilate. He’d called me and I hadn’t been able to answer the stupid phone. Damn it.

  Just calm down Erica. See, you were worried for no reason. I’m sure he’s got a legitimate reason why he hasn’t called and it’s all going to be okay now. I kept telling myself this, over and over, but for some reason I wasn’t so convinced it was all okay.

  I forgot all about the food and being hungry. I picked up my phone, which was now asking me to enter commands pertaining to my voicemail. “Press one to delete this message, press two to hear this message again, press three to save this message etc. etc.”

  I immediately pressed three to save the message, if for no other reason than to be able to replay it back to listen to his voice again. I looked back through my missed calls so I could just redial his number instead of going to my dresser and pulling out the piece of paper that had the only number I had for him written on it. I wonder why I had never bothered to program it in my phone.

  That was odd. The last call I had was from an unknown number. What? He’d called me from an unknown number? How could that be?

  I got up and dug through my drawer until I found the folded up piece of paper with his number and address. I punched in the number and my hands began to shake just thinking about him answering. I listened to the first ring. Then, after the second ring, a recording came on. “The number you are trying to reach in no longer a working number. If you feel you have reached this message in error, please check the number and try your call again.” There was a short pause and the recorded message began to play all over again. “The number you are trying to reach………”

  The End

  Coming Summer 2015

  The Falcon Club:

  Falling for Her (Book 2)

  Jaime Garcia had dreams.

  Growing up poor, he always knew his chances of attending college were slim. With no father in their home, he did everything he could to help his mother support their family of six, including working side jobs that sometimes required him to do things that weren’t safe.

  One night, Jaime found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sent away for a crime that never should have happened, his attorney plea bargained a sentence that put him in a federal prison camp far away from home and his family.

  As the years passed by, Jaime adjusted to his life in prison and found a way to fulfill his dream of earning a college degree all while being incarcerated. What he hadn’t expected though was to meet someone he would become attracted to, someone who knew nothing about his past.

  Jaime and Erica were placed together in a study group for a class assignment. They instantly have a connection and enjoy spending time together in the military library. At
first, Erica doesn’t know that Jaime is different from the other military men on base. However, when she discovers the truth behind the jumpsuit he wears bearing the name The Falcon Club, how will it affect their friendship and the relationship that has started to develop between the two of them?

  Can Jaime convince Erica he is falling for her and not just taking advantage of her because of his situation?

  The Falcon Club: Falling for Her, book two in the two-part series, is told from Jaime’s point of view and should be read after Falling for Him, Erica’s story.

  About the Author

  Amy Stephens is a new adult/contemporary romance author. Originally from Greenville, Alabama, she now lives in Robertsdale, Alabama, just minutes from the beautiful Alabama Gulf Coast beaches, with her husband and son. She is a graduate of Troy University with a Master’s in Human Resource Management. She works in retail management full-time during the day and pursues her passion for writing in her down time.

  When she’s not working or writing, you will find her reading, watching her favorite football team, the Auburn Tigers, her favorite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, or watching NASCAR. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

  The Falcon Club: Falling for Him is the first book in a new two-part series. The follow up The Falcon Club: Falling for Her will be available Summer 2015.

  She is also the author of the Coming Home series: Don’t Turn Back (May 2014), Never Look Back (September 2014) and Heart of the Matter (November 2014). The Ride Home for Christmas (December 2014) is a standalone holiday romance story.