Even though it had been a short drive to the airport, it felt like hours. Now I was sat waiting to board my plane to Seattle, Washington, that was two hours behind schedule. No one told me how boring sitting in an airport can be, especially when I couldn't just go over to the bar and get drunk off of my ass like everyone else while I waited.

So I played games on my phone, I listened to music, I browsed the shops, and I picked up a new habit; cigarettes. I was eighteen now, and I could do what I wanted, right? Even if that potentially included giving myself lung cancer. So I walked to the doors on the side of the waiting area where there was a designated smoking section. My poison of choice was called a "marlboro smooth." I wasn't sure what about cigarettes could ever be smooth, but the guy behind the counter asked me if I liked peppermints and handed me this pack when I answered yes.

Maybe he was right. When I opened the pack, it smelled like those little green peppermint candies. Maybe it could be smooth, I thought to myself.

I heard a throat clear behind me, and whipped around to find the source of the sound. What I saw, I was no where near prepared for. Before me stood the most breathtakingly beautiful man I had ever seen in my life. He wore a black leather jacket over a dark gray v-neck shirt, black straight leg jeans, and a pair of black biker boots. I knew I was staring but I just didn't care. I would pay this man to just let me look at him.

"Hi, I'm Rafael, what's your name gorgeous?" Oh my lord, I was going to melt on the spot. My name sounded like velvet rolling off of his tongue and I found myself feeling like I would give this man whatever he wanted if he asked for it. "I-I'm D-Deirdra. Nice to meet you, Rafael." Oh man I'm an idiot. I was blushing furiously at the point, and the sexy trouble making smirk on his face did nothing to calm my blazing cheeks.

"I could say the same for you, Deirdra. That's a beautiful name, by the way. I must admit I have never met someone with a name like that before." Jesus H Christ, was this man's vocal chords made of silk or am I just a silly teenager swooning over a sexy stranger? "Anyways darlin', where ya headed? I can't imagine you're here just for fun."

"I'm headed to Seattle. I've lived in the same town for 18 years and needed a change of scenery." I said confidently, trying not to give away that this man had any affect on me. I watched as he reached inside of his jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes similar to mine. He must have noticed me watching him as he said "cowboy killers are what they call these things where I'm from." Cowboy killers, that sounds...sinister.

I continued to fumble around with my pack before he noticed my obvious struggle and offered me some help. "Here, you gotta pack them first or they'll burn up real fast. You've never smoked before, have you?" I felt like a child, was it that obvious? "No, I haven't. Figured I would pick up something new on my travels." He took the pack from my hands and started smacking them against his hand. What in the hell? Never have I seen someone do that before; but I have also never seen anyone open a brand new pack of cigarettes before. None of my friends smoked, and none of their parents smoked either.

He pulled two out and flipped them filter side down before placing them back in the pack. A bit confused by his actions, I asked him what he was doing. "oh, uh, I flipped luckies for ya." I stared at Rafael with a blank look on my face, wondering what the hell a "lucky" was. "You don't know what that is, do ya Deirdra?" Was it that obvious?

"No, I have absolutely no clue what a lucky is." It came out with more attitude than I had intended, but I think got my point across. "So you flip two cigarettes and they're called luckies. You don't smoke those until the very end of the pack. There's one for good luck and one for good..." A blush rose up his neck and to his cheeks as he scratched the back of his neck with a chuckle. "And one for good, what?" I asked nervously. If he's embarrassed, it can't be good. "Uh, one for good fuck." Rafael let out a hearty laugh, a laugh that was intoxicating to hear and one that you couldn't help but laugh with.

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me. I was laughing almost hysterically, because the irony of it due to what happened with Taylor was hilarious to me. Rafael stood there looking at me awkwardly, as I laughed and laughed and laughed. "It's a funny story actually. But I won't lay all of my girl problems on a man I just met." I said between laughs. Rafael chuckled a little and said, "well my flight's been delayed so I got nothin but time to hear your story darlin'." I was surprised at his kindness and contemplated whether or not to tell him, ultimately I decided to tell him, because why the hell not. I would likely never see this man again.

