Chapter 5 - Madrid To Miami

                                    

                                          
I head over to James' place four hours before the red eye and arrive to an apartment full of boxes.
                          
"They're almost all empty, I swear," he says when he sees the look on my face.
                          
"Sorry, not a fan of messy-"
                          
"Yeah, no, definitely, me either, it's just that boxes arrive daily so..."
                          
"Got it," I nod. "I, uh, left my bags downstairs in the lobby, with your fancy doorman."
                          
"Alright, I was just gonna get my papers ready so we can leave," he says.
                          
I gesture for him to do so and he walks into a hall, I'm left standing in the living room. The photos on the wall catch my eye and I stand in front of them, looking at each of them.
                          
His wife, daughter, mom, family, friends, teammates; him holding trophies, on the field. His life summed up in a couple of glossy pieces of paper.
                          
"Ready?" He asks.
                          
I turn around abruptly as I hear his voice and he begins to step forward.
                          
"Who's that?" I ask pointing to a framed photo of him and some guy by a river.
                          
"That's an uncle of mine, when we went to Cúcuta we went to this one river," he begins to point at the photo. "It was great."
                          
There's a taxi outside for us already and we put our bags in the trunk. The ride was a bit quiet besides the small talk but around the end I got him to talk to me. 
                          
We arrive and check our bags in, head to security and make it all the way to our gate. We have about two hours to waste so we just sit together.
                          
"Do you wanna get something to eat?" He asks.
                          
"No, no, I'm good, really tired actually," I explain.
                          
He only just nods and says he'll be right back then heads towards the fast food restaurants. I stay behind and take out a book from my backpack and begin to read.
                          
Halfway through my chapter I get a forwarded call from People Magazine En Español. Of course they want James for Sexiest Man Alive 2014. He gets back just as the representative on the phone begins to explain it all to me and I ask to call them back once I speak with James.
                          
He sits down obliviously as I begin to end the call and offers me some fries.
                          
"So, I guess you're gonna get a little less training in than the rest of the guys, that is if you accept this offer," I say as I rattle my phone in front of him.
                          
"Who was that?"
                          
"People Magazine En Español. They want you for Sexiest Man Alive."
                          
All James does is burst out into laughter. I just stare at him blankly.
                          
"Are you serious?" He asks.
                          
"Yeah, of course, they want an answer by tomorrow to set up for the shoot if you accept, so I'll need to call them before we board," I explain.
                          
"Let me, um, let me ask some people," he says as he fumbles for his phone and I take the paper bag of food off his lap to help him.
                          
I hold the bag in my own lap and begin to take my book out from under it when I see he's calling his wife.
                          
He shifts a little in his seat as he begins to speak with her and I begin to feel my eyelids get heavy. I've been up past my usual bedtime and the new time zone finally began to kick in. James looks over and takes the bag back from my lap and I cross my legs on the seat, lean down a bit and begin to read.
                          
I open my eyes some time later to find my nose digging into James' shoulder. He turns to his right to face me and chuckles a bit.
                          
"That's not fair," I barely speak as he smiles at me widely. "You're supposed to be more tired than I am," I wipe my eyes with my sweater as I have the sleeves balled up over my knuckles.
                          
"The hustle and bustle of an office job can get to you," he laughs.
                          
I check my phone for the time and praise that we only have fifteen minutes left until boarding.
                          
"I accept," he tells me.
                          
I stare at him blankly not registering what he's saying and then I open my eyes widely and begin to nod.
                          
"Good, good, I'll call them. Good for you, James," I nod frantically. "Well deserved."
                          
He only just smiles at me and asks if I agree with the title they're giving him.
                          
I circle around the question but he knows I do. Obviously I do.
                          
I call and set it all up and finish right before people begin to file up to board. We get stares from people and giant smiles from the flight attendants before we make it to our seats. I mention that I always like the window seat, on anything no matter what vehicle, earlier and he agrees, when it came time to sit he offered me his seat but I kindly declined.
                          
It's almost midnight and the lights are dim, the stewardesses walk along making sure everyone has buckled in. I can barely keep my eyes open, neither can James.
                          
He sets up his pillow right by the window with the shut shutter and leans onto the wall. I only just stare before I unpack my pillow and blanket from the plastic. He looks back at me puts the pillow on the head of his seat and pats his shoulder.
                          
"What?" I ask.
                          
"You can put your pillow on me," he keeps gesturing. "I don't mind. Actually I like it, makes me feel needed," he smiles with his eyes shut.
                          
The plane departs and a nervous James finally let's go of his tight grip on the edge of the arm rest and relaxes. It's finally time to incline our seats and the lights dim almost all the way.
                          
James just smiles back at me before shutting his eyes again and I place my pillow on his left shoulder right after. I get a wider smile in response.
                          
I lean over and kiss his left check then whisper "sweet dreams." I then place my head on his shoulder and fall fast asleep on our way to Miami.