"I'm sorry, sir, but Flight 1105 to Chicago has been cancelled due to the pilots' strike." The tall man with dark hair clenched his fists in frustration.
"Is there another flight that I can get on? I have a concert to be at." The tall man turned to look at the young woman at the next counter who seemed to be in a similar predicament.
"Sorry, miss, but you'll have to miss that concert. All flights to Chicago and everywhere else in the Midwest have been cancelled." The girl muttered under her breath angrily as she stalked away from the ticket counter.
"Figures! The first time I get front row seats, and I have no way to get there!"
"So what concert are you going to?" She stopped when he spoke.
"You mean the concert that I was going to?" Her head was down as she searched through her bag. "I have front row seats for both Chicago Backstreet Boys concerts, and now since the flight's cancelled, my niece and our friends can't go either because I have the tickets! I can't believe that we are going to miss the shows!" Triumphantly, she pulled her lip balm out of her bag.
"Well, we might not even be performing unless I can get there, so don't worry." She really looked at him she was talking to for the first time. He grinned when he saw that she recognized him.
"Well, I'll be! This would have to happen today, wouldn't it?" She grinned.
"What?"
"That I'd get stuck with you in the airport of all places!"
"And that's a bad thing?
"Do you see me complaining?"
"Actually, yeah."
"Oops, my bad!" They both laughed. She extended her arm and they shook hands. "Hi, my name is Michelle, and you weren't supposed to see me until the concerts."
He grinned, "Nice to meet you, Michelle. I'm Kevin."
Michelle laughed, "As my niece would say, 'Duh!'"
"How old is your niece?"
"Gretchen is twelve tomorrow. She lives just outside of Chicago, so my friend Sara and I are taking Gretchen and her friend Lisa to both concerts."
"And you got front row seats at both Chicago shows?" Kevin was amazed.
"Yeah, Sara works for a radio station in Chicago, and I work for one here in Columbus, so we were able to use our connections to buy them."
"Well, let's see what kind of connections I can use to get us to Chicago for the shows, okay?" Michelle grinned as they walked over to the bank of payphones. Kevin punched in his calling card number and a few minutes later, he began talking.
"Hey, Rok! It's Kevin..." Since Kevin was busy, Michelle stepped up to the next phone and dialed her brother's number.
"Freddy! Get off the table! Hello?" Michelle laughed as she heard her older brother's tired voice.
"Hey there Andy!"
"Hey Michi. When are you going to get here?"
"Soon, kid, soon. How are Susie and the munchkins?"
"Don't you mean the Whale and the terrors?"
"I take it, Suz is not at home right now." She laughed as her brother snorted over the phone in disgust.
"Susie is at the doctor's right now, and I am at home with not only my kids, but Lisa is here too." Andy covered the phone with his hand.
"Alexander! What did you do to Fluffy?! Hold on, Michi."
Michelle leaned against the wall and smiled as she listened to the ruckus at her brother's house. Kevin finished his conversation and was waiting for her.
"So did any of your connections pan out?" Kevin shook his head.
"The best that they can do is send a car out for us, but we may not make it in time."
"What if we rented a car?"
"You mean, drive there ourselves?"
"Yeah, Chicago is only six hours away. If we leave now, we can make it there before breakfast." Michelle grinned when she saw the skeptical look on Kevin's face. "What's the matter with that? Not used to doing things for yourself?"
"It's not that. I just haven't driven that much lately, and what about security?"
"Well, as for the driving, it's like riding a bike: once you learn you won't forget. And do you actually think that fans are going to be waiting for you to drive up yourself from Ohio? They are probably at the airport lamenting the flight's cancellation, worrying if you are going to even be there for the show."
Kevin grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, you're probably right. And for the whole driving thing, I haven't driven that much since I first moved down to Florida."
"Okay, then." She stopped talking to him when the person on the other end of the phone came back. "Hey, Andy. No worries, I was just talking to someone. Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that all flights into Chicago are cancelled, so I am going to rent a car and drive in."
She chuckled and pulled the receiver away from her ear. Kevin could hear loud yelling and shouts from where he was standing. "Yeah, could you call Sara and let her know I am still coming? I'll call you when I get into the city. Bye, sweetie. Give my love to Susie and the kids!"
Michelle hung up the phone and smiled up at Kevin. "That was Gretchen's dad, my brother, Andy. Susie, his wife, is at the doctor making sure that Andy-spawn number four is going to be fine, so he's at home with the kids."
"Andy-spawn?" Kevin looked at her strangely as they gathered up their bags and headed for the car rental place.
Michelle laughed and readjusted the bag on her shoulder. "Andy is nine years older than me. He got married when I was twelve, and two years later, Gretchen was born. When I first saw her, she looked just like Andy when he first wakes up in the morning, so I called her Andy-spawn. Plus, I couldn't believe that my dorky older brother was reproducing, so the name stuck."
"So you're 24?" She nodded. "You sound like you're still twelve," Kevin laughed.
"Well, I do try, especially where Andy is concerned. I do have that annoying little sister reputation to live up to."
By this time, they reached the rental counter, and Kevin stepped up to make the arrangements. Twenty minutes later, they were directed to the parking lot, just outside the terminal.
"Where is it parked?" Michelle asked.
Kevin checked the tag that was attached to the key. "Space 56. The guy said it was to the right of the main doors."
"Well! You have some great taste, Kevin." Michelle grinned as she pointed to the midnight blue Mustang convertible waiting for them. She looked up when he didn't say anything and started giggling. "Are you blushing?!"
"No!" Kevin denied. "I just thought that if we have to drive all that way, we should at least have something fun."
"I'm not going to argue." She dumped her bags next to Kevin's in the trunk and kept her carry-on with her. "So when do I get to drive?"
"Keep your pants on, Michelle."
"Well, if you insist." She burst out laughing when she saw the pinkish tinge that colored Kevin's cheeks. "Oh, my! You ARE blushing!" That made Kevin turn even more red.
"Just get in the car." Michelle just snickered as she climbed into the convertible.