"Well, before I tell you my story of what is landing me on my cross country trip, where are you headed to?" I was genuinely curious, considering his flight was also delayed. What would the chances be of his flight being the same as mine? "Heading to Seattle! I'm on a trip to find... Someone special to me. I just hope she's in this country." I didn't miss the sad look in his eyes, or the sadness that laced the words that left his mouth. He suddenly seemed as if he had said too much and turned the conversation back on to me. So I told him. I recounted the events of that fateful night to him and could feel my eyes beginning to well up with tears as I got to the part of walking in on Taylor in the act. My voice was thick with emotion and the tears fell hard but I told him everything, even down to how he showed up at my house today and stomped all over my excitement for the day, just like he had the day that was supposed to be a special milestone in our relationship.

Rafael listened intently the entire time and I'm pretty sure I even caught him clenching his fists as he heard me tell him about his cheating. "What a bastard. I'm sorry for being so forward, but he is. I've only known you for a few short minutes and I just can't even fathom why someone would cheat on you. You'll find the person that will treat you right, of that I'm certain." And just like that, this man who I've just met made me feel better about the situation than anyone had in the last two months.

"Thank you, honestly. My best friend is engaged to her high school sweet heart and I always dreamed of that being him and I one day. We had looked at rings, discussed wedding plans, and even started looking at houses. I won't lie, every time I see him and he asks me to forgive him and take him back, I want to. I want to so bad because up until that night every thing we had was so good. I never thought he would do something like that to me. But he did and here I am, pouring my heart and tears out to a stranger. But it makes me feel better to have someone on the outside to talk to, so thank you for that." I was genuine, it really had been nice to talk to someone about him and the situation than someone that knew him or talking to Elena. Honestly, she was no help.

Over the last year she had been telling me she felt like something was up between us because things had been a bit different, and admittedly, they had been. But I just chalked it up to being the fact that we had applied to the same and different colleges, and only one of us got accepted to the school we both applied to. That someone being me. But it would have been fine, I got accepted to another college that was only a half-hour away from him instead of the five it would have been if I chose the college we had both applied to.

But now? I was taking at least a year off, maybe longer. I needed a break, to get away from it all and find my place, and then I would go back to school. I didn't even know what I wanted to do with my life or what career path I was planning to take, so taking this time would hopefully help me figure it out.

Rafael and I had finished our cigarettes and started to head back inside when we heard our flight get called over the overhead speaker. Finally, it feels like I had been here waiting for days. "Well, I guess I'll see you when we land, maybe. Since we're both going to Seattle, maybe we can exchange numbers and get together, maybe have a drink or something?" He sounded so sweet and innocent when he asked that I couldn't say no, not that I wanted to anyways. I would love to see him again.

In line we went, he was quite a few people behind me and I was praying to whoever was listening that I wouldn't be sat next to the mom with screaming twins or the extremely overweight guy in front of me with the body odor of a rhino, that I just could not handle. Boarding the plane seemed to take forever, as everyone was trying to trade their seats to get the window seat until one of the attendants explained that for safety, in the event of an accident they have our names assigned to the seats on our tickets so that was where they needed to sit in order to keep track of everyone on board. Most of them agreed begrudgingly, but some still tried to argue it.

I purposely paid for a window seat because before this, I had never been on a plane. We drove to Miami every year when we went on vacation, so being in this flying metal death trap had me on edge to put it lightly. I finally felt a presence next to me and when I looked over to see who I would be sitting next to for the next few hours, a wide smile grew on my face. "Well darlin', looks like you can't get away from me so easily." Rafael said cooly, and suddenly I found myself excited for the flight and having someone I could talk to.

Just like that, my day was getting better and better.

The next five and a half hours flew by (ha, get it?), and I was sad when we were getting ready to land, because I already felt so comfortable around Rafael, that I wouldn't actually mind exploring Seattle for the next couple of days with him. We had exchanged numbers and made sure we had the right ones before getting off the plane and waving our goodbyes to each other. And as I started to walk away I heard him calling my name.

"Deirdra! Hey, wait up!" He was calling through the crowd, I stopped and waited for him to catch up and when he did he engulfed me in a hug. "Until next time, beautiful." He said in a sultry voice, before turning his back to me and walking back the way he came. I was left standing there, with the strangest tingling feeling where his hand had grazed my arms. There was only one thing I could say about it, and it was that I was hoping he would call tonight so I could see him again. I was hoping I would find my special person on this trip, just like he was, and how funny would it be if that special person could be him?

Fate is funny like that.