DAY 8


”Babes wake up wake up! What time is it??

“Ughhh it’s only 8am Andre”

“Ya but you have to leave today.”

“My plane doesn’t leave until 2:15 Andre shhhhh”

”But we need to check out in a couple of hours lets get up”

“Fine… (grrrr)”

We did our morning routine and I packed up again for the 4th and final time this week. We had breakfast and then spent the next couple of hours
laying together mostly in silence but when we did say something it was normally the same thing over and over again as if we weren’t sure what else
was suppose to be said.

“I’m really glad you came”

“I am too, thank you for showing me around and introducing me to your friends and having me in your home”.

”It was my pleasure Manda.”

Silence again but we’re holding on to each other tightly and again I can’t help but feel that I might never see Andre again.

“Andre why do I feel like…. “

“Shhh Manda” and he kissed me softly on my bottom lip and I closed my eyes and i wrapped my arms around him
tightly. And his lips danced across my cheek and down my neck and I could hear his breathing quicken in my ear.

”I love you Manda”

My eyes shot open and I held my breathe and I could feel his body tense on top of mine. His face still buried in my neck. I pulled back so to see his face

“What did you say Andre?”

He looked away from me and kissed my neck again “I said I love everything about you”

I know what he said and I’m sure he knows that I heard him the first time but I accept his answer anyways

“Well I love everything about you too Andre.”

He kissed me hard and I kissed him back.

By the time we had checked out and gotten to the airport to pass over the keys to Anton our car rental agent it was 1pm and there was a
very long line for check in. Once my bags were checked I was told there was 5 minutes before boarding was to begin and so Andre and I walked
quickly to the Security entrance.

”I can’t go any further than this.”

“I know, thank you so much Andre I’ve had one of the best trips ever.”

”Thank you for coming.”

He gives me a long hug and I we’re squeezing so tightly that when he pulls away I can still feel his arms around me and I hope to myself that this
feeling would stay like this for as long as possible.

“I don’t know when you’re going to come back or if you ever will but I hope you do come back and I hope it’s soon.
Please be good and I’ll tell everyone I said hello.”

“Be safe Andre and take good care of yourself.”

We had made it to the airport in just enough time that there wasn’t time for tears or long goodbyes. We didn’t profess any undying love
for each other and promise each other a relationship.

I was through security and at my gate in no time and before I could even let it settle that I was leaving this place. It wasn’t just Andre that
I was sad about and it wasn’t because we had gotten closer than I thought we were going to from the beginning. It was because before anything
else Andre was my friend and after a week he felt like a best friend and I wasn’t sure when I was going to see my best friend again. I was sad because
I wasn’t going to watch another one of the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever seen in my life. I was sad because in just one week I fell in love with this
place that I had heard others profess their love for and now I understood exactly what they meant. I had re connected with an old friend, I had rekindled
a passion for an old love, I had become a part of a new family, I had made new friendships and all of this in 7 and a half days. I think back to the moment
when I got off the plane and I could hear Andre call my name “Manda!! Manda!!” and searching for him to finally lay my eyes on him after 13 years and the
relief that came over me that he was here. I knew in that moment that everything was going to work out but I could have never expected the week that I had.
I handed my ticket to the lady at the gate and boarded the plane. I turned my phone on and texted my family.

“Leaving on time I’ll see Dad at the airport”

*Ding*

“I miss you already” – Andre

It was only then that I let myself cry quietly behind my sunglasses as I watched the island get smaller and smaller as my plane
carried me farther and farther away.

We were scheduled to land at 7:30pm and we were landed at 7:35pm. I liked this flight it would give me enough time to get
through customs and baggage and home at a decent time on a Saturday night just in case I was too restless to sit at home.
Customs was insane! I had never seen the line as long as that the line almost hit the back of the room at Customs and it took over
an hour to get up to an officer. When I walked through the doors into the baggage carousel area right at the doors were 4 officers
one of which had a dog.

This cop with a dog stops me

“Excuse me miss where are you coming from?”

“Jamaica”

He has the dog sit down in front of me and then he turns around and jumps up on my leg with his tail wagging it might have been
cute if I wasn’t standing in front of K9 Officers in the Toronto Pearson Airport.

“Wow you have a lot of marijuana on you, did a lot of smoking?”