The middle seat. Nine hours of subtle elbow fighting with my neighbors. Holding it as long as possible to avoid the awkward “excuse me.” None of it mattered. She was back. The spark was still there. I saw it in her eyes and felt it my heart.

I didn’t need movies to entertain me. The memories I’d long confined to a dark corner of my mind, I let them play freely for hours. Every walk, those first timid touches, a kiss, the first clumsy night. It was all back as though it was yesterday.

I’d let pride and ambition separate us once. The job with the big title in California had seemed so important then. I was such a fool. She found someone else and I survived in relationships that I knew deep down were poor substitutes.

Now she was off to Thailand. Alone. She was vague about why. Business. There was no ring on her finger. The warmth of her smile and the spontaneous hug when we saw each other in the terminal, it was like we’d never parted. She gave me her cell phone number without a word. I went to my gate and she went to hers.

The moment we landed in London I headed for the ticketing terminal. “Can I help you?” “Yes, when is your next flight to Bangkok?”