CJ stood back for a moment, watching Abbey play with
Meghan. She wondered how she could hide what was going
on from her daughter. But, CJ, also knew that Meghan
would find it strange if she didn’t see her mommy
today.
“Hi Abbey.” CJ said. At the sound of CJ’s voice
Meghan stood on Abbey’s lap and held her arms out to
her mother.
“Hi, precious.” CJ said picking Meghan up.
“Daddy?” Meghan asked as CJ sat down in the chair
with her.
“Daddy didn’t get to leave when he thought he would.
He’ll be home soon.” CJ said with a confidence she
wasn’t certain she really felt.
Meghan stood up in CJ’s lap and touched her finger to
CJ’s earrings. “Ring.” Meghan said.
“Earring.” CJ corrected.
“Earwing.” Meghan said touching the earring. “Daddy.”
“Yes, Daddy bought Mommy the earrings.” CJ replied.
“She does this a lot.” CJ explained to Abbey.
“I thought so.” Abbey said.
“Birthday.” Meghan said.
“Yes, Daddy bought the earrings for Mommy’s birthday.
Do you want Mommy to read you a story, sweetheart?”
“Yes.” Meghan replied.
“Then go to your bag and bring Mommy back a book.” CJ
said and sat Meghan down to get a book.
“How are you?” Abbey asked.
“Scared, worried, tired. I didn’t sleep well last
night.” CJ said as she watched Meghan get a book from
the bag.
“No more dizzy spells?”
“No.” CJ said as she picked Meghan up. “You want me
to read that one?” She asked Meghan.
“Yes.” Meghan replied.
“Okay.” CJ said and opened the book to read it to
Meghan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby could have sworn he saw movement outside the
plane. It had gotten dark about an hour before. So he
knew that if anything was going to be done, now would
be a good time to do it. He looked out again and saw
the shadows move, and was certain something was about
to happen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jed was looking out the window when the phone rang.
He picked it up on the first ring. “Hello. Moshe, is
it over? Good, good. How many casualties? I see. What
about the terrorists? Okay, so I should expect another
call soon? Good. Yeah, I’m glad it ended this way too.
Goodbye.”
“Mrs. Landingham.” He shouted. “Inform the staff I
want to see them in ten minutes.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ was reading another book to Meghan when Jed walked
in.
“CJ.” Jed said. “I need to talk to you.”
“Okay.” CJ said handing Meghan to Abbey.
“Why don’t you walk back to the office with me?” Jed
said.
“Yes sir. What’s happened?” CJ asked.
“The hijacking is over. The Tunisians stormed the
plane a little while ago. Toby’s okay.” Jed explained
CJ stopped and grabbed ahold of the railing on the
stairs they were walking down. “He’s okay?” She
whispered.
“Yeah, he’s fine.” Jed said taking ahold of her arm.
“Miraculously, no one on the plane was hurt.”
“The terrorists?”
“They were arrested. I should tell you that I’m
expecting a phone call in a few minutes. Although, I
don’t think I’m really the one he’s going to want to
talk to.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, why don’t you go to your office and I’ll have
the call transferred to you as soon as I’m finished
talking to him. I promise I won’t talk for long.”
“Okay.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ walked into her office for the first time that
day and turned on the light. “It's over and he’s
okay.” She thought. “Oh, thank you God.” She sat down
in the chair and waited. Then the phone rang.
“Hello.” She said.
“God, it’s good to hear your voice.” Toby said.
“Yours too.” CJ said trying not to cry.
“I can hear the tears in your voice you know.” He
laughed.
“You can?”
“Yeah.”
“How are you?”
“I’m fine.” Toby replied.
“You’re not just telling me that?”
“No, I’m fine. You can see for yourself in about
seven hours.”
“Okay.”
“Josh and the President know what time the plane
lands. I’m going to try to get some sleep. I’ll talk
to you more when I’m there.”
“Okay, Toby?”
“Yeah, CJ”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” Toby said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CJ was pacing around the waiting room in the airport.
She was trying to ignore the press that had gathered.
Josh and the others had thought it might be better for
her to wait at the White House, but she had overruled
them. She *had* to see Toby the moment he got off the
plane. It was only then that she knew she would really
believe he was all right. She looked at her watch for
what must have been the hundredth time. The plane
should land in twenty minutes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby looked out the window of the plane and could see
the lights of Washington in the distance. It was over,
in a few minutes he would be home.
“They’re good to see aren’t they.” Mrs. Rubenstein
remarked.
“What?”
“The lights.”
“Yes they are.”
“You said your mother was from Lublin what was her
name?”
“Leah Rosenwitz."
“Leah Rosenwitz, I think I might have know her.” Mrs.
Rubenstein said.
“Really where?” Toby asked.
“We emigrated on the same boat.”
“Small world.”
“Yes it is.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Toby started looking for CJ the moment he stepped
into the terminal. Finally he spotted her standing
near the window. She hadn’t seen him yet, but he saw
Josh tap her shoulder and she turned around. CJ
immediately started to walk towards him and when she
reached Toby she threw her arms around him.
“You’re really okay.” CJ whispered against his
shoulder.
“I told you I was.” Toby said.
“Yeah, but I had to see you to believe it.”
“Okay.” Toby said holding on to CJ very tightly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a couple of hours later, when CJ and Toby
finally got home. Jed had wanted to talk to Toby for a
few minutes. They had also been told that under no
circumstances were they to come to work tomorrow. Toby
carried Meghan, who was asleep, into the apartment.
Then he sat beside CJ on the couch.
“Are you okay?” Toby asked.
“I am now that you are home.” CJ replied. “I was so
scared.”
“So was I. Thinking about you and Meghan was what got
me through it.”
“I thought about you a lot too.” CJ said.
“You did?” Toby asked.
“Yeah.” CJ said and kissed his cheek.
“You know I haven’t kissed you since I got home.”
Toby said.
“I think you should.” CJ said.
“You do?” Toby said and kissed her.
“Yeah.” CJ whispered after he kissed her.
“I love you, CJ.” Toby said.
“I love you too.” CJ whispered and then kissed him
passionately.
to be continued...