I walked with a high stride, when I stepped off flight 1087 in Miami, Florida. I claimed my bags from baggage claim, retrieved my rental car from Avis, and was on the highway headed to my hotel within thirty minutes. Just knowing I was in the same city as Jacob made me all giddy. I dialed his number.
"Hello," he answered on the third ring.
"Hey babe! Are you busy?"
"Not too busy for you. What's up?" he asked.
"I bet you can't guess where I am. I just bet you can't," I beamed, as the big and wide smile on my face caused a driver passing by to smile, as well. My happiness was just that contagious.
"In Miami?" he asked with not quite as much enthusiasm as I would have expected. Given our heated phone call the night before, I thought he would be happy we had a chance to see each other in the flesh.
"Yeah…" I answered slowly, gauging his response, "I'm meeting a Miami client tomorrow, so I thought I would surprise you."
"You thought you would surprise me, huh?" he said, sounding intrigued. "You are just full of surprises, aren't you Ms. Destiny?"
"Well, I try to keep things popping," I said with a laugh.
"Who are you meeting with?"
"Susie Alexander from MOCA. You remember connecting us?"
"Oh, yeah. Susie is a good person. Do you want me to call and put in a word?"
"No thanks, sweetheart. I want to close this deal on my own," I said, thankful for his willingness to use his influence. "But… I do want you to come and put in a good night's work with me," I teased, smiling from ear to ear.
"Destiny…" he began to speak, but I was so excited I continued to talk.
"You can meet me at the Embassy Suites at the Airport. It's not a presidential suite or anything like that, but I really want to see you." There was a long pause on the line as if he was thinking about it, so I added, "Unless tonight is not a good time for you?"
"Yeah, it's bad timing. I have a lot going on tonight." It took everything in me to not sound disappointed when he added, "What about I take you to lunch after you meet with Susie tomorrow?"
"Lunch… that will be fine," I said, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of my chest. The feeling of rejection nicked my ego hard.
There was a long and drawn out moment, and then he said, "Sorry."
Sorry wasn't enough to change how I felt. "No, it's okay. I'll see you tomorrow," I said, as I steered into the hotel's parking lot. After longing for him, late night's texting, wishing we were in each other's arms, fantasizing about what we would do if we were together, we were a few miles away and he could not make time for me.