FB - CA, Los Angeles - LAX Airport (December 2001)

[Hollywood Heidi]

Los Angeles International Airport

Events taking place in December 2001.

[Kristi Lynne]

After parking her car in the short-term lot at Los Angeles International Airport, Gwen walked with Tim and his fellow reservist Corporal Welsh into the bustling terminal for domestic flights, their sand-colored army fatigues causing them to stand out among the traveling crowd. After checking their luggage, they would pass through security and be on their way to board a flight to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, followed by a short drive to Fayetteville. And then…only the enlisted men and officers would know what lay ahead.

They reached the point that only those with boarding passes could go beyond, so this would have to be the goodbye. She’d been steeling herself for it for weeks, and yet the reality didn’t hit her until now. Until further notice, Tim wouldn’t be there anymore to smile at her from across the room or mock her lack of Freeway navigating skills or begrudgingly sit through another viewing of The Princess Bride or steal French fries from her plate or open doors for her or kiss the back of her neck when she was trying to work. And she was angry with herself for not appreciating all those moments when she had them.

She gave Welsh a hug as he prepared to join the line for security. “Do me a favor and keep him out of trouble, Welshie,” Gwen requested.

“Ah, that’s a tall order, Gwen.”

“In that case, just make sure he comes back to me safe and sound,” she asked.

“I have to come back,” Tim declared. “I still owe you a ring.”

“Sweetie, I told you, I don’t need a ring. Look, I’ve turned my Claddagh ring around with the heart facing inwards, so everyone knows I’m taken.” She held up her right hand to illustrate her point. “All you owe me, Staff Sergeant Sanderson, is your safe return.”

Welsh, sensing that they might want a moment alone, glanced away. “Hey, I think that cute blonde might be on our flight out. I’m gonna’ do some recon, Sarge.”

Tim laughed. “Alright, I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

“Bye, Welshie. Take care,” Gwen said, as he walked off.

There was an awkward silence between them as they both ran through the rehearsal in their heads but couldn’t bring themselves to go live.

“So…I’ll call you as soon as we get settled in,” Tim began. “Let you know how to get in touch with me. And I’ll do my best to remember the three hours’ difference thing.”

“Right. And care packages once a week. Mix CDs, cookies not baked by me, any and all Northwestern athletics media coverage, any and all Lucy Liu photos—“

“Ah, now I did say that photos of you modeling the latest Victoria’s Secret fashions were a reasonable substitute,” he corrected, smiling and putting his arms around her waist.

“Key word being ‘reasonable’,” she added, putting her arms around his neck.

“I’ll be back before you can miss me.”

“That’s not possible.”

He pulled her in for one last kiss and then rested his forehead against hers. “And I will make an honest woman outta’ you when I get back.”

“Promises, promises,” she grinned. “Go on, Welshie’s waiting for you.”

“Don’t let ‘em ruin the show while I’m gone.”

“I won’t.”

“Au revoir,” he said, kissing her hand and holding onto it for as long as he could as he walked toward the security checkpoint. He looked back once more and she gave him a small wave before he made a face and gestured for her to be gone. She walked backwards for as long as she safely could, then turned to head back to the car.

********************

“Gwen, line 1 for you,” one of the production assistants said, ducking her head into Gwen’s cubicle.

“Got it.” She picked up the receiver and switched into her official phone voice as she said, “Thank you for calling KDJA News, this is Gwendolyn Havers, how can I help you?”

“Gwen, it’s Craig Sanderson. Tim’s father.”

“Oh, Mr. Sanderson. How are you? It’s good to hear from you.”

“Well, it’s good to talk to you as well. Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

The hesitancy in his voice made her worry. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“I…Well, there’s just no easy way to say this, so I’ll just get right to it. Tim is gone. We got word yesterday that Tim’s convoy was ambushed outside of Kandahar. They took heavy fire, and…there weren’t any survivors. His mother’s very upset, but she wanted you to know. We both wanted you to know.”

“I see.”

“We’ll have the funeral here, and we’d like for you to come. For all intents and purposes, you were our daughter-in-law.”

“That’s very kind of you, Mr. Sanderson.”

“I’ll let you know when we have the details. And we’ll look forward to seeing you again. I’m real sorry, Gwen.”

“Yeah. Thank you. I…I’m sorry, too. I’ll see you.” She hung up the phone, feeling numb. Her hands clutching the edge of the desk to keep the room from spinning. He was gone. It couldn’t be true. If it were true, she would have known. She would have felt it. A loss like that would have stopped the phones from ringing, stopped the sound of typing, stopped the conversations going on around her. Those things went on, so he couldn’t really be gone. Could he?