She looked down at her watch, counting down the minutes until it would finally be 6:45. It was only 6:22. She had never dreaded the time as she did then, as it seemed to go by so slowly yet not slow enough. She distracted herself by thinking about what drink she would order, what book she would read, or what work she might have to finish on the plane. But nothing seemed to distract her completely from the thought of him. His face was burned into her memory, and she couldn’t erase him. She looked down at her finger, and thought about the beautiful diamond ring that should be there. Realizing she was dwelling on what should be the past, she looked back at her watch: 6:24. “Flight A20 will begin boarding in 10 minutes.” the gate attendant spoke calmly through the speaker. She took out her boarding pass and examined every little detail. She couldn’t help but remember the reason she was leaving her life behind….
Dr. Andrea Reebok was an intelligent young woman with piercing blue eyes and dark, thick hair, accenting her chaldean descent. Andrea was always that kid. That kid who sucked up to the teacher and suggested the test should be sooner. She was that kid who never did anything wrong, constantly in fear of jeopardizing her future. She had worked her whole life to get her dream job- first a surgeon in California, then someday move to Boston. She had a very long-time boyfriend, Dr. James Reynolds. They had been dating for the past 3 years, which for Andrea was a huge deal. It was quite ironic; she was one of the toughest, strongest, and intelligent people, yet the thought of any commitment scared her away.  So she worked to maintain her relationship with James as well as work hard for Boston. After 6 years of waiting and working, her biggest dream finally became a reality- which all started with one phone call.

“Thank you for talking to us today, Dr. Reebok. We have read your resume- quite impressive, may I add!- and we would love it if you joined our team here in Boston. We could use more surgeons like you.” She had never been nervous for anything, but somehow this had made her speechless. She couldn’t believe one of the top hospitals in the United States wanted her on their team. “I-I don’t know what to say,” she blurted out, “I will have to think about your offer and will get back to you right away with a final answer.” The call ended, and she continued her work. For the rest of that day, she couldn’t stop thinking about all she would have to do in preparation for her new job. Everything seemed completely perfect until she realized this meant she had to break it off with her longtime boyfriend, James. They met in the hospital, and are considered the power couple in and out of the hospital. They had been together for nearly 3 years, and this new job meant that they would have to attempt at having a long distance relationship. But Andrea was not stupid. She was not good at commitment, and surprised herself by staying with a man longer than 3 months. She loved James, but she might have loved her work more. After a long time contemplating, she decided she would break up with him that night.
She left work and went straight to Café Belize, where she spotted him from across the restaurant, sitting at their usual table. She walked to the table, so nervous she felt like her heart was going to explode. “If I get a heart attack or my heart explodes, at least I will be with a doctor.” she thought, trying to tell herself she wasn’t going to die. She hugged him and sat down, noticing the different energy in him tonight. It was almost as if he felt the same way she did. They talked for a while, both clammy and awkward. “This is strange,”, Andrea thought to herself, “I know I’m nervous to break up with him and tell him about Boston, what’s he nervous about?” . She continued to keep these thoughts to herself for the rest of the night until desert. They began to eat the cake he had surprised her with, but little did she know this was not the biggest surprise of the night. He got down on one knee and proposed to her. She was so shocked beyond words, she literally had nothing to say. She had not expected him to propose, and on the night she was going to break up with him! After what seemed like hours of her sitting there, silent, she finally came back to reality and realized he needed an answer. “I-I-” she began, having no idea what to say. “I don’t know.”
Embarrassed, he put the ring deep into his pocket and sat in his chair, downing the champagne. “that’s...that’s okay,” he began to say through a shaky voice. “I love you, and I will wait for you. There is no rush, take as much time as you need.” He kept talking, but Andrea was not listening. She finally snapped back into reality, cutting him off. “ I don’t need you… I don’t need this. I don’t want to have to make my mind up,  there is way too much going on right now.” The more she talked, the angrier she got. “ You know what? I was offered a job in Massachusetts General Hospital, and I’m going to take it. Goody bye.” she yelled, running out of the restaurant.
“ We will begin boarding.” The gate attendant said, suddenly bringing Adrea back to what was going on. she looked around, startled by how many people appeared since she spaced out. She looked around, making sure she didn’t miss anything, and grabbed her boarding pass.
A few feet away from where she was standing, a young man got down on one knee and placed a beautiful diamond ring on the girl’s shaking hand. They embraced and the girl went to talk to the front desk. The man walked over and sat down next to Andrea, smiling from ear to ear. “It’s amazing how much love can change someone’s life,” he thought out loud. Andrea wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or not, so she opened her phone and went through emails. “have you ever been in love before?” he asked her. “ Yes, I have.”, she answered, unsettled by the personal question. “I was in love with a girl for 6 years. She was going to leave me for a job in a different state. I didn’t think there was anything left for me to do in order to get her back. But right as she left for the airport, I knew I couldn’t let her go. So I drove out here and proposed. I know, not the most romantic place, but all that matters is that I love her and she loves me.” Andrea was a little confused as to why he was sharing this with her. “You’re probably wondering why I am telling you this. I guess I just don’t want anyone to go through what I almost had to.” Immediately, Andrea began to cry. She was not a crier, either. Being a surgeon, she saw the face of death many times. But thinking about her situation with James made her cry in front of everyone. She began to tell the man everything that had happened, starting with the interview and ending with her leaving for the airport. After she finished, she looked at him for his advice. But the man didn’t say anything, he just looked into her eyes. Somehow he didn’t have to say anything, his eyes did all the talking. She knew what she had to do.
“Final call for flight A20.” the flight attendant said, looking straight at Andrea. She looked down at her ticket, then to her ring finger. She crumpled the ticket and threw it away, grabbing her bags and walking away from her gate. She walked confidently out of the airport, suddenly freezing in her tracks. Their eyes met from across the terminal, full of despair and regret. They ran into each other’s arms, embracing like they’ve never ….” I’ll move to Boston. I’ll find a job somewhere. I just don’t want to lose you. I never want to lose you. You are the love of my life.” he rambled on. “Shut up”, she laughed, kissing him. “Yes.” she said. “yes what?”, he said confused. “I have always been afraid of commitment. I am not the one to take risks, but i thought taking this job would be the biggest risk of my life. But I choose you.” Andrea said, crying tears of joy. “ You can’t. You have to go, isn’t this your dream?” he asked, looking into her eyes for an answer. She smiled at him as she answered, “you’re my dream.”