Learning How to Bend

February 26

Disclaimer: I have never been to Vermont. So if any of my wonderful readers are from there or have visited the state, please let me know if I've described anything about it incorrectly, as this was pure imagination when I authored it.  Thank you all in advance. :) //

We flew into Burlington International Airport on August 17. I stretched out on the couch while Thaddeus sat nearby, using the private jet's WiFi to work, as it was a Monday. Turbulence was wretched, and at one point I actually sat up and clutched to Chelise as she sat beside me, but Thaddeus seemed impervious to it all. The shaking aircraft made me nervous; my fear must have radiated from me, for Thaddeus sensed it and did something he had not done in weeks: Asked me a question regarding a current project at Andino Incorporated. He knew I needed a distraction, so he provided one. I had been starved of the mental stimulation for so long that I eagerly consumed whatever information he gave me, and I barely gave him any opportunities to talk. I forgot all about the turbulence, and before long, the wheels were touching down on the runway. It was only at that point that Thaddeus clicked his laptop closed and put it in his bag.

Thaddeus took my arm as the pilot opened the door, and he escorted me carefully down the stairs. I had never been to Vermont. Even here on the tarmac, with the familiar sounds of planes landing and taking off, I immediately recognized something different: the smell. New York often smelled horrid, especially when you happened to walk by when a maintenance crew was working on the sewage system, or the ventilation systems for the subways. Although the scent of burning jet fuel permeated the air, I hardly paid attention to it. The air smelled and felt cleaner. If this is how it is at the airport, I wonder what it's like in Brighton, I thought.

"Thirty paces straight ahead, there's a man and woman in their mid-sixties, standing in front of a car. Can you see them?" Thaddeus's murmur in ear tickled and caused me to wrinkle my nose.

After a couple clicks, I nodded in the affirmative. "Who are they?"

"My parents." Something about his tone told me he was not entirely pleased to see them.

I was going to ask him, but I did not have the chance. Soft yet affirmative footsteps met us halfway, and Thaddeus had to allow my arm to drop so he could respond to his mother's hug. He still held one of my hands as he hugged his mother with the other. It felt like his grip tightened on my hand, but I could not be certain. I gripped the bar on Chelise's harness with the hand Thaddeus was not holding, silently praying his parents could not see how much my hand was shaking.

There were more footsteps, these firmer and farther apart until they stopped. A thump told me the man had put his hand on Thaddeus's shoulder. There was no doubt now; Thaddeus clasped my hand harder, and I squeezed his back. He had told me so little about his family, which of course made me wonder why. They greeted him kindly enough...

"You must be Liliana." The voice was soft and warm. Higher than I would have expected, with a breathiness in her tone that rolled over me and caused my shoulders to drop as my muscles relaxed.

"Yes," I said with a nod. I tried to pull my hand from Thaddeus's, but he would not let go. I dropped the bar on Chelise's harness instead and offered his mother my left hand. "I apologize this is the wrong hand; it seems the proper one has been taken captive."

The older woman laughed unashamedly, took my hand, and squeezed it lightly before letting go. Although her laugh sounded genuine, it did not sound genuine enough. There was unspoken tension between Thaddeus and his parents. I was not able to think on it for long, for she spoke again. "You work at Andino Incorporated?"

I nodded. "Yes. I started in Texas, moved to New York, and am now in the marketing department."

"She's been instrumental," Thaddeus said, causing me to blush. "I thought I said you didn't have to pick us up."