This is Love

Catch and Release, Chapters 14-21

Chapter 14

Travis had a range of emotions that evening when I called him from the hotel room and explained my situation. Before I knew it, I was walking through Atlanta's airport toward baggage claim to meet up with him. My parents were not fond of the idea of shipping me out of state, but conceded that I was probably safer away from home in an unknown place. If Seamus was going to stalk me, perhaps he would give up if I was nowhere to be found. My parents drove me directly to the airport after my last final, but not before stopping at a store to purchase a cell phone plan. I was rather bitter that we now had a family plan, but weren't a traditional family; although I happily agreed to pay my part of the plan. I think my parent's envisioned me coming home after Seamus is caught, but I saw myself living with Travis for the whole summer if it wasn't an imposition. I felt a little guilty that I wouldn't see Riley at all this summer, however, I didn't want Riley to see me like this or anyone else for that matter. I missed Olivia coming home by two days from Northwestern.

To be cute, Travis stood next to the baggage carousel with my last name printed on a piece of paper holding it up like he was a limo chauffer. He looked much healthier than when I saw him at Thanksgiving. His sandy colored hair was shorter and lighter, presumably from the sun, and he had put on some weight and his muscles were more tone; assumedly a result of working at the YMCA. His skin was not a pasty white like mine since I resided further north. I grinned at him through my large diva sunglasses and wide brimmed straw hat that I purchased in Pittsburgh's airport before boarding. I rather receive stares from looking out of place for what I am wearing, not my bruises. "Hey girl," he exclaimed and hugged me tightly.

"Not so tight," I remind him wincing in pain. He stepped back and apologized, grabbed my hand, and whisked me away to baggage claim.

We retrieve my bag and go out to his car. He still has his mother's old BMW. "Driving in Atlanta sucks, but I figured you didn't want to do any more public transportation today," he said.

He tells me about the neighborhood he is living in and parks in front of a two-story row house in an up and coming neighborhood. He is a block away from a charming looking main street with different local shops and restaurants. "How much is your rent here," I ask admiring the flower boxes on the newer looking windows.

"Zero dollars," he says. I look at him curiously. I receive an explanation that he used his trust fund to purchase the property and dumped some money fixing up the apartment upstairs to rent it out since it's slightly bigger. He is slowly updating the downstairs apartment with the rent money he is receiving. Since interest rates are tanking, he refinanced and had a very small mortgage on his property. He points to a corner house down the street, "I have my eye on that one to buy next," he says. "It's an elderly couple who sometimes mention moving to assisted living." The row house looked well-maintained, but outdated.

I commend him on his smart decisions and we haul my suitcase inside. The door leads us into a white hallway with the staircase going up to the second floor. A baby stroller and child's bicycle are sitting in the hallway. Travis tells me he is renting to a single mom and she has a two-year-old son. He leads me back behind the staircase to another door. He pushes the door open and we walk into a dining area that shares the same space as the living room in the front of the house. Travis has a small dining table and two chairs, a futon, a chair from his bedroom from home. His guitars are lined up in the dining room wall. A small hallway is to my right going back to the bathroom and bedroom. Anyone who walked in here and didn't know Travis would never guess that his family was wealthy. I think this is what I love most about Travis; his humbleness.

"This is nice," I say. It's modest, but feels homey. He has a few pictures up on the walls. The kitchen is small, but I didn't expect to be very large.