Lincoln turned to Andy. “You’re a hard man to track down.”
Andy scuffed the floor with the toe of his dirty Converse sneaker. “What makes you say that?”
“The fact you aren’t on social media and you never answer your cell. Where have you been hiding all this time?”
Andy’s eyes narrowed. “Chicago.”
A point of connection. Eliza stepped forward for her upgraded boarding. “I’ve got family in Buffalo Grove. Where are you working?”
Andy’s fingers fumbled his new boarding pass. Eliza had seen enough fidgeting from colleagues hemmed in by the final sweat-extracting days of a financial quarter to recognize a drug habit when he saw one.
“I’m working in sports . . .”
Eliza leaned into him. “Fantastic! Bears? Blackhawks? White Sox?”
Andy’s fingers kept fidgeting, a man obviously keen to shut down this conversation. “A bit of each, Lize. I’m a consultant.” He yawned with an extravagant stretch, his jowls wobbling.
Lincoln elbowed him. “Playing hard to get, hey, buddy? That’s okay. We’ve got a long flight over and ten days to catch up.”
“Yeah, sure.” Andy’s gaze flitted around the gate as if to completely contradict his words.
“Pacific Australia flight 8779 welcomes all passengers to our flight to Sydney, Australia. We welcome those in first and business class to board now.”
Lincoln reached for his suitcase. “That’s us. Let’s get this reunion kick-started, eh?” He lowered his upper body in a deep bow, ushering the others to join the queue.
Bree scanned her boarding pass and waited for Lincoln before they strolled down the Jetway, anticipation of the Holy Grail of business class bubbling with each step.
Eliza made way for Andy as the queue inched forward and another flight attendant in a green-and-yellow uniform held out her hand. “Your boarding pass, sir?”
Andy handed it over and waited for her at the entrance to the Jetway, but he looked beyond her, frowning at the crowds in the airport. Eliza placed a hand on his back. “Looking for someone?”
Andy snapped out of his daydream. “No. It might be the last trip I go on for a while, so I’m taking it in.”
Eliza threw an arm around Andy’s shoulder—which took more of her arm than it used to. “Lincoln told me you needed to borrow some money to come with us, so I just wanted to say thank you for still coming. It must be hard. Listen, we’re flying back through here, so it’s not like this is the last time you’ll see LA. Why don’t we talk on the plane about how we can get you back on your feet and back to where you were?”
Andy grunted under his breath as he shuffled down the Jetway. Eliza was sure she heard that Andy didn’t want to go back there.
Six
Their circle of friendship closed back into shape more with a slide than a snap; fifteen years on from a lost connection past and forty thousand feet above the Pacific.
Lincoln raised his glass to the curved, shuddering ceiling as he rode minor turbulence on the balls of his feet. “To our graduating class and the chance brilliance of Professor Snowden for introducing us in anthropology. To our combined success and rekindling old friendships!”
Lincoln clocked a knowing glance between Bree and Eliza as they reclined in business class luxury. Andy leaned against their seats as Eliza gripped her orange juice. “Not joining us for a toast, Lize?”
“This will do.”
Glasses clinked, a starting bell for the rush of memories. Bree was first out of the blocks. “Do you remember when the fire alarm went off in the middle of our second-year exams? Lincoln convinced the dean that not only did we need to take the exam again, but we needed different questions as we’d already seen these ones.”
Andy chuckled as he drained his glass. “What about the lecture rooms in the Schultz building? I can still feel that hard plastic cutting my back in half.”
Bree talked through an extravagant yawn. “The metallic ticking of that clock will never leave me. Remember how its tempo slowed the longer the lecture went?”
The laughs flowed as the years peeled away, and the foursome slipped back into their old friendship, transported back to a time before the comparison trap of social media, adult responsibilities, and extra pounds.
Lincoln leaned against a seat. Eliza had hardly changed much in fifteen years. “I’ve got no idea how you loved that anthropology class. Professor Snowden put me to sleep.”
Bree laughed. “Oh man, she was something else. Do you remember that girl who actually fell asleep ten minutes into every lecture for that entire semester? Kelly something. Whatever happened to her?”
Eliza sipped at her juice, her nose crinkling in the same way it used to in college. The way that would drive Lincoln insane and weak in the knees. “She married some hotshot counselor who wrote a best seller.”
Andy flagged down the flight attendant for a refill. Lincoln’s curiosity needed satisfaction—he needed to chip away at Andy’s mystery, and he wanted to fill in the blanks of the lives Bree and Eliza presented to a social media world. Bree’s lack of music. Eliza’s lack of a partner. But Andy’s story since college was blank. He had to know. “Do you remember at graduation when a certain Mr. Summers bet he would be the biggest success in our little group? Should we collect on that bet, Andy?”
Andy snapped a look at Lincoln—almost too fast—as if a nerve had been sliced open. Curiosity bit deeper into him. There was more to his story—that would be interesting to uncover in the following days.
Eliza cocked an eyebrow. “It’s not all about money, you know, Lincoln.”
“I know, but how else do we measure how well we’re doing?” It was time to play his trump card. “Partner is as high as I can go in my field.”
“So you’re not into helping people anymore?” Andy’s lips didn’t quite reach a smile. The thin line seemed more like a sneer.
Eliza raised her juice. “Congratulations! You’ve obviously worked hard to earn it.”
The thunder cleared from Andy’s face. “I’m pleased for you.”
“Hear, hear!” Bree nodded, then stifled another yawn as she elbowed Eliza.
Lincoln cocked his head. “What?”
“Eliza’s got some career news of her own, and it’s going to top yours.” She nudged Eliza again. “Go on.”
Eliza waved her off. “We’re talking about Lincoln. Don’t steal his moment.”
“Well, if you won’t, Lize, I will.” Bree raised her glass. “To Eliza, who is about to become a corporate CEO.”
Andy grabbed a fistful of sandwiches from a passing tray. “Is that Virgo Fashion? It says on LinkedIn you’re second in charge.”
Lincoln narrowed his eyes. While Andy didn’t appear online, he certainly seemed to be lurking in the shadows.
Eliza shrugged. “Virgo’s a nice place, and I’ve done very well in fashion. But . . . I don’t know.”
Bree tried to pump the energy back into Eliza’s achievement. “But you’ll be heading up your own fashion label. That’s amazing!”
Why was she being so coy about this? The Eliza from college would have been well up for the competition.