Page 24 of Together Again

Isaac undid the string carefully but then tore the paper quickly as though he couldn’t wait to find out what was inside. In the box was a glass ornament, similar to the one he bought for Sofia but with the inscription“My First Christmas in New York.”

“It’s beautiful, Max, thank you.” He hugged me again and kissed me, this time longer and with such passion. His lips were plump from crying and tasted salty from his tears. They still were perfect.

“You know,” he said holding the gift bag up. “This would assume there would be a second Christmas.”

I put my hands on his face, pushing his beautiful curls away from his eyes. “You know, Isaac, I’ve never wished for something so badly in my life as I wish for that.”

We’d used as much time as we could get away with, so we said our last goodbyes with promises to keep in touch by email.

I watched him scan his boarding pass and go through toward security with one last look back at me, a sad, teary smile, and a blown kiss.

The moment Isaac was out of my sight, I collapsed on the nearest chair and broke down in tears.

A few minutes later, I called Joel.

“Joel.” My voice was so tight I couldn’t speak straight away.

“Max, what’s up? Are you okay? Where are you?” He sounded worried, so I relayed what had happened in the last two days.

“Max, I’ve known you since we were twelve. I have never seen you like this over anything. If this guy makes you feel this way, then you owe it to yourself, and to him, to chase it. Don’t let it go easily,” he said. “Besides, you know the nicest, sexiest men around are Portuguese. It’s a no brainer.”

“What do you think I should do?” I tried to clean the tears from my face using the sleeve of my sweater.

“Come home. Stay here with me for a few days. Then buy a plane ticket and go be his New Year’s kiss.”

“This is life, Joel, not a romance novel.” I laughed, wishing that for once in my life it could be real.

“Where do you think authors get their ideas from? Go give them something to write about.”

He let me know his freezer was stocked up and then hung up.

Could I do that? Could I do what Joel suggested? I looked around at the other people in the airport. So many sad faces, and so many happy faces. I wanted to be one of those happy ones, and I knew there was only one way to achieve that.

With that thought, my heart soared, and I had a plan. Isaac’s heart might be breaking a bit on the other side of that gate, but I would fix it. I would make it better because I was going to fly to Portugal to be Isaac’s New Year’s romance-novel-worthy kiss. And I’d be damned if I wasn't going to be everything else he’d want me to be, too. Because yesterday was the beginning, but today was certainly not the end.