A Flight's Desire

Chapter 37: Birds Fly

Ben met Robin at the breakfast buffet table that she had secured for the two of them the next morning. She was making her coffee when he entered the living room of the farm house. She smiled at him as he entered. Ben noticed that she was all dressed up, as if to leave for somewhere. "You're wearing your trench coat." He pointed out.

"I am!" She said as he sat down. She handed him the bread basket next to her for him to start eating. "It's kind of....part of what I'm about to tell you."

Ben stopped. He looked at her and sat straighter in his seat. He pulled the chair closer to the table and rested his elbows on the surface of the table. "I'm ready. Shoot."

Robin smiled, and that gave him a glimmer of hope that she could be giving him good news. "I have three things to tell you," she said. "I don't regret what happened." He looked at her with emotions in his eyes and because of his 'eye-acting', Robin knew that he didn't regret anything either.

"Oh, thank the Saints." He looked up in order to thank whoever was writing his destiny. "I assumed that....you wouldn't want....that you regretted things...." He sighed.

"I don't." She shook her head slightly. "It was unexpected, but I don't regret anything, Ben. I had been trying to change the way I felt about you because we're friends. I don't want things to change between us."

He reached for her rested hand on the table. "It won't. Would you believe me if I told you that I had been controlling myself from cornering you because I was doing the same thing? It took everything in me to stop myself from telling you how I really felt."

Her mouth fell open as the heat rushed to her face. She was blushing and she hated that. "Wow."

"I had been thinking about revealing it to you for a long time actually. I didn't know why I did it that night....but I'm glad that I did."

She gave out a shaky laugh. "I'm glad you did as well. I was going to go crazy by thinking about how I should be on the moral path."

He laughed. "What's the second thing?"

"Uh....do you want to hear the good or the bad news first?"

"Good. If the other news is going to be bad, let it be at the end, because I'm the happiest man alive right now." He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles, making her try so hard to not blush.

"Okay." She clapped her hands together. "I've convinced the casting directors to cast you as Caleb Barnes." She closed her mouth to keep from squealing. She couldn't believe it when they agreed. He seems like the perfect choice, they had told her.

"That's amazing!" He stood up to hug her, but he ended up spinning her around. It was just the two of them in the room, so they were able to savour the moment without having to fear disturbing others.

"You've made my dream come true, Summers." She said after they broke apart, but still held each other's arms.

"So have you, Hale. I don't know how to thank you." He took a deep breath in as he let her information seep in. "And what's the last one?"

She closed her eyes while pursing her lips. "I was hoping this moment wouldn't come." She hung her head.

Ben cupped her face and lifted her chin so that she would look up at him. She turned around and Ben followed her gaze to her packed bags outside. One of the valets picked it up and started carrying it to a taxi that was parked in the driveway. "You're leaving." He was right to choose the bad option for the end.

Robin was leaving New York. Robin was leaving him behind. "I'm so sorry, Ben. When Sweta and David called me when I came to your house, I knew that I should head back soon. But I couldn't risk disappointing Paige and Karen. I didn't want to hurt you. I have had the ticket for a while now, but I had to. I...."

The tears that were threatening to come to both of their eyes were controlled very bravely. "You're going to Budapest."

She nodded. "The end of the year is approaching. I need to make sure that the accounts are closed properly. I can't risk the accounts not tallying up."

"I understand." He had to support her. What sort of a friend would he be if he didnt? "We'll see each other again. This isn't goodbye. We have the movie to work together in." Robin was so grateful for him to understand. "You're stuck with me, Hale."

She smirked and hit his arm playfully. "You're stuck with me as well, Summers." She pulled him into a hug. "Thank you for understanding." She kissed his cheek and it hurt for her to pull back. All she wanted was to be in his embrace. "We'll figure something out."

"Yeah. We will." He smiled. "Now that we have sent messages to each other," They laughed at their introverted selves. "We'll work this out."

And that was it. Robin got into the taxi and left for the airport to head for Budapest. She thanked and apologised to the wives before she left. Paige was in tears because her friend was going to be leaving her once again. Right when Karen was also going to get emotional, Ben revealed that he got his dream role, though he was only half successful in making everyone happy. All three of them were upset about Robin leaving so soon.

Robin so wished that she could have told them earlier. But they would have found some way to make her stay and she wouldn't have been able to refuse. She didn't regret a single moment from her trip for their wedding.

Ben watched the taxi leave the roadway until it was out of sight. A part of him was leaving in that taxi and though he would have sounded melodramatic, it was the truth. Robin had become a great part of his life. He hated that she had to leave right at the moment where they got to figuring out who they were.

But both she and Ben did not reveal it to anyone that they were not friends anymore. They decided to keep it to themselves, just in case their feelings got the better of themselves. They took an oath to themselves to keep in touch with the other, because they hadn't felt this way in a really long time.

They would meet each other again, because what is life without a good love story?