"And stop sulking at me."
She paused, then added, "Harry's in a really bad place today."
"He thinks it's his fault your parents didn't make their flight."
"When you see him tomorrow, apologize to him."
I blinked. Then I laughed out loud.
"I apologize to him?"
Carol frowned.
"His relatives had already boarded just fine."
"Then you threw a fit at the last minute and refused to go, so everyone had to rebook."
"You dragged all those people out here for nothing. Don't you owe them a sorry?"
So my parents being kicked off the train because of the wrong tickets someone bought.
In her eyes, that wasn't a grievance worth mentioning.
The Weiss family missing their flight, now that was a wasted trip.
I looked at her.
And just like that, I lost even the urge to explain.
"Fine."
Carol seemed to relax, and went off to the bathroom to shower.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the three tickets back to Northgate City on my phone.
My heart was strangely calm.
In the middle of the night, a noise from the living room woke me.
Carol was on the phone, keeping her voice low.
"Harry?"
"What's wrong?"
I couldn't hear what was said on the other end, but her tone went soft at once.
"Don't be scared."
"I'm coming over right now."
The instant the door shut, I suddenly thought back to years ago.
I'd run a fever in the middle of the night and called her.
She said she had an early meeting the next day and told me to take some fever medicine first.
Back then I still made excuses for her.
She was just so busy.
A woman with a strong drive for her career, that was a good thing.
But it turned out she could rush off in the dead of night to be with someone.
That someone just wasn't me.
The next morning, when Carol came back, her coat carried the woody cologne Harry always wore.
She probably didn't notice.
But Harry stood right behind her, face pale, voice pressed low.
"Tom, I'm sorry about yesterday."
"I really didn't mean to cause you all this trouble."
Carol shot me a look.
The meaning was obvious.
She wanted me to apologize.
I gave a small smile and said nothing.
At the airport, the Weiss family was already waiting at the business class check-in counter.
Carol handed over their documents and breezed through the formalities for them.
Harry's parents, his aunt, his cousin, and a string of relatives whose names I didn't know.
All of them in business class.
When it was my parents' turn, the agent glanced at the system.
"Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, you're in economy."
My mother froze for a second, then quickly waved her hands.
"Economy's good, economy's just fine."
"We're happy to sit anywhere."
Carol, as if afraid I'd make a scene again, came over and explained in a low voice.
"The rebooking was too rushed yesterday."
"This was all that was left in business class."
"It's nothing for Mom and Dad to sit in economy. It's only a two-hour flight."
Two hours.
So now she knew the trip was only two hours.
Yet yesterday she'd been fine putting my parents in a coach seat for over thirty hours.
Harry spoke up quietly beside her.
"Why don't I give my seat to your folks?"
Carol cut in at once.
"No need."
"You didn't sleep well last night. Don't put yourself through it."
I looked at the tenderness in her eyes.
Then I looked at my father's pale face.
And all at once I felt the last thread in my chest snap too.
The boarding announcement came over the speakers.
Business class had its own lane.
Carol was busy helping Harry's mother along, then helping push Harry's father's luggage.
Only when she reached the entrance did she remember to glance back at me.
"Tom, take Mom and Dad and line up over there."
"See you when we land."
When she finished, she led the Weiss family ahead of us, into the business class lane.
My mom said in a small voice,
“Tommy, we'd better get in line too.”
“We don't want to miss the flight.”
I took her hand and smiled.
“Dad. Mom.”
“We're not going to that wedding.”
“I'm taking you somewhere else.”
My mom's nose stung all at once.
“But the wedding……”
Over the loudspeaker, the boarding call for Carol's flight had already started.
I looked one last time toward the business class lane.
Carol probably still thought
we'd see each other once we landed on the island.
But she didn't know.
We'd never see each other again.
